45. Unwanted Visitor #2
"Alpha Silas, please. You can't let your bloodline die." She continues to yammer like an annoying gnat. "What would your father say if he were alive? Think about your legacy!" She gasps dramatically.
Silas buries his head into my bump and wraps his solid arms tightly around my waist.
"Please Kitten, forgive me. Nothing else matters. Not the pack, not the succession. Nothing! I'll die without you." He cries out in a voice full of anguish.
"This is all your fault, you slut! You have six males vying for your attention. And you won't let Silas fulfill his duty. I’m what’s good for him and the pack." Sierra-the-delusional-cunt accuses snidely.
I'm a little surprised by her vitriol since she never let on how much she hates me. And a proud Silas down on his knees, crying desperately, is a shock to my system.
"Listen, Soap-opera, why don't you take your overinflated tits off my property and pant after someone who gives a damn, hmm?" I suggest, disdain dripping from my voice.
"It's Sierra! And they're perfect!" She cups her breasts and smiles slyly, "Ask Silas."
Silas roars and springs up, baring his fangs at her.
"Enough with your lies! This is your last warning. Females are scarce in the Nightgleam pack, so I've been tolerating your bullshit for far too long. I’ll rip your throat out if you talk to my mate again!"
Sierra finally looks a little shaken, fear coating her features for a bit at his viciousness but recovers quickly. I place a calming hand on Silas's vibrating back as constant growls keep emanating from his chest.
Sierra, underestimating the seriousness of the threat, boldly scoffs, "What mate?
She can't even give you an heir. Who knows what she's pregnant with?” She tsks, her face turning darker.
“She's making a fool of you, Silas! I can rule the pack beside you. We’re perfect together. We have the blessings of the elders.”
My hand subconsciously moves to my belly and I’ve the sudden urge to rip out her spine. It’s tempting. But I want to see what Silas does. He has gone absolutely still, as if sensing a rival predator too close.
A mad sheen takes over her eyes as her gaze drops to my hand.
She smiles wide, showing her fangs and makes a show of extending her claws.
“She's nothing but a shared cunt who has you all by your dicks.
Your days are numbered, bitch. Silas shall be mine!
" She suddenly lunges, partially shifting and aiming a swipe with her claws at my tummy.
Before I can blast her skanky ass away, Silas leaps between us in a graceful arc and rips out her throat and heart with a single swipe of his long claws.
Sierra's body crumples to the ground like fallen timber, eyes open wide in shock. She chokes on her own blood as Silas spits on her face then bashes in her skull with his booted foot in a single crunch.
"Fucking vile trash, talking shit. Think you can lay a finger on my mate?" He snarls, with a hint of his panther in his guttural voice as his shoulders rise and fall with harsh breaths. He spits on her prone body again with disgust.
My eyebrows fly up. To say I'm shocked at this feral display is putting it mildly. I've never seen Silas so unhinged. I agree that the female with limited brain-matter was crossing lines, yet I never expected him to kill her!
He slowly turns toward me, eyes full of fear and uncertainty.
The claws on his right hand drips blood on the grass.
"Kitten, forgive me. I let that filth into our lives.
She'll no longer bother you. Please don't believe her.
I only love you, I only ever want you. I only belong to you.
You're my North Star. I'm lost without you.
" He continues in that guttural voice, advancing with slow steps.
I stand my ground and repeat what the dead cunt brought up. "What about your father's wishes, Silas? What about what he wanted? His ideals that you've lived up to for so long. Won't you regret it and come to hate me one day?" I can't help but ask, heart racing at his feral display.
A mix of dismay and remorse flitters across his face.
"My deepest regret is hurting you, Kitten.
My father was a great leader but not an ideal father.
He put too much pressure on a young cub.
I'll never do that to our cubs. To hell with legacy!
" He pins me with a frenzied stare, swaying slightly on his feet.
Frowning at his trembling form, I recall the tidbit that bitch shared in the beginning. "What did she mean about you going to a dark witch for a potion? What did you do, Silas?" I ask, even as dread floods my veins.
"I—I just wanted—" Before he can complete his thought his eyes roll back in his head and his massive frame collapses on the grass.
"Silas!" Screaming in alarm, I drop to my knees beside his unconscious form. That's when the sound of thundering footsteps reaches me.
Alistair and Rinn carried Silas inside, while I trailed behind them with Archie holding my hand. A bit shaken, I allowed it.
