Chapter 14 New Labels
fourteen
New Labels
*MARCELLUS*
The next morning, I realize that; for one, the two new vampires are still here, and for two, none of them seem to have gone to bed or gotten any sleep.
“Please tell me you at least got an hour of sleep,” I prompt Silas while I prepare us some coffee.
“That would be a lie,” he says, dropping down on one of the chairs at our kitchen table. “I hate liars, and I certainly won’t become one now.”
“How are you holding up?” I ask.
“No reprimands?” Silas asks. “No pointing out that a good night’s sleep is important? Then you must really be worried.”
“Your cynicism is not going to distract me this time,” I say, putting a cup of coffee in front of him.
Silas sighs, pinching his nose. “Sorry for being bitchy. I didn’t expect to see Durant again so soon.”
I try to hold back any snarky comments. I’d have a lot to say about Silas’s backstabbing younger brother, who was so obsessed with their oldest brother that he didn’t care who else he hurt.
I only know what Silas shared with me. He doesn’t like talking about his family much, which I can empathize with, because I don’t talk about mine a lot, either.
Sunset Hills is a new beginning for both of us, and we don’t want to wallow in the past all the time.
However, I do know bits and pieces about his family.
There are thirteen siblings, with Aloysius being the oldest, and clearly a complete nutcase, and Silas being the second-oldest, which is why both of them possess the most authority in their family, and with the vampires.
Just that Silas doesn’t abuse his power.
Silas chuckles. “Your eyes are saying it all.”
“Don’t worry, I will behave,” I reassure him. “If you want to reconnect with your brother-“
Silas coughs and almost spits up his coffee again. “Who said anything about reconnecting? By the creator, if it were for me, I’d have punched Durant and put him in a vampire-proof cell. Unfortunately, Alex is right. We need him.”
“And he’s truly stopped working for your older brother?” I ask.
“He claims he stopped,” Silas sighs. “I don’t know what to think. He was always so loyal to Aloysius, kissing up to him and doing everything for just a word of praise. It’s true, however, that he also really respected and liked Julianus.”
“Your ex, right?”
He nods. “Julianus is a lot of things, but he certainly isn’t stupid. I am sure he was fed up with Aloysius’ views and left the coven for real. Durant, on the other hand, isn’t as smart, and he loves Aloysius.” Silas furrows his brows. “My head is spinning.”
“I can only imagine,” I mutter. “I am not directly involved, and even I am confused, trying to figure out who is screwing over whom.”
Silas chuckles. “Family drama is like a telenovela sometimes, right?”
“You are talking to the guy who was mated to his brother’s girlfriend,” I say. “My own telenovela was pretty dope, too.”
Silas takes my hand, pulling me closer and tugging at my arm.
I get down on my knees to be on eye level with him, smiling when he leans into a kiss.
“I lost everything that night five years ago,” Silas says to my surprise.
“But it made me meet you. You are everything I thought I’d never be able to have. ”
“It’s the same for me,” I say quietly.
For a moment, we just look at each other before Silas clears his throat.
“When I was with Julianus, I thought that was it, the perfect relationship. We never argued, we were always of the same opinion, he gave me presents and complimented me all the time, but then he betrayed me in the worst way possible. It was only perfect on the surface. With you, it’s different.
We bicker and annoy each other sometimes, and you can’t compliment anyone to save your life, but you are genuinely kind and honest, and that’s worth much more than what Julianus could have ever offered me. ”
“Why are you telling me all this?” I ask. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but…“
“I will probably need to work together with Julianus for this, too. Alex told me he probably has some intel,” Silas explains. “And I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. There is no way I’d ever go back to him. You and Sunset Hills are my home now.”
This must have been lying on his mind heavily, or he wouldn’t have opened up to me the way he just did.
Silas is a great partner, incredibly smart, truly caring and with a lot of secret powers, and I’m deeply in love with him, but he is also pretty closed off usually and doesn’t share his feelings just like that.
“Listen,” I say. “You don’t need to worry.
I am not that insecure that that loser intimidates me.
And since we are already on it… well… you know, you and I…
” I pause. Fuck! Why is it so difficult?
He just said it bluntly, and I can’t seem to find the right words.
“I hate olives because I never liked them. They are gross. It has nothing to do with my former mate.”
Silas looks at me confused, then chuckles. “I see,” he says. “I am glad to know.”
“I don’t think of her anymore,” I say, realizing the more I talk, the worse I make it sound. “The only reason I sometimes do is because I wonder if it was really worth it that my brother and I had this fallout over her.”
Silas seems to understand my ramblings, though. “I don’t feel threatened by her existence,” he says, before he furrows his brows. “But if you meet her again, you’d better make it clear that you have a new mate now, and she can run off and screw your brother.”
“Got you,” I grin. “And just for the record, I have no intention of letting go of my current mate.”
