9. Silas
Chapter 9
Silas
“ T hat cell phone was his! He was there—he was in that fucking car!” Jaime said, voice filled with rage.
Silas saw red.
Like he’d flipped frequencies on a radio, multiple voices surged into his head, all shouting over each other.
Get him out!
Jaime is hurt!
Danger. He’s dangerous.
Calm down.
Protect pack.
Protect mate.
Calm down!
Make him leave!
The onslaught of thoughts was overwhelming—some were his own, and some belonged to Finn and Sheppard, their proximity and stress bringing them together the same way they had the night Sam’s apartment had been destroyed. All of it culminated in a roar in Silas’ mind, building until it blocked out all other thought.
His pack was hurt. His pack needed him. They needed an alpha.
He turned to where Buck held Riley by the arm. “ Explain ,” he commanded in that deep, rolling thunder voice he rarely used.
Riley trembled and dropped to his knees, baring the nape of his neck to Silas. “Please, Alpha. I didn’t—” Riley choked, his words clogging in his throat. “ Please , don’t hurt me. I’ll leave. I’ll go, and you’ll never see me again.”
Silas recoiled.
The cacophony of pack thoughts switched off like he’d yanked out an old television cord, memories of so many kneeling before his uncle flashing through his mind in their wake—memories of his father , bloody and defeated while Silas and his mother could only watch, terrified and helpless.
Silas vividly recalled the way his uncle’s yellow eyes had glowed as he’d relished their subordination.
Nausea roiled his stomach.
“Get up,” he croaked. “Get up, get up. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not him, fucking hell.” Sweat pricked along the back of his neck. “Or stay there. Do whatever you want, I don’t care—just?—”
A warm hand pressed on Silas’ back. Strong and comforting.
Sammy.
“No one’s going to hurt you, Riley. Please stand up and explain,” he said. It was probably the first time Silas had heard Sammy directly address the Salt Creek shifter. His voice was confident and sure, but not unkind.
Matematematemate.
Jaime continued staring daggers at Riley. Silas noticed he was cradling his hand and remembered from their jumble of shared thoughts that someone had said Jaime was hurt.
Well, that scene was familiar.
“Keep that one back,” Buck said as he helped Riley stand, pointing at Jaime. “He’s scrappy, and he’s going to hurt himself.”
Finn growled, and Silas’ hackles raised at the noise; it was nothing like the good-natured grumbling that was typical between the three of them.
“Watch it, Bambi,” Finn said.
“Alright, enough posturing,” Sheppard said. “We’ve already given the neighbors enough to gossip about for weeks. You—” he pointed at Jaime, “go find some ice for your hand. You two—” he pointed to Buck and Riley, “come sit inside with me and Gabe so we can have this conversation with a bit more privacy. And you—” he pointed at Finn, “stop growling at the new guy.”
Finn and Jaime went into the house in search of an ice pack while the others trailed behind at a respectful distance.
The whole time, Sammy’s hand remained warm on Silas’ back. It grounded him more than he’d like to admit.
“Are we sure it’s a good idea for them to be in the house together? Won’t they break the furniture?” Sam asked.
Silas gave a shaky laugh. “That couch is over ten years old—it’s seen things. Let them break it. I should get a new one anyway.”
Sammy moved until he stood in front of him and leaned his shoulder into Silas’ chest. “ Please, nothing with built-in cup holders,” he said, making an exaggerated shuddering motion. “And get something with a little color. Greige is depressing.”
Silas grinned.
His voice had stopped shaking, and gravity shifted a little bit more with each of Sammy’s attempts to pull him back from those awful memories. “You’ll just have to come shopping with me, then, so I don’t choose whatever greige is,” he said.
“Alright,” Sammy said, easy as breathing, and Silas wondered if his eyes had ever been so warm.
Silas pulled him a little bit further into his arms. “I hate using that voice,” he whispered. “He used to do that to my parents a lot. And me, too. Just because he could. It scares me.”
Sammy was quiet for a moment before reaching up to tuck a strand of hair that had escaped Silas’ half-back bun behind his wolfy ear. “It’s not the same,” he said. “You’re not the same as him. Riley’s clearly dealing with some shit; his reaction had little to do with you and everything to do with what he already knows.”
Silas nodded, looking down at his feet. “But what if I do get that way? What if it turns out I’m just as bad as him; what if the power goes to my head? I don’t ever want to be like that.”
“Look at me,” Sammy whispered. His eyes were so tender; usually hidden behind thick walls, the vulnerability shined so brightly now. “That will never happen. There are far too many people who love you and would never let you become that. You would never let that happen, either; there’s too much goodness inside you.”
Silas felt each word crackle and pop like blazing embers in his heart. “Sammy...” he said, slowly leaning down into his space.
