Chapter Forty

Silas

The hot fog of pheromones should’ve been my first clue. Honey and cinnamon melted together, so rich it makes my lungs feel sticky just breathing it in. Willow’s arousal smells different when she’s not in heat. Less floral.

But no less sweet.

I growl, floating toward Willow’s hiding place. Kane went to see her maybe twenty minutes ago. I thought it was a good sign she hadn’t sent him away like the other times, but now?

I shift from tree to tree, peering around until I can see them. My heart clenches.

Willow, my omega, straddling another alpha. Kissing him.

The other alpha, undressing her—another layer for every ravenous kiss.

Somehow, in the chill of winter, her skin is pink to his touch. She moans under as his hands travel, tracing the curve of her spine until he’s hoisting her onto his shaft.

Christ. If I don’t stop this now, they’re going to—

That’s when I hear it. Willow’s voice. Like an arrow straight to the heart.

“Yours, alpha,” she whispers.

As she tilts her neck to the side.

I wish I could fight. I wish I could roar at her to stop and think about what she’s doing. But it feels like I’m moving through water, unable to catch a breath without suffocating. There’s nothing I can do but watch, my head spinning, blood racing, cock, helplessly, hardening, as Willow sinks into Kane’s lap.

And Kane sinks his teeth into her neck.

Even ten feet away, I can feel the surge of pheromones. It’s like lightning in the air, charging every tiny movement. The way Willow clenches, then softens. The way Kane closes his arms around her. Her whimpers. His muffled groans. She grinds on his cock, making sure he’s as deep as possible, until finally he retracts his bite, gently licking away the blood.

Their bodies rock together. I recognize the gasping cries on Willow’s lips—she’s already close.

Before I know what I’m doing, my hand is pressed against my crotch. Arousal courses through me like poison. I want to explode, just to get it all out of my system, but I know it won’t make a difference.

The poison runs too deep.

She arches, and Kane lifts her hips for extra leverage. “Need you to come for me,” he growls.

The second she hits that peak, I don’t know how I’ll stop myself from coming with her. I’ll ruin my pants. Sacrifice my pride. Anything to fall apart to the sound of those sweet, precious moans.

She lowers her forehead against Kane’s. I palm myself harder.

“Mate,” she whispers, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Good omega,” Kane grunts in response. “Good mate. Give me everything.” He works her hips faster. “Gonna make you nice … and full.”

Her orgasm turns the air to honey. Pheromones flood the trees, so hot and sweet I think it’ll kill me. My balls draw up, ready to burst.

“Fuck,” I hiss.

Right before I topple over, Willow turns her face into Kane’s neck. She bites down. Deep .

At once, I’m struck by Kane’s expression. His eyes wide. His jaw slack. Ferocious as he is, his lips still red with blood, he’s also, undeniably, soft.

Vulnerable , my alpha realizes.

The poison in my veins turns bittersweet. Kane holds nothing back. Hides … nothing. Is that just what it means to be bonded? To even be worthy of it?

He’s still coming, stuffing her full of her knot, as she bears deeper into his neck. He whines and grunts, and when he tips his head back, I swear I see a glimmer of a tear.

My own pleasure escapes me. I grip my cock, throbbing, but with nothing to give. What was my grand plan? To rip them apart, stop them before Kane’s teeth found purchase? Willow hates me enough as it is.

That’s not true , my alpha declares. She invited me to join her. She knows I’m the only one who can fulfil her needs.

If that were true, she wouldn’t be coming apart on her new bond mate’s knot.

I have to face facts. Kane might not be her imprint mate. He might be nothing more than a lowly rogue. But all his shame, all his secrets, all his heart … is hers.

I grit my teeth.

Which is more than I can say for myself.

***

“ Chief. There’s been … an incident. ”

I toss another rock across the river, watching it skid the thin layers of ice. The repetitive motions are soothing. Distracts me from the bonded couple’s murmurs, and Freidan’s voice in my head.

“ There’s been … an incident.”

I throw another rock, harder. The ice fractures.

