25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
Milo
Darius was beautiful as he lay underneath me, his neck bloodied with my fresh mark on him, his skin streaked with mud and his own cum. Brown leaves stuck to his skin as fresh rain drizzled down and coated him, like the poorest attempt of a shower.
I was growing tired, my need to claim him had been truly satiated, but it was hard letting him go when he was so damn sexy, begging me for more.
“Think you can handle it?” I teased, then fucked my mate until we’d both reached release for the second time.
My knot deflated, and I was about to slump onto the ground and join my sated mate, but then Jeremy’s urgent tone broke the moment.
“Milo! Darius!” With his urgency, we shifted, knowing it would be better if we didn’t show just how filthy we’d gotten. We ran on unstable legs, following Jeremy’s scent. He was in his wolf form when we caught up to him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Silas’ father is here with three of his new packmates. I need your help as Second if a fight breaks out.”
“Of course! Where is he now?”
“He’s waiting for Silas to get here. I want us there before Silas gets back from work,” Jeremy urged, running ahead and trusting we’d follow.
We ran back to the packhouse, the rain pelting down on us as we approached our gathered pack.
Silas’ father was easy to spot, even with the rain falling down heavily on everyone.
He stood proudly and smirked in our direction, like he had any right to show up here.
He was the alpha who’d fucked up and left his pack to rot.
His previous packmates were now ours, and they glared at him with clear anger and disappointment, not that he paid them any attention. No, his attention was on Jeremy.
“I don’t like this,” I said, close enough to our shifted packmates that they could hear it, too.
“Me neither,” Jeremy growled. “And I doubt he’s here because he misses his son.”
“Alpha Jeremy,” Silas’ father greeted as we stopped in front of them. “I apologize for not alerting you ahead of my visit, but you see, I heard from a friend that something utterly ridiculous had happened in my absence. I’m simply here to see for myself that my friend hasn’t gone mad.”
Jeremy shifted back and was instantly handed a pair of joggers. I stayed shifted and so did Darius. It was our way of communicating with the others who remained shifted. If things turned bad, we would have the upper hand.
With Jeremy’s bottom half now covered, he turned to face Silas’ father, who I still had no name for.
“Jerold,” Jeremy greeted with a cool head nod. “Maybe I can help you. What rumors have you been informed of?”
Jerold laughed just as Silas strode over, Greg and Rowan at his heels. “Oh, just that my airhead of a son willingly gave my alpha title away.” Jerold’s eyes locked on Silas as he approached as if daring Silas to confirm the rumors.
“Your alpha title?” Silas questioned, stopping right beside Jeremy.
“Hello, Silas. And yes, my title. Or did you think it was yours to keep?”
Jerold’s eyes were cold as he stared his son down and it hurt my heart to see it. Silas had told me how bad of a childhood he’d had, but seeing the evidence of just how much his father seemed to dislike him was different.
“I guess I believed it to be mine the day you handed it over to me and abandoned the pack you’d neglected for years. Or maybe it was your parting words as you told me to ‘do whatever the fuck I wanted with the pack’ and that it was now ‘my responsibility as alpha’.”
I had to give Silas credit for how strong he held himself against his father. I would tell my friend just how proud of him I was once his asshole of a father had left our land.
Jerold stepped forward, closing in on Silas, his hands fisted at his sides as anger poured out of him. “You willingly gave it away?” He chuckled darkly. “Of course you did, you coward! Was being alpha too much for you to handle?”
“It was for you,” Jeremy cut in, reminding Jerold he abandoned his pack after almost destroying it himself.
I made a huffing sound, which every shifter would know to be a laugh. Fuck this guy, seriously.
Jerold pointed a finger at Jeremy, his ire now fully directed at my big brother instead of Silas. “No one asked you, you pup!” Then he turned back to Silas and was about to say something, but Silas just held his hand up.
“You will speak to my alpha with respect, or get off his land.”
“Respect!?” Jerold spluttered. “How dare you! Have you forgotten who taught you to survive? Who fed you!”
“Milo, what do we do?” Oric asked. He was standing behind Jerold in his wolf form, his body tense as if waiting for a fight to break out.
“We wait for Jeremy’s signal,” I replied, my focus never leaving Jerold and his men.
“I do remember,” Silas answered coldly. “I also remember how you left me to deal with your failings; how you used to beat me if I ever dared having a voice of my own. Those are things I will never forget. You better leave this pack’s land. Do whatever you want elsewhere. You aren’t welcome here.”
“These are my packmates!” Jerold roared, staring his old packmates down, as if they would return to his side after he left them.
“Not anymore,” Jeremy reminded him.
Jerold shifted, his anger too much for his wolf to contain himself.
I jumped forward to stop his attack on Silas, but was thrown to the side by one of Jerold’s men.
I hurried to slide out from under the unknown wolf and got ready to fight him back, but to my surprise he ran away from the fight, his other packmates following.
