"Will you stop pacing. You're putting my wolf on edge." Quinn grumbled in frustration.
I paused long enough to give him a withering glare before returning to walking back and forth in the kitchen. I scolded myself mentally for directing my anger at Quinn. It wasn't his fault I was being forced to stay in the pack house while everyone else proceeded to negotiations. In fact it was my fault he wasn't there right now with them.
"Ry..." Quinn groaned. This time he stood up from his stool and caught my arm before I could pace back across the room.
"Seriously. They are going to be fine. Worst case scenario is it is an ambush and they are already prepared for that." Quinn said.
~You don't understand.~ I sighed and shook his hand off so that I could start walking again.
"Yes I do. My mates there too." He laughed.
He was right. Alex was there as well as Adam. Aaron was back with Emily in a different location just in case of some sort of sneak attack but for the most part everyone else was at the negotiations. I was so caught up in thinking about the negotiations with Wolfsbane that I almost completely missed Quinn calling Silas my mate. My head snapped up and I narrowed my eyes at him. I hadn't had a chance to talk to him about this new discovery which meant he must have known before me.
~How long have you known?~ I demanded.
Quinn cleared his throat. He reached up rubbing the back of his neck and pretending not to know what I was talking about.
"Known what?" He asked.
~Quinn.~ I growled through the link. His eyes flickered over my face carefully before his lips cracked into a smirk and he shook his head.
"I had uh... suspicions the night of his birthday gathering but confirmation wasn't until that last surgery." Quinn shrugged.
~The heat?~ I asked.
Quinn nodded slowly.
"Yeah... I mean that's confirmation enough on its own but from what Alex said Silas and Aaron came out of the office when Matthew took you in to the OR to stop the bleeding and Silas lost his shit... Like... that new furniture in there was not a décor decision babe." Quinn said.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. There was no way that had actually happened. Silas wasn't the type of person to just up and destroy things when he was upset. He was too calm and collected for something like that. It was almost annoying how relaxed he was all the time.
~That doesn't sound like Silas at all.~ I said.
"Uh... sure...." Quinn laughed.
~...Quinn...~ I rolled my eyes again and decided to distract myself with the dishes instead continuing to pace. There were only a couple in the sink.
"Look babe, all I'm saying is what you can do with your brain..." Quinn came around to lean against the counter next to the sink. He reached up and poked me in the forehead. "Doesn't scare Silas for a reason."
~Maybe because I would never hurt him...~ I supplied.
This time it was Quinn's turn to roll his eyes.
"Alright. Maybe that wasn't the best example but just you wait. You'll see Silas lose his shit one of these days and then you'll understand why everyone thinks you're the power couple of the century." Quinn laughed.
~If you're going to hover you can at least dry.~ I rolled my eyes again and threw a clean dish towel at him.
Quinn caught the towel with another laugh.
"I think that's my queue to make a few rounds... Maybe go up and check on your ball of goo." Quinn said twirling the dish towel as he walked away.
~Seriously? You'll baby sit and bake but you won't do dishes ?~ I teased as I rinsed one of the pans we'd used for dinner.
"Psh I'll be back. I just want to check out that noise upstairs and make sure Thomas is checking the perimeter like he's supposed to. Don't get your panties in a twist." Quinn grumbled.
~Suuure...~ I laughed and shook my head.
Quinn gasped behind me. I rolled my eyes in anticipation of his hottie response but when I turned to face him everything seemed to freeze. Quinn was partially out of the kitchen but facing me as if he had turned back to talk. I couldn't see what had just happened but the dark red stain creeping slowly across his front told me enough.
~Quinn!~ I gasped and rushed forward.
Quinn held up his hand silently asking me to stop but I didn't listen. I managed to catch him just as he began to sink down. As he slumped I realized what had happened. There was a knife in his back. I barely had time to process his injury before the figure behind him moved. Blinded by anger and desperation my hand shot out toward the figure. I forced all of my anger and pain in the direction of the attacker even before the haunting blue eyes registered in my mind. Drake.
He choked and struggled against my invisible hold but all of my hatred and rage flowed through the link.
"Rylan!" Another voice called.
My eyes flickered over toward the new arrival and the connection flickered along with my confusion. Thomas was standing on just the other side of the kitchen. He wasn't fighting or helping us. All he was doing was standing there holding a sleeping Amelia. I blinked and turned slightly to face him. He wasn't just holding Amelia. He was holding a knife to her small chest.
"Release him." Thomas demanded.
I glanced between Drake and Thomas in confusion but I severed the link. Drake dropped to the floor gasping and coughing but I didn't care. My focus was on Thomas now.
~What are you doing?!~ I demanded.
Thomas flinched and growled.
"Stay out of my head or I swear to god I will kill her." Thomas said.
I glanced over my shoulder at Drake. He was getting to his feet now. He and Thomas exchanged some sort of look and my stomach sank with the realization that they were working together.
~What do you want?~ I asked Drake. Since Thomas wanted me out of his head there was no way for me to communicate with him. Fortunately, and unfortunately, Drake wasn't that stupid. At hearing my voice in his head he laughed.
"I always knew you were hiding something." Drake said as he walked toward me. I backed away from him steadily and focused on sending the images of the kitchen to Silas. I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't use my magic and risk Thomas hurting Amelia.
"Hurry up. She's probably already told someone that you're here with that witch shit." Thomas said.
Drake growled viciously and glared at Thomas. Thomas gulped and lowered his eyes. Drake continued forward and I continued back until I hit the counters. I was expecting him to kill me. He'd already tried so it was no surprise when he grabbed a fist full of my hair. It wasn't like Drake to make things quick but the flash of his canines suggested otherwise. At least if he was going for my throat it would only be a brief pain. His hand jerked, tilting my head at the last second before his teeth sunk into my neck and shoulder. Pain exploded through my body and soul. I screamed as every magical connection I had developed seemed to fray and severe. He had done far worse than simply killing me. He had claimed me.
Just as quickly as he had destroyed me he was gone.
My legs wouldn't hold me up. I sank down to my knees and raised my hand to my neck in disbelief. The familiar sensation of blood mixing with poison made me sick to my stomach.
"Rylan?!" Matthew's voice was muted by the ringing in my ears. It didn't matter that he was here now. He was to late.
Matthew knelt in front of me. His mouth moved but I didn't care to hear. He couldn't help me. No one could.
Matthew reached toward me. I shoved his hand away and pointed at Quinn. Quinn needed help. Quinn needed to live. Not me.
Matthew followed my gesture. His doctor mask cracked just enough for me to see the sadness in his eyes. He wasn't going to go to Quinn. There was nothing for him to do for Quinn which meant that he was already gone.
I wanted to scream again. I wanted to cry. I wanted puke, shrivel up, and die right along with him. But I couldn't. I was to devastated to even form tears.
The front door slammed open. The force of it shook the walls. I didn't even flinch but Matthew jumped and scrambled away from me. His movements were fast and he bowed his head in submission.
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Authors note:
Sorry for taking so long to update. I was dreading writing this chapter for obvious reasons but it's so plot essential that it had to happen. :(