Chapter Twenty-Six

Silas

How are you so good at this?

As things stand, I know almost all there is to know about the sweet, red-headed omega asleep in my arms. I know all I need to know about Kane.

But neither of them have learned the first thing about me.

I’ve never been one for lying. My career with the sentinels didn’t require it. If either Willow or Kane ask me where I came from, I’ll have no choice but to give them a straight answer.

Willow’s back arches against my chest. “Silas,” she hums.

“Shh.” I kiss her head. “Just sleep.”

“Where’s Kane?”

My inner alpha gives a pang of jealousy. “Back soon.”

She huffs, wriggling her hips. How easy would it be to lift her underdress and slip my cock between those plush thighs? I’m sure she’d slick up again in no time. God knows I’m already raring to go.

“You need him?” I ask, lowly.

“He said he’d be here when I woke up.”

“Mm.” I palm her lower stomach, remembering how much she liked it when Kane did the same. “Well, I’m not Kane. But between the two of us, I do have one particular advantage.”

Her eyes glisten with question.

I smile. “I’m here .”

Tenderly, I lift her dress, just high enough to give myself access. I leave butterfly kisses along her temple, breathing her in.

“You’re wet,” I murmur, fingers ghosting over her hot center. “Did you know that?”

Her breath catches.

“Use your words, little one.”

She shudders. “Yes alpha.”

“Breathe in,” I purr, angling myself just right. “Nice … and deep.”

I wait until her chest expands before pushing forward, just a couple inches. She’s bound to be tender. Slowly, she shifts her hips back, taking me bit by bit.

“So big,” she whispers. “Has it always been this big?”

I thrust in a little deeper. “We both know you can take it.”

“ Oh— ” Her walls suction around me. “It’s good. Alpha, it’s so good.”

No wonder Kane never lasted very long—if she calls me ‘alpha’ one more time, I might just lose it.

“I’m going to move,” I tell her, withdrawing my hips, “and I’m not gonna stop,” I rock back in, “until you come.”

Gorgeous, garbled nonsense leaves her lips. I continue my deep thrusts, keeping my hands on her body, reading her sweet inner omega like a book.

“Oh my god,” she whimpers.

I don’t stop. Not going harder, or faster, or even dragging it out. I simply pin her against me, putting extra pressure on her lower stomach so I can feel myself getting nice and deep.

She comes with a cry. “Alpha—alpha!”

Goddammit.

My knot plunges home. “Omega,” I gasp, rope after rope of my come flooding her walls. Her body accepts my seed like it’s what she was born to do.

She twitches, coming down, as my knot unloads the last of its pleasure. Vaguely, I remind myself to forage for some contraceptive plants after Kane returns. I’m not sure how many will be in bloom this time of year, but I’d be remiss not to try.

“I needed that,” she sighs. “I don’t know how, after … everything. But I really, really did.”

“I’m glad I could oblige.”

She shakes her head. “Why do I feel like you understand my body better than I do?”

The question catches me off-guard. I hesitate, unable to think of a convincing response.

Willow must sense my tension. “Silas?”

“Sorry. I’m not quite sure how to answer that, is all.”

She bristles. “I think I can guess.”

That’s not good . Or maybe it is—if she’s figured me out, it could save me the trouble of explaining myself.

“I’m not the first omega you’ve been with,” she declares. “Not by a long shot. Isn’t that right?”

“Willow,” I sigh, “I—”

“All I want to know,” she says, “is if you’re spoken for.”

I stop. “Spoken for?”

“I didn’t see any bond marks, but, y’know … you never know.” When I say nothing, dumbfounded, she rushes on, “I understand if you are. And why you stopped to help me anyway. But that being the case, you really shouldn’t stick around. A–and you should tell your mate about what’s happened right away.”

“ That being the case ?” I can’t help but recoil, tugging the knot so hard we both grimace. “Sorry. Christ, I’m sorry.” I force myself to relax. “Are you alright?”

Her shoulders are stiff. “You didn’t answer the question.”

“No. The answer is no . There’s no-one else.”

A small voice in the back of my head tells me this was the wrong thing to say. Willow offered me a near-perfect cover—a philandering alpha, roaming the wilds between villages. But something about her pussy, clenching possessively, makes lying impossible.

“Oh.” At last she relaxes, my heart relaxing with her. “Alright.”

Once again the question hangs in the air, driving both of us mad. Just tell her, Silas. What better opportunity will I get than this, knot-deep inside of her, Kane mercifully out of earshot?

“My position,” I explain, weighing every word, “demanded certain proficiencies. It just so happened that I spent a lot of time with omegas—especially omegas in heat.”

She pauses. “So, you’re a sire?”

“More like I coordinated sires. Made sure they took proper care of their wards.” Not that I was any good at it, or I wouldn’t be in this position.

Willow pales. “Wards?”

“Well, normally, we called them ‘mothers’.”

The air changes so sharply, I almost can’t register what’s wrong. Panic, bitter as unripe lemon. Fear, cold as ice. And something woven through it all—thick and choking as smoke.

“You’re a sentinel,” she accuses.

I knew this was coming. Decided I was ready for it. No—that she was ready for it.

I answer, “I have been.” Not letting my pheromones react to hers, no matter how much I want to calm her down.

“No-one stops being a sentinel,” she says. “Do you have any idea how bad you have to fuck up to be stripped of your rank?”

You’d be surprised. I bite my tongue.

Willow squirms, like she’s only now remembering we’re still sealed together. “ Who are you ?” she demands. “W-where are you from?”

I need to play my cards carefully. She’s probably expecting me to lie, and I won’t do that. Until my knot deflates, I have all the time in the world to plead my case.

“Willow,” I say, my voice a rumbling alpha purr, “I need you to take a deep breath for me.”

She snarls, her voice cracking.

“I’m not going to hurt you. All I want is to keep you safe.”

“Why are you here?” she rasps. “Did they send you?”

“Hey. Listen.” My tone hardens. “I’m a runaway, just like you.”

“ How the fuck do you know who I am ?”

If she keeps thrashing around like that, things are going to get ugly. I have no choice but to push courtesy aside, harnessing my inner alpha for guidance. Omega is resisting. She’s going to hurt herself.

“Omega,” I bark, “ enough.”

At once, she stills, her back taut against my chest. I can hear the tears in her breath, wet and shuddering, and it breaks my heart. I had a plan — I trust her, and in return, she trusts me. But I just barked at her. And now she’s shaking like a leaf. That’s not trust. It’s … it’s …

“What the hell?” Kane groans, sauntering into the room. “I was gone less than an hour.”

Fuck. I didn’t hear the front door open.

He reaches the bed, blood-speckled from the hunt, and freezes. His eyes lock onto Willow.

Murder floods his expression.

Growling so deeply it practically rattles the windows, he turns his gaze to me.

“What. The fuck. Did you do?”