Raine – POV
The tension hadn't left me since the mirror.
Silas sat across from me, draped in shadow and silence. The perfect illusion of composure. Cold. Controlled. The only hint that anything simmered beneath that sculpted exterior was the slow, tight coil of his jaw every time Delilah touched him.
But he never stopped her.
She giggled again, too loud, dragging her fingernails along his forearm like she thought she could earn his attention with effort alone. He didn't look at her. Not once. But he didn't move away either.
And that—somehow—was worse.
I smiled too brightly. Laughed at Damon's quiet remarks. Leaned in like I belonged to him. Like I wasn't aching beneath my skin for the man who refused to look at me.
Lucan reclined lazily in his chair, swirling his wine like it was blood. His eyes moved between Silas and me, a half-smile tugging at his mouth.
"You two always this entertaining when you're forced to sit still?" he said, tilting his head. "Or am I the only one at this table with functioning eyes?"
Selene gave him a withering look. "Lucan."
"What?" he grinned. "There's enough tension between them to level a city. It's like watching wolves circle each other. You waiting for her to lunge, Silas? Or are you the one biting first?"
Delilah laughed far too eagerly. "I think we all know who does the biting."
I clenched my teeth.
Silas still didn't look at her. But his voice cut clean through the noise.
"Keep talking, Lucan. Maybe one day you'll say something worth hearing."
Lucan just chuckled. "Touchy tonight, aren't we?"
Silas finally turned his head, eyes flicking to his brother with that glacial, silver precision.
"Only when dogs bark without knowing what they're chasing."
Lucan raised a brow. "So you're saying you are chasing something?"
Silas said nothing. Just sipped his wine.
My entire body tensed.
Selene shot her husband a warning glare. "Lucan."
But Damon—gods bless him—said nothing. He didn't need to. He ruled with silence and presence alone. No one crossed him.
Except Silas.
Always Silas.
And Lucan. Because Lucan had no boundaries.
I turned to Damon, trying to steady my voice. "Damon... may I be excused?"
He looked at me, studied me for a moment with those unreadable eyes, then inclined his head.
But before I could stand—
The doors opened.
A guard strode in quickly, bowing low. "Alpha. Three council members have arrived at the gate. They request immediate audience."
Damon stood, regal and sharp. "Prepare the west chamber. We'll convene there."
Everyone began to rise.
Damon placed a hand on my lower back. "Stay. You've done enough tonight."
I nodded softly, heart still hammering.
Selene stood gracefully, smoothing her dress as she rose. Her lips curved into a brittle smile as her gaze passed over me. "I assume that includes the women."
Varyn stood next, more regal than necessary. "We're still council, regardless of gender."
Delilah groaned dramatically. "But the food just got good."
Emeric's wife scoffed under her breath. "Perhaps now the conversation will too."
Damon turned to the table. "Lucan. Silas. Emeric. With me."
Lucan gave me a long, lingering look as he passed, lips twitching like he wanted to say more. Silas didn't even glance my way.
But as he passed behind me, I felt it.
The heat.
The chill.
The burn.
And just before he crossed the threshold, his voice brushed my spine
Lucan smirked as he passed behind Silas. "Try not to kill each other while we're gone."
Silas didn't even flinch.
But just as he passed behind me, his voice came—low, private, cold against the nape of my neck.
"Keep pretending, Raine. It's adorable."
And then he was gone.
Leaving only my pulse pounding where he stood, and my pride bleeding at the seams.
Selene, Varyn, and the other council wives followed behind, exchanging low remarks I didn't bother decoding. I was too numb.
And I was left behind.
Alone.
Trembling.
And hating the part of me that wanted to chase after him.
,,,,,,,
I don't remember closing my eyes. But I remember what I felt.
The second everyone left , and I left to me chsmbers.
After I played the role.
Luna.
But the second I was alone, in the walls of my room, I crumbled.
I lay on my bed with his words still crawling across my skin.
"I could make you come without laying a finger on you,"
And I hated that he was right.
I hated how badly I wanted to be touched.
But what broke me wasn't the filth in his mouth.