I scanned the area and saw that Jerold was hightailing it out of there.
“Get Nic!” Darius ordered our pack, and I hurried to spot who’d been hurt.
“Greg!” Cass’ devastated cry was my answer. I ran over to where my packmates were huddled together, bumping my head at them to ease my way in. We were a mix of wolves and humans.
Greg was bleeding heavily from the side of his head and I thought Jerold might have bitten his neck deep enough he couldn’t be saved. Silas was kneeling next to him, a pained expression on his face.
“Why did you do that?” he rasped, clearly fearing for his friend’s life. His best friend’s life.
Greg’s eyes found Silas and he smiled. “Because I love you, Turdface.” Then Greg’s eyes closed, a smile still locked on his face.
“He’ll be fine,” Jeremy assured us as I paced in front of Nic’s cottage. Silas was inside with Greg, not leaving his side even for a second.
Jeremy, Darius, Rowan, and I all waited for news, my skin still dirty from the fun Darius and I had earlier, but no one commented on it. I wore some loose joggers and a T-shirt, way too cold for this weather, but I wasn’t leaving until I knew Greg was okay.
“Greg is tough,” Rowan added helpfully, but I still saw the worry etched into his features. He was afraid for his friend and hated that he couldn’t be with Silas inside.
They’d been in there for over an hour and occasionally we would hear Nic ordering Silas to grab him something, but otherwise we truly knew nothing.
When Silas had picked Greg up from the ground and sprinted to Nic’s, I knew his neck hadn’t been touched.
Greg had been in his human form when Jerold had attacked, meaning Silas would never risk him by picking him up with a damaged neck.
But something still had him bleeding furiously, so it couldn’t be good.
Footsteps approached and then Nic stood there, his clothes bloody as he wiped his hands on a cloth. “He’s stable,” he informed us. “His ear was ripped clean off, meaning he’ll need to get used to his ear being more sensitive to sounds. But otherwise, he’ll be completely fine.”
“He ripped his ear off?!” I exclaimed; my tone laced with horror.
Nic nodded. “I’ve stitched the wound together and Silas has promised to take care of him until he’s healed.”
“Anything we can do?” I asked, taking Darius’ hand in mine.
Nic shook his head smiling at us. “I think Silas needs to take care of Greg himself.”
I nodded at that, because I knew Nic was right.
Silas was no doubt feeling guilty over Greg having lost his ear.
He’d need to look out for Greg to know he truly was okay.
The fear I’d seen in Silas eyes had said enough.
Greg meant the world to him. I’d asked Silas if he’d ever dated or been interested in either Rowan or Greg, but he’d simply said they weren’t his fated so that must’ve meant they weren’t meant for more than friendship.
It hadn’t been a no. I just hoped that if Silas liked Greg as more than a friend, they could become chosen mates and finally be happy together.
Greg’s declaration of love could’ve meant that he loved him simply as friends, or as a brother.
But it could also mean he was in love with Silas.
“I understand,” I said, nodding goodbye to Nic who went back inside.
“We should go home,” Darius suggested, kissing my cheek. “We really need a shower.”
Jeremy groaned. “I don’t even want to know what you two were up to in the forest.”
Rowan chuckled. “Like you can’t smell it.”
Jeremy just growled and waved goodbye as he hurried back to the packhouse to inform the others of Greg’s injury.
Rowan was laughing softly as he shook his head at Jeremy’s retreating form. “I’d better get going, too.” He waved and walked in the direction of my old home.
“Think Nic needs us here for protection?” Darius asked. I hadn’t thought about it, too busy worrying about Greg.
“You think Jerold and his men will return?”
He shrugged. “I won’t pretend to know the thoughts of vile men like them. I also don’t want us to be vulnerable to another attack. Jerold seemed to believe that the alpha title belonged to him.”
“Let’s ask Silas, he knows his father best.”
I knocked softly on the door and Nic hurried to answer. He allowed me inside to ask Silas, because Silas would not leave Greg’s side.
Standing in the open doorway to the room where Greg was placed on a soft bed, likely the same bed I occupied when Nic tended to me, I waved at Silas.
“Hey, you okay?” I needed to know how he was doing, seeing him so broken sitting there holding Greg’s hand in his.
He nodded. “I will be.”
“Darius and I were wondering if you needed us to stay for a while longer? We fear your father might return.”
He let out a forced chuckle. “My father will show up again, but he’ll need to gather more people before that happens. He might be a fool, but he knows he’ll lose against a huge pack like ours.”
“Okay, then. Anything you need help with?”
“Nah, I’ll get Greg back to my place soon. Nic is just waiting for him to wake up.” He gave me a soft yet tired smile.
I returned his smile. “Call me and I’ll be there in a heartbeat.”
“I know. Thank you.”
“And, Silas?”
“Yes?”
“I’m so proud of you.”