Book 1: Chapter 38

*** Silas POV ***



I pounded on the door of the The Wayward Tap. The rain was pouring down and I was completed soaked through. Hell, I was lucky I even had sweatpants in the nearby tree from the other night. My wolf-ass ran all the way over here as fast as I could. The thunder rolled behind me and I pounded on the door again. Charles taught me how to ‘police knock’ when he first got into the force and I hoped it carried all the way up the stairs.

Stepping back, I looked up at the window but the light wasn’t on. Cursing, I was about to knock again when the door swung open. Aelia was standing in the door in a huge shirt and clearly only half awake.

“Sil, do you know what time it is?”

“About three in the morning, I think.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“I need your help.”

“Help can wait till the morning, Sil.”

She was about to close the door but I threw my hand up to block it. “It’s Nate. He’s…I think he’s going feral.”

Aelia reopened the door and moved, allowing me to step in. I didn’t go very far considering I was drenched and creating my own puddle on the floor. She closed the door behind me. 

“What do you mean?”

“He won’t or can’t shift. He’s not listening to me or any commands. I can’t get anything out of him or Wren. Sam almost lost an arm when he went to check on why there were snarling noises coming from his room. We’ve had to put him in one of the cells under the pack house. Please A, I…I don’t know how to stop it. I can’t lose him.”

My voice cracked as I looked at the only person who might bring my brother back. I knew I told her I would be there for her. Help her in anything she needed in the last few months she had left but right now, I needed Aelia. I needed my sister to save my brother. Losing Nate was just something I couldn’t handle.

“Give me a second.”

I watched as she raced back up the stairs. There was mumbling a little and then she came back down. She was wearing jeans, a leather jacket but still had her sleep shirt on.

“We can take Noah’s car.”

“It’s going to be faster if we run.”

She froze in the process of opening the front door. “I can’t shift anymore, Sil.” Her eyes met mine and I could see the sadness swimming in them.

I nodded and headed out. She unlocked the Jeep and jumped into the drivers seat where I jumped in the passenger seat.

“Tell Noah I’m sorry about his seats.”

Aelia chuckled as she peeled out of the parking lot and headed up the road. I was pretty sure her foot never left the gas as we drifted around a few corners of the territory. The lightning and thunder were constant as the windshield wipers barely did a single thing to help. Slamming on the breaks, she pulled into the pack house driveway. Throwing it into park, we got out but even by the time we reached the door, both Solaris and I were soaked.

We raced into the house and down the stairs into the lower dungeon of the pack house. I was surprised she still remembered the layout so clearly. Sam was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

“How is he?”

He shook his head. “He’s been trying to bite through the bars. I’ve been trying to talk to him but it’s like he nothing but…”

“A wild animal?” Aelia offered.

Sam jumped, surprised she was behind me. He looked at me questioningly but I shook my head. Now was not the time for questions or answers. I knew if I didn’t help Nate soon, he would be too far gone to be helped at all.

“Do you have the keys?”

Sam handed them to her but I grabbed her arm as she stepped into the hallway of the cells.

“A…Sol, you can get hurt.”

“I’m a big girl, Sil. I can handle it. Trust me. He won’t hurt me, not truly.”

She shrugged off her jacket and walked over to the cell we put Nate in. Looking back at us, she nodded. “Stay there, don’t move, no matter what happens. Sometimes a trigger can also be hurting those close to us. Do you understand? Right now, I’m nothing to him other than a barkeeper.”

I nodded and so did Sam but we watched, barely blinking. Nate or Wren, whoever was in control backed up in the cell, growling at her. She deftly placed the key in the door and swung it open. Stepping in, she closed it behind her. Nate lunged and swiped at her chest. It tore her shirt and I could see thin red lines appear under the shirt. I started to step forward but Sam stopped me, shaking his head.