If I were a better alpha, I’d be hunting right about now. Kane left his fishing spear on the riverbank. But I’m not going to catch anything—not in this state.

Not after the omega I was born to love has given herself to someone else.

I hear her laughter between the trees like precious, twinkling bells. Kane must’ve said something amusing, though it’s hard to fathom.

I could make her laugh , my alpha seethes. But what good is laughter, or hunting, or anything else if I can’t even tell my imprint mate the truth?

“Chief. There’s been … an incident.”

Willow was right. Sentinels don’t just leave their post. But if she knew the reason … well, it’s hard enough for her to accept a sentinel. Let alone a sentinel who’s accountable for murder.

The sun is halfway set before the bonded couple detach. I hear footsteps behind me and don’t dare turn around, worried I’ll lose control if I see Willow’s bite on Kane’s neck.

“Silas?”

My head skips. I swivel around to find Willow standing in front of me, messily clothed, Kane’s cloak bunched high around her shoulders. She’s hiding the bite , my alpha grumbles. Smart .

“You’re up,” I say, my voice hoarse.

She nods. “I feel good. Strong.”

I give her an uncertain look. Is she trying to upset me, or reassure me?

“I know it’s temporary.” She averts her gaze. “Probably the endorphins, right?”

Yes. Temporary. Some barbarian rogue can’t replace your imprint mate , my alpha snarls. I sigh.

“Not entirely.” At her surprised expression, I add, “You share Kane’s strength now. Some of it, anyway.”

The information seems to please her, her pheromones lightening. “I guess he’s got plenty to go around.”

Not as much as me , my alpha snarks.

I turn my glare across the river. I don’t want her to see me like this. Broken. Petty.

She stares out with me in silence. Finally, deciding I have to say some thing, I ask, “Where is Kane?”

She adjusts the cloak. “Hunting.”

I frown. “He left you here?”

“It’s … different now.” Her hand rises to her neck, still covered, feeling the wound beneath. “He can still feel me.”

My heart aches. And you, him.

Her hand drops as if she heard me. “It wasn’t planned.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself, omega.”

“Really?” She quirks a brow. “Your scent suggests otherwise.”

I grit my teeth. Dammit, Silas. Keep it together.

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” I say again, tautly. “Nor should I have to explain why hearing”— watching— “my imprint mate bond with someone else might put me on edge.”

Willow bristles. “I’m not going to apologize.”

“I don’t expect you to.”

“Good.”

Her scent mellows the longer we stand there, not speaking. No matter how much she wants to hate me—how much she deserves to hate me—her inner omega won’t let her.

It’s not her omega you need to win over , my alpha reminds me.

My blood fills with led. It’s a cold, sinking feeling. One I can’t escape until I fight to the surface of my own guilt, and find the courage to tell her the truth.

“Willow,” I force out, “I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

She blinks. “It’s fine. You were right. We could’ve been, uh, quieter.”

“Not that. Something else.”

Her eyes flicker, cautious.

“It’s not about you,” I assure her. “It’s about how I … ended up here.”

“Pretty sure I’ve heard this one before.”

“Not all of it.” My fists bunch up. “Not the truth.”

Finally she softens. Omega wants to hear it , my alpha tells me. Heart on my sleeve—just like Kane. Except Kane only looks like a monster.

“Silas,” Willow murmurs.

She wouldn’t be so tender if she knew what I was about to say. Everything she hates about the sentinels—corruption, brainwashing, cult-like status—I have perpetrated. I don’t know what they did to her, but I know what they’ve done to others. What I let them do. So if they hurt her, somehow, some way …

Maybe I’m culpable for that, too.

“ Silas .” Willow puts her hand on my arm. “You’re trembling.”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry.”

“I still don’t understand what you’re sorry for .”

Now, Silas. It has to be now, or I’ll never tell her, or another soul, ever again. She’s my imprint mate. She deserves to know.

“I didn’t run away from the sentinels,” I tell her at last. “I ran away from what I’d done.”

She stills. “What did you do?”

I take a breath, grounded only by Willow’s cool hand, wrapped gently around my arm.

And I tell my imprint mate the truth.