MAISIE
“Zayn, I swear I am telling you the truth!” The chilly night wind blew across the curtains near the open windows, causing goosebumps on my skin so I grabbed the tattered remains of my clothing to keep warm. I hated the way I looked at the moment, pitifully staring at my mate with a tear-stained face. The entire room was a mess, enshrouded in darkness that agitated my inner wolf. The furniture was overturned and broken, while the shattered lights were a testament to the chaos that had happened a few minutes after we returned home. But what scared me the most was the look my mate gave me when he turned to me. His handsome face was covered in a mask of icy fury, something I had seen directed at his enemies many times. Trust me, no one had ever survived such an encounter before. “I will ask you one last time, Maisie.” Zayn’s dangerous growl reached my ears, making me flinch when he closed the distance between us. He grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me upright to face him. “What exactly happened in that hotel?” “X-Xavier...” I couldn't help but whimper in fear, avoiding his red-colored eyes that seemed to stare into the darkest corners of my soul, “…H-He came into the hotel room and tried to force himself on me. I-I had no idea that the water there was d-drugged so I-” “What were you doing there, Maisie?” Zayn tightened his grip on my arm, causing me to wince at his bruising strength. He ignored my reaction and continued to speak, “I thought you promised me that you would stop being an escort. You promised to leave that life and start a new one with me. Were those words nothing but empty promises?” A mixture of fear and frustration pierced through my heart when I heard his words, but the pain and anguish running through our mating bond was much stronger. It was hard to escape him since he stood unshakable like granite, but I couldn't bear to see the hurt I had caused in his eyes. “It’s Xavier,” I wanted to explain things to him clearly but the words seemed stuck in my throat. “He is the one who is to blame for this-” “Enough!” Zayn barked at me. “Do you expect me to believe that my Beta tried to rape you in a hotel that you willingly went into? Do you think I’m a fool, Maisie?” My heart sank in disappointment when I realized he didn't believe me. I wanted to understand him, Xavier Winchester was his childhood friend who had taken a bullet for him but I was his mate. His woman. How was it possible that he trusted him over me? I suddenly thought of something and went very still in his grip. Dread bloomed in my chest when I noticed something different about his gaze. This was a look that he had never given me before, even when he picked me up from an abusive old man's hotel bed two years ago. “Don’t tell me, you…” I somehow managed to wrench my arm from his titanium grip, looking into the eyes of the man I had fallen in love with, hoping to see some trace of understanding but there was none. I asked him with a shaky voice, “Do you think that I went into that hotel to seduce him? Is that what he said?” My mate closed his eyes in distress when he saw fresh tears streaming down my cheeks. He swore a string of curses under his breath before letting out a deafening roar. In his rage, he grabbed a wooden chair and smashed it against the wall, sending splinters flying in all directions. Despite the chaos, I set my eyes firmly on him, trying to breathe through the overwhelming feeling of dismay I was feeling at the moment. I knew the knowledge could end me but I needed to know if he really thought of me as a person who would betray her own mate. In the deafening silence that followed, he turned to me and spoke in a low, menacing voice, "The pack elders are already aware of this matter and are demanding an immediate pack trial." My eyes widened with surprise, "I am willing to stand on trial to prove my innocence." I was determined to reveal the truth, even if it meant risking my already compromised status as his future Luna. "I am sure that the moon goddess will uphold justice for me-" Zayn cut me off abruptly, "I told them there was no need for that." A sudden premonition of doom appeared in my heart, causing me to frown. I hugged my arms tightly, trying to ward off the chill that had descended upon me. “What do you mean, Zayn?” “I warned you that I would never forgive you if you betrayed me, Maisie,” My mate's gaze was stern and unyielding when he declared, “This is the price you will have to pay for your deceit. You are to leave the pack before sunrise. Pack all your belongings and leave immediately.” His words hit me like a freight train that knocked the air out of me in one single blow. Before I could register a conscious thought about the situation, I found myself rising to my feet to stop his departing figure. My voice was raw with desperation as I pleaded with him, “Zayn, please don’t do this. I swear, I didn’t go there to sleep with Xavier!” Despite my emotional pleas, Zayn seemed determined to leave. The silence in the room felt suffocating, with only the pounding of my heart beating loudly in my chest. There was no way I couldn't let my mate leave me without a fight. “I’M PREGNANT!” Zayn stopped in his tracks as soon as my voice thundered across the room. He slowly turned around to face me, narrowing his icy-blue eyes filled with disbelief. “What did you just say?” Sweat trickled down my forehead as I raced to my purse lying on one of the broken couches. At that moment, I knew I was prepared to do anything to make things