This was after they fussed hysterically, assuming Silas's panther had harmed me. I yelled at them to shove their misinterpretations up their asses and asked Zien to clean up the rotting corpse. Despite her intentions, Sierra hadn’t breached the wards, so Alistair hadn't known we had an unwanted visitor.
Azael and Baz were out on some business so there was no way to heal or find out whatever was ailing Silas.
Alistair wipes Silas’s burning brow with a wet cloth as he lies motionless on the bed.
"What’s happening to him?" I ask as Alistair, Rinn and Archie all wear guilty expressions.
I wait to hear their story since there's no way they were oblivious to whatever’s happening to Silas. They must have known something’s wrong since they had camped together for so long on Ispahan's castle grounds.
"He'll be fine once Azael takes a look at him." Alistair assures me but Archie shoots him a sharp look.
"Archie?" I prompt him pointedly and he swallows, looking away for a moment.
Before I can poke him further, it comes out in a rush, "Silas hasn't been keeping well, Moon."
"Archer!" Alistair warns him but he continues, uncaring. "She needs to know, Alistair. We might lose him forever to his panther. That’s no way to live, for fuck’s sake!" Archie counters desperately, pinning me with his distressed gaze.
"He let it slip when I cornered and challenged him while we were staying on the Nephilim grounds, Moon.
He has mentally caged his panther who has been desperately trying to break free and reach you.
His panther redoubled his efforts ever since Silas found out you could be carrying his cub.
Silas has been at constant war with his other half and that's harmful to shifters. "
Feeling incredulous, I glance at Silas. His dark brows are pinched together in agony, his handsome face feverish.
"It's affecting his physiology. Azael has been pushing him to let his panther out but he wouldn't listen. He's worried—"
"What?" I ask, when Archie abruptly stops. He grimaces like he's swallowed something bitter.
"He's worried that his panther will try to hurt you again." Rinn rasps, looking down at his feet.
Inhaling sharply I try to fortify my walls, unwilling to relive my memories from that night.
My gaze is drawn to Silas's face pinched in pain. I think of how playful his panther actually is. He'd always wriggle his big feline head through the crook of my elbow until I gave in. Then he’d settle his head onto my lap purring in contentment as I read books in the garden. He’d doze the afternoon away while basking in the sun.
The big cat would play hide and seek with me and wrap his furry tail around my waist after invariably catching me.
Once caught, he’d lick me to death, pretending to groom me like he does to his own fur, until I’d squeal and tickle him as payback.
Suddenly feeling an acute loss, my eyes brim with tears. A sob erupts from my chest remembering the sweet moments, now shadowed by the night of the Veilmoon.
"Why, Silas?" I keen as another sob spills free. Silas's eyes fly open, his irises fully golden. His panther in charge.
A guttural growl pours out his throat, and he tries to make a grab for me. Zien snatches me away in time, tracing at lightning speed. Silas leaps up on the bed but is quickly held down by Rinn, Alistair and Archie.
Zien sets me on my feet several feet away from the bed. Silas is absolutely feral, golden eyes glowing with possession, spittle flying from his mouth. He bares his clenched teeth. A sob catches in my throat at the sight of his lengthening fangs.
"Oh dear!" A feminine voice interrupts my thoughts. A witch with long black hair stands at the doorway, in a green and white healer's ensemble.
"Hello, I'm Zarelle." She waves at us awkwardly. Silas lets out an ear-splitting roar making me wince.
"Umm, this escalated fast!" Zarelle flinches nervously. Rinn, Alistair and Archie grunt, exerting their full strength to keep Silas from pouncing and possibly biting Zarelle's head off. I'm quite sure that his panther, once again in charge, deems her as a threat.
"She's a healer from Hag's Delight, Love." Zien informs me quietly amid Silas's raucous growls. "She sold him a potion upon Silas’s request. I overheard bits and pieces of their conversation, but given his current state, I thought sending for her would be the wise thing to do."
Narrowing my eyes, I round up on her. "What did you give him? You don't seem like a dark witch that the odious pantheress was bitching about."
"Not sure who you mean, but I'm not a dark witch as you can see.
" She states in a careful voice, waving her arms down her body.
"I've served as a healer for the Nightgleam pack occasionally and have been friends with Silas for decades. He came to see me a while ago, and asked me to concoct a potion.”
“What kind of potion?”