THE ALPHA'S WOLF IS MY ENEMY

Chapter Nine: Silas Comes Down

I heard the footsteps before anyone else reacted.

They were coming from the passage behind the broken door, slow and unhurried. Whoever was walking down there wasn't afraid of what they might find waiting for them.

My mother was.

The moment she heard the footsteps, her hand slipped from the creature's face.

"He's here."

Cassian looked toward the passage.

"Silas?"

She nodded.

I watched her expression change. A few moments earlier, she had looked exhausted, almost defeated. Now there was something else in her eyes.

Fear.

Real fear.

"How many?" Cassian asked.

My mother listened.

"Five."

I closed my eyes.

The wolves outside the chamber were silent.

That was strange.

Usually, even when they were afraid, I could hear them whispering to one another.

Now there was nothing.

"They're not saying anything," I said.

Cassian glanced at me.

"Who?"

"The wolves."

My mother looked at the creature beside her.

"Because they know what he brought."

I didn't have time to ask what she meant.

The footsteps stopped.

A man's voice came from the passage.

"Marissa."

My mother stiffened.

Silas.

I had heard his name so many times in the last few hours that I had almost started imagining what he would look like. I expected someone frightening, perhaps a huge older Alpha with scars across his face.

Instead, the man who walked into the chamber looked ordinary.

He was probably in his late sixties, with silver hair neatly combed back and a dark council coat buttoned to his throat. He carried no weapon.

That somehow made him worse.

Two guards followed him.

Rowan came behind them.

Silas looked around the chamber as if he were checking a room he owned.

His eyes stopped on my mother.

"I was hoping you would remain quiet."

My mother said nothing.

His attention moved to me.

I felt his wolf immediately.

It was unusually quiet.

Most wolves had thoughts that wandered when they were near me. Silas's didn't.

It was like standing beside an empty room.

He smiled.

"So you finally woke up."

I took a step back.

Cassian moved in front of me.

Silas looked at him.

"Move."

"No."

Silas sighed.

"Cassian, this isn't something you understand."

"You've been lying to me."

"Of course."

The answer was so casual that Cassian actually seemed surprised.

"You admit it?"

Silas shrugged.

"I have lied to everyone in this pack at one point or another. Your father included."

Cassian's face tightened.

"What did you do to him?"

Silas didn't answer.

I heard a low growl beside my mother.

The creature that she had called Cassian's father's wolf was watching Silas.

Silas looked at it.

For the first time, his expression changed.

Not fear.

Anger.

"You were supposed to be dead."

The creature bared its teeth.

Silas took a step backward.

"How?"

My mother smiled faintly.

"You should have known better than to bury an old wolf."

Silas's eyes moved to her.

"You've always been difficult."

"And you've always been a coward."

One of the guards shifted nervously.

Silas ignored him.

His eyes returned to me.

"Nora, come with me."

I almost laughed.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I can tell you where your wolf is."

Everything inside me went still.

Cassian looked at me.

Silas noticed.

"You want to hear her again, don't you?"

I didn't answer.

"You've spent your whole life wondering why everyone else could speak to their wolf while yours remained silent."

My fingers curled into my palms.

"You know where she is?"

"Yes."

My mother spoke.

"Don't listen to him."

Silas smiled.

"Your mother has been lying to you since the day you were born."

I looked at my mother.

She didn't deny it.

That hurt more than I expected.

Silas continued.

"She never told you why your father left."

"She said he was trying to protect me."

"He was."

Silas looked at me.

"From her."

My mother shook her head.

"Nora, don't believe him."

Silas gave a small laugh.

"Ask her about the night your wolf was taken."

I turned toward my mother.

"What isn't she telling me?"

My mother looked at me.

"There isn't time."

"Then make time."

Silas watched us quietly.

My mother swallowed.

"Your father didn't leave because of you."

"Then why?"

"Because he discovered what I had done."

The words barely came out.

Cassian looked at her.

"What did you do?"

My mother didn't answer him.

I felt sick.

"What did you do, Mother?"

She looked down.

"I tried to use your wolf."

I couldn't speak.

Silas smiled.

"Finally."

Cassian looked furious.

"You experimented on your own daughter?"

"No," my mother said quickly. "Not like that."

"Then explain."

She looked at me.

"When you were six, your wolf began speaking to you."

"I know."

"She told you things that no child should have known. Things about the packs. Things about the old bloodlines."

"What things?"

"You told me about people before you ever met them. You knew where they had been. You knew when they were lying. You could hear their wolves even when they were miles away."

I remembered pieces of it.

Not much.

Just strange moments from childhood.

Knowing that my father's friend had been angry before he spoke.

Knowing that a neighbour had stolen something even though nobody had seen him do it.

Hearing voices when everyone else heard silence.

My mother continued.

"Your father became frightened."

"Of me?"

"Of what people would do to you."

Silas interrupted.

"And he was right."

My mother ignored him.

"He wanted us to leave. I refused."

"Why?"

She looked at the creature beside her.

"Because I believed your wolf could lead us to the sanctuary."

I frowned.

"The place beneath the mountain?"

She nodded.

"What is there?"

My mother looked at Silas.

"Something he has spent his entire life trying to control."

Silas's smile disappeared.

"Enough."

The creature growled.

Silas raised his hand.

The guards moved.

Cassian shifted.

Rook appeared between us and them.

I heard his voice.

Don't fight.

I stared at him.

"What?"

Cassian looked back.

"What did he say?"

"Rook says not to fight."

Cassian stared at me as if I had lost my mind.

Silas smiled.

"He finally told you."

I looked at him.

"Told me what?"

Silas looked directly into my eyes.

"Who he really is."

Rook growled.

My wolf spoke.

He's lying.

I took a breath.

"Then tell me the truth."

Silas smiled again.

"Ask Rook where he was the night your wolf disappeared."

I turned toward the black wolf.

He wouldn't look at me.

That was enough.

My chest tightened.

"You were there."

Rook remained silent.

"You watched them take her."

Still nothing.

"Did you help them?"

His head lowered.

Cassian's voice came from somewhere inside him.

"What is she asking?"

I didn't answer.

I couldn't.

Because my wolf had finally spoken again.

And she sounded terrified.

He opened the door.

I stared at Rook.

"You opened the door."

His golden eyes lifted toward mine.

Yes.

The word hit me harder than I expected.

My mother started crying.

Cassian stepped toward me.

"Nora."

I backed away from him.

"No."

"Nora, listen to me."

"Did you know?"

He looked confused.

"Know what?"

"Did you know Rook opened the door?"

Cassian didn't answer.

I heard nothing from him.

Not even his wolf.

Silas watched us with quiet satisfaction.

"Now you understand."

I looked at him.

"Understand what?"

His smile returned.

"Why your wolf told you to run from him."

The creature beside my mother suddenly lunged.

Silas shouted.

The chamber erupted into chaos.

Guards shifted.

Cassian became Rook.

My mother screamed my name.

And somewhere beneath the floor, my father's voice whispered one sentence only I could hear.

Find the door before Silas does.

I turned toward the wall.

The crescent symbol was glowing.

There was another mark beneath it that I hadn't noticed before.

A small wolf's paw.

I placed my hand over it.

The wall opened.

And this time, I stepped inside alone.