Silas was torn between explaining that none of it mattered anyway unless Sammy was one of those who loved him, and kissing him silly. Their lips were so close Silas felt each of his shaky exhales against his own, their eyes darting back and forth between each other.
“Sammy…” he repeated, the hunger burning in Sammy’s gaze deciding for him.
Silas took hold of his chin, tipping his face up while Sammy’s eyes fluttered shut, and he wished he could frame this moment, a keepsake to tuck next to his heart forever.
He closed the scant distance between them, the ghost of Sammy’s lips against his own magnetic before muffled shouts rang out from inside the house.
They startled at the noise.
Sammy quickly stepped back, clearing his throat. “We should go see what this is all about before Finn and Buck start growling at each other again.”
Silas blew out a breath, raking a hand through his hair. “Sure. Yeah, let’s do that.”
He followed Sammy inside, unable to think with the scent of toasted marshmallows coating his throat.
There are far too many people who love you.
Would Sammy be one of them someday?
Despite the accusations made against him, Silas felt a little bad for Riley right now.
They’d moved the kitchen chairs into the living room so everyone would have somewhere to sit. Silas stood just to the side of Sammy’s chair, where he and Jaime sat across from Riley, staring with varying levels of dislike.
He shuddered at the thought of being on the receiving end of their combined ire.
Not that Riley had anything to worry about with the way Buck hovered next to him like a guard dog. Or a guard deer? Whichever it was, he was taking his first assignment seriously, and Silas respected him for that.
Finn was still grumbling, though.
“Alright, Riley, let’s talk about the cell phone,” DA Rivera said. “You thought far enough ahead to buy a burner and pay with cash, but we have you on surveillance in the shop. We know you were the one who purchased it.”
Silas wondered how much of that would actually hold up in court and why the DA was here and not the detective, but in the end, he didn’t give a fuck about the legal side of things.
He shifted closer to where Sammy sat.
Riley stared at the DA for a long moment, face unreadable. “Yes, it’s mine.”
DA Rivera looked a bit taken aback that he hadn’t tried to deny it. “Ok. So how did it end up in the car that ran through Sam’s apartment?”
Again, Riley thought for a moment before coolly replying, “Because I did it. I was driving the car.”
A low growl started in Silas’ chest.
He shifted even closer to Sammy, putting a hand on the back of his chair. It took effort, but his voice was his own when he asked, “And then you came begging for my help? You asked for asylum and took shelter in our home after you tried to kill him?”
Silas wasn’t entirely sure what Riley had done by invoking the old magic. It’d just felt wrong to leave him to fend for himself—like the shifter was his to look after. He’d been too preoccupied with Sammy to pay further attention to the feeling, aside from giving Riley a place to rest until he was healed enough to leave.
Obviously, things had changed.
Riley scooted closer to Buck on the sofa. He was still shaking a little, but at least he remained upright, face stony. “I didn’t realize—I’m sorry. It wasn’t personal. I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to hurt you,” he finished, turning to Sammy.
“What the fuck does that mean, you didn’t want to hurt him?” Jaime snarled.
Maybe Silas could read Sammy better now, but he swore he sat a little straighter, his chest puffed up at being the one Jaime defended with all of his brash boldness this time around.
And with his fist, if the ice pack cradled to his knuckles was anything to go by.
“We were just meant to keep track of Alpha Silas,” Riley said, sighing. “I couldn’t get into Silver Rapids because of the territory line, but there was a scent trail leading away from town. It was strong enough to be recent, so I followed. It led me right to your apartment.”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
How stupid was he? Not only had Silas been away for an entire week, but he’d left a goddamn yellow brick road right to Sammy’s front door.
And he still had no idea what territory boundary Riley was talking about. Silas, Finn, and Sheppard each took turns running patrols around the area, but they hadn’t intentionally marked anything.
After a shaky breath, Riley continued. “I reported what I found, and that was supposed to be it. That’s all that was meant to happen, and then he’d let us go.”
Sammy narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t know what changed. He ordered me to bring you to him,” Riley said, looking at Sammy. “I didn’t want to hurt you—I tried to fight the order and turn the car around, but it was too strong. Before I knew it, I’d lost control and crashed into your apartment. I thought you were dead, so I ran off.”
Riley looked strung out and exhausted. Buck passed him a glass of water and whispered something low.
Torn, Silas squeezed Sammy’s shoulder.
On the one hand, he very much understood how powerless Riley would’ve felt in those moments and how limited his autonomy would’ve been when Cain wielded his awful commands. On the other, he wanted to throw the man out and order him to stay as far away from Sammy as possible—forever.
Whether that was back with Cain or in prison, again, he didn’t give a fuck.
“What do you mean you tried to fight the order?” Sammy asked. He didn’t sound angry, more… confused. “Did you get out of the car?”
