Zayne’s POV I could see the suspicion in Ava’s eyes as she stood there waiting for an answer. My mind raced, trying to come up with something believable. We couldn’t tell her the truth, not about Marcus, not about the letter, not about any of it. She had been through enough already with Vanessa’s death, and involving her in this would only put her in more danger.“We were just talking about some pack business,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Nothing important.”But Ava shook her head, stepping further into the room. “Don’t try to brush me off like that. I heard you guys talking about giving someone intensive punishment. That doesn’t sound like casual pack business to me.”My heart sank. She had heard more than I hoped. Irish and Steve were looking at me, waiting to see how I would handle this. I could see the worry in their faces. We all knew how persistent Ava could be when she suspected something.“Are you hiding something from me?” she asked directly, her voice getting stronger.
Steve’s POV The walk back home felt different this time. My mind was racing with everything Rebecca had told me, and I couldn’t wait to share it with my brothers. The information about Caleb being Marcus’s friend who was at the party that night was exactly what we needed. Finally, we had a real lead instead of just stumbling around in the dark.When I reached our house, I could see Irish and Zayne through the window, sitting in the living room. They both looked up the moment I walked through the door, their faces full of expectation. I could tell they had been waiting for me, probably going crazy wondering what I had discovered.“Is Ava home?” I asked immediately, looking around the room. We couldn’t discuss anything sensitive with her around, especially not after that threatening letter we received. The last thing we needed was for her to overhear something that would put her in more danger.“She just went outside,” Zayne replied, leaning forward in his chair. “Said she wanted some
Steve’s POV.Steve went to school the next day with one clear goal in mind: to approach the girl who knew Marcus. He had thought about this plan all night after they received that threatening letter with the photograph.As he walked through the school corridors, Steve kept looking around carefully, searching for the girl among the groups of students. He spotted her near the lockers, talking with some friends. Steve made sure to position himself where she could see him, but he didn’t want to approach her directly. That would look too obvious and suspicious.Instead, Steve pretended to be busy with his phone, glancing up occasionally. He wanted her to make the first move, to think it was her idea to talk to him. That way, she wouldn’t suspect he had any hid
Writer’s POVSarah walked slowly up the path to Zach’s house, her heart beating faster with each step. She had been surprised when he contacted her, asking to meet. They hadn’t spoken much since she started working at the pack house, and she couldn’t figure out what he might want from her.She got to the house and knocked on the front door, and waited. After a few moments, the door opened, but instead of Zach, she found herself face to face with the Beta, Zach’s father.“Good evening,” he said politely, looking at her with curious eyes. “You must be Sarah. Zach mentioned you might be coming by.”“Yes, sir,” Sarah replied, trying to sound confident even though she felt anything but. “Is Zach in?”“Of course, come in,” Zach’s father said, stepping aside to let her enter. “He’s upstairs getting ready. I’ll let him know you’re here.”Sarah stepped into the small living room, taking in the environment. “Thank you for having me in your home,” Sarah said, remembering her manners.Zach’s fat
Zayne’s POVI dropped the picture immediately, like it had burned my fingers. The photograph fluttered to the floor, landing face up so we could all see the clear image of Marcus’s bloody corpse lying exactly where we had found him on our front doorstep.Steve and Irish both bent down to pick up the picture, their faces showing the same shock and horror that I was feeling.“Holy wolf,” Steve whispered, his voice barely audible as he stared at the photograph.Irish was turning the picture over in his hands, looking for any clues about who might have sent it. “There’s no name on it,” he said quietly.I needed to see if whoever had delivered this envelope was still around. Maybe they were still watching us, waiting to see our reaction. I rushed outside, looking up and down our street. But the street was empty. I came back inside, closing the door behind me and locking it firmly. My brothers were still standing in the living room, holding the photograph and the letter, their faces pale w
Zayne’s POVWhen Steve came downstairs this morning and asked how far we got with our investigation, I knew he was anxious to hear what Irish and I had discovered at the party. I could see the hope in his eyes, the same hope I had been feeling when we first decided to go.I exchanged a quick glance with Irish before sitting down on the couch. We had agreed on the way home that we would tell Steve everything, even though the news wasn’t as good as we had hoped.“Well,” I began, running my hand through my hair, “we went to the party like we planned. The girls were there, just like they said they would be.”Steve leaned forward, waiting for me to continue.“We tried to be smart about it,” I explained. “We didn’t just walk up to them and start asking questions about the dead student. That would have been too obvious and suspicious.”Irish nodded in agreement. “We spent some time just talking to them normally first. You know, trying to fit in, acting like we were just there to have fun.”