Zara

"Anything to get to you... Princess." He grabbed my hair again, making my heart pound. With people as insane as Marcus and his mother, you never know what’s in store for them next.

"Now it’s time to send Alpha some kind of reward for being so wonderful to us," he leaned over and whispered in my ear, his lips almost touching the edge of my outer ear. "Don’t you think so?"

Disgust spread across my skin, and I tried to break free from his closeness and heat.

"Cut her hair and send it to them. I always hated her mother’s red locks, which Doran loved so much that he made me wear a red wig. I couldn’t cut her mother’s hair, but we can certainly do that."

His mother giggled from her seat, sending a wave of rage through me. No, not the hair. It had taken years to grow that long.

But I wasn’t going to beg them; they would have loved my display of emotion and suffering. And resisting was futile, because those ropes were so tight.

"Excellent idea, Mom."

The next few minutes tore the very soul out of me. I tried to suppress all my emotions, but the pain was unbearable, suffocating, almost paralyzing.

I closed my eyes and tried not to shed a tear. The memory of Alpha burying his nose in my soft curls distracted me.

The sound of scissors mercilessly cutting my hair was a sound from my worst nightmares, and I knew it would haunt me for the rest of my life. My wolf was silent.

They fell around me, painting the dull grey floor red.

***

(Zyair)

For a father, there was nothing more painful than losing his child. Unbearable pain... This oppressive, incomprehensible anxiety in my heart... The uncertainty of what was to come...

A flash of my child’s face before my eyes... And the worst thing was to break this news to other loved ones.

That was all I could think about as I walked toward our room. I left Ryan to prepare for the trip to the unknown place, because he was more reasonable in this situation than I was.

Opening the door, I entered the bedroom and found Holy fast asleep. Her red head poked out from under the covers.

I hated myself for being the harbinger of this news, but Zara was my daughter, and Holy had to know she was taken away.

In the Sterling Empire, they always saw the worst. Kneeling next to her side of the bed, I gently placed my hand on Holy’s head.

She purred softly under my touch, always recognizing it, even in her sleep. "Holy! You need to get up, my love," I said, and her beautiful eyes flew open, meeting mine.

She blinked a few times, trying to wake up, and then focused on me. Instantly, she realized something was terribly wrong.

"Dad! What happened?" She lifted the blanket and slowly climbed out of bed into my arms.

I pulled her close and buried my face in her hair to hide the pain so clearly visible on my face.

"Talk to me, you’re scaring me."

How do I tell a sister her sister has been kidnapped? I had no idea. I raised my head and hugged her tightly as she raised her hands and pressed them to my face.

Determination flashed in her eyes. She had always been brave and handled difficult situations better than I could.

"...It’s about...Zara," my voice wavered as I looked down, unable to hold her. But she lifted my face, forcing me to look into her bold eyes.

"Tell me what happened?" There was not the slightest hesitation in her voice.

I exhaled slowly. "...your sister has been kidnapped." Unwavering faith, a vow written not in words, but in our souls, pulsating between us.

This unbreakable bridge of trust, built beyond the language we spoke, remained strong as long as she looked at me.

Her soft hands pressed tighter to my face, her expression hardened, and tears welled up in my eyes, but not hers.

"First of all, our girl is strong. You raised her to overcome any obstacle in her path." She wiped away the tears that had begun to fall from my eyes.

"And secondly, we will get her back. You will get my sister back. I believe in you, Dad."

I closed my eyes and tried to dull the throbbing pain in my heart. It didn’t work. "Tell me everything."

And I told her everything I knew at that moment and outlined my plan for the trip.

Holly pulled away from me and wrapped her arms around my neck, holding me tightly.

"Bring back my sister. I’ll be here to watch." My arms immediately tightened around her trembling body. We enjoyed each other’s company and reassured each other before leaving.

Sophia arrived. Sophia refused to stay, insisting that Zara had sent her an urgent message and that she needed to make sure they got the device she’d mentioned before anyone else got their hands on it.

Holly hugged Ryan.

"Bring our sister home and take care of our father. Situations like this were always inevitable for us," Holly told Ryan, and he nodded firmly.

Sophia hugged her as she separated from us and leaned against her best friend’s shoulder. Their faces were grim. I left her standing in the garage, her shawl loosely draped over her shoulders.

Twilight illuminated it. We stared at each other in silence until we were out of sight.

Ryan was driving. He was completely focused on the case, but I knew he was seething inside and would talk to me privately about the situation.

Sophia and Govinda were in the other car, and Ryan, Holly, and I were in mine.

"Govinda was with me when you called, so he knows. He told me one small detail."

Hearing this, I became wary and turned to Ryan, who was driving with a stony face.

"I need to see this." Ryan handed me his phone with his left hand.

Taking it, I eagerly began reading what Govinda had dug up.