Page 66 of The Silent Mate

I buried my face in his neck, tasting salt from my tears andhim. My heart felt close to bursting through my chest, and our pup…

Our daughter rolled and kicked inside of me, as if she knew that her sire had finally come back to us. As if she knew our family was complete at last.

Absolute bliss consumed me. I could stay there for eternity, wrapped in Malik’s arms and revealing in the steady beat of his heart against mine. The feel of his naked skin, warm and full of life, beneath my palms.

But Malik stiffened, and I remembered the hoard of shifters surrounding us. Our reunion would have to wait.

A low growl filled my mind, penetrating the thoughts of every werewolf in the clearing, and I recognized the sound as an alpha—thetrueAlpha of theIntonat NoctePack—preparing to levy his first command.

When I looked up, Malik’s gaze rested on Roman. The male had transformed into his wolf form, undoubtedly prepared to run far,faraway, but countless wolves surrounded him, nipping at his heels and keeping him in place.

He snarled and snapped his jaws as he searched for an escape, then glared at Malik.You gave me your word.

I gave you my word thatIwould not kill you, brother,Malik rumbled, and a wicked smirk curled on his full lips.But I’ve learned from my mistakes.

No!Roman shouted, but it was overshadowed by the resounding authority of Malik’s first command tohispack.

Kill him.

31

MALIK

The sound of Roman’s death followed me away from the clearing, through the doors to the pack house and into the nearest empty room.

When I first gave the order, he fought his slaughter. Eventually, his snarls transformed into howls, which turned into yelps and whimpers. The noise of gurgling blood and tearing flesh continued long after Roman’s cries ceased.

I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Whatever loyalty—whateverdevotion—I’d felt for my kin disappeared the moment he turned on me. The moment he decided I’d become a liability and his rule would be more secure if he killed me. The moment he decided he wanted my mate for himself.

That was Roman’s downfall.

I would’ve followed him to my dying breath. Not because I loved him or evenlikedhim, but because I’d given him my word. Because loyalty meant something to me.

It meant nothing to him.

I would not mourn my treacherous brother. I’d wipe the remnants of him from my life—from my pack. I’d reverse the darkness he’d instilled over the world and become the alpha he never could’ve been. His name—his words, his legacy—would disappear.

“Malik?”

Aria’s voice reached into the depths of my frenzied mind, coaxing me from the darkness that had shrouded my soul from the moment I woke up months ago.

My eyes clamped tight, and I took a deep, shuddering breath before opening them again. I trembled, my control teetering on a precarious edge. With another deep breath, I grounded myself in reality.

Aria washere.I held her in my arms. My mate. Mypregnantmate.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. More welled in her bright eyes. Dark circles marred the space beneath them, and she looked skinnier despite the pup in her belly.

Goddess,I’d nearly shattered upon hearing Roman’s haughty claim that Aria carriedhischild. Until that moment, I’d been biding my time and waiting for the perfect moment to levy my challenge. Then, Ariaconfirmedit, and I exploded. The careful walls I’d constructed between our bond fell, and every ounce of agony unleashed itself into the cord that tethered my soul to hers.

The residue of that agony still clung to my heart. It gave birth to panic and fear that, at any moment, I might wake up and Aria would no longer be mine.

That fear overshadowed any control I’d been holding to, and I hauled Aria against me, claiming her lips in a brutal display of possession. She gasped, opening her mouth in silent compliance as if she knew I needed this. Knew I needed to reassure myself that she was here and mine, mine?—

Mine,I growled into our bond, the only thought I could fully comprehend.

Aria wove her delicate fingers into my hair, then slid her hands down my naked chest. Her digits shook as they trailed over the gruesome scars I’d earned in my fight against Roman and his cronies.

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