Silenced

Chapter 41.

Silas sighed and looked up at the bedroom door.

"Should I shut this or...?" Adam said from the door way.

"We were talking." Silas said with a glare. He spun the strand around his finger once before releasing it.

"Right, well debrief me and you can go back to... 'talking'." Adam said with a smirk. My cheeks heated and I ducked around Silas to go toward the bathroom.

"Ow... Shit..." Adam hissed. I glanced back in time to see Adam disappear back down the hall. I glanced at Silas. He was closer to the door but with his back to me. I froze as my brain slowly registered the faded lines that crisscrossed over his entire back. There had to be over a dozen of the jagged scars. I knew from experience where scars like that came from and it wasn't claws or teeth. My arms chilled as I recalled the feeling of being struck so hard the skin splits open. Silas turned to look at me. I met his eyes. I couldn't ask. I wouldn't. It would be cruel to ask his story and continue to hide from my own. I turned away and closed the door behind me.

After relieving myself and splashing some cool water on my face I decided I was as ready as I'd get. I could hear Adam even before walking down the hallway.

"I added the additional men to the southern territories but I don't see why you want to focus on that side instead of spacing them evenly over all of our border."

"There's a lot of unclaimed land to the south. They would have to come through another packs territory to come in from the east or the west and the north is Crescent moons territory, Logan would never allow rogues to come through his borders." Silas replied. I stopped in the kitchen next to Emily.

"Yeah I guess." Adam said as he thought about it. I was surprised to see how serious he looked. I was used to him joking around but seeing him take his position seriously was interesting.

"If you need anything just call us. We would rather come in and stop a disaster than try to fix it afterward." Aaron said.

"I know Aaron. I'm not new at this." Adam said shaking his head.

"Well the last time we let you handle things by yourself you fucked up and Silas has been working his ass off to try and fix it." Aaron said.

"I know." Adam sighed and glanced at me. "I apologized."

"Adam wasn't the only one who fucked up. We should have trained better." Silas said.

Aaron nodded slowly and sighed as well.

"Take a night off. Please. If you get anymore up tight I'll personally have to pay to have that stick removed from your ass." Adam said shoulder bumping Aaron.

"What are you still doing here?" Aaron asked rolling his eyes. Adam laughed but headed out of the room without another word.

"It's just a trial run Aaron. We'll be ready if he needs us." Silas said when the front door shut.

"I just see the idiot that caught the house on fire." Aaron said shaking his head. Silas nodded with a laugh.

"That was eight years ago..." Silas said, "He needs to start taking control now so that we have another person that can step up when needed. It's a perfect night, the moons full enough for decent lighting but not enough to give our wolves any edginess."

"Can you blame me after his last trial run?" Aaron asked.

Silas shook his head and picked up a glass. He took a drink of the dark liquid and leaned back against the counter.