Page 73 of Silas's Sweetheart

Silas stared at Ziggy, but he seemed to be looking right through him. “There were always the haters at school. Divergents, no matter where we come from or how wealthy a family is, are scum. In the main, I pretended everything was okay and avoided the bullies. Then one day after school, I took a shortcut. One that my boyfriend, Jason, suggested so I could avoid the boys on my way home…”

The sadness rolling off Silas took Ziggy out at the knees, just chopped the fuckers right off when Silas focused on him. “It wasa setup. If not for Taylin and Booker, they’d have beaten me to death.”

Ziggy wasn’t prone to outbursts, of getting angry to the point he wanted to inflict actual harm on someone else. But the violence he felt forced him to let go of Silas’s hand for fear of crushing it. His snake’s primal instinct was to find those boys—men, now—and crush them until they were nothing more than a bloody pulp.

Silas’s eyes sheened with tears as he threw his untouched water bottle on the bed, tucking his hands into his back pockets as he took a step away from Ziggy. “Anyway—”

“No, don’t you fucking dare act like it doesn’t matter. Like it was nothing. And you don’t share this with me, then put back the fucking barrier,” he growled, seeing how Silas was doing exactly that. He stepped into Silas and reached around him, pinning his hands into the pockets, bringing them chest to chest.

He searched Silas’s pained eyes. “I let go of your hand ‘cause I didn’t want to hurt you with how fucking angry I was—am.” It was a guess, but he knew he was right when he felt the tension releasing from the large body pressed against him.

Letting go had given Silas the wrong impression, and he was sorry for that, so he explained himself to remove any doubt the other man had as to his reasons. “My snake wants to shift and, by whatever means possible, hunt those fuckers down and give them a dose of their own medicine. And when my snake gets like that, I have less control. It doesn’t happen often, so I am careful.”

Silas pressed his forehead to Ziggy’s, his eyes closing. A single tear rolled down his cheek and broke through any defenses Ziggy had tried to build. The affection for this man left him struggling with his own need to declare his feelings. He moved and licked the tear away, kissing the spot beneath it.

Ziggy calculated how much time they had before someone came looking for them to go to the bunkhouse for food. He swallowed back a sigh at how they couldn’t avoid mixing with the others, given it was the whole reason they were there.

“We need to talk. But the others will be expecting us at the bunkhouse for food.”

Silas’s lower lip trembled as his eyes opened and Ziggy held on to his rage, fighting his snake tooth and nail to keep his voice even. “We’ll shower, go eat, then come back here and figure out the rest… okay?”

“I’m sorry for being stupid. For not being honest.”

“Shush,” Ziggy got up on his toes and kissed Silas, soft as a whisper. “We’ll figure it… together.”

Was it that simple?

Chapter Thirty-Three

Silas

Going through the motions, Silas felt way out of sorts acting like his world hadn’t gotten turned upside down when Ziggy had licked and kissed away his tear. His heart had landed at Ziggy’s booted feet without question. He was tethered to the man, and he wouldn’t have protested if Ziggy had wanted to walk all over the damn thing. Silas resigned himself to the fact he was no better than Taylin when he had cried about his mating to Hollis, or how Booker was over Frey. Lowering, but absolute fact.

His steps didn’t feel like they were on solid ground, as if he was floating on a cloud after his confession. Ziggy hadn’t shut him out, despite his initial belief he had when Ziggy had let go of him. He had felt crushed, but the feeling had gotten allayed seconds later by Ziggy. They needed to talk, and Silas wanted it all out in the open, was desperate for that now he’d ripped open his heart to bare his soul. Revealing the vulnerability that, in the dark, made him feel weak and helpless.

He felt Ziggy’s presence behind him, walking with Wilder and Bowie. Walking to the bunkhouse, Silas had to concentrate on Ethan with more effort than normal as he caught up on the new brood mare they had acquired.

Ethan groaned. “Do they think separating themselves off like that is how to become a team?” He didn’t say it loud, but both Laken and Rue glanced in their direction, scowling.

Silas shook his head. “You pissed ‘em off and it looks like they’re rebellin’,” Silas murmured as they went to the counter where Petey and Orion, who ran the bunkhouse and cooked for the ranch hands, were.

Orion was a giant, next to Petey. He was a polar bear shifter and built like a house. Whereas Petey, a divergent penguin, didn’t reach far past Orion’s waist. The two men were mates and had worked for Silas since he’d bought the ranch. They came looking for a place to work where they’d find acceptance.

“Look who it is, Petey.” Orion’s meaty lips curled into a wide, cheeky grin. “You finally dragged your scrawny ass back to the ranch, did ya?”

“Good to see you too, Orion.” Silas grinned and reached over the counter to slap Orion on the shoulder before glancing at Petey. “You still with this grumpy ass?”

Petey gave him an adorable smile, which was all crooked teeth. “What can I say, he’s got the biggest—”

Orion placed his huge paw over Petey’s mouth, covering most of his face. “Nah, babe, we talked ‘bout the braggin’. These boys will only get jealous.”

“That’s what you want us to believe,” called out Cranny, a lion shifter sitting next to Rue.

“It’s the truth,” Orion joked back, reaching for the food Petey had plated for Silas and Ethan.

“Thanks.” Silas groaned in appreciation at the plate piled high with steak, potato cakes, seasonal vegetables, and Petey’s steaksauce that he refused to share the ingredients of, despite how many times Silas had tried to bribe him for it.

“Who are these cuties?” Petey asked as Silas stepped aside for Ziggy, Bowie and Wilder to come to the counter.

---