She was still going in the wrong direction!
Still convinced I had to have been knotted.
Frustration welled up, thick and choking. I shook my head again, sharper this time. My hands clenched in my lap. I didn’t want to explain anymore.I couldn’t.
Turning away, I fixed my gaze on the far wall of her office. The framed photos blurred together as tears welled in my eyes.
“Lena?” she asked again.
I said nothing. If I tried to explain anymore, sobs would spill.
“Lena, the doc is talking to you.” Silas’s voice snapped sharp across the room, his chair shifting as he leaned forward.
Silence.
“Answer her!” Silas barked in frustration.
His command hit me hard, and my instinct to do what he said rose fast. My body strained toward compliance, that pull stronger now that my omega instincts had begun resurfacing. I fought it hard, forcing myself to stay still and silent.
“That’s enough,” Dr. Hampton said calmly, stepping in before the tension could escalate. “She’s given us enough for today. If she doesn’t want to disclose more, she doesn’t have to.”
Silas’s fist came down hard against the arm of the chair, the sharp crack making me flinch. He stood, turning on the doctor withnarrowed eyes. The thick muscle in his jaw flexed.
Then he looked back at me.
I saw it then.
The shift.
Frustration giving way to impatience.
For a moment, the restraint he’d beenbarelyholding onto thinned just enough for me to see what always sat beneath it.Violence.Silas was dangerously close to the edge of his patience, and I knew exactly what that meant.
He wanted answers, whether I was willing to give them or not.
For a second, I thought he might push past the doctor, throw me over his shoulder, drive straight to the workshop,drag me down the stairs, and revert to his original plan.
I could see him weighing it in his mind as he stared at me.
But then Knox stepped between us.
Their standoff was brief, but enough to rein his brother in.
Silas held his breath, tension still coiled tight in every muscle, as growl tore through his chest. Then he broke away with a scowl and stormed out of the office. The door slammed shut and the air he left behind felt bitter, heavy with alpha rage.
I shrank in on myself, guilt washing over me. Knox looked at me, his expression tight and unreadable. He had stepped in to stop Silas, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t equally frustrated with me or my complete lack of progress.
The twins were always holding each other back, dragging one another away from the edge whenever tempers snapped too far. Earlier, Silas had intervened when Knox lost control.
Now Knox had done the same for him.
Both of them were getting dangerously close to running out of patience with me.
So I stayed silent as sadness settled heavily inside me, sinking so deep it made my chest ache.
I couldn’t keep doing this.
Not forever.
