Page 6 of The Silver Pact

A strange sense of disappointment crushes me. I stay out there longer than I mean to, but still she doesn’t appear.

She doesn’t return to the party, either.

She’s just gone.

I try to go back in and enjoy the night, but I keep hearing Onyx’s words in my head, and this unsettled feeling fills me.

“I’m going to find her,” I say to Quint two hours later. I force myself to sit at the circular table. It’s just the pack, reclining as the night passes, leading the roster of events to its conclusion and into the real reason most people are here; social drinking. People laugh louder, flirt with each other, and have in general a good time. Ian is annoyed, I can see it on his face, but Ross looks at least concerned. His tie has vanished, and Ian’s jacket is gone. Quint looks meticulous still, but his eyes show his growing ire. I can’t. The panic and urgency driving me won’t let me let this go.

Ian looks up, his eyes cold and hard. Ross nods his head, agreeing with me. He’s always had a soft spot for Silver. “We should try. If what Onyx says is true, we’re judging her on-”

“On her behaviour, the way she treated us,” Ian cuts off Ross, glaring at him and then me.

“If she had lied and picked us, we would have hurt Brandy, anyway. Our omega chose another pack, but we could have easily done that to her or Silver. For whatever reason, it worked out best for all of us,” Ross says with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You call that working out, Ross?” Ian shakes his head. “I call our lives a dumpster fire.”

“So, you’d punish her endlessly for it? Come on, she’s an omega, our friend’s sister, and we’ve been asked to help.”

“She treated us like we weren’t good enough, like we were nothing.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m aware, I was there, you know.”

“You seem to need a reminder!” Ian snaps. His fingers curl into his palms, and his eyes flash with temper. He’s only mad because he fell hard and fast for Silver and his feelings got crushed. Logically, I understand that, but the emotional part of me wants to hit him.

“I don’t need a reminder to see how desperately she tried to get attention. Just as I don’t need a reminder to remember she barely ate. Her eyes had big black rings around them. I don’t need to remember the times we found her crying. Or the nightmares she awoke screaming from,” I hiss at him, stepping into his space. He has to look up at me, and I can tell it’s driving him nuts right now.

Ross nods. “There was the alpha who grabbed her arm and swore because she vomited on herself. Someone touched her, and her reaction was to vomit. That never sat right with me.”

“What are you talking about?” Ian snaps.

“I’m talking about red flags, Ian,” Ross says quietly. “What if she was running from something? What if she was in danger? What if we were blind to it?”

“I don’t believe it,” Ian says after a long moment.

“Yeah, sorry, but I’m not buying it, either. Silver Davies is the most selfish and spoiled omega on the planet.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. Believe whatever you want, Quint, but I know you, and I know how you feel, and you don’t hate her nearly as much as you want to.”

With that, I leave my pack and stalk back out to the streets, praying that I find this mysterious, disappearing omega that still has a piece of my heart.

three

Ian

Three years and one month ago

Silver

He says his name is Ian, and he’s introduced me to his pack. I’m hiding and masking my pain again. They don’t see me watching the resort, learning all the layout, escape routes, hiding spots. I mean, why would an omega need to know these things?

They say they aren’t meant to be here yet but needed a few days. A favour was called in, and they were given their rooms early. “It was charity,” Ross said with a smile. They are kind and generous. Funny. I keep waiting for the mask to slip, but it doesn’t.

They don’t hit me or demand I service them.

Are they genuinely nice guys?

Present Day

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