18. Silas
Chapter 18
Silas
S ipping hot chocolate while tucked in next to Sammy on Jaime’s man-eating couch, Silas was struck with the memory of sitting in this very spot six months ago, hearing Sammy’s voice through the phone for the first time.
The first time in a very long while, anyway.
His wolf had perked up, even then. Pay attention, it’d whispered.
Silas turned and smacked a kiss to Sammy’s cheek—because he could. “How’s your hot chocolate?”
Sammy took a huge gulp. “Mmmhmm,” he hummed before taking another.
Silas laughed.
Setting the mug on the coffee table and wiping at his upper lip, Sammy asked, “What’s in that?”
Finn smiled. “It’s French hot chocolate. Way thicker than the packet version.”
“S’wonderful,” Jaime mumbled from Sammy’s other side, sipping from his own cup.
Silas hadn’t had time to ask how their conversation had gone, but he felt the lack of tension in Sammy. He saw the way his shoulders were more relaxed and noted the easy way he laughed.
Jaime seemed lighter somehow, too. Like they’d both stopped walking on eggshells around the other.
Silas hoped that was true; he hoped they could finally rebuild the friendship that’d been jumbled up in the last couple of years, now that the rubble had been cleared.
Finn had yanked him in for a tight hug when they’d first arrived, clapping him on the back. “I’m so happy for you, Si,” he’d said.
“Thank you, Finny,” he’d mumbled back, always grateful for the joy they’d shared over the years in each other’s accomplishments and life events.
Then Silas had motioned for Finn to follow, suggesting they go on a run and let the boys talk. Finn had looked at him curiously and seemed loath to leave Jaime, even more than usual, but Silas had explained that they’d need some privacy.
Shifting quickly, they’d loped into the woods side by side, easily falling into step next to each other to run the loop around the house on the snow-covered trail Finn had worn into the ground.
While on their run, Silas used that still new, indefinable way they could sense each other’s thoughts and feelings to give him the gist of what Sammy had shared.
He’d stumbled upon Jaime’s Halloween costume by accident.
The snow had dulled the scent, so he hadn’t realized what he’d stepped on until he was right on top of it. Once he had smelled the garment, he’d stepped back quickly, huffing at Finn, who’d merely scooped the pants up in his jaws and kept on trotting, pointedly not communicating with Silas through the bond anymore.
Silas had moved on quickly, too. It wasn’t his place, and he really didn’t want to imagine further. But from what he could tell, he and Sammy weren’t the only ones who’d had an eventful Halloween night.
Finished with their hot chocolate, Silas and Sammy were just putting their coats and boots back on to head home when Silas’ phone rang, Sheppard’s name popping up on the caller ID.
“Hey Shep,” he answered.
“The doctor’s here at the safe house to see Riley,” he’d responded, getting right to the point, per usual. “You should, uh, you should get over here.”
Silas looked over at Sammy. “Sure, Sammy and I are just leaving Finn and Jaime’s. We can head right over.”
Sheppard blew out a sigh. “Finn’s there with you?”
“Yes, why?”
There was a pause before Sheppard lowered his voice. “He should probably come too. With Jaime. Just… make sure you come in with him.”
“Ok? Is there something wrong? Is the doctor giving you trouble?” Silas asked.
The three of them turned his way, honing in on his conversation.
“No, not at all. He seems like a nice guy. I’ll explain when you get here. Or maybe I won’t have to. Just… get over here,” Sheppard said.
“Alright,” Silas answered warily before he hung up.
“What was that?” Finn asked.
“The doctor’s finally here. Sheppard says we should all go meet him. Something seems weird, though, and he wouldn’t explain,” Silas said.
“He probably just doesn’t want us to fight with Riley and Buck again,” Jaime said, grimacing.
“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Silas said to reassure himself and the others. “C’mon, let’s get over there before it gets dark.”
The safe house Riley and Buck were using was located in Silver Rapids, on the outskirts of the small town opposite where Jaime’s cabin lay.
Pulling into the drive, Silas turned to Sammy. “I have a weird feeling about this. Sheppard sounded funny on the phone. Stay close to me for a bit, yeah?”
