Chapter 22

*Silas’s POV*
After calming my mate from that horrible nightmare, I head back to my room. I collapse on my bed and ponder. I need to find Damon and his followers. If I don’t, no one here will trust us and that can ruin any potential peace. This could tear Athena and I apart. I don’t want to put her in a position where she would have to choose her pack or me. My beautiful, strong mate deserves to become leader. Just being with her could hold her back.
Then a knock sounds at the door. “It’s open.” I yell and Alaric enters.
“Want to go on a run while we wait for the meeting to be done?” He asks. He’s already in a muscle shirt and some basketball shorts.
“Sure, just let me change. I’ll be right out.” With that Alaric nods and walks out to wait in the hall. I slip on a tank and some shorts along with my running shoes. A run is just what I need. I need to clear my head.
I open the door and begin to walk. “Let’s go.” We begin to find our way out of the pack house. On the way out we are greeted by serval disgusted and untrusting faces. Maybe walking around here on our own isn’t the best idea. I bet if given the chance, these wolves will strike at us. Upon leaving the pack house we break into a run and try to put as much distance between us and those wolves as possible. Alaric catches up with me and I look over and see he has something to say.
“What?” I ask slightly annoyed.
“Do you think our mates will choose to reject us? I don’t want to put them into a position where they have to choose between us or their titles.” He asks will jogging next to me.
“I don’t know.” There isn’t much to talk about. If she decides the title is much more important to her, ill happily let her go. Then she will be able to find a chosen mate that won’t tarnish her reputation and family name. Unlike me, I’ll only bring shame to her house because of my lineage alone. Why did my fathers have to turn out the way he did? Why did he have to be so greedy and power hungry. When I was little, barely 2, my father was a cruel and harsh man. He wanted to mold me into an Alpha like him. He wanted me to be ruthless, cruel, merciless. Even though I was a toddler he would punish me if I defied him in any way. My mother was a kind, good hearted woman, but she couldn’t stop any of the cruelty. She herself suffered from it. Once she found out what my father was truly like she tried to leave with me and my younger brother, but my father was always one step ahead. He found out about each one of my mother’s escape plans and she was severely punished for each. There were nights where I found her bruised and bloody. He may have been a sick and evil man, but he wasn’t dumb. His brutality eventually broke her, and she became submissive. She stopped trying to escape with us and remained by his side as Luna. She didn’t try to stop the beatings anymore. He completely broke her spirit and turned her evil, like him. It’s like she was possessed. Since they were sentenced to death, and we were sent away. My brother and I grew distant as the years went by. I used to even see qualities of my father in him.
“If her pack could somehow accept us and she became Alpha. Our worries of rebuilding would be through. Our packs could join together in one strong pack.” Alaric suggests.
“That’s true, but it’s a long shot.” I sigh. I continue to run and ponder on the subject. We enter the part of the forest where Athena and I were messing around. She’s right that this place brings a sort of tranquility. I feel the tension leave my body and my mood lighten.
“This place is incredible.” My Beta says breathlessly. He’s right, it is incredible.
“Let’s head back. The meeting is probably almost done by now.” I say and start to run back. “Race you there.” I smirk and sprint.
“Hey that’s not fair!” He yells but chuckls in amusement. We need a moment to act like kids to remind us how to let go.
After beating Alaric back to the pack house, we head in, and we catch the eyes of the Alphas leaving the meeting room. Their looks are not pleasant. Not one bit. We retreat to our rooms to get away from their brutal stares.
“I’m going to go shower. You should too. I think our mates will visit soon, and you smell awful!” I chuckle and lightly punch his shoulder.
“You should smell yourself. You smell worse than wet dog.” He mirrors my chuckle, and we head to our separate rooms. I head to the bathroom and turn on the shower to a cooler temperature. I peel off my sweat drenched cloths and throw them into a condensed pile on the floor. I hop in a stand there to allow the water to cool me off.
Judging by the looks those Alpha’s gave us. That meeting didn’t go so well. I hope she comes to let me know how it went. We need to figure out what we’ll do moving forward. I open a bottle of my favorite shampoo and scrub my head thoroughly. Washing away any trace of sweat.