Riley swallowed. “No. No, I didn’t. I drove down the road, tried to stop, and lost control of the vehicle.”
When he finished, the crackle of the fireplace filled Silas’ head, alongside the memory of how terrified Sammy had been when he couldn’t shift the cabinet off his legs.
Silas felt the immense weight of every decision they’d all made leading up to that moment.
So many alternate, unthinkable scenarios ran through his mind; what if Finn hadn’t called him to ask if he was ok? What if he hadn’t called Sammy right after? What if he’d stopped calling after he didn’t pick up the first time? What if he’d returned to Silver Rapids a day or even a few hours later?
A shudder passed through him.
“What happened to you after that?” Sammy asked quietly.
Riley squirmed. “I reported back to Alpha Cain.”
“So he was the one who did that to you?” Sheppard asked, gesturing at the still-healing wounds all over Riley’s arms. They looked so wrong to Silas—so out of place on a shifter.
Riley nodded. “I told him you were dead. That I’d accidentally killed you. Afterwards… he threw me out of the pack. I don’t remember much after that; I don’t know how I ended up where they found me. But when I woke up, I knew coming here and pleading asylum was the only thing I could do.”
“What did you mean when you said he’d let you go if you did what he asked?” Sheppard asked.
Riley sighed. “Alpha Cain promised he’d let me out of the pack. That he knew someone I could work for in Anchorage, and he’d find me a job and a place to live,” Riley answered.
“And you believed him?” Jaime asked, incredulous.
“Yes,” Riley said, his hard expression finally slipping. “Yes, I did.”
To Silas’ surprise, Sammy took a deep breath and said, “I believe you. I believe you didn’t want to hurt anyone and that you felt like you had to because you wanted out.”
Riley blinked. His face was still stony, but he sounded genuine when he said, “I’m sorry.”
Buck reached over and gently patted Riley’s back in stilted movements like he wasn’t familiar with comforting gestures. Addressing the group, he asked, “What about his arms? Why aren’t they healing?”
“We don’t know,” Sheppard said. “But we’ve contacted a shifter doctor who lives off-grid way up in northwest Alaska. He travels from pack to pack in the most remote regions when he’s needed. We’ve sent him a message asking for help but haven’t heard back yet. Apparently, he sometimes goes weeks, even months, without communicating with anyone.”
“Sounds like a dream,” Finn deadpanned.
“You’d miss fresh produce way too much to live off-grid,” Jaime teased back, smiling.
“We’ll let you know as soon as we hear from him,” Sheppard said to Riley before turning to DA Rivera and Silas. “Can I speak with you both?” he asked, motioning for them to step outside.
Squeezing Sammy’s shoulder again, Silas followed them into the backyard. The wind muffled their voices enough for a bit of privacy.
“I don’t particularly want him around, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable with him being criminally charged for something he was, at minimum, coerced into,” Sheppard said.
Silas’ wolf grumbled. “As long as he’s nowhere near Sammy, I don’t care what happens to him.”
DA Rivera gave Sheppard a pleading look. “Cam, I’m a fucking District Attorney, not a detective. I shouldn’t even be here. Technically, this conversation never even happened. But once Sutton gets ahold of those surveillance tapes for the phone purchase—which she will—we could potentially be looking at attempted manslaughter, if not attempted murder.”
“That’s bullshit,” a deep voice called out. Silas turned to see Buck striding over. “You have no idea what it feels like to fight one of those orders. It wasn’t his choice.”
Sheppard clapped the deer shifter on the shoulder as he joined them.
DA Rivera looked exhausted. “Look, I know there are bigger things at play here. I can see about offering him some sort of deal once he’s charged, but I can’t keep covering this shit up. I can’t just let him go. I’ll lose my job, and then someone else will come sniffing around asking questions. Is it really worth that?”
Guilt washed over Sheppard’s face. “I’m not asking you to let him go. Just… wait? At least until we hear if the doctor is coming. Maybe something from the investigation into Cain will shake out in the meantime.”
The DA shot Sheppard a look like he’d said more than he should’ve.
“How is that coming along? Will you be able to arrest him soon?” Silas asked. What a relief that would be for them all.
Rivera pinched the bridge of his nose. “I really can’t share any more than I already have, I’m sorry. And I can stall on arresting Riley for a few days, tops. But he can’t be left alone. If he runs, I’ll have hell to pay.”
“I’ll watch him. I’ll make sure he doesn’t run,” Buck said.
Sheppard nodded. “I have the safe house here in Silver Rapids already set up. He’ll be close, and we’ll keep an eye on him.”
The DA gave Sheppard a look Silas couldn’t read. “I’m trusting you with this, Cam.”
Silas cleared his throat in the quiet that followed. “We planned to go visit my parents for a couple of days, but if you need Finn and me around to help out, we can stay.”
