SWNOVELS Chapter 26: Zia
"Brody, what are you trying to say?" Zia questioned with a peaking interest.
Maybe he was mumbling gibberish because of the drug that was still in his body after the treatment. But, deep inside of her, she wanted to believe what he had said. Why did he say that Samuel's killer wasn't part of Jaxon's pack a few hours ago? Did that mean Jaxon didn't kill her brother? Then, who did? Who killed Samuel?
"Samuel didn't die because he didn't pull the trigger," Brody went out as he tried to sit up on the hospital bed, "Someone else pulled the trigger."
The horror that came after the sentence was something Zia couldn't comprehend.
"Samuel took the bullet," he concluded.
Her eyes were glistening with tears. Brody might have cheated behind her but at this moment, she believed in his words because there was no lies in his eyes. There was no sign of deception. He was well aware that he was talking to her. He knew what he was doing. She wanted to know who held the gun that killed her brother. She never saw the evidence of Samuel's death. Joshua was the one who told her that her twin brother got killed by a werewolf and the funeral was held on the next day. She didn't get to see Samuel's body in the morgue and found how he was killed. Zia bit her own tongue to stop herself from finding out more than she could hold.
Zia begged to Jaxon as the men dragged her away from him. She was screaming for his name, begging him to hear her explanation, but he wasn't having none of it. His stare turned as cold as the ice and was piercing through her body like a million daggers. Jaxon walked away from her without ever looking back. Zia cried her eyes out and stopped fighting the two men as they escorted her out of the mansion towards where the dungeon was. There was a possibility that she could escape from them but she decided not to. Why surrendered herself if she ended up escaping? She wanted to correct what she had done, but Jaxon wasn't going to show any clemency to her. The things she did to his pack were unforgivable. What else could she lose at this point? She lost her brother, the only person she trusted her life with. She was lost after his death and her lost was the only reason why she became who she was today. And for that reason, she had destroyed many families including Jaxon's.
The two men escorted her into a jail cell and locked the door as soon as she was inside. Zia slumped against the wall as her cries never ceased. She was too hurt to keep going with her life. The pain was unbearable. The man, who she thought could give peace to her life, ordered for her to be sent into the dungeon where she waited for her trial. Her hands trembled as she held onto the photo Jaxon had given to her. She thought her eyes were deceiving her. The more she was looking at the photo, the more she wanted to believe that the photo was the only evidence she needed to believe in.
How many more lies did her father tell her? Was there any truth he ever spoke to her?
She flipped the photo and read the names written on the back; Clara, Joshua, and Riley. Her father was smiling and was looking like he was in a bliss with the two people on both of his sides. He looked a lot younger in the photo. What this could mean? Who were these two people with him?
"It was me," a raspy voice answered her thought.
Zia turned to see the speaker and saw the older version of the man in the photo. He was Riley and his resemblance was quite familiar to her, but she couldn't recall where she had seen him before. If this man was here right now, did that mean he was part of Jaxon's pack?
"When I heard the Alpha ordered for you to be sent here, I had to come to clarify a few things for you," he spoke again. "Ask me anything, Zia."
"You know my father?"
He nodded solemnly, "In fact, he was a good friend of mine," He grabbed a chair and sat down, having the bars as the only thing that separated both of them, "I knew Joshua since grades school. He was partnered with me and Clara for a science project. Since then, we were a very close friend."
She stared at the photo once more as if she wanted to make sure it was Joshua in the photo. "What happened?"
"Clara was his girlfriend in high school,"
Zia wasn't sure whether she should puke her gut out or not at the mention of her father's love life during his high school years. She thought Joshua didn't attend a high school because he home-schooled all of his children. There were so many questions she wanted to ask at the man across her, but she couldn't find the courage to ask. She knew if she asked instead of being told, she gained more than she bargained for.
"In the werewolf's nature, we don't recognize our significant other until the very later years. You could befriend with your own mate for decades and still wouldn't realize he was the one for you until the Moon Goddess allowed it to happen."
"She was your mate?" she mumbled at the realization after she had heard his words.
Riley nodded again, "Yes, I found her as my mate when we were about to graduate high school. We didn't mention about it to anyone else, especially Joshua. A few weeks later, she found she was pregnant of his child and the secret was exposed because I lost my temper when I found out that my mate was carrying another man's child." Pain contorted on his face as if he regretted telling her about the story, but he went on, "Your father took my mate away for a year before she escaped and returned to my side."
"What about the child?"
He smiled, "You know him very much. It's just his age had been changed. His correct age is 36 years old."
The child was ten years her senior. Who could it be? Riley said she knew the child.
"His name's Brody Sawyer," he revealed at last.