Fractures and Faith
1011 Words
*Silas’s POV
The world hadn’t just changed in the last three months—it had fractured.
It used to be simple. Not easy, but structured. Packs lived by honor, witches respected boundaries, rogue wolves were isolated threats, not organized militias. The Council—corrupt as it sometimes felt—still acted like some kind of balance, keeping things from collapsing into madness.
But now?
Silas stood in the cold marble chamber of the Council Hall, his hands clenched behind his back. The ancient tapestries fluttered with a wind that wasn’t natural. Nothing here felt natural anymore. The weight of too many battles, too many betrayals, pressed on his chest like a second ribcage.
The meeting had ended in another pile of false smiles and empty alliances. At least Edward hadn’t shown up.
Small mercies.
He didn’t trust any of them. Not the new blood-hungry alphas, nor the witches who pledged loyalty only to the highest bidder. There were too many unfamiliar faces around the table now, too many voices too eager to agree with Edward’s vision. And Silas… he was just trying to hold together what was left of the world he once believed in.
The worst part? He was tired.
Tired of pretending to be strong enough for all of them. Tired of being the shield when every blade felt personal.
And through it all, he missed her.
Sarena.
His sister, not by blood but by bond. She had been more than family. She had been light—soft-spoken but unshakable. She grounded him, reminded him to breathe, to rest, to feel. Now, she was gone, taken by shadows so foul he barely dared to name them.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her smile. Every time he opened them, it slipped further from memory.
And Emma…
He exhaled slowly, rubbing the tired ache from his neck as he stepped out into the fading daylight. His little sister had been shattered since the last battle. Her fiancé—brave, stubborn, too selfless for his own good—had died protecting her from Victoria’s final death spell. Three months ago. Just three months. And yet it had stretched on like years.
Emma smiled less now. Spoke less. Lingered in the corners of rooms as though afraid light might touch her too deeply.
Silas’s boots crunched softly over the gravel as he made his way to the car waiting to take him back to packland. Home. Or what was left of it.
There was only one thing he was looking forward to.
Hayden.
The thought of her pulled something in his chest taut and warm. Her presence had always been storm and sunlight in equal measure. Wild but constant. He’d spent the first half of knowing her trying to pretend he wasn’t falling—and the rest of the time just praying he could keep her safe.
Because Hayden wasn’t just any witch or wolf. She was something else. Something more. He’d always known it, even before she did. And if Edward ever found out… really found out what she was capable of…
He shook the thought away as his packhouse came into view.
---
Hayden was waiting at the steps.
Her smile hit him like a breath of spring—unexpected warmth in winter’s chill. She stepped into his arms without a word, resting her head against his shoulder, and for a moment, the world quieted.
Just for a moment.
“I missed you,” she murmured.
Silas pressed a kiss to her hair. “I miss you every second I’m away.”
They stayed like that for a while. Silent. Whole. Breathing in each other.
Inside, they curled up on the old leather couch near the hearth, the glow from the fireplace casting flickering shadows across the room. Silas traced a finger along the curve of Hayden’s hand, memorizing the calluses of power beneath her soft skin.
But then her voice broke the quiet.
“I want to go to Dominic’s,” she said softly.
Silas tensed just slightly. She felt it, of course.
“Hayden…”
“He’s falling apart,” she said. “You don’t see it like I do. He’s holding on by threads, Silas. And Sarena… she wasn’t just his mate. She was hope to him. Purpose. And now—”
She swallowed.
“Now he’s drowning in silence. I want to help him before he disappears into it completely.”
Silas looked at her for a long time. Her eyes were clear, earnest, unflinching.
“ Emma needs you?” he asked.
Hayden nodded. “She needs to leave packland. She needs air, Silas. New energy. It might help her start healing I will ask her to come along.”
He wanted to say no. To pull Hayden close and keep her wrapped in safety where he could protect her from everything the world had become.
But she wasn’t his to cage. She never had been.
And deep down, he knew she was right.
“The Walton estates are protected,” he said at last. “I reinforced the wards myself with their head guardian mage last month. They’re probably safer than here.”
Hayden smiled, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for trusting me.”
Silas caught her wrist gently before she stood.
“I don’t just trust you,” he said. “I believe in you. But promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“If something doesn’t feel right… if there’s even the smallest hint of danger…”
“I’ll come back,” she said. “Before you can blink.”
He tried to smile. It was the best he could do.
“I’ll miss you,” he said.
“I know.”
Then she was gone, disappearing upstairs to pack her things.
And Silas was alone again, with only the fire for company and the ache in his chest that never quite seemed to leave.
He leaned back, eyes drifting shut, whispering a quiet prayer to the power above.
Please, don’t let me lose anyone else.
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- Writer
