Title; Marked by the colony
Genre;Hiveborn (original genre)
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Chapter one; The mark
People think ants are nothing.
Small. Forgettable.
Something you crush under your shoe without a second thought.
But I know better.
We hide in your cities.
We walk in your markets, sit in your classrooms, stand behind you in line for coffee.
Human on the outside. Hive on the inside.
We're called Hiveborn — a name spoken only in whispers, because saying it too loudly draws attention. And attention… is dangerous.
We're not bitten like werewolves, or cursed like ghosts.
We're chosen.
Somewhere between birth and sixteen, the Queen marks you. You don't see her do it — you don't even know she's there — until one morning you wake with a burn on the side of your neck, shaped like the curve of an ant's mandible.
From that moment, you're hers.
Your heartbeat belongs to the Colony. Your thoughts aren't just your own. You'll feel them — thousands of minds pressing against yours — until you can't remember which memories are yours, and which were given to you.
Some of us resist.
Most don't.
Because when the pheromones take hold, your choices dissolve. Anger, loyalty, fear, love — all tuned to the Queen's will. You'll die for her, kill for her, build for her.
They say it's a blessing
They say it's family.
But I call it theft.
And now… it's my turn.
I've been marked.
But something's wrong.
The others hear the Hive's hum.
I hear… a voice.