Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 21

He didn't tell me where he was taking me, and I didn't ask. Maybe I should have. Was I afraid of his answer or did I simply trust him no matter my misgivings? Was I worried he would say something that horrified me or was I hoping he would redeem himself?

My heart ached. My chest was too tight, making every one of my breaths painfully shallow.

And yet his hand around my wrist was so warm as he led me far past the Dark Moon estate, north and north and northward on, never stopping. No one had stopped to question us when we left, and I had the feeling no one would come looking for us, either. Where we were going, it would be only the two of us.

The two of us, and the truth.

We came to the edge of a forest of towering trees, their shadow casting us in semi-darkness. In the silence, I waited for Evan to speak, heart thudding so heavy and slow my body thrummed with each beat.

But after a moment, he took me by the hand and led me farther in. I followed without resistance, eyes skirting from tree to tree as we passed each one.

He had asked me before if I had ever been in the forest bordering Dark Moon territory. Was this the one he had been talking about? It must have been, or why else would he have led me here? Nine years ago, he had said, we had met for the first time in this place. But my memory was hazy. I recalled almost nothing of those years.

We came under a grand fir tree that stretched higher than the rest, and at last Evan stopped walking. He looked at me, eyes bright.

"I was unconscious here," he said and pointed to the base of the tree. "You found me. You saved me, Claudia."

I stared at where he pointed to, but try as I might, I recalled nothing. I should at least remember this tree, impressive as it was, but that time I had gotten lost in this forest, I recalled only that I'd eventually returned home.

No, wait. I had escaped the pack house, and the trackers had come after me to get me back. How could I have forgotten that?

But still no recollection of ever meeting anyone else here.

"You still don't remember?" Evan pressed.

I shook my head, and his chest fell in a silent sigh as he looked back to the tree. "I'm sorry. I know what happened to you here was important."

"You were here, Claudia. It was you."

"Then maybe I was too young to remember it. If I do remember anything, I'll tell you, Alpha Evan."

I thought I had upset him with my firm rebuttal when he looked at me with a pained stare, jaw clenched. But it was something else he took issue with, not my gentle rejection of his claim. "Don't call me that when we're alone," he said quietly. "Just call me Evan. Please."

I nodded mutely when he squeezed my hand. There was such rawness in his eyes that it made my stomach feel like it was falling away. It was like looking upon an open gash in his soul, a vulnerable wound that bled and bleed. And there was nothing I could do about it no matter how much I wanted to.

"Evan? What were you doing in this place back then? Why were you unconscious? What happened to you?"

His gaze moved away again, fixing on the base of the fir tree once more. I was the one who squeezed his hand this time.

"Evan, please tell me."

I knew. I had gathered the truth in bits and pieces of his thoughts and everyone else's, but I wanted to hear it from him now. I followed him when he guided me to the grass, and we sat together side-by-side.

"My father and the previous Alpha of Scarlet pack, Adrain, were brothers," he said, voice low. "That makes Adrain my uncle. He might have inherited leadership, but my father met his mate and married her when he was eighteen years old. My grandfather was still the Alpha then, and he chose my father over my uncle to be his heir, since finding your mate makes you stronger, more capable, more prepared."

I nodded. Raf had explained some of that to me.

"When I was ten years old, my grandfather was poisoned. Adrain manipulated things so he could frame my parents with barely any evidence, just accusations. But everyone in power went along with him and said they must have tried to kill my grandfather." "A conspiracy."

He nodded. "But that wasn't all. Two days later, my parents were released from where they'd been kept under house arrest with me. Scarlet had conducted an investigation against Adrain's will, and they found out that someone originally from Dark Moon had been acting as a spy in our midst for a long time, and maybe was even responsible for the poisoning himself. My father didn't trust Adrain not to hurt us while he was gone, so he brought us with him when he traveled to Dark Moon to investigate further." He paused, bitter pain swelling in his mind.

"And this is where they both died," he said. "Right here in this forest. I would have too, but you saved my life. Adrain wasn't expecting that, but he had to have figured it out eventually."

He looked at me, gaze hard.

"Adrain was spiteful. He could have come up with some made-up excuse to wipe out Dark Moon as soon as he found out that a member of that pack was responsible for ruining his plan. But he never retaliated. He left Dark Moon alone completely. That was another clue that they were working together." So that was why. "You want to kill everyone who was involved," I said quietly.

"I have to. I had to, Claudia." His face contorted, wracked by pain. "They got my father with a poisoned knife. And when he lay there paralyzed, they stabbed the same knife into his chest over and over again. They twisted it and opened him up just to hear him scream. And they went after my mother next. They r***d her, every single one of them, one by one. They never stopped. They kept hurting her until her body gave out, until she died. They made me watch."

How had he gotten away? Had he seen his chance and run, miraculously slipping from their grasp and fleeing fast enough to lose them in the dark? He must have been terrified. He must have been heartbroken. He must have been so full of fear and rage and helplessness...

And how hard must it have been to run away alone, leaving his parents' corpses behind?

Anyone could become blinded by hatred and revenge after that. I couldn't imagine what I would have done, had that happened to me.

Nine years he had lived with those memories. Nine years he had carried that hatred, unable to vent it properly, unable to bring his parents back no matter what he did.

So that was what had created the Alpha Evan everyone feared. Ruthless, cruel, cold.

And broken.

"Evan..." I whispered. "Come here."

I reached for him, and he accepted my touch. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he did the same to mine, and we held each other close in the shadow of the forest that had shattered his life to pieces.

There were still shards of that nightmare all over the ground, gleaming bright with the blood and tears from that night that would never fade or wash away.

I rested my head against his chest, heart caving under the weight of his pain.

"Evan, is this why you need to find your mate so badly? So you can find out who else was involved and become strong enough to finish taking your revenge?"

He remained silent. I closed my eyes, holding back the pain behind them. I could hide it. I could hide it forever if that was what he wanted.

"I'm sorry, Evan. I wish I were your mate. I wish you could stop looking."

He muttered something. I looked up to listen more closely, but all I could catch was a mumbled, (it's not like that.)

Or maybe I'd read his thoughts on accident. My head was so full I couldn't tell. I just wanted him to stop hurting. I just wanted him to have peace at last. (Claudia), he thought desperately. (If only it weren't for the damn curse.)

Curse? What curse?

I had no idea what curse he was thinking about. All I knew was that he was in even more anguish than before.

I held him close, slow tears leaking past my eyelashes.