Aelia didn’t even see perturbed by the swipe. She bent down and her knees hit the floor, as she looked at Nate. Slowly, she grabbed the crystal around her neck and pulled it off. It was almost immediate that both Sam and I were hit with her scent. It was surprisingly not a strong rogue smell. You could tell she was a rogue but there was so much power that you could smell as well. An Alpha that may rival the Alpha King even. Sam was shaking as he brought his hand up to his nose. I placed my hand on his shoulder to steady him.

It was even weirder because I knew she was my sister. The scent was of family, of someone who was related to me and I felt my heart sink. It was though I was seeing my sister for the first time. Really seeing her, instead of just feeling our connection when we hugged.

Nate, though, growled at her even more. He lunged at her again and she put her arm up. I winced as I heard his mouth chomp down on her arm. She didn’t cry or scream as the blood started to drip down her arm. But Nate was frozen. His wolf form completely immobile, his mouth still on hers but all aggression he showed was completely gone.

“Wren, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

He whined as he slowly let go of her arm. His tongue licked her wounds and he continued to whine and cry. She reached out and took his muzzle in her hands.

“It’s okay. I’m okay, no harm done. You’re going to be okay too, I promise.” Aelia reached down and kissed his head. “I need you to give control back to Nate. We need to make sure he is okay too, alright?”

My heart leapt in my throat. I didn’t even think that it might be a possibility that even if he was able to come back from the brink, that Nate might not have made it.

“Can you do that for me, Wren? I promise I’ll see you once more before I go, okay? This won’t be the last time.”

He gave her one last lick before backing up. His body shifted slowly until it was replaced with Nate’s human form. But when he opened his eyes, they were wild. Nate snapped at Aelia but she took his head in her hands. Again, just like Wren, he froze. His eyes slowly adjusted back to their lighter brown as his hands came up and touched her face.

“Aelia…”

She smiled. “You’re okay. Come back to us, Nate. Your family is waiting.”

He shook his head. “I’m gone, aren’t I? You’re already gone, aren’t you?” Tears streamed down his face and she swiped them away with her thumb.

“I’m right here, Nate. I’m right here and it’s going to be okay.”

Nate’s forehead touched Aelia’s and he closed his eyes. “I was gone, A. I felt myself slip away, falling away into the madness. How…how can I stop that without you?”

She pulled him in close and my heart hurt a little. We had talked about what to do with Nate but she put her foot down. He would turn feral if he mated with her and she died immediately after. We both agreed on that. However, her staying as Solaris in front of him was obviously not working for him. I knew something in him snapped when we went to go see my father. The fact that it lead to this made me feel slightly responsible.

“My sweet mate, I was never meant for you. I was only a placeholder. Someone to keep you grounded for your real mate.”

Sam shifted and looked up to me but I shrugged. I had no idea what she was talking about. Aelia stroked his back as he cried against her.

“It will all work out, Nate. I promise. This will give you some time. Don’t worry too much, okay? That madness is always there, but you can’t give into it. You have to fight it. There is still so much you need to do.”

“I can’t without you. I’ve been searching for you and I never could find you.”

She chuckled. “You were close a few times, actually. But right now, you need to rest.”

“But it means I lose you.” Nate leaned back and looked her in the eyes. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Aelia smiled and splayed her hand over his bare chest. “I’ll always be here Nate, always. It’s the one place I will never leave, I promise.”

She brought her hand up and as her thumb brushed his temple, a flash a blue made both Sam and I blink but when we looked back, Nate was passed out in Aelia’s arms. I stepped forward and around Sam. She stood up, easily carrying him in her arms. Reaching out, I tried to take him from her but she shook her head.

“Where is his room?”

I turned and lead her out of the dungeon and up the stairs. Opening his room, I grimaced as it had been completely torn a part.

“Alpha, let me.”

Sam slid under my arm, with Aelia holding Nate in the hallway, within two minutes Sam had the room looking better than it normally did when Nate just left it a mess. Aelia gently placed him down on the bed and she moved some of his hair out of face before pulling up the blankets. Nodding, she headed out of the room and down the stairs. We followed her quietly, the questions bubbling up.