Page 34 of The Silent Mate

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ARIA

Icould hardly hear the conversation happening around the table. Not while blood pounded in my ears like a war drum. My fingers ached from how tightly they clenched my fork and knife, never bringing a morsel of food to my lips. Tears stung the surface of my eyes.

Not for myself, but for the male who stood dutifully behind his wicked brother.

It killed me inside. I wanted to scream. Wanted to obey my innermost instincts and shift right here in the dining room, if only to be given a slim opportunity to rake my claws across Roman’s face.

But I’d seen the warning in Malik’s gaze. Though he couldn’t speak the words aloud, he needed me to stand down. Needed me to be civil despite the anger roiling through my body. I had no doubt that we wouldbothbe punished if I didn’t. Only that thought stayed my hand.

So, somehow, I forced myself to bear it. I couldn’t eat, but I pretended, pushing the food around on my plate while othersspoke. Once, I tried to bring my water glass to my lips, but my fingers trembled so much the liquid sloshed over the rim and spilled across the tablecloth.

Malik wouldn’t look at me. He wouldn’t look atanyone.

My mate simply kept his shoulders rolled back and his head high, staring vacantly across the room. Like a statue. A shell of the man, thealpha, he was born to be.

I didn’t know how much time had passed when servants—omegas, judging by their appearance and demeanor—began to clear away the table.

Beside me, Roman dabbed at his mouth with his napkin. “I’m so pleased you accepted my invitation, Alpha Alexi.”

The visiting alpha didn’t quite share Roman’s easygoing attitude, though he managed a tight smile. “Seeing as you’re known for your proclivity to raze rival packs to the ground, I’d have been fool to reject it.”

“Father,”his daughter, Victoria, reprimanded. She’d been staring at Roman with heart-eyes all evening. “He’s only joking,” she amended, casting Roman a demure smile that I knew would please him. “We’ve heard stories about your countless victories. It’s an honor to be invited to visit theIntonat NoctePack.”

A breath puffed from my nostrils in a poorly veiled scoff.

Roman, who’d been smiling at his potential Luna, narrowed his eyes in my direction. “Something to say, sweet Aria?”

I squared my shoulders, eyes flickering to Malik for half a beat before meeting Roman’s again. Clearing my throat, I mustered a sickly sweet smile and shook my head. “Nothing at all. Only that I think you should tell us one of your many war stories. Since you’ve led theIntonat NoctePack tocountlessvictories.”

Roman’s eyes turned to ice.

I’d done nothing wrong. Nothing except ask him to tell a story that I knew he didn’t have.

He’d never been to war. He’d never won a victory. Emerson told me the truth herself. This so-called alpha sat up in this pack house and allowed Malik to risk his life instead. I wouldn’t let him take credit for my mate’s feats.

“It’s poor taste to discuss battle at dinner,” Roman clipped.

I felt Malik’s gaze burning into me, but I daren’t meet it out of fear that I might see disappointment on his features. Instead, Roman’s attempted diversion increased my bravado, and I gestured toward the emptied table around us.

“Dinner is over.” I batted my eyes in feigned innocence and shared a jovial smile with Victoria, who wasn’t much older than me. “Come now. I’m sure Victoria wants to hear of your greatest victory.”

Roman’s mouth twisted into a sneer, and I could practically taste his fury in the air. It was hot and thick and putrid. His inability to control his features betrayed the extent of his deficiencies on the battlefield, and I reveled in the small victory.

I played a dangerous game and cocked a brow in his direction. “Well, Alpha?”

The sound of wood creaking split through the air, a result of Roman’s claws digging into the chair’s armrests. Violence brimmed in his eyes, and, for the briefest moment, fear swept over me.

Then, movement behind his chair caught my eye.

Malik had shifted closer. Only a sliver of gray remained in his good eye, his pupil a pit of black that warned of impending death. The muscles lining his shoulders were stiff and trembling, like a ticking bomb one flinch from unleashing its wrath on the world. On hisbrother, should the need arise.

I saw the moment Roman realized it, too.

His eyes flickered to the side, acknowledging Malik’s looming presence. Then, a slow smirk curled on his lips, leveled directly at me.

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