Sammy looked like he was about to argue, but his brows softened. “I can handle myself, Oaf. But yes, I’ll stay close.”
Silas kissed the back of his hand. “Thank you.”
Stepping out of the truck, they sidled in next to Finn and Jaime as they made their way to the front door.
Before they went inside, however, Sheppard slipped out to greet them, shutting the door behind him. “Wait a second,” he said, holding up his hands like he was already trying to calm them down.
“What the hell is going on?” Silas asked.
Sheppard shuffled nervously. “It’s nothing bad, I swear. He seems like a nice guy. Really nice. I just… I could be wrong. I don’t think I am, but I could be. Uh…”
Silas had never seen Sheppard acting so strangely before. It set his teeth on edge, and he reached over to bunch his hand in the back of Sammy’s coat, ready to pull him away.
“What are you trying to say, Shep?” Finn asked.
Sheppard opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, a man Silas had never seen before stepped outside and began speaking. “He’s worn out for now, I think we should let him rest. I can find somewhere to stay overnight and come back in the morning. Oh, hello,” he said, turning to the four of them.
Silas could immediately sense he was a wolf shifter—an alpha. He had big, broad shoulders and dark blonde hair that was greying at the temples. Silas estimated him to be in his early fifties, maybe a few years younger than his parents.
His face was weathered from the elements, but his blue eyes were bright and youthful and kind when they fell upon the four of them standing together in front of the house. He smiled, looking a bit nervous at their attention.
“Sorry that it took me so long to arrive. I set off as soon as I got your message but had to ground the plane halfway here to let a storm move through. I’m Will, the doctor.”
Silence followed, broken only by Jaime whispering, “Oh my God,” as he took Finn’s hand.
The rest of them stood there, gaping.
They were nearly identical. Or they would be if Finn were twenty years older. Their scents were similar as well—too similar to be a coincidence.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Silas knew that this man was Finn’s father.
“So… Uh, I can update you inside?” Will said, clearly uncomfortable from their staring. He made to turn back around but halted in his tracks when his eyes finally stopped scanning them as a group and focused on one person.
Finn.
He blinked several times, opening and closing his mouth like words kept getting lost before he could form them. “Uh… are you… do I know you?”
Finn was staring, too. Silas saw the confusion, then realization, then… something , on his face. Anger? Embarrassment?
“No, you don’t,” he said gruffly.
“We should go inside,” Sheppard said, opening the door for them all.
Finn gripped Jaime’s hand and led him in first, rushing past where the doctor stood, still staring like he’d seen a ghost.
Sammy leaned in close. “Is that…”
“Yeah. I think so, yeah,” Silas whispered while the others shuffled in after Finn and Jaime.
“Did he ever know who his dad was?” Sammy whispered.
Silas shook his head. “No. He was never in the picture.”
They filed in last, and Silas grabbed Sammy by the hand and made a bee-line for where Finn was leaning up against the opposite wall. Every one of his instincts was screaming to keep his pack close.
Jaime’s arm was pressed up to Finn’s on one side, and Silas tucked in on the other, sandwiching him between them. He pulled Sammy close as well. They probably looked ridiculous that way, but Silas wouldn’t let his brother face this conversation alone.
The doctor stood on the other side of the room, with Sheppard and Buck seated on the couch between them.
“Where’s Riley?” Sammy asked, looking around.
“He’s asleep. Meeting with the doctor wore him out,” Buck answered, looking back and forth between them all. “Do you two know each other? The resemblance is uncanny,” he said, focusing on Finn and then Will.
Finn stayed silent. Silas leaned into him even more.
“I… I don’t—I don’t have a family. I don’t have siblings,” Will said like he was trying to make sense of Finn; passing him off as some long-lost cousin or something.
Buck raised his eyebrows at that but didn’t push further.
Finn’s face hadn’t shifted from the frozen, stony glare he’d donned when they entered the house. Silas had seen that expression before; most often, when he’d been forced to stay at his mom’s growing up.
“It doesn’t fucking matter,” Finn growled. “What’s wrong with Riley?”
