Zola’s breath shivered out of her, and her hand moved instinctively to my heart.
“When I awoke, I didn’t know where I was. The air smelled strange, and it was dark. So dark I couldn’t see my own hand in front of my face. And then… I heard my mother’s scream, followed by my father’s. I vomited on the floor of my cell from hearing them, knowing they were both dead and no one was going to come and save me.”
Zola’s expression steeled as she held my gaze.
“They tied me up and brought me to a room,” I continued quietly. “They wanted to see what would happen if a shifter was cut before coming of age. If wounds would heal. If we bled differently.”
Her eyes flashed with fury.
“They used blades,” I said. “Iron, steel, even gold.”
My fingers brushed the scar she was touching along my arms. “These are from those nights.”
She closed her eyes, fingers trembling slightly against me.
“I was just a child, and I couldn’t shift yet. I hadn’t even sensed my animal. I was alone.” I shuddered, fighting back my tears. “They were going to kill me by dawn. Would’ve displayed my body like a trophy. But one of the human healers, just one, grew a conscience. Or maybe she pitied me. Either way, she cut my binds loose while the others slept and told me to run and never look back.”
Zola’s eyes finally lifted to mine, and what I saw there nearly undid me.
Not horror.
Not pity.
But understanding. And something deeper—a fierce, protective emotion that neither of us was ready to name.
“I ran,” I said softly. “I ran until my feet bled and I could no longer feel my limbs. I didn’t stop running until I recognized Solace borders.”
Her hand rose to my cheek, cupping it gently. “Shaw,” she whispered, voice breaking.
“Alistar found me… But my parents? My parents were gone.”
Zola shifted closer until her forehead pressed to mine. “You survived,” she said. “You endured what no child or being should have experienced.” Her voice trembled like she was hurting with me, for me. “And you grew into someone who protects everyone else from ever facing what you did.”
I let out a shaky breath.
Her thumb brushed along my jaw. “I see all of you now,” she whispered. “And I don’t think any less of you. Gods, Shaw… I think more.”
The bond pulsed between us, gentle and fierce all at once. For the first time, letting someone touch my scars and see the truth of them didn’t feel like weakness.
It felt like healing.
“Zola…” My voice cracked.
She shook her head, eyes shining with something fierce and tender. “You don’t have to say anything.”
But I wanted to. I wanted to sayeverything. Instead, I leaned in, my lips brushing hers. It was feather-soft and full of something we didn’t yet dare voice.
She answered with a sigh against my lips.
When we parted, she rested her forehead against mine again. “Good night, Shaw,” she whispered, as if the words themselves were an embrace.
I felt her lips against my throat a moment later as she pressed a trail of tiny kisses along the side of my neck, light, warm, and impossibly gentle. Zola curled into me, fitting against my chest as if she’d always belonged there. My arms wrapped around her without thought, holding her close as her breath settled into a slow, even rhythm.
And for the first time in years, sleep found me easily with my mate wrapped in my arms.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Skylar Cathal
