-Tavyra's POV-

I entered Zannic's room and saw him sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. I felt a tinge of sadness seeing him like that. Something really must be getting at him if he wanted to talk. The whole way here I was mulling through guesses of what might he wanted to talk about. I gently rasped on the door to let him know I've entered. He looked up at me and smiled. It was nice seeing him smile. He got up from the bed and hugged me. I hugged him back, it was rather comforting feeling his big stature engulf mine. I felt much warmer now than just a few moments ago. 

He broke the hug and motioned me to go sit on the bed and I went. He closed the door before he went back over and sat with me. I tried to calm my heart rate down before letting him hear the fear in my voice, "So...what did you wanna talk about?" 

He sighed and held my hand in his, lightly dragging his thumb across the back of my hand. It relaxed my muscles as warm shivers went through my body. "Tavyra..." His voice was the thickness of honey and almost just as sweet, "I've been asked by Alpha Zane to know where you come from." If he wasn't holding my hand, I think I would've started sweating immediately. It was a matter of time before someone would ask me my past. Should I lie to him? But doesn't he deserve to know? "Don't worry, everything you say stays between you and me. You can trust me." He gave a smile of reassurance and I fell for it. Might as well tell him now instead of in front of a whole table of officials. 

I took a deep breath and started with what I knew. The truth. "I was born to the Alpha and Luna of the Tyler pack..." I admitted. I saw his eyes widen. I told him I was human, which I was...I simply wasn't born as one. I continued, "I was raised to be the next Luna of the Tyler pack or to another pack, whichever came first. You know the deal." I brushed the part he already knew, "That was until the age of eight..."

My best friend in the whole world and I were out in the forest playing that day. She happened to be the Beta's daughter and was raised to always be next to me. She was much prettier than I and always smiled. She was fair-skinned and had the prettiest locks of brown, straight hair. We were playing near a stream and by ourselves. That's when we were ambushed by rouges. 

We both knew they were after me. We dove into the stream and swam where it met the lake. However, while I was swimming, I was knocked unconscious by one of the rouge's projectiles. I think it was a rock that knocked me out. 

When I came to, we were in the lake. Both of us were covered in blood. It was hers. Her stomach was gushing blood.  It looked as if it were couple claws stuck in her skin and a knife wound. I tried to hold the wound to stop the blood from coming out. She was already dead. Floating there lifeless...

My parents and the Betas found us still in the lake. They accused me of killing their daughter. My parents didn't want to have a murder trail and have that type of reputation on their name. A week went by and instead of believing me that she was killed by a rouge, they simply exiled me. They skipped the trail, the testimonies. They didn't care if it made sense if I did it or not. They wanted me to not spoil their good name. They turned their backs on me and have never looked back since...

...I went to live with my Aunt Shelby after I had no where else to go. One day, I simply woke up and didn't have my wolf ever again. She wasn't there anymore. And that day forth, I just called myself a human..." I didn't meet his eyes. What would he think of me now? He probably thought I was pathetic. 

He tightened his hold on my hand, possibly to try and comfort me, but it wasn't really working. It was a long moment of silence before he responded to me, "I heard about that...the Tyler pack's daughter. But...her name wasn't Tavyra." 

I sighed again. I was so glad it was just me and him in the room. I would never be able to say this in front of anybody else.  "Amina." I said bluntly. "Her name was Amina Echo Tyler."I haven't said that name in years and hearing it was even weirder. It was someone completely different. Amina's life stopped at the age of eight. 

Zannic hugged me tight in comfort. I embraced it. It was much needed. I've never told anybody that story. For once, I felt it was a weight lifted off my shoulders, that I told him. I didn't have to hide it from him anymore. I heard him mutter in my ear, "No parent should ever just abandon their child like that." I simply scoffed. I've been saying that for about a decade now. 

"I'm pretty sure they simply acted as if they didn't have a daughter anymore." I told him honestly. He hugged even tighter, possibly out of compassion. I'm not really sure but I rather liked it. 

"That's completely awful..." He muttered under his breath. He was the only person I told and it felt good to tell him that. 

-Zannic's POV-

The story Tavyra told me shook my core. I don't even think my father would've treated me like that. It was hard for me to even imagine having parents like hers. I wanted to slap them personally. How dare they treat my mate like such trash. Not even listening to her...

The story was bad and all but what was worse was the fact that she is a rouge. And I caught all of it on audio. I looked down at  the one of three audio recorders stashed throughout my bedroom that was peeking out from it's hiding spot from under my bed. I quietly kicked it back under, hoping she hadn't noticed it yet. My chest was beating rather quickly. I couldn't calm myself. I felt beads of sweat on the back of my neck. I had to get her out before she started asking questions. 

I pulled back out of the hug and kept the best genuine smile I could. I had to keep her calm. "Thank you for telling me, princess. Now I'll let you go about your day." She smiled back. It both warmed and panicked my heart. What have I done? I helped her stand up and lead her to the door, I tried to explain, "I have a meeting to attend and need to get ready. It should be over about two, alright?" She nodded and looked up at me with those dark chocolate eyes of hers. 

They were so innocent. So precious. They took my breath away every time. I caught myself getting lost in them once again. Before she went to open the door, she asked me one more final question, "This was just between me and you, right?" 

I was screaming internally inside. I smiled to her and hugged her once again, "Of course. I'd hate to ruin your trust like that." How could I say such lies? What type of person am I? 

She smiled brightly and leaned in for a kiss. I was expecting the usual cheek kisses that we've gotten into the habit of doing, but this wasn't a cheek kiss this time. This time, we locked lips. Her soft, delicate lips were planted on mine and I felt tingly sparks between us. She wrapped her arms behind my neck and I simply stepped closer towards her and placed my hands on the small of her back. My brain had melted away in the moment and everything had intensified by two folds. I eyes fell shut on their own and as her body touched mine, it felt heavenly. My heart was pounding against my chest and my wolf was going wild. I was honestly surprised there wasn't fireworks and balloons going off everywhere. That's how amazing it felt. 

She pulled her lips away from mine and I had to restrain myself from pulling them back to mine. I didn't want the moment to end. She leaned close and sent chills down my spine as she whispered into my ear, "I'm so happy I could trust you. I don't trust that many people in life. I'm glad one of them is you." She pecked me on the cheek and left me in stunned awe. 

I could've been standing there for 30 seconds or 30 minutes. My brain refused to work. I was completely and utterly stunned by the current events. I had to make sure I was still awake. I've never had someone leave me in their tracks like she does. She's the perfect angel from heaven. 

Soon, my bodily functions began to process again and that's when I realized the horribly mistake I've made. I rushed out of my room and hurried down the stairs to the den. Just as I'd hoped, Rufus was in there reading  the book To Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. He saw my enter the room and started to mark his page. "So, Zan, how'd your little evaluation go?" I grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him to the quiet corner of the den where no one would be able to hear us. He scowled at me when I let him go, but I wasn't exactly focused on Rufus' feelings. "Is something wrong?" He said as he rubbed the blood back into his wrist. 

I searched his eyes. Why'd he talk me into this? He's suppose to tell me it was a horrible idea. And he gave me the equipment! What type of adviser does that!? I told him bluntly, "There is no way I'm showing my father those tapes."