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Chapter 60
~Zara’s POV~
Snow’s eyes narrowed slightly as he stepped closer, and I could see the flicker of something in his gaze. Recognition, maybe? Or curiosity?
"You’ve been acting strange all night." As if on cue, Snow’s eyes were scanning me like he was trying to figure out what was happening. "Your aura is different. Stronger. What’s going on?"
I shut my eyes for the longest I could think of, trying to mentally think of gross things to calm me down and this new sensation.
"I’m just not feeling any of this," I lied.
"Is that so? Too boring for you?" he chuckled as he stood close and looed up at the full moon. "You know..." he began, only to stop briefly. "Ever wondered what having a mate would be like?"
Snow tucked his hands in his pocket. "Yes, but that never came, so I gave up."
"Hmm. I did once and that was it."
There was silence between us, the weight of his words sinking in. I had never heard him speak so vulnerably before, and it caught me off guard. He always seemed so sure, so in control, but now I could hear the doubt in his voice.
"You don’t believe in it anymore?" I asked softly.
"Not for myself," he said, his tone tinged with regret. "I think the Moon Goddess blessed me with power instead of a mate. Maybe it’s the price I have to pay."
I frowned. "That can’t be true. Everyone deserves a mate."
"Even if that were the case," he said softly, "sometimes fate has other plans. And I have seen how thrashy mates are. Some at least, and I won’t be sad if I don’t get one."
I felt something stir within me. Something must have happened for the mighty Alpha to believe that lie.
"What happened?" I found myself asking before I knew it.
Before I could respond, Snow’s eyes shifted, his gaze locking onto something in the distance. I followed his line of sight and saw Aira standing near the hall’s entrance, a soft smile on her lips as she waved at him.
Her presence radiated warmth, but there was something about her that tugged at my heart—a kind of sadness, buried deep.
"She looks happy," I said, my voice quiet. "But there’s more to it, isn’t there?"
Snow turned back to me, his expression hardening. "I promised to tell you something important, Zara. About Aira."
I folded my arms across my chest; curiosity piqued. "What is it?"
Rather than respond, he walked off and waited a few distances for me to follow. I did, and we continued walking as he began his tale.
Snow took a deep breath, his gaze darkening as he began to speak. "About nine years ago, Aira met her mate at a party. At first, everything seemed perfect—they connected, they... well, they did what mates do—made love. But the next morning, things changed."
I listened carefully, my heart clenching at the solemn tone in his voice.
"Her mate realised who she was—the daughter of Alpha Storm," Snow continued, his voice heavy with bitterness. "At the time, our father’s reputation was... intimidating. Ruthless, powerful. Her mate panicked and publicly rejected her, claiming he wanted nothing to do with a family like ours."
The sharp intake of breath escaped me before I could stop it. My chest tightened at the thought of Aira being rejected, and publicly no less. "That’s horrible."
Snow nodded. "She was devastated. The rejection spread through several packs like wildfire, and it broke her. She came back home, but the damage was already done. A month later, she found out she was pregnant."
I felt a chill run down my spine. "Pregnant for that scum?"
He nodded again. "She thought the pregnancy would bring him back to her. Against all our advice and pleas, Aira snuck out on her 6th month. She went to see him, hoping he’d change his mind. But instead, he threatened to tear the child from her. He tried to hurt her, to kill the baby. If I hadn’t gotten there in time..."
I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth as I imagined the scene in my mind. Snow’s fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tightening as he relived the memory.
"I followed her after hearing where she’d gone. I arrived just in time to see my sister on her knees, hair yanked back by some useless scum and a dagger in that douchebag’s hand pointed at her stomach."
I swallowed. I could imagine a scene where he beat the living daylights out of them, but I wanted to hear him say it. "And after that?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"After, my caringly calm sister refused to let me kill him and his pack, and we left. When Storm was born, Aira wasn’t herself anymore. Her mental health deteriorated, and she couldn’t take care of him. That’s why I took him in"
It made sense now.
"He called me ’Dad’ from the first word he ever spoke, and it just... stuck." Snow’s gaze softened. "She disappeared a few years later and left a note saying she was going to try again. She came back after three years, badly hurt and beaten, with a brain concoction. Her mate... he broke her even more."
I was stunned. I had no words, my mind spinning as I tried to process everything he’d just told me. The weight of Aira’s story was too much to bear, and I couldn’t imagine the pain Snow must have felt watching his sister suffer like that.
"Why didn’t you...?" I began, but Snow cut me off.
"She begged me not to do anything to him. She didn’t want his pack destroyed. It’s the only reason I haven’t done anything yet, but I’ll ruin him completely and dispose of him."
I was speechless, my heart aching for Aira, for Snow, for everything they had been through. Before I could respond, movement caught my attention.
"You won’t do anything illegal, right?"
Snow whipped his head in my direction; the raw primal rage in his eyes made me gulp and Astrid shudder. They were bloody red.
"And is he doing anything legal? Is almost killing one’s sister legal?"