The Alpha's Mark

Chapter 110: The Man Azure Loved - Koa

The dark, oppressive storm of Azure’s soul raged on outside, but inside the small, dimly lit parlor of the cottage, the air held a fragile, quiet warmth. Odesse sat huddled on the couch, the thick blanket pulled tightly around her shivering shoulders. The only sound in the room was the soft, rhythmic chattering of her teeth as she watched little Azure, who kept her eyes fixed on the wooden floorboards.

The silence stretched between them, heavy and fragile, until the child slowly turned her head. Her expression was stern, her young eyes flashing with a sudden, defensive hostility.

"What is it?" little Azure asked, her voice sharp.

Odesse flinch, clutching the edge of the blanket closer to her throat. "It’s nothing. I—"

"I know what you’re thinking, Odesse," the child cut her off, her voice dropping into a flat, bitter murmur as her gaze drifted back to the floor. "You’re sitting there thinking, ’What kind of child is this? She is an absolute monster. She should be killed, or burnt.’"

"No! Not at all, Azure," Odesse interrupted, her voice gentle but firm.

The little girl slowly looked back up at her. Odesse met her gaze with a soft, saddened expression, her shoulders slumping as she looked down at her own pale hands.

"Not at all," Odesse repeated softly. "I would never think such a thing. Not now, especially after learning the dark truth of what you went through. Honestly... I was just thinking about how much we actually have in common."

Little Azure blinked, her defensive guard slipping slightly. "Really?"

Odesse nodded slowly, her lips pulling into a bittersweet smile. "Yes, Azure. You see, when I was growing up, children my age—and even the older ones—would constantly make fun of me. They mocked my white hair, my pale skin... and the adults in the village would whisper behind our backs, calling my mother and me witches. The only real difference between your past and mine is that while both of my parents died, too, they were killed and burnt by royal soldier wolves. I didn’t do it."

A tiny, sharp gasp escaped little Azure’s lips.

"I was a very quiet child," Odesse continued, her voice drifting back to those dusty, sunlit memories. "So my mother and father tried their absolute best to shield me. I never went to school because humans aren’t allowed to mix with the packs, so I hardly ever left the house. The only times I did were when my mother went to the market or when my father wanted to take me on walks through the trees. I never had the desire to leave, either. I always believed I would be perfectly safe, as long as I had my parents. But sadly... after that night, the night the royal soldiers slaughtered them, everything changed. Because I was an orphan with no known family left, I was taken in as a palace maid. I had to raise myself out of the trauma while scrubbing floors."

A long silence settled over the parlor. The heavy patter of the rain outside seemed to soften, morphing into a dull, rhythmic thrum. Little Azure turned her head away, her small fingers tracing a loose thread on her sleeve.

"We share the same trauma," the child whispered, her voice carrying a weight far too heavy for Fifteen-year-old in the body of an eight-year-old. "But it is the way we both handled it that mattered."

"I do not blame you for yours, Azure," Odesse said softly.

The child’s head snapped back toward her, her dull purple eyes wide with disbelief. "Really?"

Odesse nodded, her eyes full of genuine understanding. "You never had a proper guide, Azure. Your mother hit you and cursed you—which is a terrible thing to do to a child—and your father actively encouraged your violence when you killed that human, teaching you that bloodshed was something to be praised. It wasn’t your fault; it was the twisted environment you were forced to grow up in. And finding your mother committing adultery and after everything your father told you about being given everything you wanted... only to be married off to a stranger against your will..."

Odesse paused, letting out a soft sigh. "Your actions aren’t justified, Azure. But neither were theirs. Everyone was in the wrong."

Odesse looked down, a faint, nostalgic smile gracing her lips. "A parent is meant to guide and protect their child. Whenever I made a mistake, my mother wouldn’t hit me. She would just drag my ear a little. Because of my pale skin, my ear would turn bright red even if she barely applied any pressure at all."

A dry, quiet chuckle escaped little Azure’s throat. Odesse looked up, her smile widening just a fraction at the sound.

"And my father," Odesse continued, "if I did something wrong, he wouldn’t necessarily scold me, but he certainly didn’t encourage me, either. He taught me boundaries. It is never the child’s fault when the parents fail to bring them up properly."

Little Azure’s face softened, the harsh lines of her expression melting into a quiet, profound sadness.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Odesse pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, her teeth still clicking faintly as her ears flushed red from the cold.

Little Azure’s ears twitched at the sound of Odesse shivering. She stood up slowly from the couch. "Do you want some tea?"

Odesse blinked, momentarily startled. "Tea?"

"Your shaking is annoying me really bad," the child grumbled, though her tone lacked any real malice. "I’ll get you some ginger tea. Would you like that?"

Odesse nodded slowly, a confused but grateful expression on her face.

She watched as the young girl walked past her and disappeared into the kitchen area. "Tea in the spiritual world?" Odesse raised an eyebrow, a quiet laugh escaping her. "How can a soul construct tea?"

