Page 13 of Dark Sold Mate

“Elle?” Rael said in disbelief. “Elle Jones?”

Javi's eyes went wide. “What the hell is she doing here?”

“We need to talk,” Silas said, walking past them to the house, while guiding her along.

“Talk?” Javi followed behind him, raising his voice. “Silas, what did you do? The mission…you were supposed to spy, to collect intelligence, not—” He stopped and glanced at Elle. “Shit, did you buy her?”

They finally got to the house and went inside. Silas guided Elle to a couch in the living room and stood beside her, as if she were going to escape.

Elle didn't run. She sat down, stared at her hands, and tried to put everything that had occurred in the last few hours into perspective.

“Tell me that you did not ruin six months of hard work just for her,” Javi sneered.

“Watch your tone,” Silas warned him.

“Watch my tone? You were supposed to remain to the end, remember all the faces, trace all the purchasers. Instead, you—” Javi pointed towards Elle. “They will know that something is wrong. They'll suspect—”

“I don't care.”

“You don't care? It is our pack we are talking about here. Our reputation is on the fucking line! We had a plan, and you had one single assignment.”

“My mate was going to be sold like a cow!” Silas growled and roughly pushed his hair back. “The fuck did you expect me to do?”

The word 'mate' hung in the air.

Javi stared at his brother. “Your mate.”

“Yes.”

“You mean the adopted human girl. The one Dad banished eight years ago.” Javi scoffed. “Of course she is.”

Rael, who had remained silent, came forward. His voice was calm and measured. “Silas. Talk to us. What happened?”

Silas exhaled sharply. “Look, I was there, and I was watching as planned. And it was all fine until the final auction. Then she showed up on that stage and I…” He trailed off.

“You lost control,” Rael nodded.

“I couldn't leave her there. I couldn’t have her sold, and touched and abused by another.” Silas clenched his hands into fists. “My wolf wouldn't allow it.”

“Brilliant,” Javi clapped mockingly. “Absolutely brilliant.”

“What would you have done?” Silas demanded.

“Well, I would not have compromised the mission! This has been six months in the works, Silas. Six months of monitoring, strategizing, and evidence collection. And you threw it all away.”

“Enough.” Rael cut through the argument. “What's done is done, and yelling will not help in any way.” He looked at Elle, his face softening. “How are you holding up?”

Elle couldn't answer. She couldn't form words. She was thinking of one word: “mission.”

Silas was telling her the truth. They were on the trail of the trafficking ring. Silas had not been there to purchase women.

But all of that was irrelevant because he had taken her here. To this place. And forced her to marry him.

“She's in shock,” Rael observed.

“She is fine,” Silas said.

“Fine?” Javi's voice dripped with sarcasm. “You bought her, brought her back to the pack that sent her away, and forcefully bonded with her—which I can see, thanks to the marks glowing on your shoulders underneath your clothes. I'm sure she's just peachy.”