It was the look in his eyes.
Like he'd buried something he didn't want to survive.
So when the dream came, it didn't shock me.
It felt like punishment.
They say you can't feel in dreams.
They're wrong.
The air was warm. Too warm.
Heavy with steam and memory.
I knew this place — the hot spring tucked behind the eastern cliffs. The one where we first met as kids. Where I dared him to jump. Where he first made me laugh, and later — made me tremble.
But now the water was still. The laughter gone. The stone slick with silence.
All that was missing was him.
"Silas," His name escaped my lips but nothing happened.
I was alone.
Until I wasn't.
> "You alway chose things that hurt you, just like this place."
His voice hit me like a bruise.
Low. Rough. Almost bored.
But not really.
I turned too quickly, like my body knew before my brain did.
He stood there, just beyond the steam.
Hand in his pocket. Shirt half-buttoned. Eyes like frostbite.
Silas.
> "Silas…" I breathed.
I didn't expect to see him here in my dream, even in a place like this I can't escape the thought of him.
"You came" I mutter with a smile.
I knew this was all a dream, but just for a moment....
> "Of course I did, you wanted me here, " he said, voice calm as glass. "I almost didn't come, didn't want to interrupt your fairytale."
My mouth opened. Closed.Unable to believe my eyes.
He stepped closer.
Not threatening. Just... deliberate.
> "Still alive," he murmured, eyes dragging over me. "In case you forgot."
> "I never did," I said too quickly. "I couldn't."
> "Could've fooled me."
His jaw flexed. "Five years, Raine. No search, no wait, just straight into my father's bed. "
I flinched like he'd slapped me.
The air pulsed around us.
> "You don't know what I went through," I said, stepping forward. "They told me you were gone. No body. No trace. I waited."
> "You waited?"
His tone sharpened — silk over steel.
"That why you let him touch you? Fuck you like I used to? Because you were grieving?"
My breath caught.
> "Don't do that," I whispered. "Don't turn what we had into something dirty."
> "Dirty?"
He smiled — no warmth. Just venom wrapped in velvet.
"You don't get to act clean, Raine. Not when you wore my name in your moans and then gave his last name your signature."
The words sliced.
I stood my ground, even though my knees shook.
> "I didn't love him," I said.
> "You let him in," Silas replied. "Into a body that used to beg for me. You think that doesn't stain?"
> "He was there. You weren't."
> "Because I was rotting in darkness on the edge of another realm!"
His voice cracked — just once.
Then he straightened. Cold again. Dead calm.
"I would've given you everything, Raine. My blood. My breath. My name. But he gave you a fucking roof and you called it love."
Silence.
Only the trickle of water in the spring, like the world was holding its breath.
> "I needed something to hold on to," I said, voice trembling. "Something that didn't feel like dying."
> "You needed me," he growled. "But you settled."
He looked away, jaw tight.
I took a step closer.
> "I never stopped loving you."
He laughed. Once. Hollow.
> "Then you've got a fucked up way of showing it."
> "Say you don't feel it anymore," I whispered. "Say it — and I'll walk away."
He turned back to me.
The look in his eyes?
It wasn't hatred.
It was heartbreak wearing armor.
> "I tried, Raine," he said. "Tried to hate you. Every damn day. But this thing between us? It's fucking feral. It never dies. It just... waits."
I stepped forward.
So close I could see the gold flecks in his irises. The scar on his lower lip. The muscle twitch in his jaw.
> "Then let it live," I breathed.
I couldn't believe my words but I wanted to be honest with myself even if it's just this once, even if it's just to my illusion of him. I didnt want to lie anymore.
> "No."
One word. Sharp. Quiet. Final.
"You came too late. The man who needed you? Who'd have bled the world dry just to hear you say his name again? He died out there."
Tears pooled behind my lashes.
> "Then tell me this is goodbye," I whispered. "Say it, and I'll believe it."
He stepped back.
A small, bitter smile curved his mouth.
> "Goodbye, Raine."
It hit like a blade in the chest.
I reached for him. My fingers grazed air.
He vanished into mist.
And I sank to my knees, gasping—