Will blinked; he was clearly still processing the situation but gathered himself quickly. “He was kicked out of a pack, violently. That kind of break from a family or support structure is very stressful, and in extreme cases can damage our immune system. I suspect he’s been dealing with high levels of stress and anxiety for years, and probably malnutrition as well. It’s more than likely why he’s healing at such a slow rate for a shifter.”
“But I thought shifters always healed faster than humans?” Jaime asked.
The doctor nodded his head. “Usually, yes. But we aren’t entirely paranormal creatures; we’re humans, too. A mix of both. And the literature on the impacts of long-term stress and anxiety on human bodies is extensive.”
“So you’re… human and wolf shifter?” Sammy asked, cocking his head.
“As far as I can tell, that’s the best way to think about it,” the doctor answered. “From a medical perspective, anyway. There can be cultural differences, and those exist even between packs.”
Will ran a hand through his hair in a gesture Silas had seen Finn make a thousand times. It was fucking bizarre.
“It’s not an exact science,” the doctor continued with a sigh. “There’s still so much that’s unknown about the magic of paranormal beings, and the interplay of also being human. It’s not a guarantee that a human medicine or remedy will fix a shifter illness, but it’s a good place to start.”
“Are shifter illnesses very common?” Buck asked, glancing over his shoulder toward the room Silas assumed Riley was sleeping in.
“Not common, no. Some of the old northern packs have records dating back decades, even centuries, though. There are documented cases of wolf shifters dying of infections and human illnesses, particularly in correlation with periods of pack wars and social structure upheaval.”
“What about other kinds of shifters?” Buck asked.
The doctor shook his head. “I don’t have access to documentation to answer that with any authority or confidence, but I suspect it depends on the types of shifters we’re discussing. What stresses out a wolf shifter—removal from a pack setting or family, for example—may not impact say a bear shifter as significantly, as bears naturally spend extended periods in isolation.”
Silas was fascinated. He was hesitant to trust this man; both because he was a stranger, and because of the situation with Finn, but there were so many questions he wanted to ask.
Like why he, Finn, and Sheppard had suddenly started hearing each other’s thoughts a few weeks ago, for one.
“So are you saying you can’t help Riley?” Sammy asked.
“I’m saying there’s not a shot or a pill I can give him, but I think rest will do wonders. Community, too, if possible. There’s no given duration for how long this will last for him, but in the interim, his wounds should be cleaned and treated the way you would a human’s. I’ll do some reading this evening to see if there’s anything else I can find, and come back tomorrow.”
“I’m going to go check on him,” Buck said roughly, standing.
“Actually, could I talk to him? Just for a minute,” Sammy said, stepping forward.
Buck eyed him, then nodded. “Sure. If he’s awake, I don’t see why not.”
“I’ll come with you,” Silas said.
Sammy squeezed his hand. “I really won’t be long, I just want to ask him something about the wreck that never made sense to me. You should stay,” he said, shifting his eyes to Finn, who was doing his best to not look at the doctor slowly making his way over.
Jaime was standing nearly in front of him like a guard dog.
Silas squeezed his hand back and sent a wave of gratitude down their bond. Sammy may pretend to be standoffish toward Finn, but he cared for him deeply. “Ok. Thank you.”
Sammy disappeared around the corner just as the doctor spoke. “Uh, what’s your name?” he asked Finn, cringing.
Finn gaped at him, incredulous. “You don’t even know my name?” he asked.
Protect.
Protect.
Silas wanted to tear into the doctor for putting that hurt in Finn’s voice. Jaime looked ready to hit him.
Will took a step back, the question startling him. “Look, I—I’m not blind. My sense of smell works just fine, I’m not denying the…resemblance. But I don’t have—I mean no one’s ever?—”
“Margaret Winters. That ring any bells?” Finn snarled.
It took a few seconds, and then all the color drained from Will’s face. “ Maggie? But she—I was only in town for a few days. She never said, she never called me. She never told me she was pregnant ,” he said, whispering the last word and looking alarmingly pallid.
GO! PROTECT!
