Page 86

“You’re not really going to need to leave much,” he promises. “The house has everything, it’s already been filled with food and wood in case it’s snowed in.”

The way he says that makes me glance at him suspiciously, however he doesn’t explain.

“Silas, this is getting weird," I admit.

“I know,” he says, blowing out a breath. “There’s just no more time. I can’t ease you into this, Nina. Your mother is too volatile.”

Parking, he doesn’t give me a chance to ask what the fuck he’s talking about before he’s putting the vehicle into park and turning it off.

“Come on, let’s get out,” he says, opening the door wide and grabbing the bag from the back seat.

I want to tell him ‘no’. My heart is pounding, and my fingers are twitching as my body tells me something isn’t right. Except, he slams the door shut and comes around to open my door. Silas even unbuckles me and tugs me gently out of the car.

“I promise whatever is on the other side of that door isimportant to you,” he says, his hand pushing my door closed behind me.

The snow freezes any tears that may be threatening to fall because I don’t know what the fuck is happening right now. Swallowing hard, I gaze at him.

“You’re not making any sense,” I rasp.

“Sometimes, the best things in life don’t,” he promises, pulling me into motion.

The cold feels as if it’s freezing my sinuses and lungs as I pull in oxygen to keep myself from freaking out as I walk beside him. The house is two floors high with a wraparound porch, but I can’t seem to enjoy anything more than that before Silas is unlocking the door.

My heart is thumping in my chest, and everything tells me that my life is going to somehow change. Silas isn’t the type to wax poetic, which means this is something really fucking big.

The door swings open, and he squeezes my hand before walking inside with me. My anxiety has this odd alternative reality where he shoves me inside instead and locks me in. My imagination is very rude.

I’m safe, I’m safe, I’m safe.

I keep chanting that to myself as the door closes behind me and I flinch.

“Hey, we’re here,” Silas calls out. “The weather is getting pretty bad out, so I couldn’t let you know.”

Relaxing slightly, I expect to see his pack coming down the stairs. I can hear the footsteps, though they don’t say anything. Everything he says makes sense. I didn’t see another car in the driveway, but I wasn’t paying attention.

He also couldn’t have texted or called to announce that we were almost here because the snow really is beginning to come down.

When I instead see alphas with sandy brown hair, dirty blonde hair, and an alpha covered in tattoos, my mind stutters toa stop. I know one of these alphas, but there’s no reason why I’d believe he would be here today.

“What…” I whisper, shaking my head.

“I want you to listen to me,” Silas says and I look from him to them.

“Nina, breathe,” Ellis says. Swallowing hard, I decide that I’d rather him call me the nickname he’s insisted on calling me.

“I don’t understand,” I hiss, glaring at Silas.

“Fate and your mother took something from you,” the alpha says patiently, tugging off a glove as he drops my bag on the ground.

A growl fills the air, but Silas turns me around to continue to pull off my other glove.

“Hush,” he barks, though not to me. “They’re just gloves. You know I haven’t touched her in any other way.”

His fingers begin to nimbly unbutton my coat, his eyes glancing to the side from time to time.

“The reason the four packs that are courting you haven’t chosen is because you have one already,” he says. “The alphas in this room are good men, and one of them is feral. You had nothing to do with that. In fact, there’s no way you could know it. The point of this is for you to know you’re perfect.”

The growl gets louder, and Silas rolls his eyes.