Page 97 of From Frost to Flame

Silas ripped the harpoon from his chest as ahush crossed the battlefield. The pack stared at his new form, wide-eyed with mouths agape.

He didn’t have time to wallow or worry about their reactions. If they feared him, he’d take Lex and go. First, he needed to end the chaos once and for all.

He dashed off in search of his mother. He didn’t have to look long. She materialized at the mouth of Orion’s mangled gates in a plume of smoke.

“You belong to me!” She shot one of her tentacles out and wrapped it around his front legs.

Electricity crackled, but the volts did little more than make his hair stand up on end. He growled at her and prowled closer.

She tightened her grip on his leg, trying to crush his bones and bring him to his knees. It was equally useless.

For the first time, he loomed over her. It was as if losing control of him shrank her down to size.

“My little wolf, everything I’ve ever done was for you.”

He lunged at her, not wanting to hear her distorted truths. No words would heal the betrayal tearing through his heart. He ripped and tore at her flesh, ignoring her screams. He snapped and cracked her brittle bones. The dark clouds in the sky that always accompanied her cleared, revealing the sunrise waking on the distant horizon. The fae fell from the sky like wounded birds as they broke free of her hold. Many were dead, but the living panicked and pleaded for mercy.

When she lay crumpled on the ground, choking on the black ink collecting between her lips, Silas shifted into his human form, with tentacles still protruding from his bare back. He looked down at her, the woman who tortured him, protected him, and loved him in her own cruel way.

“Hello, mother,” he choked out as black tears slipped down his cheeks.

He touched her face with his hand and looked into her eyes. The black pools in her sockets that usually churned with inky water were going still.

She parted her lips to speak, but no words came. Just gurgles of pain.

It didn’t matter that she deserved to die. Doing this to her crushed a part of him. It was the part of him that still remembered the folds of her arms when she cradled him and the sweetness in her voice when she sang him lullabies.

Because of that love, he gave her the mercy of a quick death.

He reached into her abdomen, torn wide open by his claws and gripped her crystal heart. All its jagged edges pricked his skin. In one swift movement, he ripped it out and crushed it.

Her final breath was a strangled gasp as her body quickly crumbled to no more than a pile of pale ash. Orion’s sea breeze slowly took her away flake by flake. He sat looking at his hand covered in the black blood that flowed through his own veins. A single shard remained, a thin sliver of her heart. No light came from it. Instead, it was lifeless and dull. A sob broke from his lips as he shoved it into the pocket of his trousers.

“Silas?” Lex croaked as he limped over, cradling his crushed arm.

Silas ran to him. He cupped Lex’s face and pressed their foreheads together. The warmth of Lex’s body and his perfect lavender scent overwhelmed him.

“I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

“This wasn’t you,” Lex said, looking up at him with a tired smile. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

There was a loud pop from Lex’s wrist. The glass face of the compass cracked, and Lex’s red blood flowed off of it. It slipped from his bandages and fell to the earth with a dull thud, then the metal melted into black tar at their feet.

Silas sensed a flicker of Lex’s strength returning like a candle being lit again. “Thank the stars,” he said, slumping with relief and kissing Lex’s forehead.

“Ahem,” Castor coughed, drawing his attention.

He looked up to see his entire army and pack staring. Their eyes were on his six tentacles protruding from his back. His eyes flooded back to black as he panicked.

“It’ll be okay,” Lex said, squeezing his hand. “No matter what happens, we’ll be together.”

He gently draped a tentacle around Lex to hold him steady as he turned to face them. “This is what I am. I...I apologize for hiding the truth from all of you. It’s been an honor to live and protect this kingdom. But I understand if—”

The warriors cut him off as they raised their swords and chanted. “Silas! Silas! Silas!”

There were cheers and calls of victory over a legendary monster.

He looked at Lex, unsure what to do.

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