Page 5 of The Silent Mate

“How ironic,” Roman chuckled, finally dropping his hand from my little mate’s cheek. At last, he stepped away from her and addressed Mason Knox again. “You may return to your home. Your daughter is no longer your concern.”

“But–” Mason began, turning his horror-filled eyes in my direction. As if this pathetic man could not fathom abandoning his daughter to a man likeme,whereas moments before he’d been prepared to hand her to Roman to save his own neck.

As if he feared I might harm her. As if he thought I couldeverraise a hand to the most precious gift I’d ever been granted…

I still didn’t entirely believe it. Could this be a mistake? A part of me worried that fate would snatch Aria away from me, seconds before I touched her with my corrupt hands. Surely such a pure, beautiful thing was not meant to be tainted by a man like me.

It had been years—decades—since I’d truly had something of my own. From the moment my father renounced my position as his heir, I’d spent every waking moment of my life serving him and my brother. Playing the role of fearsome general and guard dog. Blooding my hands so that they didn’t have to.

I’d lost so much in the last twenty four years. My inheritance. My father’s approval. My face. Myvoice.

I’d be damned if I lost my mate, too.

My brother turned away from Aria and Mason and walked back to the dais, seemingly bored of the situation.

“It seems our business is finished,” he drawled, an undercurrent of annoyance in his tone. “Malik, take your mate away, but be back in my office in an hour.”

I stiffened but didn’t bother responding with a nod or through our mind-link. Roman knew that I wouldn’t neglect his orders, even if it meant neglecting my little dove in the first hours of our meeting.

My eyes flickered back to Aria and her father, and something like pity clenched at my chest. She’d rushed away from the center of the room and thrown herself in her father’s arms, clutching at his shoulders.

Even though she whispered, I could still hear her soft pleas. “Dad. Dad,please.Please don’t make me stay. I want to go home with you.P-Please.”

A frown etched across my brow. I hated the desperation in her voice. Not because I didn’t want her to feel the emotion. Rather, I hated the impact that it had onme.

I wasn’t used to…feeling.

I’d learned to shut that part of myself off a long time ago. To become the monster that my brother needed me to be, I had to.

Yet, in the span of minutes, Aria Knox had ripped me open and rendered me defenseless. My connection to this girl left me exposed to the sharp, intense emotions that I’d fought so hard to bury.Heremotions.

Roman chuckled, lowering himself into the throne of our ancestors. “I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere. You see, my brother belongs by my side, and you belong byhisside. I’m sure I don’t need to explain that fated pairings cannot function properly without one another?”

His words were cruel and insensitive, but not incorrect. Even if Iwantedto allow Aria to return home with her father, our wolves wouldn’t survive that. From the moment our eyes locked, our lives were bound together.

She was mine, and I was hers.

For better or worse.

“My heart, I am so sorry,” Mason whispered, tenderly brushing his old, feeble hands through her honeyed locks. “I wish there was something I could do…”

My pulse quickened, and I fought the irrational, innate need to punish this old fool for merelysuggestingthat he wished to take Aria away from me. No longer willing or able to tether myself to the tight confines of propriety, I stalked off of the dais.

Enough.

Although Aria faced away from me, she stiffened as I drewcloser, as if she also felt the distance between our bodies growing shorter and shorter. My blood simmered as I inhaled her scent, bathing in the honey sweetness.

When she turned to face me, she bravely placed herself between me and her father, undoubtedly able to sense that I hung on by a thread. Her blue eyes brimmed with tears and fear and something else…curiosity?

The tightness in my chest bordered on uncomfortable, and my heightened emotions made my head spin. As a result, when I reached her, I callously grabbed her wrist and tugged her away from her father.

I wanted her out of that throne room. Wanted her hidden from the lecherous eyes of every other unmated male in the room.

She gasped, a rogue tear slipping down her cheek as she looked back at her father in farewell. Yet, when I began to lead her away, she came willingly, of her own accord.

As if she knew that fighting was futile. Because, deep down, she knew that she belonged to me.

Mine.

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