The room still carried the scent of sweat and expensive perfu when Silas opened his eyes, the lingering warmth beside him doing nothing to soften the irritation that settled almost imdiately beneath his skin.
For a brief mont, he remained still, staring up at the ceiling as awareness returned in slow, asured waves, but the illusion of rest slipped away just as quickly as it had co, leaving behind sothing far less forgiving.
It never lasted.
His gaze shifted to the woman beside him, taking in the way she lay against the sheets as though she belonged there, as though the night had ant sothing more than what it was.
She was not just anyone, not so passing indulgence chosen out of convenience or boredom. He had wanted her, had watched her long enough to decide that she was worth the effort, drawn in by a quiet curiosity that had lingered where others had faded.
And yet, now that he had finally had her, there was nothing.
Not disappointnt. Not even indifference.
Sothing sharper than that.
A rejection so imdiate it felt instinctive, as though his body itself refused to accept what his mind had already chosen.
Disgust settled into his chest, cold and certain, tightening his jaw as he pushed himself upright without hesitation.
"Leave."
His voice carried no heat, no lingering trace of the night before, only a flat finality that left no space for misinterpretation.
The woman startled awake, confusion flickering across her face before it quickly gave way to sothing more cautious, more aware. She scrambled to gather her clothes, her movents hurried, her silence heavy with understanding as she avoided looking at him directly, as though she already knew there was nothing to say that would change what had already been decided.
"Now," he added, his tone sharpening just enough to erase whatever hesitation might have remained.
That was all it took.
She did not argue. Within monts, she was gone, the door closing behind her with a quiet finality that left the room empty once more.
Silas did not move imdiately. His gaze remained fixed on the space she had occupied, his expression darkening as the silence settled back into place, heavier now, more revealing. Slowly, he ran a hand over his face, exhaling through his nose as sothing colder began to take shape beneath the surface.
What was wrong with him?
She had not been random. She had not been chosen out of impulse or convenience. He had selected her with intention, watched her long enough to know exactly what he was taking, and yet the mont it was over, he could not even stand to have her near him. There had been no satisfaction, no sense of completion, only that sa hollow rejection that had followed him for months, persistent and unchanging.
This had never happened before.
Not once.
And the fact that it was happening now, when everything depended on him being in control, was not sothing he could dismiss as coincidence.
His thoughts shifted, uninvited but impossible to ignore.
Loretta.
The na alone was enough to still him, sothing tightening beneath the surface in a way that had nothing to do with regret and everything to do with sothing he could not yet define.
He rose from the bed and moved toward the window, the cold stone beneath his feet grounding as his reflection caught faintly in the glass before disappearing into the view beyond. The palace stretched out below him, vast and unmoving, every corner of it shaped by his will, every part of it answering to him now.
Alpha.
The title sat where it belonged.
He had taken it without hesitation. He had done what was necessary, what others would not have had the resolve to see through. Loretta had stood in his way, whether she realized it or not, and he had removed her as cleanly and decisively as any obstacle.
There had been no doubt.
No second thoughts.
And yet, she had not left him.
Not in the way that mattered.
Because sothing of her remained, whether in him or around him, he could not yet determine, but it lingered all the sa, subtle and persistent, threading through monts like this, where nothing felt as it should.
He did not believe in ghosts.
He did not believe in curses.
But he believed in consequences.
And this—
This felt like one.
His jaw tightened slightly as he looked out over the land, forcing the thought aside before it could settle deeper than he allowed. Whatever this was, whether it was weakness or sothing more, it would not be allowed to interfere with what ca next.
Because there was more at stake now than there had ever been before.
His focus sharpened as his thoughts shifted again, colder this ti, more deliberate.
Selena.
The triplets.
Silas had expected movent by now, so form of resistance, so indication that they were still within reach and willing to act on it. Instead, there had been nothing but silence, a complete absence of information that sat wrong in a way he did not like.
He had sent n out more than once, tracking every possible route, searching through territories that offered even the slightest chance of concealnt, and yet they had returned with nothing to give him. No sightings. No traces. No answers.
It was not their absence that unsettled him.
It was the silence they left behind.
Because silence did not an defeat.
It ant patience.
It ant preparation.
His fingers curled slightly against the stone ledge, the pressure grounding as the thought settled more firmly into place.
They had a claim, whether he acknowledged it or not, not just to the land but to the throne he now occupied, and if they returned with her, that claim would not be questioned.
It would be believed.
Selena was the difference.
Without her, they were a threat.
With her, they were sothing far more dangerous.
A fracture waiting to happen.
A shift in loyalty he could not afford.
Silas exhaled slowly, forcing his thoughts back into alignnt as his control settled firmly into place once more.
He needed certainty.
Not just power, but sothing that secured it beyond challenge.
A Luna.
A mate.
Not for desire, not for companionship, but for position, for stability, for sothing that would anchor his claim in a way that strength alone could not.
A Luna was not optional.
Without one, his position remained incomplete, stable for now, but not unbreakable, and that was not a risk he was willing to carry.
And yet, even that had beco a problem.
No matter who he chose, no matter how carefully he selected them, the result remained the sa. Disinterest. Irritation. That sa quiet rejection that stripped the act of any purpose beyond necessity, making it feel hollow in a way that served him nothing.
As though sothing in him refused it.
Or sothing beyond him did.
His gaze darkened slightly as he looked out over the land once more, the weight of it settling in a way that demanded resolution.
If Loretta had left anything behind, whether it was mory or consequence, it would be dealt with.
If Selena and her triplets believed they could disappear long enough to weaken his hold, they would learn exactly how wrong they were.
Because silence did not erase a threat.
It gave it ti to grow.
And Silas had never been one to wait for sothing dangerous to find him first.
His expression settled into sothing colder, more resolved as his thoughts aligned with quiet certainty.
He would find them.
And when he did, there would be nothing left to challenge him again.
Not the past.
Not whatever lingered where Loretta once stood.
And certainly not Selena.
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