Chapter 4: Shadows And Scars
Zayn stood in silence watching the woman kneeling before him. The only sound was the faint crackling of fire and the distant, echoing howl of a restless wolf.
Martha. The Brightpaw family’s maid. Loyal servant to the former Alpha was someone Zayn had assumed was just another silent bystander, another cog in the cruel machine that had crushed his people.
And now she knelt before him.
Zayn narrowed his eyes. “Why? So you can finish what her family started? Hurt her more?”
Martha flinched as if he’d slapped her. “No! Please, I swear on the Moon Goddess, I never laid a hand on her. I did everything I could to protect her.”
He stepped forward, towering over her. “She’s covered in scars. If you weren’t the part of the people hurting her, then how did she end up like that?”
Her lips trembled.
“Don’t lie to me.” he warned sharply.
Martha hesitated. The silence stretched.
Zayn watched her closely, waiting, his patience wearing thin. His wolf paced beneath his skin, unsettled.
“I’m not going to ask again,” he said, voice cold.
She lowered her head, ashamed. “Like I said, it was mostly her brother. Xavier.”