At least he wasn’t trying to attack any of us like he did the first time we met.
Seeing what his captors had done to him mentally just made me even more aware of what could have happened with their little trip into Huntsville. I had known it was a bad idea for Ivy to go with Silas but had let her anyway.
Listen to you, you sound like a douche.
The sounds of them sleeping safely next to me did nothing to ease the inner voice that wouldn’t shut up. I got up carefully and slipped out of the room.
The den was bathed in darkness besides a string of LED lights hung around the front door. I walked past the sectionals where Silas was sleeping curled up with some pillows.
How was I going to handle seeing Ivy cuddled up next to him or him buried inside her?
Clenching my fists, I turned toward my destination: the kitchen. There was nothing a late-night snack couldn’t fix.
I opened the industrial-size refrigerator and grabbed the whole rotisserie chicken that was sitting there calling my name. We had raging metabolisms, so there was always food around.
Shutting the door with my hip, I nearly dropped the container when I came face to face with Silas. He was rubbing one of his eyes with his palm, his other eye locked on the chicken in my hands.
“That’s my chicken.”
For fuck’s sake. Were we really going to do this in the middle of the night over a damn chicken?
“Where’s your name?” I examined it as I walked to the counter. “Hm. Don’t seebitch ass motherfuckerwritten anywhere on it, so I guess it’s mine now.”
He reached for it, and I held it to the side, away from his grasp. He grumbled something and went to the refrigerator, digging inside and pulling out a container.
As soon as he opened the lid, I licked my lips and tried to look inside. “What is that?”
“Bacon wrapped sausage. No. You can’t have any because you won’t share my chicken.” He hopped up on the metal counter and pulled a piece out.
“You’re just going to eat it cold?” I opened the chicken and ripped off a leg. “What kind of sausage?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I pushed the chicken over to him before hopping up on the counter. We used to get in a lot of trouble when we were kids for eating on the counter. I smiled at the memory of my mom yelling at us for the hundredth time.
“What happened to us?” I bit into my chicken. “Why did we let our fathers ruin our friendship?”
Silas handed me his container. “Hell if I know. They were our fathers. What were we supposed to do at eight years old?”
“We’ve been adults for a long time. We could have… talked.” I was just as much to blame for the gaping hole between us as he was. But I had tried, even if half-heartedly.
“And let you keep accusing my father of the unthinkable? No thanks.” He shook his head and leaned over to grab a fork and knife out of a drawer. “But I guess now we have to.”
“Yeah.” I bit into a sausage and groaned. “Fuck, these are good.”
“As good as whatever you and Ivy did earlier?” He didn’t look up at me but was smiling as he cut into the chicken. “The sounds echo.”
I should have been embarrassed, but it just made me puff out my chest. “Nothing is better than her.”
“So, what now? We just pretend we haven’t been dipshits for the last twenty-six years?” He snorted.
“I still don’t trust you or your pack. As soon as this is over, your betas are getting an ass kicking. I’ve been trying to keep my cool around them because we need your help, but they almost killed Ivy.” It took every ounce of my willpower not to shift and show them who they fucking ran off the road. “They also owe me a car.”
“I kicked their asses the night they came back and told me they caused you to crash. I would have demoted them from their positions, but it’s slim pickings in my pack. Seems all the strong, intelligent ones are in your pack.”
“Maybe they just need a strong alpha to lead them.”Nice one, Cole. Way to reconcile.
Silas stopped chewing and narrowed his eyes. I probably should have been more careful with my words considering he had a steak knife on the counter next to him. Instead of stabbing me, he shrugged.