“No,” Sheppard said. “Go. You two deserve it. Tell Meera and Cal hello for me. Buck and I can handle Riley.”
Silas nodded and walked with Buck back into the house, leaving Sheppard and Rivera to work through whatever that was.
“Sorry about the tense start,” Silas said. “Things aren’t usually like this.”
Buck grunted. “A lot going on. I get it.”
Right. Another yapper.
Just as they reentered the living room, Jaime turned to Riley and asked, “If you wanted to go, if you didn’t want to hurt anyone, why stay? Couldn’t you just leave?”
Silas knew the answer to that question all too well.
Riley’s face hardened. “And go where? The rest of my family left the pack years ago and have been no contact ever since. I don’t blame them for that, but you have no idea what it’s like to leave the only thing you’ve ever known. I don’t have a driver’s license or proof of an education. Where would I get a job? Where would we live? Where would I buy clothes to go to an interview, and how would I get there? Running is hard, but so is everything else after that. I stayed because he promised me a job, connections, and somewhere warm to sleep at night.”
Sammy gave Riley that same assessing look from earlier.
Jaime grimaced. “I am sorry you were in that position. I’ll never forget the terror I felt staring at a car hanging out of my brother’s apartment, but I am sorry for what you’ve gone through, and I wish you better days.”
Silas turned away. He didn’t have words for Riley just yet. He deeply understood the man’s circumstances but couldn’t bring himself to forgive so easily.
Finn and Jaime left shortly after to pack up their things, agreeing to meet just out of town to make the drive to Silas’ parents.
Buck and Riley left for the safe house with Sheppard, and DA Rivera headed back to Monroe, presumably to hide what they’d discovered from Detective Sutton for a little while longer.
He and Sammy ate a quick lunch, and also packed their bags, making sure the house was secure for the few days they’d be away.
There was an ebb and flow to their movements when they were close; never quite touching, but drifting near enough to to feel each other’s warmth before pulling away.
Like the moon drawing in the tide.
It felt so domestic and wonderful to do mundane things with Sammy at his side. Silas’ heart ached in want.
“How far away do your parents live?” Sammy asked as they loaded their bags.
“Not very far, but it’s an elevation climb up the mountain,” he answered.
“Do you visit often?”
Silas smiled, stepping up into the truck and buckling himself in while Sammy did the same in the passenger seat. “As often as I can. It’s so peaceful up there; we don’t have to hide our shifts at all. It’s a much-needed relief most of the time.”
Sammy cocked his head to the side. “Do people not hike in the area?”
“No,” Silas chuckled. “The list of people who know how to find my parents’ house is very, very short. You can’t find it at all, actually, unless you’ve been there before.”
“You mean, it’s not on Google Maps or something?”
Silas grinned. Sammy had loved the tidbits he’d shared about the history of Silver Rapids and the paranormals who settled it. He would probably love this, too. “You remember when I told you Andi’s a house witch?”
Sammy nodded.
“Well,” Silas continued, putting the truck in reverse and backing out, “my parents knew a house witch back when we left the pack. She helped us out a lot with the home we moved into, adding all kinds of layers of protective magic on the structure itself and us. So, you can’t find it unless you’ve already been there.”
“You mean, like, magic? Magic magic?”
“Yep, magic, magic,” Silas repeated, turning onto the highway. “So we hardly ever bring anyone new over. Finn was the first, then Sheppard. My parents have invited a couple of family friends over throughout the years. And now, you and Jaime.”
Sammy spluttered. “But… but, why?”
“Well, they didn’t want to leave Alaska but were afraid my uncle would track them down, so?—”
“No,” Sammy interrupted. “Why bring me? Jaime, I understand, he’s Finn’s mate. But why me?”
Silas held his breath. Was this the moment? Could he really blurt out that Sammy was his mate while driving down the highway on their way to see his parents?
Well, you’re kinda my mate, too, so I figured, why not?
God, it sounded even worse than when he’d fumbled through inviting him in the first place.
Silas hadn’t even shared the way he felt yet. He wouldn’t want Sammy to think he only pursued him because of the bond when it was so much more than that.
Besides, he wasn’t even sure if Sammy returned his feelings beyond physical attraction.
I don’t want you.
And… things were going well. Sammy was opening up more and more; if they hadn’t been distracted earlier today, they absolutely would’ve kissed. Silas had to adjust in his seat just thinking about it.
Maybe if he waited while they continued to build the foundation of their relationship together, brick by brick, Sammy would be more inclined to be with Silas when he eventually shared the truth of the bond.
Silas reached out and took Sammy’s hand. “Because I want you there, and I trust you. It’s also the safest place I know, and I think we’ll all breathe a little easier knowing we can relax for a few days, yeah?”
Sammy squeezed his hand. “Yeah,” he said, his voice rough. “Ok.”