Victor was silent for a beat. "Her mother… killed him."
Zephyr felt a wave of dizziness come over her, her knees trembling as suddenly, Amara steadied her, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. Her husband looked at her with so much turmoil in one eye.
Everyone heard the words, letting them sink in, before Alpha cleared his throat. "Tell me."
Victor's voice was low. "She found a file in his old stuff. It's bad, Alpha."
"How bad?"
"Bad enough that he adopted Zenith because The Syndicate asked him to keep an eye on her after she escaped."
The words fell like bullets to her heart. No. No. It couldn't be true. Not her gentle, sweet, kind papa. Not him. Not her sister.
She heard a noise and realized it was coming from her mouth, hiccups in her throat and so much shivering she couldn't stop. Her husband grabbed her close, pulling her into his wide chestand she remembered what he'd said about his attack, the man keeping the girl, the man he had heard before talking to Hector. It had been her father. She'd had her father over so many times for dinner and he'd just sat there, knowing what he had to her husband. Hell, he'd lived his life knowing what had been done to her sister.
Zephyr broke down, it was everything, all at once, too soon.
Alpha rubbed her back, his face in her hair, kissing her over and over on the head to soothe her. But she could feel a chasm in her heart as the world she knew went upside down again.
"What about my…?" she couldn't get the words out between her hiccups.
"She's been arrested," Victor said. "I'm trying to get things ironed out here. I'm so fucking sorry, Zee."
Zephyr listened to the words, going numb as everything settled around her, her past turned to dust, the only solid thing the arms that held her silently locked in.
Zephyr let herself break.