A few minutes later, little Azure returned carrying a small ceramic cup. Swirling steam drifted from the rim, carrying the sharp, comforting scent of fresh ginger. She stepped up to Odesse, stretching her small arms out to hand it over.

Odesse slipped her hand out from the safety of the blanket, her cold fingers brushing against the warm clay as she took the cup. "Thank you."

Little Azure walked back to the couch, but instead of retreating to the far corner, she sat down much closer to Odesse this time. Odesse noticed the quiet shift and smiled, bringing the warm cup to her lips. She took a quick, eager sip—and immediately winced, gasping as the boiling liquid scalded her tongue.

"Oh, dear heavens, my mouth!" Odesse hissed, fanning her face.

"Don’t burn yourself," little Azure said with an entirely straight face. "It’s hot."

Odesse touched her tingling lips, glaring playfully at the child. "Thank you for that very timely information."

A cheeky, mischievous smirk spread across little Azure’s face. "You asked how I can make tea inside a soul."

Odesse froze, lowering the cup. "How did you know I was thinking that?"

"You are inside a soul, Odesse. My soul," the child said, pointing a finger at her chest. "I can hear every whisper of your mind."

Odesse let out a dry laugh. "Right. Of course." She looked down at the steaming liquid. "So... how is it possible?"

Little Azure’s smirk widened into a playful grin. "You are sitting inside another person’s soul, and your biggest question is how there is tea here? Shouldn’t you be asking how it is possible for you to even be in here in the first place?"

Odesse pursed her lips, her face turning slightly red as she blew gently on the steaming tea. "It was just a passing thought," she mumbled.

Little Azure shook her head, a soft, genuine laugh bubbling up from her chest. It was a beautiful sound—one that the adult Azure had likely forgotten how to make.

Odesse watched her, her gaze turning gentle. "Could you tell me about the Azure who lives up there? The one in the palace?"

Little Azure adjusted her position on the couch, her small face turning serious once more. "The Azure who lives up there, as I told you, is just a ghost. The real Azure died when she was fifteen. She has always wanted to die, Odesse. But... there was a time she found true, albeit brief, happiness. It was when she got married."

Odesse paused, holding the warm cup close. "Is that so?"

Little Azure nodded. "After my father died, the man who carried my mark... he was eighteen when I was sixteen."

"What was his name?" Odesse asked softly.

A beautiful, radiant smile broke across little Azure’s face. "His name was Koa. He was so handsome, Odesse. He had long, golden hair, striking blue eyes, and he was tall and strong. He looked like a god."

Odesse smiled back, warmed by the pure light in the girl’s eyes. "From the look on your face, it seems you really loved him."

"We both did," the child whispered. "The very moment we saw him."

"Really? The Azure up there loved him too?"

"Yes," little Azure said, her gaze drifting into the distance. "You know how the alpha mark works, Odesse. It only reveals itself when you and your male mate make physical contact. But neither the adult Azure nor I had any memory of ever meeting Koa before. So, the day my father told me I was betrothed to him, I was furious. I was so angry because I didn’t know who he was. I thought he would be an old man, or disabled, or cruel. But the day my father died, Koa came to the house. And the terrible image I had built in my mind shattered completely."

The child’s eyes shone with a quiet reverence. "He looked at me and said that because my father had just passed, he would not force any expectations on me. He said we would wait until I turned eighteen to officially marry. He wanted to give me time to grieve."

"He sounds like a very respectful, honorable man," Odesse noted softly.

"He was," little Azure agreed, her voice soft. "I had started practicing witchery when I was very young, you know."

"How young?"

"Ten," the child replied. "That was when I first discovered it. By eleven, I had mastered the basics. And before I turned thirteen, I had mastered the dark arts of witchery completely... but I stopped it all for him. I buried it, and I forgot about it."

Odesse smiled faintly, her heart aching for the life this girl could have had.

"We spent two years together before the wedding," little Azure continued, her fingers tracing invisible patterns in the air. "Even though we weren’t married yet, we were engaged because of the mark. We spent those years traveling, going to different places, just trying to know one another. It was so peaceful."

"Azure mentioned that he was a royal soldier," Odesse recalled gently.

Little Azure nodded. "Yes. He was recruited into the royal guard five months after we finally married. I was eighteen, and he was twenty—which was the standard age for the new recruits. Because we were newly wed, they gave him five months of grace to enjoy his marriage. But... after those five months ended and he had to pack his bags for the military camp, the house became so quiet. It grew dark, and cold, and suffocating."

She looked up at Odesse, her eyes turning intensely solemn.

"And that was when the old, terrible things I had buried for two years and five months began to claw their way back to the surface."

Odesse held her breath, her chest tightening. "What things?"

"My witchery," little Azure whispered, her voice trembling as the shadows in the corners of the parlor seemed to deepen. "And my unhealthy, desperate obsession with Valex."