“She listened,” I added. “And she’s considering it.”
Silas scoffed under his breath. “Why would you even offer that? She's our informant, not our omega.”
I studied him carefully. “You know why.”
“No, Knox. Enlighten me.”
“Because we’ve already decided,” I said quietly, “that no man,besides us,will ever touch her again.”
A threatening growl rumbled from his chest.
“So we agree, then,” I replied evenly.
His narrowed eyes flicked to mine.
“The idea of her touching someone else,” I continued, “ending up in another unit… that doesn’t sit well with you, does it?”
Silas’s gaze hardened further.
“No,” he said. “It doesn’t.”
A beat passed.
“I would cut their hands off.”
There was no exaggeration or posturing in his voice.
Just fact.
“So why are you so frustrated by her scent?”
He said nothing, so I kept going.
“And why do you still act like you would hurt her if the answers you seek don’t come willingly?”
That landed.
Silas stilled completely.
“I would never hurt her,” he said quietly, finally admitting it to himself.
“I know how much you enjoy breaking people,” I replied. “You’ve never hidden it. You've never stifled your needs or pretended otherwise. So why would you pretend the opposite now? That you'd be capable of doing that to her? Lena isn't just a source of information anymore, and rebuilding her is about more than getting answers."
“I wouldn't hurt her," he repeated again,
“Then stop acting like you would. She thinks you're angry all the time. The runt doesn't understand that you're fighting control. She thinks you're frustrated with her, not yourself.”
Silas exhaled slowly, tension rippling through him.
“I’m frustrated,” he admitted at last. “Because she affects me.”
His eyes flicked toward the bed, where Lena slept peacefully, totally unaware of our conversation.
“I don’t like losing control,” he said.
“And with her?” I asked.
A long pause.
