He stepped into one of the many unnecessary large halls and felt a moment of dizziness and disorientation as his magic went offline. Someone had warded the hall against magic. Nausea rolled his stomach. Instinctively, Silas stepped backwards away from the null, dead space, back to where his magic worked. The flinching step backwards saved his life as a dagger in a meaty fist swished through the air where his neck had been seconds ago.
Shit,thought Silas. His heart thundering in his chest as adrenaline coursed through him. Then he realized he couldn’t back up any further. There was a magical barrier blocking the exit. He had walked straight into a trap. What an incredibly stupid thing to do. He almost deserved to die.
Silas moved quickly. Without his magic he was fairly useless, his would-be assassin was going to be bigger and stronger than him. The only thing Silas had on his side was speed. He needed to dodge and dance away from his attacker for as long as he could. Until he could somehow run away. No shame in a sensible tactical retreat.
Through the mate bond, he sensed Dean’s alarm and rage as the alpha realized what was happening. Silas wished his mate was close by and not all the way at home. It would be nice to have backup.
Silas eyed up his attacker warily. The troll was huge. Silas felt a flash of indignation. He had seen the troll earlier with her petition to move away from her bridge because human urban sprawl was surrounding it. Silas had not only agreed, but ordered some staff to research some suitable bridges for the troll to move to.
He had been nice, goddess damn it, and this was how he was being repaid? He swerved as the troll lunged again, her deathly sharp blade missing him by scant inches. Silas noticed it was a lovely dagger, and he felt respect for the troll’s taste in weapons.
The troll had likely always meant to assassinate him, reasoned Silas. Her petition had merely been a ploy to get into the Council Chamber. Damn rebels, what was their problem? He was a benevolent Grand Master, why were they so ungrateful?
The troll attacked again, this time getting a few strands of Silas’s hair. Silas swore as he danced away. The troll was good, and Silas could see his death in her black eyes.
At least my outfit is great today,thought Silas wryly.I’m going to leave a good-looking corpse.
A flash of an image through the mate bond distracted him. Dean pulling a naked Eifion out of bed whilst an equally naked Brogan growled at the intrusion. Silas grinned, feeling happy for Brogan. All that trailing after Eifion everywhere like a lost puppy had finally paid off. And in the middle of the day too, dirty bastards. Silas approved.
Pack gossip aside, Dean was trying so hard to get to him it made Silas feel all gooey. But where the fuck were the Council staff? Had no-one noticed yet? If he survived, he really needed to kick the security in this place into shape.
The troll swung again. Silas ducked as he backed away. He eyed up the troll’s tree-trunk legs and wondered if he could somehow trip her up. He doubted it. Those things looked as sturdy as hell.
Suddenly Silas was sprawling on the floor, his head hitting it with a resounding whack. Pain blinded him, then the troll was sitting on his back. Her impressive weight flattening him into the floor. He couldn’t even breathe, let alone get away. He was done for. Silas wondered if he would be able to resurrect himself once he was dead. He doubted it.
The troll grabbed his hair, yanking his head up. The sharp dagger pressed against his throat.
“Sorry,”Silas sent to Dean with a wave of grief and remorse.
He was sorry for so very many things. He was also sorry for getting killed. He didn’t want to go, didn’t want to leave his mate, didn’t want to cause Dean pain. Silas suddenly wished he hadn’t selfishly brought Dean back from death. He understood now that going first was definitely easier. He would much rather suffer himself than put Dean through the pain of being left behind.
It was a terrible lesson to learn when it was far too late to do anything about it. He had fucked up and Dean was going to suffer because of him, again.
His head hit the floor again, causing another blinding white flash of pain. The tremendous weight on his back was gone and there was vicious snarling and sounds of heavy bodies colliding.
Silas gingerly flipped over onto his back, his whole body aching. He wasn’t sure if any ribs were broken. But it seemed he could move at least.
Wolf Dean was savagely fighting the troll. The dagger glinted by Silas’s head. He pulled himself up to a sitting position and grabbed it. He looked back at the fight. His mate quite clearly did not need any help.
Sighing in relief, Silas scooted backwards along the floor until he could rest his back against the wall. He wiped the blood that was dripping down his forehead into his eyes. His head really hurt.
Dean had got here in time. It was wonderful, amazing, romantic. Relief and gratitude flooded through him, adding to the shaking caused by the adrenaline. He wasn’t going to die, he was going to live to see another day. Another day with Dean. Hopefully thousands of more days with Dean.
He looked again at the fight. It was so nice to be rescued. In all his long years alone, he had never had any help. He had always known no one was coming, that he had to win by himself and then limp off somewhere to look after his wounds. This was so much better. Dean had come into his life and made it so much better, in every single way.
Silas looked at the dagger in his hand that had nearly ended him. It was beautiful. He tucked it into his belt, next to his other dagger.
A gurgling groan filled the hall as the troll died. Wolf Dean immediately turned and bounded up to Silas, black blood dripping out of his jaws.
“I’m fine,” breathed Silas with a smile.
Dean stepped closer.
“Please don’t drool troll blood all over me!” pleaded Silas.
Dean swallowed and licked his lips.
“Ew!” shuddered Silas but as Dean started sniffing him frantically all over, he twined his hands into the wolf’s ruff. Relishing in the feel of Dean’s soft fur and the heat coming off of his mate’s body.
