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“Rule one of negotiations: always have a backup.”
***
Silas was significantly calmer by the time we told Bowen and Theron about the meeting.
Myla had gone to bed early, so we conversed in Silas’s home office.
“You know you were kind of being a dick, right?” I asked Silas.
He blew out a harsh breath, letting his head fall into his hands.
“I know,” he groaned. “I have no idea what came over me. Scratch that—I do know what came over me. It pissed me off to hear my mate dismiss our mating as if we could just give her up and get over her.”
Bowen snorted. “I wish I could have been there.” Silas gave him a deadpan look, and Bowen held his hands up. “I’m just saying it would have been good to have some proof that you fuck up like the rest of us.”
“Shit, Bo. You really know how to rub it in, don’t you?” Theron said.
“It’s one of my many admirable qualities,” Bowen said, leaning back on the couch and folding his arms behind his head.
“You know that’s not what she meant, right?” I said to Silas. “Myla wasn’t trying to deny or reject anything. She was scared and didn’t want to cause trouble.”
“I know,” he admitted. “But try explaining that to my brain when it’s hyped up on wolf hormones. I mean, how many times do we have to explain to her that she’s not at fault? What else can we do to show her that we want her? Her being by our sides is the only outcome we will accept.”
“It’s going to sound crazy coming from me, but it’ll just take time,” Theron said. “As much as she’s opened up, it takes a lot more than a month to rewire the triggers our brain creates from a lifetime of abuse.”
“He’s right,” Bowen added. “Until then, we just have to get used to showing her and saying the words she needs to hear for as long as it takes.”
Silas scrubbed a hand down his face. “I guess this means I have to apologize.”
“Only if you want to move past this.” I smirked. “If not, you can see how it feels to be the ass of the group.”
Silas snapped his teeth at me, and I laughed.
It was easy to forget that our bond with Myla was new. We had much to learn about each other—including how to deal with conflict.
The strength of our bond was astounding but no less shocking than the speed at which I fell in love with her. I knew my unit also loved her—I felt their emotions as if they were my own.
If this was just the beginning, I couldn’t imagine what our bond would feel like in a year or two.
“How’s the weapon construction coming along?” Bowen asked, turning toward me.
“It’s going,” I replied. “We have a rough design, but we need to run some tests and ensure the current is strong enough to temporarily block their magic.”
“Well, shit. How are you going to do that?”
“Shiloh and Leighton have orders to collect the white witches as soon as the battle with Blood Moon is over. The witches have already agreed to be our test subjects.”
“That should clear up any questions about loyalty,” Theron said flatly.
“Even if it doesn’t, whoever has a problem with the witches will just have to suck it up. We need them, and they need us, regardless of the feelings involved,” Silas said.
Silas was right. In a perfect world, shifters and witches would always put aside their differences and band together against a common enemy. But the reality was different. We had a bloody, painful history, and it would take work and consistent nurturing to overcome our past.
We had to try. The consequences were too dire not to.
***
The following morning, we sat around the kitchen table for breakfast.
