Finn didn’t let him dodge the question. “What does that mean, wanting to kill the three of us? Why target you? Us?”
There was a long pause, before Silas blew out a heavy sigh. “Alpha Cain is my Uncle. And he probably had his Second planning to kill me because none of his children inherited the alpha line. I did.”
Chapter 21
Finn
Silas and Sam arrived at the safe house several hours later.
Jaime and Finn had washed and gotten dressed, but otherwise had left the cabin untouched. Their movements and routines as they switched places in the shower stall and dressed in the loft were familiar and hushed—there just wasn’t much to say about the situation until they knew how Sheppard wanted to proceed. But being close to each other was a comfort.
Finn knew that Jaime was avoiding looking at Bishop’s body, which was entirely fair. He didn’t particularly want to look at it, either.
But Jaime did not look away from him, and in the end that’s what mattered.
Jaime’s adamance and pride that he would have defended Finn just the same had healed something in his soul. After being afraid for so long to finally bare everything—all of the violence and anger he was capable of, in all of his forms—only for Jaime to wash him, tend to him, and press sweet words of love and acceptance into his skin, was axis-shifting.
Finn had no idea how he’d gotten so lucky in having Jaime as his mate, but he would be thankful for him every day for the restof his life, and he would never let himself doubt his devotion and love again.
They were in the process of loading up the truck when their brothers pulled up. Finn heard Jaime’s breath catch at the sight of Sam, like he hadn’t really believed he was coming until now.
Jaime stood there, fingers tangled in the hem of his shirt as he tracked Sam’s movements. Sam halted, unreadable emotions playing across his face while he seemed to be debating with himself about what he should say, but then he threw himself forward, wrapping Jaime up in a tight embrace as they both began to cry.
Turning away to give them privacy, he saw Silas also rushing toward him, before he threw himself around Finn in a great bear hug.
Finn held him tight, patting him on the back. He wasn’t sure what to make of Silas’s confession over the phone, or why he would have kept that from him all these years. But it didn’t matter.
He pulled back just enough to press his forehead into Silas’s. “It doesn’t change anything. You are my brother. My longest friend. I’ll swing for the fences with you every day,every day,that’s never going to change. I don’t give a fuck that you’re an alpha, or that your Uncle is a power-hungry murderer.”
Honestly, he should have seen the alpha thing coming. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t put it together before now—there were several times over the years that his instincts had known and responded to the alpha in Silas, even without Finn knowing.
He’d just always assumed that alpha’s were… well, assholes. Controlling. He’d assumed that their need to order people around wouldn’t let them function in a dynamic like the one the four of them had in the military, with Sheppard in command. And Silas had never balked at being given orders, nor had he ever chafed against Sheppard’s direction at the security firm.
Silas just squeezed him harder, and tried to hide his tears.
And then Finn was crying, too.
It was at that moment that Sheppard pulled up. Stepping out of the truck, he took one look at the four of them, all teary-eyed and hugging each other, and said, “I’ll be inside.”
Silas released his grip on Finn, and stepped in to sweep Jaime up into his own bear hug. Finn thought that he might start crying all over again as he heard Silas rumble out how glad he was that Jaime was safe, how worried they’d been, how awful it had felt that they couldn’t do anything, how happy he was that his brother found such a good man, such a good mate…
He was surprised out of his second round of tears, however, when Sam gave him an assessing look before throwing his arms around him too, squeezing hard. Finn just stood there, arms held out, as Sam embraced him around the middle. He was so short that his head barely came up to Finn’s chest.
“Thank you for protecting my brother. I’m sorry for being an ass back at your house.”
Finn’s arms came around to pat him on the back, head tucked down. “You were protecting your brother from a stranger, I would have done the same.”
Sam took a step back. He assessed Finn again with that intense gaze—weighing him. He nodded once, and Finn felt a wave of relief that he hadn’t been found wanting.
Jaime sidled up next to them. He wrapped an arm around Finn’s waist, giving him a gentle squeeze before he turned to Sam. “Can we talk?”
“You two can sit in the truck, Si and I will go in and catch up with Sheppard.”
Finn pressed a kiss into Jaime’s hair, and passed him the truck keys. He ushered Silas onto the porch, whose gaze was locked back on Sam.
As the boys stepped up into the truck, Finn turned to his dearest friend, lifting one brow. “So. You and Sam, huh?”
Silas tore his eyes away, and gave Finn a look. “I didn’t pry into your business, you shouldn’t pry into mine.”
