Chapter 16 - Elle
Elle was making coffee in the kitchen when she heard a noise outside.
Laughing and slamming of car doors. She went to the window and saw a smooth black SUV parked in the driveway. Silas was out already with Rael and Javi, grinning in a way Elle had never seen before.
Then a lady came out of the car. The brothers surrounded her.
She was petite with blonde hair that fell down to her waist and a big smile. Elle heard her laughter as she hugged each of her brothers separately.
Sara Weston. The only girl of the Weston family. Someone Elle barely thought about. Sara was one of the pack members who had not been mean to her. That was when they were younger. Elle didn't know how Sara would react to a human who was forced into a bond and married to her brother.
Elle was still standing by the window when the front door flew open, and Sara came rushing into the house like a whirlwind.
“Where is she? Where's my new sister-in-law?”
Elle had just lowered her coffee mug when Sara came through the kitchen door. Her light green eyes widened in shock.
“Elle?” Sara breathed. “Elle Jones?”
“Hi, Sara,” Elle said awkwardly.
For a moment, Sara just stared. Her face then broke into the biggest smile Elle had ever seen, and she moved across the kitchen in three long strides and pulled Elle into a hug.
“Oh my God,” Sara squealed. “I'm so glad you're back! I didn't think Silas was serious when he called and said you guys got married.”
Elle froze up for a bit and slowly hugged her back. “I'm back,” Elle confirmed. “It's not like I had a choice.”
Sara broke off the hug and gave Elle a long look. “You look amazing. Different in a good way. You're so confident now.”
“I uh, guess?”
Sara's eyes sparkled with curiosity. “I bet you have stories. We have much to catch up on! Eight years is a long time.”
Silas showed up at the door. “Sara, leave Elle alone. Give her some space, okay?”
“Space?” Sara said. “No way. Elle and I are officially sisters. We need to bond.” She looked back at Elle with a sincere smile. “Unless you don't want to? I understand that this is all complicated. Silas explained some of it to me on the phone.”
Elle smiled nervously. Sara was so full of energy and warmth. “I'd like to catch up. It's been a while.”
“Perfect!” Sara clasped her hands. “We should go somewhere we can talk. Without my brother's eavesdropping. They have no sense of personal space.”
She glanced at Silas, who lifted up his hands in defense. “I'll leave you two.”
Sara grabbed Elle's hand, pulling her to the door. “Come on. I know just the place.”
They ended up at a cafe in the town square for pastries. Sara ordered coffee and treats for both of them.
“Okay,” Sara said, popping a sweet into her mouth. “Start from the beginning. What happened after you left?”
Elle hesitated. She had told August part of her story and bits and pieces to Silas. But Sara was asking for everything, and Elle didn't know where to begin.
“It was tough at first,” she said. “I had no money, no job, and nowhere to go.”
“I'm so sorry,” Sara said. “I wanted to come see if you were okay. My dad wouldn't let me. He said it would undermine the banishment if pack members stayed in touch with you.”
“I understand. You couldn't fight against the Alpha.”
“I should have tried harder, though.” Sara stretched her hand across the table and grabbed Elle's hand. “You survived. More than survived, going by what Silas told me. You built a life for yourself.”
“I did,” Elle said, smiling happily as she started talking about her time in the human world. Sara was a listener, asking questions and cheering Elle on.
It was nice to talk to someone who wasn't carrying guilt or mixed emotions. Sara was just present, supportive, and happy to see Elle alive and well.
“You're amazing,” Sara said, smiling softly when Elle finished her story. “Most people wouldn't have survived what you went through.”
Elle felt her cheeks heat up. “I just did what I had to do.”
“No, you did more than that. You became someone amazing.” Sara grinned. “I understand why Silas is so into you.”
Elle almost choked on her coffee. “What?”
“Please,” she scoffed. “I've known my brother my whole life, and I've never seen him look at anyone like he looks at you.” Sara leaned forward. “He's totally smitten.”
“He forced me into this bond and marriage,” Elle pointed out.
“I know, and that was wrong of him. Super wrong.” Sara turned serious. “Elle, I know Silas has been miserable since you left. He tried to hide it. I saw it. He was carrying a lot of guilt for what happened to you.”
Elle stared at her, surprised. The image of Silas suffering didn't fit with the narrative she'd built in her head.
“Anyway,” she leaned back. “That's all in the past. What matters is you're here. I have a sister! I've been waiting a long time, you know? It's tough being the only girl in a house with alpha males.”
Elle chuckled softly. “I can imagine.”
For the next hour, they talked about lighter things. Sara told Elle about the Clearwater pack, her friends, and the wolves she'd met. Elle laughed harder than she had in weeks.
As they talked, Elle noticed pack members passing by the café would do a double-take when they saw Elle and Sara together. Some looked surprised, others curious, a few even waved.
