Freya’s POV
The drive ho passed in a blur of theories and growing dread. By the ti I pulled into our driveway, the afternoon sun was already beginning its descent.
I found him in his study, hunched over reports at his desk. The mont I entered, his head snapped up, nostrils flaring slightly as he caught my scent. Sothing primal and possessive flashed in his eyes before he quickly masked it.
"You’re ho early," he said, his tone carefully neutral.
I closed the door behind , leaning against it. "What’s happening to you?"
His expression didn’t change, but I caught the subtle tensing of his shoulders. "What do you an?"
"Don’t." I took a step forward. "Sothing’s wrong. I can feel it."
Silvano stood slowly, placing his palms flat on the desk. "You should be at work. The system launch—"
"I postponed it." Another step closer. "The system detected an anomaly. A disturbance in the northern quadrant, centered right where you’ve been spending most of your ti."
A flash of alarm crossed his features before he could hide it. "Your system is picking up territorial disputes. Nothing more."
"It’s picking up a bonding interference pattern," I countered. "Sothing is targeting pack connections. Or maybe..." I hesitated, watching him carefully. "One specific connection."
His jaw tightened, the muscle there twitching with tension. "Freya, I don’t have ti for this. The northern alliance eting—"
"Look at ," I demanded, moving around his desk until only inches separated us. "Really look at , Silvano."
When he finally t my gaze, the pain in his eyes stole my breath. This close, I could see faint black lines beneath the collar of his shirt—lines that shouldn’t be there.
"What is it?" I whispered, reaching toward him.
He caught my wrist before I could touch him, his grip firm but careful. "Don’t."
The single word carried such raw warning that Selene whined in response. But sothing else happened too—the mont his skin touched mine, those black lines beneath his collar seed to pulse, and he couldn’t quite hide his grimace of pain.
Understanding dawned with horrifying clarity. "It hurts you to touch ."
His silence was confirmation enough.
"How long?" I asked, my voice barely audible.
Silvano released my wrist, putting distance between us again. "It doesn’t matter."
"How. Long?" I repeated, anger beginning to replace shock.
He turned away, staring out the window at our territory. "Eight months."
The tiline struck like a physical blow. Eight months—precisely when he’d begun pulling away from . When our bond had started to weaken. When he’d stopped sharing our bed, stopped touching , stopped being my mate in any aningful way.
"And you didn’t tell ?" The hurt in my voice was unmistakable. "You let think you just... stopped wanting ? That you’d found soone else? That everything between us was falling apart because of **?"
He spun to face , eyes flashing Alpha red. "I was protecting you!"
"By breaking my heart?" I shot back.
"By keeping you alive!" he roared, the force of his Alpha voice making the windows vibrate.
"What is it?" I asked more softly. "What’s happening to you?"
For a mont, I thought he might finally confide in . Then his phone rang—Isabella’s ringtone. The sound seed to snap him back to reality, walls slamming into place again.
"I need to get this," he said, reaching for his phone.
I stepped back, wrapping my arms around myself. "Of course. Isabella cos first."
His eyes flashed with hurt at the implied accusation, but he answered the call, turning away from again. "Princess? Everything okay?"
As he spoke with our daughter, I slipped from his study, emotions in turmoil. At least now I knew—there was sothing physically wrong with him, sothing that made our closeness painful. The question was, what kind of supernatural affliction could target a mate bond that way?
And why had he chosen to suffer in silence rather than trust with the truth?
Dinner that night was a tense affair. Isabella chattered happily about her day at school, blissfully unaware of the charged atmosphere between her parents. Victoria, who had returned just before alti, watched us both with knowing eyes but said nothing.
"Aunt Aurora’s coming tomorrow!" Isabella announced excitedly, making freeze with my fork halfway to my mouth.
Silvano nodded. "She has information about the northern alliance I need."
Of course she did. Aurora always seed to have exactly what Silvano needed, appearing at precisely the right monts to be useful. The fact that she was breathtakingly beautiful and unmarked by the mundane responsibilities that had gradually worn down was just a bonus, I supposed.
"Can’t wait," I murmured, not bothering to hide my lack of enthusiasm.
After dinner, I helped Isabella with her howork while Silvano and his mother spoke in hushed tones in his study. By the ti I tucked our daughter into bed and returned to our bedroom, Silvano was already there, standing by the window much as I had that morning.
"I can sleep in another room," he offered without turning around.
"Your mother would notice."
"She already knows."
I sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Knows what, exactly? Because I’m still in the dark here, Silvano."
He remained silent, shoulders rigid with tension.
"Fine," I said after a mont. "Keep your secrets. But know this—whatever is happening to you, whatever you’re hiding, I figured it out on my own today. And I will find a way to fix it, with or without your help."
Finally, he turned to face , moonlight casting half his face in shadow. "So things can’t be fixed, Freya. So choices have already been made."
"By you. Without ." I stood, moving to my side of the bed. "That’s the problem, isn’t it? You never saw as an equal partner in this relationship. I’ve always been sothing to protect, to manage, to keep in the dark when things get difficult."
Pain flashed across his features. "That’s not true."
"Isn’t it? Then tell what’s happening. Tell why it hurts you to touch . Tell why you’ve been pushing away for eight months while letting think I’d done sothing wrong."
His hands clenched at his sides, conflict evident in every line of his body. For a mont—one breathtaking mont—I thought he might finally break, might finally trust with whatever burden he was carrying.
Instead, he said, "I need to check the periter before bed. Security protocols."
As he walked past toward the door, I caught his arm.
"This isn’t over," I said quietly.
His eyes t mine, filled with an agonized longing that matched my own. "I know."
Reviews
All reviews (0)