Page 20 of Dark Sold Mate

Elle was hanging onto August as if he were the only thing in the world that was not spinning out of control. He had his arms wrapped around her tightly, and for the first time since she was snatched off the street, Elle felt safe.

“You're here,” she whispered against his shoulder, her voice muffled. “You're really here.”

“I’m here,” August choked. “I'm here, Elle. I've got you.”

They remained wrapped up in each other for what seemed like hours, but it was just minutes. When they eventually separated, Elle could see the tears streaming down her brother's face. August never cried. Not when he broke his ankle as a kid or when she got banished. Never.

But he was crying now.

“I thought you did not care,” Elle whispered through her tears. “You did not show up when I got back here. I wondered whether you had determined that I was too much trouble.”

August's brows pulled across his face. “Elle, no. God, no. I was with Silas' sister, Sara at Clearwater pack, to work on an alliance. I only heard you came back because Rael called me.” He cradled her face, and Elle leaned into his hands. “I got here as fast as I could.”

Relief ran through Elle, and she felt weak at the knees. August still cared. He hadn't abandoned her.

“I missed you,” she whispered.

“I missed you too. Every single day.” August embraced her in another embrace. “But it was nice to see you were doing alright.”

Elle drew back to stare at his dark brown eyes. “You saw me?”

“I knew where you were.”

Elle went still. “What?”

August looked over her shoulder at Silas. Then he looked back at Elle. “Let's talk. Just you and me.”

He took her to a bench by a big oak tree at the outskirts of Silas' property. August held her hands when they took a seat.

“I have been keeping an eye on you,” he began to explain. “I found out where you were two years ago.”

Elle's breath caught. “Two years? You knew where I was and never...”

“I wanted to get in touch,” August said hastily. “God, Elle, you don't know how often I wanted to show up in your apartment or at your workplace. But I thought... I reckoned you deserved better than to serve as a reminder of your bad memories about this place.”

“That was supposed to be my decision.”

“I know. You're right. I was a coward.” August squeezed her hands. “But I watched you from a distance. I heard you took up that position at the diner.” His lips curved into a small smile. “Congratulations, by the way. I also saw you made some friends. You built another life.” His voice softened. “You looked happy, Elle. Genuinely happy. And I didn't want to ruin that.”

Elle didn't know how to feel. A part of her was furious that August had been secretly observing her and furious that he had kept himself away at the time when she had been in need of family. But another part of her understood. In some way, he had been trying to protect her.

“You should have told me.”

“I should have. I'm sorry.”

Silence fell for a few seconds, then August asked, “Why are you here, Elle? You were happy in the human world. You'd built something good. Did somebody force you to come back?”

Elle's throat tightened. “Not exactly.”

“Elle. Tell me what happened.”

So she did. She explained how she had been kidnapped off the street, and how she had woken up in a cage, about to be auctioned off, until Silas bought her. As she continued, August's eyes darkened, his hand balled into a fist on his knee.

“They kidnapped you.”

“Yes.”

“And Silas was there.”