CH 7 - Silas
1216 Words
SILAS POV
Heat, Harrison, and Hudson stared at me like I had sprouted horns, and given the way Seiryu was clawing under my skin, I probably had. My dragon pushed so close to the surface that every breath came out sharper than the one before, scraping against my ribs as if he were trying to break his way through.
Harrison was the first to find his voice, although it came out thin. “Silas, step back from the desk. That’s Robbie’s letter.”
I turned toward him so fast he flinched, and the crack in his composure only pushed Seiryu further forward. “Are you serious? You can’t tell me you didn’t smell her on it.”
Hudson let out a tense breath. “We smelled her the second it arrived, Silas. We’re her brothers; we always knew Helena sent it.”
Heat, who was clearly trying to keep the peace, raised his hands slightly. “It’s addressed to Robbie. Helena wrote to her, not to you.”
A harsh, low sound left me before I could swallow it. It wasn’t human. It wasn’t even close. “You knew,” I said, voice tightening until it was nearly a growl. “You smelled her. And none of you called me?”
The last sentence snapped like a whip. The windows rattled as Seiryu shoved upward, demanding action, demanding blood, demanding her.
Harrison stepped in front of the letter like he expected me to lunge for it. The movement was enough to break whatever thin control I had left.
“She is my mate.”
The roar wasn’t a shout; it was a detonation. The air cracked against the walls, sending papers swirling off the desk and making the floor vibrate. The lamp flicked, the windowpane trembled, and I felt blue bleed into my vision as my dragon burned hotter under my skin.
The triplets froze in perfect unison. Harrison’s jaw dropped. Heat looked like someone had punched all the air out of him. Hudson blinked at me, stunned into silence.
“What did you just say?” Harrison finally managed, barely louder than a whisper.
I planted both palms on the desk, teeth clenched so tightly I could feel the pressure in my skull. “Your sister,” I said slowly, in a voice that scraped like metal across stone, “is my mate. This letter came from my mate. From the woman I haven’t been able to find for three years. And none of us know if she’s safe or injured or sick or—”
Heat cut in, but even he couldn’t keep his voice steady. “Stop. You’re spiraling.”
Hudson raised his hands like he was trying to calm a rabid animal. I couldn’t blame him; that was exactly how I felt. “I’ll call Robbie,” he said. “She’ll read it. If there’s anything dangerous, she’ll tell us.”
“I want to read it,” I said, stepping forward. “Now.”
“You’ll wait,” Heat replied, meeting my stare with his Alpha aura pushing forward, clearly expecting me to challenge him or tear the room apart.
And for a moment, I almost did.
Seiryu slammed against my ribs, a rush of claws and fury, forcing blue fire to flicker across my arms. My veins felt like they were burning. Harrison cursed under his breath and grabbed his brothers, pulling them a step back as the air thickened around us.
“How do you expect me to calm down,” I said, voice rough and rising, “when the only woman I have ever loved sends a letter to this pack, and I have to stand here and pretend I don’t have the right to read it?”
Heat shook his head. “You’ve been in love with our sister this whole time? And you’re telling us now?”
“Yes. I have loved her for years, and none of you noticed she was the only one I ever looked at?” I pointed at the letter on the desk. “You never wondered why it was her?”
Harrison grimaced. “We noticed. We just thought it was a crush. And we didn’t want to murder our best friend if Helena didn’t feel the same.”
A snarl rolled out of me, low and furious, rattling the desk between us. “Your sister has never been a crush. And she is my mate. That gives me every right—”
Heat snapped back with equal force. “You have no rights over Helena until she says otherwise. Not until she comes home. Not until you tell us why she ran in the first place.”
My dragon roared inside my skull at the word ran. Rage rolled beneath my ribs like thunder. “I would never harm her. I would destroy anyone who tried. I would raze entire territories to keep her safe.”
Hudson blinked suddenly, eyes distant. “Robbie’s on her way.”
Good. Let her come. Let her read the letter so I could finally breathe again.
The seconds stretched out until they felt like torture. Then the door burst open.
Robbie rushed inside, cheeks flushed, curls everywhere, and stared at all of us like she had walked into a psychiatric ward. “What are you four doing?”
Hudson pointed at the envelope. “There’s a letter for you from Helena.”
“A letter for me?” Robbie blinked, stunned, then slapped Heat on the shoulder without hesitation. “Why didn’t you call me immediately? That is rude. All of you are rude.”
I growled despite myself, and she rolled her eyes at me like I was an overgrown cat with anger issues. “Relax, dragon. This is my letter, not yours.”
She lifted it from the desk with delicate fingers, and I watched every movement as though my soul were hanging by the edge of that paper. She broke the seal and unfolded it.
Her eyes scanned the page once. Then again. Her brow furrowed. Her mouth pulled into a surprised, almost disbelieving smile.
My heart clenched painfully. “What is it? Is she alright? Tell me.”
Robbie looked up at me and nodded. “She’s more than alright.”
My vision narrowed. “Robbie. Tell me.”
“She’s doing well,” Robbie said, her smile widening. “She’s happy. And she’s getting married.”
The room fell silent. Even the air seemed to freeze.
“She’s what?” I asked, barely managing the words.
Robbie nodded again, slower this time. “She’s engaged.”
Something tore inside me. Seiryu roared so loudly in my mind that I staggered under the force of it, and for the first time since Helena disappeared, I understood exactly what heartbreak felt like when it refused to kill you.
Darkness folded in at the edges of my vision.
My mate was marrying another man.
And that was the moment something inside me stopped breaking and started burning, slow and merciless, like the beginning of a wildfire that would not end until Helena Savage was back in my arms where she belonged, even if I had to tear the world apart to reclaim her, or crash a wedding in this case. Literally.
- Writer