When I finish washing up, I cut off the water and dry off. I wrap the towel around my waist and gather my pile of cloths. I throw them into a hamper and go to my bag to pull out a fresh set of cloths. A pair of black boxers, jeans, and a soft black t-shirt.
I undid the towel around my waist and place it on the bed and slip on my fresh boxers. However, when I start reaching for my jeans, I hear the door click and open. Like I have to guess who it is once the scent of winter and mint filled the room. I grin and slightly turn towards the door. My mate stands there with an embarrassed and panicked expression. Her face is bright red, and her eyes are wide. Like a deer caught in the head light. I chuckle to myself. She needs to learn how to relax around naked men.
“Can’t get enough of this sight huh?” I tease with a grin that feels seductive. She doesn’t avert he eyes like she did last time. Might as well give her a show if she’s going to stare like that. I go to unfold my jeans, and, In that moment, a new scent filled my nose. I feel myself become seduced by it and my wolf become frantic. I feel him trying to push back my consciousness so he can take control. If I let him take control here and now while she is aroused. Who knows what he will do? Every part of my body tenses up and I look back at her and find a worried look. I try to fight him off but eventually I lose control over my body and Vladimir took full control.
The whole scene plays out in front of me, and I can see how scared she has become. He corners her and forces himself on her.
“Stop it you asshole! Can’t you see how scared she is? You will lose us any trust I earned!” I yell at him, but he just scoffs and ignores me. Goddess, damn it all! Why did I have to lose control like that? Then she manages to calm him down a bit when he attempts to mark her. She is not ready for it yet and wants that moment to be special between me and her. I want that too, but my dickhead of a wolf is too selfish to see otherwise. “Give me back control! I will never forgive you if you continue.” I growl in anger. He scoffs once again and finally lets me have control over my own body.
I test out moving and find once again I have full control. I also find that Vladimir locked himself at the back of my mind. What a coward.
In front of me, Athena stares at me with a look of fear. Not knowing what will happen next. I jump off of her and apologize. I apologize with all my being hoping like hell I didn’t lose her trust. Damn him. Damn my wolf. He blew it, he blew it big time.
She sits up and I see she is struggling to keep the remnants of her shirt up. He pretty much tore her shirt off to get to her neck. My eyes widen and I go to my bag and dig out a shirt. I threw it to her and turn away so she can put it on. She assures me she knows it’s not my fault, but it is. It is completely my fault. I should have fought harder to keep control. Now she’s afraid of me. He ruined any progress I made with her.
“I’m not afraid of you, if anything I’m more afraid of myself. I lost all self-control within seconds.” She speaks. I can’t help but chuckle. Her innocent looks are lovable and quite hilarious. It’s obvious she has no experience with men. Which makes sense because most wolves wait for their mates. We become so strict with our selves even if there’s a possibility, we won’t ever meet them. Unfortunately, I lost that mentality when I hit my 20’s. After waiting for a mate for so long I started to think I didn’t have one. So, there are women I was with back home but not majorly. I cut off any connection to my most recent one not long before I left to find the rogues. That thought makes me feel dirty and disloyal but it’s all in the past now. Now I have my innocent beautiful little mate, who knows nothing about being with a man. I guess I have a lot to show and teach her about intimacy. This thought causes me to grin in excitement.
She changes the subject by filling me on how the meeting went. None of the Alphas are thrilled that we are mates. She’s even worried that they may try something. I guess my suspicions were correct. It won’t be a good idea walking around here alone anymore. She expresses her undying trust in me which fills me with pure relief. Then she put a hand on my cheek and smiles at me warmly. Almost as if she wanted to prove the fact, she trusts me. Her warmth fills me with hope. Since I earned her trust, maybe it’s possible I can earn her packs trust.
“I really am sorry, Angel.” I say and cover her hand with mine not wanting her to move it.
“I know.” Her smile grows a bit wider and wraps her arms around me. My eyes go wide and embrace her tightly. So tightly as to say I never want to let her go.