The Silver Flame

Chapter 5: Cracks

The first crack showed up on a Tuesday.

Eliana was in the break room, pouring coffee into Kane's black mug, when her phone buzzed.

"Mom?" She answered on the second buzz, pressing the phone to her ear with her shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, baby." Her mother's voice was the same. Warm. Slow. Like honey dripping off a spoon. "I just wanted to hear your voice. You haven't called in three days."

Eliana's chest tightened.

Three days. Had it really been three days?

"I'm sorry. The new job is—"

"I know. Big company. Long hours." A small cough. "Your boss sounds important."

"He's—yeah. He's important."

"Is he nice?"

Eliana looked at the coffee mug in her hand. Black. Plain. No logo, no color, nothing personal.

She thought about the way Kane had looked at her last night. The way his voice had dropped when he said her name. The way his hand had hovered over her arm like he was afraid to touch her.

"No," she said. "He's not nice."

"But he pays well?"

"He pays really well."

"Then be nice to him." Her mother laughed. It turned into a cough. "I have to go. The nurse is here. Call me tomorrow?"

"I'll call you tonight."

"You always say that."

"I mean it this time."

"Okay, baby. I love you."

"I love you too."

The line went dead.

Eliana stood there for a moment, holding the phone, staring at the coffee pot.

Her mother's cough had sounded worse than last week.

The medical bills were paid. The nicer apartment was secured. But the disease—whatever it was, whatever the doctors couldn't figure out—was still there. Eating her from the inside.

And Eliana couldn't do anything about it.

She couldn't heal her. Couldn't even visit her without permission. Because Kane had said no outside contact until the investigation was over.

*I'm sorry, Mom.*

She poured the coffee, carried it to his office, and knocked twice.

"Come in."

Kane was at his desk, reading something on his laptop. His tie was loosened. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows. The tattoo on his forearm looked like a snake eating its own tail.

She set the mug on his right side.

"Your ten o'clock was canceled. Rescheduled for Thursday."

"Good."

She turned to leave.

"Eliana."

She stopped.

"Your heartbeat is faster than usual."

She didn't turn around. "I'm fine."

"You're not."

"With all due respect, Kane—" She turned. "You don't get to tell me what I am."

He looked up from his laptop.

The room was quiet. The kind of quiet that happens right before a storm.

"Sit down," he said.

"I have work—"

"Sit. Down."

She sat.

Not because he told her to. Because her legs were suddenly tired. Because the chair was right there. Because if she didn't sit, she might fall.

He closed his laptop.

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened. I talked to my mom. She's sick. I'm worried." She met his eyes. "That's all."

"That's not all."

"Yes, it is." Her voice came out harder than she meant it to. "Not everything is a conspiracy, Kane. Not everything is about you or the bond or Marcus or whatever else is going on in your world."

She stopped.

Her hands were shaking.

She pressed them flat against her thighs.

Kane didn't say anything. He just watched her. His face was unreadable, but something in his posture had changed. His shoulders were less square. His head was tilted, just a little, like he was listening to something he couldn't quite hear.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked.

"They don't know. Something autoimmune. Her body keeps attacking itself. The doctors say it's rare. They say there's no cure." A short, hard laugh. "They say a lot of things."

"Is she in pain?"

"She says she's not. But she's a terrible liar."

Kane leaned back in his chair.

For a moment, he looked almost human. Not an Alpha. Just a guy in a nice suit, sitting in a big office, trying to figure out what to say to someone who was hurting.

"I can send our pack doctor to see her."

Eliana blinked. "What?"

"We have a physician. Specializes in conditions that affect both humans and wolves. Autoimmune disorders are common in half-blood families. He might be able to help."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because you're my responsibility."

"I'm not a project, Kane."

"I didn't say you were."

"You didn't have to." She stood up. "You want to fix me. Make me less complicated. Less inconvenient. So I can be a good little mate who doesn't cause any problems."

"That's not—"

"That's exactly what this is." Her voice was rising. She couldn't stop it. "You don't care about my mother. You care about keeping me stable, so I don't explode and ruin your precious Alpha reputation."

Kane stood up too.

His chair rolled back and hit the wall.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Then explain it to me." She stepped toward him. "Explain why you're really doing this. Not the Alpha answer. The real one."

He stared at her.

The air between them was thick. Electric. Wrong.

"Because I can't sleep," he said finally.

"What?"

"Because I can't sleep." His voice was low. Rough. "Because every time I close my eyes, I see you bleeding. Every time I hear a noise, I think it's someone coming for you. Every time you leave this room, I have to stop myself from following you like some kind of—animal."

He ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't want to fix you, Eliana. I want to understand you. But you won't let me. You keep smiling and nodding and saying 'yes, Kane' and 'of course, Kane' and I can't—" He stopped. Swallowed. "I can't reach you."

"Maybe I don't want to be reached."

"Too bad."

He moved.

Fast. Not Alpha fast. Just—human fast. Close enough that she could see the stubble on his jaw, the crack in his lower lip, the way his pupils were blown wide.

"You're inside my head," he said. "Every minute of every day. I feel your fear. Your anger. Your sadness. You think you're hiding it, but you're not. You're broadcasting every single emotion, and I have to sit here and pretend I don't notice."

"Then stop noticing."

"I can't."

"Try harder."

"I've been trying." His hand came up. Stopped an inch from her face. "I've been trying since the moment I touched you."

The silver flame flickered under her sleeve.

"Kane."

"What?"

"If you're going to touch me, just do it."

His jaw tightened.

"You don't mean that."

"Don't tell me what I mean."

"You're angry. You're scared. You're not thinking clearly—"

"I'm thinking more clearly than I have in days." She grabbed his hand—the one that was hovering in the air—and pressed it against her cheek.

The flames exploded.

Not a flicker. Not a spark. An explosion. Silver light flooded the room, visible only to them, hot and cold at the same time, wrapping around his fingers and her face and the space between their bodies.

Kane's breath caught.

His other hand came up. Cupped the back of her head. Fingers threading through her hair.

"Eliana."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't say my name like that."

"Like what?"

"Like it means something."

He pulled her closer.

Not rough. Not gentle. Somewhere in between. The way you hold something you're afraid to break but can't afford to lose.

"It means everything," he said against her forehead. "That's the problem."

She closed her eyes.

His heartbeat was in her ears. Loud. Steady. Real.

She hated how safe it made her feel.

She pulled away first.

Not because she wanted to. Because she had to.

If she stayed in his arms for one more second, she would forget why this was a bad idea. She would forget about the lies. The secrets. The envelope of cash was hidden in the bottom of her suitcase.

"I need to finish the quarterly report," she said.

"Eliana."

"It's due by five."

She walked to the door.

"Eliana."

Her hand was on the knob.

"Thank you," she said. "For offering the doctor. I'll think about it."

She left before he could answer.

The hallway was empty.

She leaned against the wall, pressed her palms against her eyes, and tried to remember how to breathe.

*You're inside my head.*

She knew.

Because he was inside hers too.

Not with words. Not with thoughts. With—presence. A warmth at the edge of her consciousness. A weight she couldn't shake.

*The bond goes both ways.*

She had thought he was exaggerating.

He wasn't.

She could feel him right now. On the other side of that door. Standing exactly where she'd left him. His hand still raised. His chest was still tight.

*Stop pretending.*

She didn't know how.

But something was cracking. Something inside her. Something she'd built a long time ago, brick by brick, to keep people out.

And Kane was on the other side, waiting for it to fall.

That night, she called her mother.

"You sound different," her mother said.

"Different how?"

"Happier. Sadder. I can't tell."

Eliana looked at the ceiling. The crystal chandelier glittered in the moonlight.

"Maybe both."

"Is it the job?"

"It's—complicated."

"It's him." Her mother's voice had that knowing tone. The one that meant she was smiling. "It's always him."

"It's not like that."

"Is he handsome?"

"Mom."

"Does he make you laugh?"

"No. He doesn't laugh."

"Does he look at you like you matter?"

Eliana was quiet for a long time.

"Yeah," she said finally. "He does."

"Then it is like that."

Her mother coughed. The sound was terrible.

"I have to go, baby. The nurse is here."

"Mom. Wait."

"What?"

"I'm going to find a way to help you. I promise."

"You don't have to promise me anything, Eliana. You just have to live."

The line went dead.

Eliana set the phone on her chest and stared at the ceiling until her eyes burned.

Across the hall, Kane was doing the same thing.

They didn't sleep.

Neither of them.

In the basement of a building across the city, Raven sat across from a man with scars on his face and blood on his knuckles.

"Tell me again," Raven said.

The man smiled. His teeth were yellow. "The half-blood. The one your Alpha is protecting. She's not who you think she is."

"Who is she?"

"She's the daughter of someone very dangerous." The man leaned forward. "Someone who's been dead for twenty years. Or so everyone thought."

Raven's blood went cold.

"What's the name?"

The man's smile widened.

"Nash." He said it like a curse. "Her father's name was Nash. And if he's alive, your Alpha is already dead."

Raven stood up.