Sara waved back enthusiastically every time, making a point to introduce Elle as her sister-in-law.
“What are you doing?” Elle asked after the third introduction.
“Hmm?” Sara said, looking innocent.
“You're making a show of spending time with me.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Sara asked.
“Sara—”
“Look, I know the pack hasn't been friendly to you. I heard some of them have been mean about your presence. But they respect me, and when they see me treating you with respect and kindness, it'll change the way they behave towards you,” Sara explained.
“You're doing this on purpose? To help me.”
“Of course I am. You're my sister now. That means something.” Sara grinned. “Anyone who's mean to you will have to deal with me. I can be pretty fierce when I want to be.”
Elle doubted that. Sara was too cute and soft to be considered fierce. It was the thought that counted, though.
Sara kept her word. Over the next few days, she spent most of her time at Silas's house taking Elle out for activities in the pack territory. They shopped, socialized at the pack hall, and went to a training session where Sara introduced Elle to everyone as her sister-in-law.
Gradually, Elle noticed the pack's attitude changing. The open animosity she'd faced on her day had switched to curiosity. They were watching her with Sara, observing how the favorite Weston was behaving with Elle, and they seemed to be re-thinking their first impressions.
Some wolves even started greeting Elle on the street. Younger pack members asked her about the world, and they were genuinely interested. The cooks in the kitchen started saving her favorite pastry.
It wasn't all perfect. Some still glared at her. Old-fashioned wolves showed their disapproval with hushed conversations that stopped when Elle approached.
It was progress, and it was all thanks to Sara.
One evening, while Elle and Sara were watching a movie in the living room, with Sara painting Elle's nails, she said something that made Elle's heart stop.
“I know I've said this before, but I'm happy you're here,” Sara said as she put another coat of red polish on Elle's toe. “And Silas has been happy too.”
Elle snorted. “I don't think so. I haven't done anything but fight with him since I got here.”
“Maybe. But he seems more alive now than he has in years.” Sara said, moving to the next nail. “When you were banished, Silas was really upset. He tried to hide it. But I knew. I'm his sister after all. He thought it was his fault for how everything turned out.”
Elle frowned. “Why would he think that? He was the one who—” she stopped, swallowing the words she had carried for eight years.
“Who what?” Sara looked up.
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“Elle,” Sara put the nail polish aside and looked at her. “What did you think Silas did?”
Elle bit her lip. “Wasn't he the one who convinced your dad to banish me? Just to get rid of me.”
Sara's eyes widened. “What? No! Elle. Silas fought Dad on that rule. He fought harder than I ever saw before.”
Elle's world tilted off its axis. “What?”
“Silas was furious when our dad announced the banishment law. He argued with Dad for hours and said it was cruel and unfair. That was the only major fight I ever witnessed between them. Dad threatened to take his position as heir, but Silas still tried everything to keep you here.”
Elle felt like she was drowning. “That's not... Sara, are you sure?”
“Completely sure. I was there. I heard everything.” Sara grabbed Elle's hands, not caring about the nail polish. “Silas has been feeling guilty about your banishment for years. He thinks he didn't fight hard enough that he should have done more to protect you.”
Elle's mind was reeling. She had been wrong about everything she thought happened that day. Silas didn't plan her exile; he tried to stop it.
She jumped to her feet. “I need to go. I need to talk to him.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
Sara smiled knowingly. “Go. I'll clean up here.”
With her heart racing, she went to his office. She didn't bother knocking; she just opened the door and found Silas at his desk with reports everywhere.
“Elle?” His eyebrows shot up. “Is everything okay?”
“Sara told me about what you did eight years ago.” She jumped right into it. “About your fight with your dad regarding my exile.”
“Oh.”
“Why didn't you tell me? I thought you were behind it all this time. I often asked myself why you convinced your dad to make that sudden law just to get rid of me.”
“I know. I could tell by the looks you gave me and the things you said.”
“So why didn't you correct me?”
“Because I failed you!” Silas stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of her. “I should have fought harder. I should have prevented that law from being passed. I tried, but that doesn't mean I didn't fail.”
“You tried to protect me.”
“Not well enough.”
“You tried. I spent eight years trying to hate you for something you didn't even do.” Her throat bobbed. “You just...let me do it. I was so angry with you. I accused you of everything. You didn't defend yourself.”
“It was natural to be angry. I did make your life miserable. The banishment was just the culmination of all the ways I'd already failed you.”
Elle didn't know what to say. Her whole view of the past was changing into something complicated.
“Why did you do it?” She asked the question that had been burning inside her for years. “Why did you bully me? What did I ever do to you?”
“Elle.”
“I have to know. No, I need to know why you were so mean to me. Why?”
“I never hated you. It was never about that.”
“Then what was it about?”
Silas inhaled sharply. “You might want to sit down for this.”