Silas stepped closer to his friend, ready to shove the doctor out the door at one wrong word.
Finn’s voice was accusatory. “She said you left. That you weren’t ready to be a father and left her. She said she never heard from you again.”
Will was shaking his head rapidly, and held his hands out in supplication, eyes darting between the three of them. “Look, um?—”
“ Finn ,” Jaime snarled. “His name is Finn.”
“Finn,” the doctor continued, “I know you have no reason to believe me, but I don’t know why she would tell you that. I never knew about you. I never knew I had a—a son.”
PROTECTPROTECTPROTECT.
He choked on the last word, and Finn looked so much like that lost, lonely boy sitting in the back of the classroom on Silas’ first day of human school, his instincts roared at him to do something, to go, keep safe, go! Go now!
Jaime, still hovering nearly between the two shifters and glaring daggers at the doctor, said, “I think it’s time to call it a night.” He turned to look up at Finn. Softer, he continued, “We can pick up this conversation in the morning?”
Finn nodded, dazed.
The sound of a truck starting nearby and speeding off pulled Silas’ focus away from Finn and the doctor.
Something was wrong.
As the others shuffled toward the door, he realized—it was too quiet.
He couldn’t hear Sammy anymore.
GOGOGOGOGOGO.
Silas had kept one ear tuned in on the muffled, low tones of Sammy’s conversation with Riley in the other room, but he’d been distracted by the doctor’s claims that he didn’t know Finn existed. When had they gone quiet?
“Sammy?” Silas called, voice raised. He was across the room in three strides.
“What’s wrong?” Jaime asked.
“SAMMY!” Silas shouted, throwing open the door and finding the bedroom empty.
GOGOGOGOGO!
“Riley?” Buck called, hot on his heels, peering in over his shoulder.
But there was nothing to see.
Riley and Sammy were gone.
“Where the fuck are they?” Jaime yelled, turning to Buck.
The curtains gently blowing in the cold breeze were the only answer, the open window the only sign anyone had been there at all.
Fire roared through Silas’ veins—panic and fear so acute he couldn’t think or feel beyond FINDMATEFINDMATEFINDMATE .
He turned, catching Buck by the throat and pinning him to the wall, claws digging in. “Where did they go?” he snarled.
“I don’t—I don’t know—” Buck gasped, pulling at Silas’ hand.
“You’ve been the only one around that little shit for days. WHERE DID HE TAKE MY MATE ?” Silas roared. The alpha was fully in control now.
Buck choked on the words forced out of him at Silas’ command. “I—don’t— know. ”
A pair of strong arms wrapped around him and yanked him back, pulling him away from Buck. “Calm down!” Sheppard hollered, tightening his hold when Silas struggled against the vise grip he’d locked him in.
Then Finn was in front of him, partially shifted and teeth bared, fisting his sweatshirt in both hands.
GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF, he shot down the link the three of them shared. “Calm down and breathe,” he said out loud.
Silas took two deep breaths. “Sammy’s gone, Finny—Sammy’s not here. I have to go find him—how do I find him?” he asked, his broken voice his own again.
He struggled free of Sheppard’s grip, needing outside, needing to track the scent, to catch up, to go.
Finn palmed the back of his head, pulling him down to his height. “Get yourself together, Si. They can’t have gone very far. You know how to find him; you’ve done it before, remember? At his apartment? Focus ,” he snarled.
The doctor came running back inside the house, also partially shifted. Silas hadn’t realized he’d left. “My rental’s gone. Their scent cuts off where it was parked. Riley must have stolen it.”
Blood whooshed in Silas’ ears.
“We have to do something!” Jaime yelled, driving his panic even higher.
“Where?” Finn asked, giving Silas’ shoulders a firm shake. “ Focus! Where is he, Silas?”
Silas squeezed his eyes shut, steadying his breathing.
He hadn’t had to think about it before—he’d just acted.
One breath.
Go! GO!
Where?
Two breaths.
GOGOGOGOGO.
TELL ME WHERE YOU STUPID DOG!
Three breaths.
YOU KNOW WHERE! NOW GO!