ALPHA ZAYN'S DISTRUST

MAISIE

“Zayn, I swear I am telling you the truth!” The chilly night wind blew across the curtains near the open windows, causing goosebumps on my skin so I grabbed the tattered remains of my clothing to keep warm. I hated the way I looked at the moment, pitifully staring at my mate with a tear-stained face.

The entire room was a mess, enshrouded in darkness that agitated my inner wolf. The furniture was overturned and broken, while the shattered lights were a testament to the chaos that had happened a few minutes after we returned home.

But what scared me the most was the look my mate gave me when he turned to me. His handsome face was covered in a mask of icy fury, something I had seen directed at his enemies many times.

Trust me, no one had ever survived such an encounter before.

“I will ask you one last time, Maisie.” Zayn’s dangerous growl reached my ears, making me flinch when he closed the distance between us. He grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me upright to face him. “What exactly happened in that hotel?”

“X-Xavier...” I couldn't help but whimper in fear, avoiding his red-colored eyes that seemed to stare into the darkest corners of my soul, “…H-He came into the hotel room and tried to force himself on me. I-I had no idea that the water there was d-drugged so I-”

“What were you doing there, Maisie?” Zayn tightened his grip on my arm, causing me to wince at his bruising strength. He ignored my reaction and continued to speak, “I thought you promised me that you would stop being an escort. You promised to leave that life and start a new one with me. Were those words nothing but empty promises?”

A mixture of fear and frustration pierced through my heart when I heard his words, but the pain and anguish running through our mating bond was much stronger. It was hard to escape him since he stood unshakable like granite, but I couldn't bear to see the hurt I had caused in his eyes.

“It’s Xavier,” I wanted to explain things to him clearly but the words seemed stuck in my throat. “He is the one who is to blame for this-”

“Enough!” Zayn barked at me. “Do you expect me to believe that my Beta tried to rape you in a hotel that you willingly went into? Do you think I’m a fool, Maisie?”

My heart sank in disappointment when I realized he didn't believe me. I wanted to understand him, Xavier Winchester was his childhood friend who had taken a bullet for him but I was his mate. His woman.

How was it possible that he trusted him over me?

I suddenly thought of something and went very still in his grip. Dread bloomed in my chest when I noticed something different about his gaze. This was a look that he had never given me before, even when he picked me up from an abusive old man's hotel bed two years ago.

“Don’t tell me, you…” I somehow managed to wrench my arm from his titanium grip, looking into the eyes of the man I had fallen in love with, hoping to see some trace of understanding but there was none. I asked him with a shaky voice, “Do you think that I went into that hotel to seduce him? Is that what he said?”

My mate closed his eyes in distress when he saw fresh tears streaming down my cheeks. He swore a string of curses under his breath before letting out a deafening roar. In his rage, he grabbed a wooden chair and smashed it against the wall, sending splinters flying in all directions.

Despite the chaos, I set my eyes firmly on him, trying to breathe through the overwhelming feeling of dismay I was feeling at the moment. I knew the knowledge could end me but I needed to know if he really thought of me as a person who would betray her own mate.

In the deafening silence that followed, he turned to me and spoke in a low, menacing voice, "The pack elders are already aware of this matter and are demanding an immediate pack trial."

My eyes widened with surprise, "I am willing to stand on trial to prove my innocence." I was determined to reveal the truth, even if it meant risking my already compromised status as his future Luna. "I am sure that the moon goddess will uphold justice for me-"

Zayn cut me off abruptly, "I told them there was no need for that."

A sudden premonition of doom appeared in my heart, causing me to frown. I hugged my arms tightly, trying to ward off the chill that had descended upon me. “What do you mean, Zayn?”

“I warned you that I would never forgive you if you betrayed me, Maisie,” My mate's gaze was stern and unyielding when he declared, “This is the price you will have to pay for your deceit. You are to leave the pack before sunrise. Pack all your belongings and leave immediately.”

His words hit me like a freight train that knocked the air out of me in one single blow. Before I could register a conscious thought about the situation, I found myself rising to my feet to stop his departing figure.

My voice was raw with desperation as I pleaded with him, “Zayn, please don’t do this. I swear, I didn’t go there to sleep with Xavier!”

Despite my emotional pleas, Zayn seemed determined to leave. The silence in the room felt suffocating, with only the pounding of my heart beating loudly in my chest. There was no way I couldn't let my mate leave me without a fight.

“I’M PREGNANT!”

Zayn stopped in his tracks as soon as my voice thundered across the room. He slowly turned around to face me, narrowing his icy-blue eyes filled with disbelief. “What did you just say?”

Sweat trickled down my forehead as I raced to my purse lying on one of the broken couches. At that moment, I knew I was prepared to do anything to make things stay, but all I did was pull out a piece of paper to give him.

“I found out about it when I went to the hospital today.” With a gulp, I told him the truth I had been hiding this morning. “I am four weeks pregnant with your child.”

Several complex emotions passed her mate’s stoic face as he stared at the sheet of paper quietly. My heart soared with hope when I saw it but instead, his eyes darkened further as he crumbled the paper in his powerful grip. His voice grew taut with rage as he demanded. “How can I be sure that this is my baby? According to the hotel staff, this is not the first time you have been there this month.”

“You have gone too far, Zayn!” My voice rose an octave higher despite my intention to remain rational, keeping my tears at bay as I glared at him. “How can you doubt me when I have nothing but love and cherish you?”

“Because I don't believe you, Maisie!” Zayn bellowed in liquid rage. “If that baby is really mine, get rid of it immediately. If you or that baby ever appear within my sights again, I swear on my parents' souls, I will end the both of you.”

I was in a state of shock watching my mate leave until I heard the door close with a loud bang, awakening me to the dire situation I was in. My broken heart shattered further into tiny pieces as Zayn's threat echoed in my mind, causing my body to tremble in fear.

My survival instincts kicked in as my hand rubbed over my stomach, filling me with determination. If that's what he truly wanted, I was going to leave, but I would make sure he would never see me or my child again.