The Blood Hound Pact

CHAPTER THREE

The atmosphere in the room shifts the moment Silas steps across the threshold. It is not just the way he fills the space, though his shoulders seem broader than they did yesterday, or the way the morning light catches the sharp, aristocratic line of his jaw. It is the air itself. It hums. It vibrates with a heavy, magnetic frequency that makes my skin feel two sizes too small. I can feel the heat radiating off him from five feet away, a dry, cedar-scented warmth that makes my lungs feel tight.

"What did he tell you, Ivy?" Silas asks, his voice dropping to a register so low it feels like a physical touch against my collarbone.

He closes the distance between us in two slow, predatory strides. I should back away. I should put the mahogany table or the silver breakfast tray between us, but my feet are anchored to the floor. My body is reacting to him in ways I cannot govern. My pulse is a frantic drum in my ears, and a strange, liquid heat is pooling in the pit of my stomach, a dull ache that I haven't felt since the night I begged him to claim me three years ago.

"He said things that don't make sense, Silas," I whisper, looking up at him. "He said you’re a wolf. He said this is a house of wolves. He said I’m your… mate."

The word feels heavy on my tongue, thick and ancient. Silas flinches as if I’ve struck him, his gray eyes darkening until the pupils swallow the iris, leaving only a thin ring of turbulent smoke. He reaches out, his hand hovering near my face before he curls his fingers into a fist and drops it to his side. The restraint he is exercising is palpable; I can see the muscles in his forearms cording beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his white dress shirt.

"Cassian has a tongue that needs to be cut out," he growls, but he doesn't deny it. He doesn't laugh. He doesn't call me crazy.

"Is it true?" I press, stepping into his space. The magnetic pull is so strong now it is almost dizzying. "Is that why you look at me like you want to devour me and destroy me at the same time? Is that why I can feel your heart beating through the walls?"

Silas lets out a ragged exhale, a sound that is half-groan and half-snarl. He moves so fast I don't even see it happening. One moment there is space between us, and the next, he has me pinned against the heavy oak door. He doesn't hurt me, but his weight is a mountain against my soft curves, pinning me into place. His hands find the wood on either side of my head, trapping me in the scent of rain and raw masculinity.

"You want the truth, Ivy? You want to know what I am?" he breathes, leaning down until his lips are a fraction of an inch from the sensitive shell of my ear. "I am a beast that has been kept in a cage for sixteen years. I am a man who has lived every day in a cold, gray world until you turned eighteen and started looking at me like I was the sun."

I gasp, my head falling back against the door. His closeness is an intoxication. I can feel the hard planes of his chest pressing against my breasts, the heat of his thighs branding mine through the thin silk of my robe. My body is screaming for him to close the distance, to touch me, to end the three years of starvation I’ve endured since he sent me away.

"If I am your mate, why did you reject me?" I ask, my voice trembling with the force of the magnetism drawing us together. "Why did you break me, Silas?"

He buries his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply. I feel his teeth graze my skin—not a bite, but a promise of one. I shiver violently, my hands reaching up to grip his biceps. They feel like carved marble, vibrating with a repressed energy that feels like it could level the estate.

"Because you were a child," he groils against my skin, his voice vibrating through my entire skeletal structure. "Because your father is my brother, and I would rather rot in hell than betray his trust. Because the world I live in is full of teeth and claws, and you… you are everything soft and good. I tried to save you from me, Ivy. I have spent every night for three years trying to convince myself that I don't need your scent in my lungs to breathe."

He pulls back just enough to look me in the eye. The amber is there now, bright and glowing, a primal fire that burns through the billionaire facade. His gaze drops to my mouth, and the air between us practically sparks with static. The s****l tension is a physical entity, a living thing that demands to be fed. My lips part of their own accord, my breath hitching as his gaze lingers on the curve of my bottom lip.

"I am not a child anymore, Silas," I whisper, my fingers sliding up to the nape of his neck, playing with the soft, dark hair there. "And I don't feel like I need saving."

"You have no idea what you’re asking for," he says, his voice thick with a hunger that makes my knees weak. "If I touch you, Ivy… if I really touch you, there is no going back. The bond will lock. I will never let you go. I will tear apart anyone who even looks at you. I will become the monster your father fears."

"Maybe I want the monster," I breathe, emboldened by the way his nostrils flare at my words.

Silas lets out a low, guttural sound and presses his forehead against mine. We stay like that for an eternity, two celestial bodies caught in each other's gravity, unable to collide and unable to drift apart. The magnetism is so thick I can almost taste it on the air—copper and salt and desire. He shifts his weight, his hips grinding almost imperceptibly against mine, and a bolt of pure, unadulterated lightning shoots through my spine.

"Silas," I moan, my eyes fluttering shut.

"Don't," he warns, his voice pained. "Don't say my name like that unless you want me to forget every promise I’ve ever made. I am trying to be the man your father thinks I am, but the wolf… the wolf wants to mark you right here against this door and howl until the whole pack knows you’re mine."

He abruptly pushes away, the loss of his heat feeling like a physical wound. He stalks over to the window, staring out at the trees with his hands clenched behind his back. The silence in the room is heavy, vibrating with the echoes of the words we just spoke.

"Arthur is stable," he says after a moment, his voice returning to that cold, billionaire mask, though his shoulders are still tense. "The doctors say he might wake up in a few days. Until then, you stay here. You do not talk to Cassian. You do not go into the hallways alone at night."

"Why not at night?" I ask, trying to steady my breathing, trying to ignore the way my body is still humming from his touch.

Silas turns, his eyes no longer amber, but still dark with a lingering hunger. "Because at night, the moon is out. And at night, my control is at its thinnest. I won't be able to guarantee that I’ll stay on my side of that wall, Ivy."

He walks toward the door, his gait stiff. He stops with his hand on the handle, not looking back.

"Breakfast is getting cold," he says. "Eat. I have a pack meeting to attend. Cassian will be… dealt with."

He leaves before I can respond, the door clicking shut with a finality that feels like a challenge. I sink onto the edge of the bed, my heart still racing, my skin still buzzing. I look at the silver tray, then at the balcony where I saw the creature with the silver eyes.

The world is much larger and more terrifying than I ever imagined. I am a human girl in a fortress of monsters, fated to the most dangerous one of them all. And the worst part, the part that scares me more than the wolves or the rogues or the ancient pacts is that I don't want to leave.

I touch my neck where his teeth grazed me, the ghost of the sensation still burning. He thinks he’s protecting me by staying away, but he doesn't realize that the bond works both ways. I can feel his frustration, his hunger, his agonized restraint. It is a cord of silk and steel connecting our hearts, and every time he walks away, it pulls tighter.