Silas
“Why the fuck am I here, Varrick?” Evander demands, glaring down at me from the head of the table.
I wonder how long he’s been here stewing about the reason for this meeting, or how many times he’s threatened to leave, only for Isaac, his beta assistant, to force him to stay.
I’m only fifteen minutes late.
The meeting room we’re in is one of the only ones that has frosted glass rather than clear, affording us more privacy than is typical. It’s a larger room—set up for twelve—and more basic than the ones we use for meeting clients.
Unsurprisingly, Evander selected the head of the table, furthest from the door. Isaac is sitting on his right-hand side, giving the pair of them the advantage.
Those two are as inseparable as Harlan and me, but where my right-hand is a moody, delicate prick, Isaac is steady.
Useful.
Especially right now, when the two alphas in this room are too wrapped up in instinct to think about the omega at the centre of us all.
“You’ll find out if you shut your mouth and stop the posturing,” I say, gesturing for Harlan to take a seat, too.
Rather than doing the reasonable thing like sitting next to Isaac, or even choosing the seat on Evander’s other side, Harlan stalks over to the other end of the table and pulls out the seat there.
Now, the two alphas are giving each other looks of hatred, enough sharp dominance in the air that I have to bite back my own snarl.
Cassie’s exhausted, overwhelmed, and drowning under the weight of this entire fucking building, and these idiots are acting like she’s something to win.
It’s my own fault, I suppose, for booking one of the offices with a table for twelve.
Next time, I’m requesting an office with a fucking circle table. Fuck me, I never thought grown men would be squabbling over seats and using them to send messages nobody wants to hear.
“Aren’t you going to sit down, Si?” Harlan says almost mockingly. His words might’ve been directed towards me, but he’s not looked away from Evander.
Fucking hell.
I had hoped that, for once in his damn life, Harlan was going to make things easy for me.
For her.
I move to the centre, on the opposite side to Isaac, and take the neutral seat. Right in the middle, not having either of the hormonal alphas in reach.
It’s a good thing for them because I’m likely to break one of their bones if it’d shut them up long enough for us to help her.
“What do you need us for, Silas?” Isaac asks, deferring to me instantly and easily.
There’s no posturing from the beta—not that I expected any—and he seems to be as aware of the current dynamics as I am.
Or at least, as aware as someone can be without having spent months quietly watching an omega work herself into the ground whilst pretending she’s fine.
The other two, well, they’re too wrapped up in territorial instinct and possessiveness to think clearly right now.
Isaac is at the bottom of our pack’s hierarchy in terms of dominance. He’s even-natured and has a calming influence on Evander, which is a huge perk.
Plus, he’s the only one she doesn’t instinctively retreat from.
He’s the only one here who can walk into a room with her tense and somehow leave her softer by the time he walks back out.
The one who gets to soothe her and offer her the comfort that we alphas wish we could.
Fuck, what I’d give to be the one to hold her. To offer her the world on a silver platter—and actually fucking deliver.
Isaac’s beta status makes him the least threatening to our mate right now, no matter his pack ranking, and that’s something I’m sure he’d never give up.
Cassie’s the centre of all this.
Although, her place at the top of our pack is not because of her dominance, but her control over us alphas. We’d cut off our own limbs one by one if she required it. I’d carve out my heart, my brain, my fucking soul if she so desired it.
Evander and Harlan are so busy fighting each other that they don’t realise neither of them are fit to lead. Right now, they think they’re battling for first place, but neither of them realise that they’re too hot-headed to earn the title of head alpha.
All this posturing is only going to make things harder for her. Cassie doesn’t need dominance displays right now.
She needs someone to notice she’s drowning before she goes under entirely.
We need to get on the same page, and quickly, so that we can help our girl.
I outrank them both, not just because I’m older and stronger, but because I’m the only one in this room capable of putting Cassie before my own instincts right now.
Harlan could never put his ego to the side, and Evander’s too brash.
Isaac, at least, understands restraint.
“We’ve all got someone in common,” I say, looking at both alphas before meeting Isaac’s caramel-coloured eyes.
“We do?” Evander’s brows draw together in confusion.
I bite back the eye roll, but only barely. “Cassie.”
“What is she to you?” Evander and Harlan snarl, pheromones thickening aggressively around the table.
They’re both practically foaming at the mouth as they stare the other down.
Like Cassie’s something to be fought over instead of a person already stretched thin by everyone around her taking from her.