stay, but all I did was pull out a piece of paper to give him. “I found out about it when I went to the hospital today.” With a gulp, I told him the truth I had been hiding this morning. “I am four weeks pregnant with your child.” Several complex emotions passed her mate’s stoic face as he stared at the sheet of paper quietly. My heart soared with hope when I saw it but instead, his eyes darkened further as he crumbled the paper in his powerful grip. His voice grew taut with rage as he demanded. “How can I be sure that this is my baby? According to the hotel staff, this is not the first time you have been there this month.” “You have gone too far, Zayn!” My voice rose an octave higher despite my intention to remain rational, keeping my tears at bay as I glared at him. “How can you doubt me when I have nothing but love and cherish you?” “Because I don't believe you, Maisie!” Zayn bellowed in liquid rage. “If that baby is really mine, get rid of it immediately. If you or that baby ever appear within my sights again, I swear on my parents' souls, I will end the both of you.” I was in a state of shock watching my mate leave until I heard the door close with a loud bang, awakening me to the dire situation I was in. My broken heart shattered further into tiny pieces as Zayn's threat echoed in my mind, causing my body to tremble in fear. My survival instincts kicked in as my hand rubbed over my stomach, filling me with determination. If that's what he truly wanted, I was going to leave, but I would make sure he would never see me or my child again.ZAYNFive years later…I sat down in my office handling the documents sent to me with practiced efficiency, penning my signature across the papers. As the alpha of the Frost Fang pack, it would have been more practical to delegate some of these menial tasks to my Beta, Xavier. But the unshakeable trust I once had in that man was now gone. Before the tendrils of my dark past could go any further, my mind was awakened by the sound of a loud sneeze reverberating across the room. My twin raised his hands when he caught my scathing look. He grinned impishly. “Sorry, I just couldn't hold in any longer. It's just seven in the morning, and you look ready to murder someone.”“Kodiak,” I tried to ignore him, but somehow his words got under my skin like they always did. “You know you can always return to your pack if you want to. I'm sure Anna and the baby will be more than pleased to accommodate your troublesome presence.”“I already called her this morning,” Kodiak didn't even try to hide hi
MAISIEOh.My.God.My heart thundered in my chest when I saw my worst nightmare standing in front of me, looking so surreal that I feared that I might pass out at any moment. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him. Zayn Cardinal was here, and he was definitely not happy to see me. I tried to avoid any direct eye contact with him, especially when his handsome face was covered with a layer of frost, enough to freeze a city. He wore a light blue fur jacket that covered the black clothing underneath, looking like heaven and sin mixed in one person. His silver-white hair was now shorter than I remembered, leaving some long bangs to the front to cover his sharp eyebrows.His icy blue eyes landed on me for a second, and then I felt it. Pure unadulterated rage slipped through the iron-clad door he shut on our mating bond, making my face go deathly pale. I felt my grip around my champagne glass loosen, spilling the contents on the Persian rug my husband had just acquired last week. The so
ZAYN After my confession, I sat rigidly in my chair, staring at Lincoln who was seated beside my mate, Maisie. The atmosphere in the room was now strained as he read the clauses I had just corrected on the proposal he had just presented to me in silence. My bad mood worsened as time passed by, every time I saw him touch my mate. My fists clenched so tightly that my nails dug into my palms, trying to rein in some control over my belligerent wolf who was just seconds away from lashing at the man on the spot. But I was no fool. I could see the calculating glint in the Moon Stone alpha's eyes anytime he initiated intimate contact with his wife. Lincoln was definitely looking for an advantage, something to rattle me during this negotiation but that wasn't going to happen. Because I wasn't the type of man who let others control my weaknesses.No, I was the predator that everyone feared.Maisie looked uncomfortable by her husband's advances but she soldiered on, playing the role of a demu
MAISIEThe morning sunlight cast a warm glow on the breakfast table through the glass windows as I watched Lincoln exit the house for his routine run with the pack. As soon as I heard the sound of the door clicking shut, I hurried to my room leaving the maids to clean the table. It was the weekend, which made it the perfect time for me to execute my plan of escaping the Moon Stone pack. I had spent the entire week playing the role of the perfect wife, hiding my true intentions from my husband and the guards who monitored my every move.After Zayn had visited our home that day, I suddenly realized that Lincoln had begun to even doubt Alexei's paternity. That was a very dangerous suspicion, one that I knew could lead to me and my child's death if the truth was ever discovered. When I suddenly returned with Alexei that day, I had already made up her mind. There was no way I could let Zayn find out the truth about Alexei, which meant that I had to leave the pack before that happened.
