Scars and shadows

Davina.

The morning light was harsh, hot rays cutting through the thin curtains of my bedroom, exposing my midnight dress on the shelf and my scattered shoes on the ground. I yawned lazily, lying on my back and staring at the ceiling.

My body was filled with a phantom of heat I couldn’t scrub away in the shower.

I couldn’t take my mind off the jewellery box buried deep in my wardrobe, in a place I couldn’t stumble on it. The image of the silver cufflink still bothered me. I didn’t want to see it again, not when I am Davina.

“Davina! Downstairs! Now!”

My father’s voice echoed through the mansion. I hissed, sighed with irritation. I picked up an oversized sweater to hide the faint marks on my collarbones and descended the stairs.

Soren was already at the table with a stack of pancakes dripping with syrup in front of him. He looked up and smiled. My brother was the only good thing left in this house. He was brilliant and kind, completely oblivious of the fact that his sister was a night worker, just so his world could keep spinning.

“Rough night?”Soren asked, sliding a plate towards me. “You have dark circles under your eyes again Davi. Dad, she’s working too hard at the shop.”

Dad didn’t look up from his tablet. He just took a slow sip of black coffee. “It’s not really hard work, Soren. Your sister just wastes her time on unnecessary things and ends up finishing her work late. She lacks discipline.”

“Soren, I’m fine. It’s just minor work.” I flashed him a fake smile.

Soren frowned. “You shouldn’t be working. We have a lot of servants, a lot of people who can be recruited for this job and we have enough money to pay them, Father. You need to stop making Davi do labour.”

Levi frowned and dropped his tablet this time. “Some things are responsibilities, Soren. It can’t be handled by anyone else.”

“Then I’ll come by tonight to help,” Soren said, looking straight into my eyes.

“No!” I said a little louder than intended. I forced a smile when Soren blinked in surprise. “I mean, it’s fine. I like working alone. It gives me time to think.”

The doorman walked in and whispered some words to my father whose facial expression changed instantly. “That would be Makar and Aiden. Davina, try to look presentable. Don’t embarrass me.”

I turned pale. Makar was my father’s oldest friend, he’d held me since I was a toddler and gave me chocolate when I was a teen. He has been present in my whole life. But Aiden…

Aiden, on the other hand, was the one who created butterflies in my belly since I was seven. He was the Alpha of Nightshade Brotherhood, known for their discipline and strength.

His scent was enough to make my heart race and I have lived my life, pretending it was just a fling. Nothing more.

The door opened, and the scent slammed into my face. My heart was caught in my throat. Makar walked in first.

“There she is! My favourite niece!” Makar scooped me into a tight embrace like I was still a kid. For a second, I let myself lean into him, imagining that I was just a normal girl with a normal uncle. I missed the days when everything was filled with honey.

“Careful, Makar, you’ll squeeze the life out of her,” a gusty voice said. I froze, forgetting how to breathe.

I pulled away from Makar and looked up. Aiden stood in the doorway, looking like someone from a historical book. He was dressed in a well-tailored charcoal suit that screamed everything you needed to know about the Nightshades. His hair was swept back and his eyes…blazing like fire, settled on me with an intensity that made my knees weak.

But something smelled familiar but covered with the normal scent I was used to. Something was foreign…

I did the calculations and had a wild guess. The air in the room suddenly felt thin, exactly like the air in Room 402

Alpha Aiden,” I whispered, dropping my head. I wasn’t sure if I was thinking right, but my instincts tell me I have met him before, behind my black mask.

“Davina,” he said, like a prayer and a threat at the same time. “It’s been a long time. You’ve…grown up.”

“As she should,” my father interjected, stepping forward to give Aiden a warm embrace like they always did. “Although she’s been a lot to handle lately, we all move on, don’t we?”

She has been a lot to handle? I have been a lot to handle? I have done everything right. Yet, he belittles me in front of his friends?

“I think it’s time we find her another mate. What do you think?” Levi added.

Aiden’s eyes didn’t leave mine. I saw his jaw tighten and his eyes flashing a brief dangerous gold.

“She suffered rejection from her mate, Levi. It is the failure of the male, not the female. A wolf who cannot recognise the value of what he has deserves to lose it.”

I looked up in shock. It was the kindest thing anyone had said to me in a long time, yet it came from a man whom my heart yearns for but I could never be with.

“Well, let’s not dwell on the past,” Makar said, sending the tension. “We are here for lunch and business. Davina, why don’t you watch the maids in the kitchen? Or better yet, show Aiden the garden? Levi and I have some boring ledgers to go over.”

I wanted to run. I wanted to bolt the store and lock myself in my room. But my father's hand was gripping my shoulder, his claws threatening to dig in just enough to be a warning.

“Go on, Davina,” he said, his voice a low hiss. “Show Aiden around?”

But he knows every corner of this house. It’s not his first time!

I turned and walked towards the back door silently. I could feel Aiden’s eyes crawling underneath my skin. I didn’t know which was worse: the fear that he might know what I do and who I am, or the terrifying realisation that my body didn’t need a mask to call out to him.

We reached the edge of the rose bushes. The silence between us stretched till it felt like it would snap. Aiden stepped closer, so close our noses almost touched. He reached out his fingers, hovering just inches from my neck—right where the faint, purple bruise from last night was hidden beneath my collar.

“You have a very familiar scent, Davina,” he murmured, his voice dropping dangerously more familiar to someone from the club. “Tell me…do you often go for walks in the moonlight?”