Page 90 of Dark Sold Mate

“Shut up,” his father snapped. “This is your fault. All of it. Had you done your job properly, we would not have been in this mess.”

“Drop the weapon,” Silas said coolly. “You are walking out of here. What you should be concerned about is whether you leave dead or alive.”

His hand twitched. “I swear I’ll do it.” He insisted, licking his lips. “I will kill him.”

Silas believed him. He would be stupid not to. Especially with the crazed, desperate, and calculating way the man was looking at his son.

Before anyone could make a move, a voice cut through the tension.

“You won’t get the chance.”

A different shifter came out of the forest. It was a wolf shifter with dark hair, cold, almost empty grey eyes, and he was pointing a gun at Carter’s father.

“You talked,” the new shifter said, flat and emotionless. You compromised everything.”

“No, no, no,” Carter’s father nervously wiped his forehead with the edge of his sleeve. “I didn’t tell them anything! The boy got caught, but I—”

Bang!

The new shifter shot him.

Silas leaped forward and grabbed Carter, but it was too late for his father.

The bullet hit him square in the chest, killing him instantly. His weapon, which was in his hand, dropped on the ground, followed by his body.

The shifter disappeared back into the forest, and Rael and Javi went after him, but Silas was well aware of the fact that they would never catch up. That was no ordinary shifter. He felt it.

Silas reached Carter just as the boy started screaming.

“Father! No, no, no, Dad, please!” Carter tried to run to his father, but Silas restrained him, wrapping his arms around the protesting teenager.

August checked the father’s pulse, his expression grim. “He’s gone.”

Carter collapsed, now full on sobbing, his whole body trembling. Silas still held him—this boy who was used by everyone, who had just lost the father who was an awful parent to him. But it was still a painful loss, and Silas knew what it was like to lose a parent, however difficult the relationship was.

But they did not have the time to do this. Not now. Not when Elle was gone, and there were possible enemies around.

“Carter,” Silas pulled back, grabbing his shoulders and staring at him. “Carter, listen to me.”

The boy’s sobs turned into hiccups, his red-rimmed eyes focusing on Silas with difficulty.

“I’m sorry about your father. But we need to move. This is not a safe zone, and my mate is gone. I need your help.”

“My help?” Carter asked hoarsely. “How can I help?”

“You know this area, don’t you? Your father brought you here, showed you the short-cuts, the good ways.”

Carter nodded slowly. “He... he made me memorize routes. In case I needed to run.”

“Then you will lead us through the paths. You will assist us in locating my mate and in exchange…” Silas paused, staring at him for a moment. “In exchange, I will give you a home in my pack and assist you in taking care of your mother. Make a better life for yourself.”

Carter gazed at him, looking doubtful and hopeful at the same time. “You... you’d do that? After everything I did to your pack?”

“You were being used. You are a child who made the wrong decisions. There is nothing that makes you unredeemable.”

“But why would you—”

“Because my mate asked me to treat you as a victim, not as an enemy. And I believe she is a good judge of character. Even more than me.”