MAISIE"Let go of my son, Zayn." A warning growl pulsated in my throat as I gritted my teeth harshly, letting my eyes go wolf. I ignored my trembling arms and stubbornly gripped my gun tightly, letting my finger curl around the trigger. My wolf's maternal instincts overpowered her sense of hesitance and pain which gave me the courage to stand firm on the promise I had made many years ago.I would rather kill my mate than let him lay a single finger on my precious son."Do you really think you will be able to kill me, Maisie?" Zayn's conceited smirk had vanished long ago, leaving a dangerous and ruthless gaze that invoked a feeling of cold fear in me. "We both know that I can easily snap your feeble neck before you even pull that trigger."I tried not to let his words get to me, but we both knew he was right this time. Zayn Cardinal was the strongest wolf in the entire Great Landmark, the most powerful alpha among the four major packs. No one had been able to defeat him since the day h
MAISIEWhen my husband finally arrived, his previously guarded eyes widened in shock when he stepped into our house. He took in the chaotic scene of the living room before he cursed under his breath, lowering his gun when he saw me. “Jesus, Maisie. What happened here?!”I willed all my strength to produce more tears as I approached him, my legs unsteady, and collapsed into his arms. "Lincoln, the guards..."At that moment, I could not help but imagine how dismayed my husband must have felt when he saw the state of the living room. It was a complete mess - cushions strewn across the floor, the dining table overturned, its legs pointing accusingly at the ceiling. Picture frames lay face down, glass shattered. But I knew I had yet to complete the climax of my acting. “They killed all the guards, Lincoln.” I lifted my head from his embrace, spotting the arrival of some male pack mates who undoubtedly detected the metallic stench of blood diffused in the air. “I don't know who they are, b
MAISIE“There was nothing else suspicious about him!” The frustration in my heart rose to a whole new level, causing me to move away from him until my back touched the wall. “After several complaints from the pack elders, Lincoln finally decided to use some of the money to build another orphanage and rewarded ten scholarships to the orphans.”My mind clicked immediately when I said those words. Lincoln was never a generous person and he despised children. Those things were not the only things I had noticed when I saw those documents so I asked Zayn, “Do you have the list of those missing children? Can I see them?”“Here they are.” Zayn tried to give me the paper but I simply stared at the table near us until he got the message. I knew what he was doing, trying to use his wolf to calm my own but the last thing I wanted was to be near him after what he did.I grabbed the papers from the table, reviewing the list with a frown. “The kids on the list are all safe, Zayn. None of them were t
ZAYNAfter Maisie exited the room, a sense of calm finally settled upon my wolf which gave me enough space to think clearly. My wolf's fierce anger towards our mate had been consuming me since I discovered the existence of my son. I could understand Maisie's fear for her life, considering I had threatened her, but how could she think I would harm our son?I couldn't help but mentally run the list of her wrongdoings in my mind, and it only served to infuriate my wolf even more. The poor animal was no longer pained anymore; all that was left was anger and the need for vengeance.“I don't know what happened between you and Maisie,” My head snapped up when I heard the pack healer talking, bringing a momentary distraction from those overwhelming emotions. “But that woman has been through a lot and she doesn't need your animosity to add to her problems.”“You don't know anything about this, Irene so stay out of this.” I snapped back. Pack healers and priestesses were universally revered in