Page 39 of Fated for his Flame

“The proper move?” I mocked. “If you had made proper moves, Father, then we wouldn’t be where we are now with our power diminishing. We wouldn’t be afraid of any reprisals from Caine or Seth. We would have laughed him out of the house and told him to go fuck himself. Instead, you’re bowing before him all because you won’t make the right choices for our house.”

“Like what? Your stupid human proposal?” he sneered.

“Yes!” I shouted. “Exactly like that! If you’d acted and gotten it passed, I would be governor of all the human territories now. The power that would come from having so much territory would be undeniable. The neutral families would flock to our banner. We would have nothing to fear from anyone for decades, if not centuries. Our power would be unrivalled. But you refuse to accept this, so instead, we’re holding onto our position by a hair. Because you’re too stubborn and scared to change!”

The flames dancing high in his eyes told me I may have crossed a line. It was the second time I’d called him scared, and he looked angrier than I could ever remember seeing him. He strode toward me, and I resigned myself to the inevitable. I was going to have to fight him. My own father.

“Father,” Caleb said, sliding in between us. “Wait.”

Azarel came up short. He loved Caleb. I’m sure he would have loved to turn everything over to Caleb. The son who had a proper mate. Unfortunately for him, Caleb wanted nothing to do with being the head of the family.

“Why should I?” he asked his younger son.

“One, because you can’t beat him,” Caleb said. “And you’d know that if you took a moment and remembered. Hate me for saying it if you must, but you know it’s true. Secondly, because while yes, Silas did create a bit of a mess by bringing home a human mate, that doesn’t exactly cancel out everything else.”

“What do you mean?”

“Father, our house has been stagnant for a long time,” Caleb said, taking my side in the argument, something he rarely did. Not because he disliked me, but because we usually got more done if he remained neutral. “We need to do something, or we risk losing it all. Father, you need to act.”

I watched my father stare at his younger son.

Please, listen to him. Please.

Chapter Twenty

Chloe

I waited until we were back at Silas’ apartment before I let my true feelings show.

“Silas—”

“I’m sorry.” He cut me off abruptly but without any heat behind it. “Chloe, I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” I asked, curious about the inner workings of his mind. What was he thinking? What was he feeling? He’d been as quiet as I had after his father had dismissed all of us, even Caleb, without resolution.

His look screamed “Are you joking?” “I’m serious. I’m sorry for how this has played out. With the way you became involved in this.”

I nodded, sensing he wasn’t done. I was right.

“I can’t imagine that, when you signed up to come over here, this is what you imagined you were volunteering for,” he said, shaking his head, hair falling into his face. “Not even close. You probably expected it would be all smiles and laughter.”

Relenting on him slightly, I shook my head. “Not really. After all, I was volunteering for some sort of relationship. Those are never easy and true. There are always hardships. Tests. Things that make you want to scream and rip your hair out. Yell at the other person. Things that make you just want to snap and say ‘screw it’ and leave it all behind. That all comes with the territory. I never expected anything else. In fact, that was probably the only thing I knew was guaranteed.”

He laughed, but his mood didn’t change. “All very true. But you understand my point.”

“I do,” I said, reaching up to push a particularly thick chunk of hair out of his face, so I could see into his eyes better.

He nuzzled my hand slightly as I did it.

“But the truth is, that despite all that—and there has been some—it’s been worth it, Silas.”

“It has?”

I nodded, unable to stop myself from pouring out some of my deeper, more personal thoughts. The ones that should remain behind my mask but that kept finding their way through to the surface. “It has. Do you know why?”

He shook his head.

“Because of you,” I said, tapping his chest with my index finger. “You’ve made it bearable. Worthwhile. You’ve stepped in, barely knowing me, and made me feel not only welcome but protected, among other things.”

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