Neither man has a claim to her, not with the way they’re currently behaving. Harlan’s got our poor mate terrified to even breathe in his presence, and the moment she sees Evander, she looks for the nearest escape route.
Fucking idiots.
I smirk and roll my eyes at Isaac, causing him to laugh quietly.
None of us have accepted the bond with her, and honestly, I’ve got no idea which of us she’s aware of yet.
Harlan’s kept his heavily under wraps, and based on the interactions I’ve seen, I think Isaac has, too.
Smart.
Cassie’s already overwhelmed enough without three scent-matched idiots circling her like she’s the only thing keeping them alive.
And me? I can control myself because she deserves gentleness right now, not another alpha trying to take from her.
I can’t be that selfish, no matter how desperately I want her.
“Okay, Ev, that’s enough,” Isaac says, reaching forward to place his hand on the alpha’s forearm.
Harlan cackles, and the sound is so unlike him that I actually startle.
“Go on, listen to your master, little boy.”
“Oh, fuck off, you old cunt,” Evander snaps back immediately.
“Enough,” I bark, and they both turn their sneers my way. “Regardless of how the lot of you feel, we’re here to talk about Cassie and the future of our pack.”
“Our?” Evander demands.
“I won’t be part of any—” Harlan starts.
“I said enough,” I say firmly. “If you can’t have a conversation without insulting my intelligence or wasting everyone’s time, then let’s forget it.”
“Perfect.” Harlan moves to stand, and I raise my hand.
“But if you do that, then you need to choose now to leave Cassie’s life for good,” I continue. “If you’re unwilling to work with her other scent matches, then you’re not good enough for her, and you don’t get to stay in her life.”
Silence crashes heavily through the room.
And there it is.
The only thing powerful enough to make them stop posturing.
Her.
And this is proof that I’m the right head alpha for our pack. I’m the only one capable of shutting them both up.
If one of these idiots threatened my place in Cassie’s life, I’d put them through the fucking wall for it.
Cassie is the only one who gets to decide who belongs to her, and yet, the second I suggested losing access to her entirely, they all backed down.
Cowards.
At least I’m honest about what she does to me. About the way she’s buried herself in my fucking soul.
Well… if accepting it in my head counts.
“Who the fuck do you think you are deciding that for us all?” Evander demands after a minute, finally finding some backbone. “She’s my mate. Mine. You don’t get to—”
“Shut up, Evander,” I say calmly.
His eyes flash with rage, but he snaps his jaw shut and takes a deep breath anyway.
Good.
At least one person in this room is capable of shutting the fuck up and listening. I’m not going to be trifled with right now, not with how much we have on the line.
If I can’t get these stubborn bastards to understand the gravity of Cassie’s situation, then she’s going to break before any of us figure out how to help her.
“As I said, we all have a scent match with Cassie. I know that us three have yet to confirm as such to her, and—”
“How do you know that?” Isaac interrupts quietly.
The shift in him is immediate. His arms are crossed tightly now, shoulders rigid beneath the expensive knit of his jumper, caramel eyes sharper than before.
He’s uneasy.
Defensive, even.
Interesting. Isaac’s finally stopped pretending he doesn’t have teeth.
He also hasn’t told Evander yet, if the anxious look he shoots his best friend is anything to go by.
I wonder if he’s denying her for the same reason I am. Not because we don’t want her, not even because we’re not good enough for her—because nobody is—but for him.
For me, it’s Harlan. My brother. My best friend. The person who dragged me through the worst parts of my life.
Is this the kind of bond Isaac and Evander share? One of life debts, love, and family loyalty?
Harlan scoffs, breaking the intensity of Isaac and Evander’s silent conversation.
“This fucker could probably tell you how many squares of fucking toilet roll she uses when she wipes. Stalking is too polite a term for what he does.”
Anger pulses through me, and it’s only the camaraderie I have with Harlan—and the deliberate space I put between us—that stops me from hurting him.
How fucking dare he insult Cassie that way. Like I would ever betray her privacy that way. I would never take liberties with her body.
Is that truly what he thinks of me?
Evander sneers immediately. “So, we’re expected to listen to some pervert who watches my mate on the toilet?”
Isaac shakes his head, rubbing both hands down his face. I can’t tell if he’s amused or annoyed.
Probably both.
I’m amused, though, at the lack of brain cells the Whitmore heir has.