GRACE
That night, when Silas and I went to bed, I had built a pillow barrier between us. Needless to say, that did nothing to help. When I woke up the next morning, Silas was sleeping on his back on his half of the bed. I, on the other hand, was sprawled across the entire bed, arms clinging onto Silas' torso. He had one of his strong arms around my waist, bringing me impossibly closer to him and his other hand laid under his head. The smug look on his face begged me to wipe it off somehow, but it was way too early for snarky remarks so I scrambled away from him and locked myself in the ensuite bathroom for an hour instead.
My body enjoyed the contact it had with Silas. He was barely clothed, only a pair of boxer briefs on. I felt flustered, the sparks from the contact still lingered on my skin which made my mind hazy, and my wolf purr in pleasure. A week of this and I'd be caving into this mate bond much quicker than I had
GRACEI clutched the bloodied piece of material in my hand, holding it to my chest as I willed my nerves to calm down. This wasn't the time to panic. I needed to act fast, panicking could come at a later stage. Linden was ordered not to let Silas know about Sydney until we knew for certain that she was gone and there was no way to find her.We treked further into the woods, following not only Sydney's scent but the thick scent of blood that lingered in the air. I wasn't sure how much blood a little girl's body could honestly hold but by the stench that hung around me, I knew someone lost a lot of blood. I just prayed that that someone wasn't Sydney.My heightened hearing picked up the sound of a small whimper. I turned to Linden whose eyes were darting everywhere, trying to figure out where the sound had come from. Everything around us stilled for a moment. It felt like the breeze that whistled through the tr
SILASI should have been out there, should have been searching those woods for my daughter along with my pack warriors but Grace needed me and my heart was being torn in two. On one hand, I had my missing daughter to deal with and on the other, I had a mate that blamed herself and consistently felt as if she brought this upon us. Thanks to the bond strengthening, I could feel exactly what she felt, the pain and the turmoil. She couldn't shut it off the way I had. I made sure she couldn't feel what I felt by building a mental blockage. If she did feel what I felt, I was scared that she would know that I did blame her in a way.I hated myself for it and no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, I blamed her. There wasn't a day Sydney left this house unless I took her to visit her grandparents. She was six and homeschooled but her teachers always taught her in the back yard under the watchful eyes of the guards.
SILASA loud shrill vibrated through the forest as my teeth sunk into where her shoulder met her neck. I dug down deep until the metallic taste of her blood filled my mouth. After a minute, my canines retracted and I lapped my tongue over the puncture holes to seal them, a soft, delicate moan leaving Grace's lips as I did so."Mine!" I growled into her ear.Her body went weak, knees bunkling underneath her. Before she could hit the ground, I wrapped my arms under her and swooped her up — bridal style. She had fainted from the pain that coursed through her but it would get better soon. Once it did, she would go into heat and that was something, in normal circumstances, I would have looked forward to. But knowing that she would be going into heat for an entire week meant that she needed me at her side. How could I search for my daughter and still take care of my mate? Clearly, I hadn't thought this through.
GRACE Sydney was back and I was grateful. I barely had a chance to see her since Silas had gotten her packed and sent her off with his parents', claiming that she would be safer there. Part of me wanted to protest against that because I was fully capable of taking care of her. However, the predicament I found myself in, shut me up.That night, Silas had gotten someone to repair the upstairs bedroom; fitting in a window he had supposedly run through, causing it to shatter. The following day, I just laid in bed, refusing Silas to touch me, to come near me. He had no right to give me his mark before I was even ready for it. It was something he couldn't take back but I refused to give him my body because of it. I'd rather suffer the heat and die.My stubbornness lasted about a day and a half. Thursday went by slower than it was possible. As each minute passed, I could feel the heat consuming me. My blood felt as
GRACEI was starving so it didn't surprise me that I scarfed my food down so quickly. The unbearable, all-consuming heat hadn't returned to my body and I decided to take advantage of that. It felt good to have a break from the pain but I couldn't help but wonder how much longer I could keep my resolve strong. If he kept doing things like that just to help me then how long would it take me to cave in?I was by no means inexperienced in the bedroom but at the same time, I wasn't very experienced as well. The only person I had ever been with was Carter and until recently, I never thought about being with anyone else - both physically and emotionally.Sauntering over to the walk-in closet, I picked out one of Silas' shirts and slipped into it. The thin material of the baby blue tee hugged my figure, stretching over my bust and falling just below my bottom. I brought the shirt to my nose and inhaled his scent. It
GRACE"Grace, where the hell are you?" Monica sounded frantic over the phone, "Rumors have been spreading around the pack that you ran away and then I felt our mind link shatter and your link to the pack severe. What's going on?"There was a warm feeling in my heart at how much Monica truly cared for me. She came off as bitchy but her heart was anything but. She just had a difficult time showing it sometimes.I looked up at Silas who slept next to me in bed. Ever since I asked him to sleep with me he never left my side, taking care of me as much as he could each time a new wave of heat hit me. He smiled down at me, fingers tracing the length of my spine. My eyes silently asked him if I could disclose the truth to my best friend to which he smiled and nodded."I'm fine, Mono. I did run away and I was heading back to the pack but Silas caught up and stopped me," I dropped my voice, whisperin
GRACEThursday rolled in quickly. My heat had ended and I felt amazing. If Silas was unhappy that we hadn't completed the mate bond, he never showed it. He insisted that he would wait until I could give myself to him but everything else was still fair game.We managed to talk a lot during the last few days. He was still way too stressed for his own good but being around me calmed him, I could tell that much. We told one another about our childhood. Although his was spent just as Sydney's — sheltered and in a house which felt more like a prison — he still had fairly fond memories. Especially of his younger sisters.His opinion about pack laws differed from the past alpha from what I could tell. Silas was all for change, throwing out the old and bringing in the new to improve and strengthen the pack. However, if his father didn't stop butting his head in every matter, Silas would never truly get a chance to run
GRACE"You look exactly like her," Helene hissed, anger seeping into her words as her eyes gave me a once over, "the same hair, body shape, skin color. The same pale blue eyes. Whoever killed her meant it as a message directed to you." As she spoke, more venom leaked into her voice, shouting for the rest to hear.Silas took a threatening step forward to the girl. Her outburst not only disrespected me but him as well. I wouldn't allow him to punish her because of her words though. It made no sense to when clearly she was greaving and angry. Silas failed to mention that major detail about that dead body. All he said was: 'Just another random pack member...'But it wasn't completely random, was it? That girl was chosen because she resembled me just the way that child was chosen because she was the closest to Sydney's appearance they could get. Something else clicked in my head as well. The youn