“That’s good,” Silas says. “Because your current mate wouldn’t take that lightly.”
“I want to drop the current,” I say bluntly. “Current indicates that in a couple of years, I might have a new mate, and that won’t do.”
Silas blinks at me. “Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting? But you said-“
“Yeah, because you said it,” I admit. “At the beginning, I wanted to take things slow because my wolf wasn’t healed yet. And you came from the worst betrayal ever. But it’s been five years.”
Silas stays quiet for a moment. “Can I think about it?” he asks.
I am surprised he is even considering it.
Five years ago, it was a strict no without any hesitation.
I don’t think he necessarily has a problem with me marking him; his issue is rather putting his life into my hands by making me his beloved.
He almost went that far once before, just to end up betrayed. “Of course,” I reassure him.
It looks like there is more that Silas wants to say, but there are footsteps approaching us, and I get up from the floor.
Benjamin comes into the kitchen, looking exhausted and tired, as if he didn’t even get an hour of sleep.
He already looked drained yesterday after he returned with Micah.
For a moment, I thought he and Micah might have had an argument, but Micah had reassured me that everything between them was fine.
“Look who is gracing us with his presence,” I tease. “Sleeping Beauty.”
Benjamin looks flustered. I do feel bad for teasing him, but he answers better to that than to normal conversations. The kid is still terrified of me, and I don’t know what to do to change that. The big brother approach seems to work the best.
Silas catches the cue instantly. “Don’t listen to him,” he says. “He only just got up himself.”
“And someone else in this room didn’t go to sleep at all,” I say pointedly.
Benjamin looks at Silas, surprised. “You were up the whole night?”
“Yes, Alex and Durant only went to sleep an hour ago,” Silas sighs before looking at me. “I will try to rest a bit now, if that puts your mind at ease.”
“I always thought vampires were nocturnal,” Benjamin mutters.
“Many of us are,” Silas answers honestly.
“The sun doesn’t burn us, but our skin is sensitive to it.
However, depending on where and how we live, we change our rhythm like the vampires here in Sunset Hills.
There is no use in sleeping during the day when the whole pack is up.
But today I will make an exception. Marcellus, will you attend to our guests? ”
“Of course,” I reassure him.
“We are having guests?” Benjamin asks me once Silas has retired to our bedroom. His curiosity is clearly outweighing his anxiety when he is alone with me.
“Yes, Silas’s niece is coming,” I tell him. “Though technically, she is his great cousin, the daughter of his cousin, but he refers to her as ‘niece’.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. How old is she?”
“Sixteen,” I explain. “She is a really nice, fun kid. I think you would get along well. She is living in Red Claw, Alpha Liam’s pack, and the beta couple there is her aunt and uncle.”
“I bet she won’t like me, then,” he grumbles.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because she comes from rank and probably knows my history.”
“She is not judgmental at all.” I am beginning to worry about the amount of self-loathing Benjamin shows on a daily basis.
It’s not just here and there; it’s in almost all his gestures and words.
“Just be honest with her. You might be surprised.” I glance at my watch.
“And an allied alpha is coming, too, with his sister.”
Benjamin seems to be particularly intrigued by that news. “Can I help?”
“Yes, you could tend to Charlie and the alpha’s sister. Her name is Nova.”
Benjamin perks up. “Oh!” he says, trying to sound casual, and failing miserably.
“Do you know her?” I ask, maybe a tad blunt, but tact has never been my forte.
“No,” he says, looking flustered. “But I met her yesterday while shopping, and she was really respectful, although she knows my history.”
“I am not surprised. She and her brother are two great people,” I explain. “They were one of the first to help us set foot here. Alpha Cassian has become a good friend of both Silas and me, and he constantly helps us, and vice versa.”
“We are going to take in some new members he saved, right?”
I am surprised that he already caught wind of that.
“Yes, he recently freed some omegas from a pack far in the south. They are running from their alpha and want to be as far away as possible. They will move in with us. We will also have two more wolves moving in with us in a week or so – one woman and one man. They fucked up in their pack. He was getting tricked into gambling and lost in a casino owned by another pack. They attacked his pack to get back the money. And, she was mated to a lone wolf, trusted him too much and sold intel to him. Their situation is complicated. I think they’d deserve a second chance.
An alpha from an allied pack took them in for now, but wants them to be somewhere safe. ”
“I want to help,” he says.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” I admit. These two wolves have a truly complicated backstory. They were seriously taken advantage of, which led to them making some bad decisions. I assume Benjamin will be able to relate to them much more than I ever could. “I would like to assign them to you.”
“I get my first real assignment?” he asks, eyes gleaming hopefully.
“Yes, I want you to show them around and make sure to settle in. Meanwhile, Sheila will be responsible for the omegas.”
Benjamin smiles. “I won’t disappoint you!” he promises.
“First things first, though. We have guests to attend to. Let’s go.”