Dean grabbed his mate and pulled him close. Relieved that Silas was willing to hug at least.
“You are a hot… wolf,” said Dean.
“Dad jokes,” groaned Silas.
Dean grinned. “Gotta practice.”
Silas stared at him intently, a look of alarm in his dark eyes. “Will he even want us as parents? A necromancer and a zombie?”
“I’m not a zombie! How can I prove it to you?” said Dean, raising his voice in desperation.
Silas glared at him. “If I was into necrophilia, you wouldn’t care about proving it to me.”
“No, I wouldn’t!” shouted Dean. “You talk to me, hug me, sleep in the same bed. It’s the only thing that is missing.”
He stared into Silas’s dark eyes imploringly, watching as a whole range of emotions flowed across them before settling on dread.
“There is a way,” whispered Silas.
“What?”
Silas took a deep breath. “We don’t need to know, not knowing is fine. Schrodinger’s cat and all that.”
Dean had no idea what cat Silas was talking about, but he got the idea that his mate had been putting off the test because he wanted to hang onto the hope that Dean was not a zombie. It was understandable, as well as terribly sweet and endearing. But they needed to know. They both did. The last week had been long enough.
Dean was fairly certain he wasn’t a zombie, but he realized his opinion was likely hugely influenced by his very strong wish not to be one. His judgment was definitely clouded. The thought that he could be undead was truly terrifying, but he’d still take it over being dead, dead any day. Anything was better than leaving Silas.
“How do we tell?” Dean prompted, softly but sternly.
Silas gave him a long agonized look, pain, uncertainty and fear rolling down the mate bond. Dean sent back his love. He was scared too, but they couldn’t have this dark cloud hanging over them forever. Suddenly Silas stood up taller. He had clearly decided.
“Hit me,” said Silas.
Dean blinked. “What?”
“Hit me. Hard. In the face,” instructed Silas.
“I can’t!” spluttered Dean. “I love you!”
Silas narrowed his eyes. “Can’t because you love me, or can’t because you are a zombie and I am your master?”
Dean shivered. In the periphery of his vision, he saw that people were approaching them. He paid them no heed. This moment was too important. He needed to prove to Silas and himself. They needed to know, one way or another.
He swung back his fist and smashed it into Silas’s face. The necromancer staggered back, clutching his nose. Dark eyes glinted at him, and Silas removed his bloodied hands from his nose to look at them.
“Ow!” he exclaimed.
Dean’s heart started racing, part horror at what he had done, part fear of how pissed off Silas was going to be. Nerves and the fear that he wouldn’t be able to do it, had turned the punch far more forceful than he had intended. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly Silas was in his arms, his legs around Dean’s waist, his arms around his neck and he was kissing Dean thoroughly, desperately, passionately. Dean wound his arms around his mate’s body and held him close, kissed him back with hunger, whilst tasting the blood.
Someone coughed rather assertively. Reluctantly, Dean broke the kiss to tell whoever it was to fuck off. His gaze fell on Luca and Erik, accompanied by Jasper and Eifion.
Silas let go of him and slid down his body to stand on the floor. He wiped his still bleeding nose with the back of his hand. Surreptitiously, Dean wiped his face too. Some of Silas’s blood was on him. He glanced sheepishly at their visitors and could just tell from their expressions that they had arrived just in time to see Dean punch Silas and Silas snog him passionately for it.
“We need to talk,” said Luca.
They most certainly did. Dean knew Silas shared his suspicions about who had set them up. He really hoped Luca had nothing to do with it and the omega turning up here with just his mate and no entourage was a good peace-keeping move. It put them entirely at his and Silas’s mercy. But he really wanted to hear what the coven master had to say for himself.
As much as he hated to admit it, it was worth the interruption. It was probably the only thing in the entire world that was. But he was still pissed off. Silas had just been kissing him for the first time in a whole week. They had just discovered he was not a zombie. In a fair world, they would have been able to continue their celebration in peace. But the world was not fair.
