Page 28 of Dark Sold Mate

The questions continued. Rael asked about the way to the auction, and how long it took to drive, and whether Elle had noticed anything worthy of interest. Javi had some questions about the other women, if any of them said anything about being held somewhere else initially.

Elle’s voice got thinner as she answered, and her hands shook harder.

Silas wanted to stop this. He wanted to take her out of those ugly memories she retreated into.

But she’d agreed to this. She’d chosen to help. And to take away that choice would help in solidifying his position at the top of her shit list.

So Silas sat there, feeling helpless and guilty, while his mate relived her trauma for the sake of his pack’s investigation.

He watched her hands shaking on the table as he remembered what Margaret told him. Whatever followed, however he told her, whenever he told her, she would not be treated like his father would have treated an Omega. She was not a pawn. She was Elle, and she would know the truth when she was strong enough for it.

Finally, after thirty minutes, Elle stood abruptly. “I need to go.”

“Elle—” August started.

But she was already in motion, virtually fleeing out of the room. Silas heard her footsteps going up the stairs, then the unmistakable sound of a door being slammed.

He clenched his jaw, facing Javi. “Happy now?”

“We got valuable information,” he murmured. “Description of the facility, the description of the route, the scar. It’s more than we had before.”

“At what cost?” Silas demanded. “Look at what you did to her.”

“What I did? It is you who has brought her here. It was you who forced her to get bonded to you. Don’t play a hero now.”

Silas’s control snapped. He lunged over the table and grabbed Javi by the shirt. His brother did nothing but look at him with his cold blue eyes.

“Stop it,” Rael said sharply. “Both of you.”

Silas set Javi free and got up from his seat, his chest heaving.

“Go after her,” August said. “She needs you, even if she doesn’t want to acknowledge it.”

Silas stared at the stairs. His wolf was already tugging him that way, insisting that he should go to his mate to console her and protect her from the memories that were obviously ripping her to pieces.

But would she want him there? Only one way to find out.

Silas walked out of the dining-room and went up the staircase. He found Elle in the guest room, lying on the bed, her knees against her chest. She was crying so hard that her whole body was shaking.

“Oh, Elle.” He felt like he was being stabbed in his heart.

She didn’t respond or act like he was there.

Silas stepped into the room and sat on the edge of her bed. “I’m sorry. I should have stopped Javi.”

“Why didn’t you?” She sniffed.

“Because you chose to help. And I did not want to deprive you of that decision. Not again.”

Elle lifted her head. Her face was flushed. Her eyes were red and puffy. “Being here is killing me.”

“All of my memories about this place are unpleasant—the practice grounds where they mocked me, the school where they didn’t fully accept me, the way your father banished me without a second thought.” She wiped her nose with the edge of her sleeve. “And now you want me to relive being kidnapped, too? To remember the cages and the handlers and the horror of being there on that stage?”

“No. God, no. I never wanted that.”

“Then what do you want from me, Silas?” Elle’s voice rose. “Because I can’t figure it out for the life of me. You tell me that you wish to save me, but you brought me to the very place where I’m not welcomed. You are concerned about my decisions, but you have taken away the greatest decision of all when you imposed this relationship on me.”

Silas swallowed harshly. She was right about all of it.