I woke up to the sound of a Silver carrying on a hushed argument, "I don't want to talk about this right now. You should leave before I make you leave..."

"When would be a good time to talk about it? When father has your mate's head on his chopping block?" I recognize Lennicks voice. Silver lets out a low growl at his words, "I will kill anyone who tries to take her from me."

"Well, then you better prepare yourself for a killing field brother because from what I've heard she's got a lot of people gunning for her head." Lennicks replies without much care for his own wellbeing. I let my eyes flutter open but I try to keep my breathing even as I spot the two of them standing at the foot of the bed. Silver's hair is sticking up on one side, obviously having fallen asleep next to me before being awoken by his brother.

"If I remember correctly you were one of those people. Maybe I should start the killing with you..." Silver takes a menacing step towards his brother. Lennicks send him a mocking smirk, "Brother if I truly wanted to harm her why would I have hidden the fact that she is your mate from father and why would I be trying to help you save her right now? Come on let's be logical."

I push myself up in the bed, "Trying to save me how?" I question. Both of them turn there faces toward me. Silver frowning deeply and Lennicks looking mighty full of himself, "Do you want to tell her or should I?"

Silver sent a glare at his brother before he moved around to the side of the bed, "I'm sorry if we woke you—"

I frowned at him, "That's not all that important at the moment Silver, Don't try to change to subject. What are you two arguing about? How is Lennicks trying to save me and from what is he trying to save me from? Is it your father again?"

Lennicks chuckles, "Oh Silver, always keeping secrets."

"Will you shut up?! You're not helping!" Silver snarls at his brother as he run a hand through his already disheveled hair.

"What secrets? What the hell is going on?" I feel myself growing more annoyed by the second. All the warmth and comfort of marking my mate is fading into a bundle of swirling confusion. Silver eases himself onto the edge of the bed, "Valerie came by shortly after you fell asleep and informed me that my father was going to have you and the others privately executed in the morning."

I feel my heart drop into my stomach, "Why the hell didn't you wake me up? How long have I been asleep for?" I pull myself toward the edge of the bed feeling the need to stand.

"Grace, calm down..." Silver reaches out for me but I slap his hand away in anger, "Don't tell me to calm down! Don't you care about your friends at all?"

"Of course I care about them, but I care about you more. And you needed rest." Silver yells back at me in frustration. I want to be angry at him for that but I know that it's impossible. I'm his mate and if the shoe were on the other foot I would have responded the same way. It's just how the mate bond works. I bite back angry words as I get up out of the bed still only covered by the large oversized shirt. Lennicks lets out a soft wolf whistle which has Silver pushing up off the bed and standing in front of me to block me from his view.

"Don't be to harsh on him Grace—he did send Valerie back out with a vague plan of rescue. Though I'm sure a five year old could have come up with something better..." Lennicks comments in a bored tone. I peer around Silver to get a better look at him, "Why are you even trying to help me—us? What are you getting out of this?"

His eyes meet mine for a moment and I see that I've hit the nail on the head. He was getting something in exchange for helping us. I narrowed my eyes, "That's it isn't? I mean you're clearly a selfish bastard, you wouldn't help us out of the kindness of your heart."

He put his hands of his heart mockingly, "Oh how you wound me!" he chuckled darkly as his hands feel back to his side, "You're right I am getting something out of it. I made a deal, the contents of which are none of your business. All that matters is I know a safe place where you and your friends can hide and I'm going to help you get there."

"How do we know that we can trust you?" I question.

"We can't trust him—as you so perfectly stated, he's a selfish bastard." Silver growled as he crossed his arms over his chest, making the muscles in his back tense up, "I'm sure this is all some elaborate joke he's set up with one of my brothers."

"As If I would joke around with the life of your mate and what? evoke the wrath of your wolf? Yeah, not likely..." Lennicks rolls his eyes before meeting my gaze again, "I don't expect you to trust me but hear me out—" I move from behind Silver, crossing my arms over my chest. I study Lennicks for a moment, "I'm listening."

He smiles briefly which earns him a growl from Silver who is clearly not pleased by the turn of events. His smile disappears quickly, "Your father was a leader in the movement to overthrow my father. He and several other alpha's defected because they believed that our father wasn't the rightful heir or whatever—it doesn't matter."

"That's just what we are taught there is no way to actually prove that it's true." Silver responds to his brothers statements obviously concerned that what Lennicks is saying might upset me. I peek over at Silver and I feel my anger towards him dissipate a little.

"I would have agreed with you brother until a couple weeks ago when I met your lovely mate. I got a little curious and started doing some research. Then of course father's reaction at our little family dinner only solidified to me that there was something he was keeping from us that involved your beautiful little—"

"We get it—now to the point of your story..." Silver interrupted. 

 "My little birdies told me that father called a man named Albus in a tiff, complaining that why hadn't he gotten rid of the family as he had promised..."

My wolf stirred with recognition, "Albus—that's my uncles name...You mean that—" I swallowed the lump in my throat, "Your father and my uncle were working together this whole time? That he's the reason my family is dead?" I felt myself trembling as memories of that night flashed through my mind. White hot anger flashed through my veins and I was sure I would have hunted down their father if Silver hadn't reached out and grabbed my hand. His touch pulled my wolf back from the edge.

"It's okay Grace. We will make sure those responsible pay for their crimes—We are in this together, remember?" He stroked the top of my hand gently with his thumb, lulling my wolf into a calm state. I gave his hand a squeeze to let him know I was with him, "Thank you." I whispered back to him. I could focus on the guilty parties later but right now I needed to focus on living long enough to make sure they paid for what they had done. 

Lennicks cleared his throat, "Right, well after that I put two and two together. I realized that meant that the rebel army was real and I wanted to find out if there were any more leaders still alive. It turns out there is only one left—all the others met a similar fate as your family..." He said a bit gentler as if he actually felt sympathy, "I tracked down this man. He has a massive collective of wolves hidden deep in the mountains. When I told him about you and who you were, he said he would protect you and your friends if I brought you there." 

"You want us to believe you actually found the rebel army?" Silver questions in disbelief.

"You don't have to believe me right now, but when you see it with your own eyes brother you will. You mate is about to be become the face of a movement that wants nothing more than to destroy you and your family." Lennicks says with a humorless chuckle. I feel my stomach knot up at the thought of Silver being in danger, "I won't go anywhere without Silver and if these people are planning on harming him I'll make sure I kill you first for putting us in that situation."

Lennicks holds up his hands in surrender, "Look I can't speak for them but I'm sure once you explain the situation they'll understand. It's a gamble, honestly. But if you stay here—you will most definitely die." 

"As much as I hate to agree with my brother. He's right—this is our only option right now."

I turn my face toward Silver and study him for a moment, "Fine. We will let you take us to this rebel army but I wasn't kidding—" I turn my attention back to Lennicks, "If anything happens to Silver I promise you that you'll wish you had never heard anything from your little birdies in first place."

"No wonder you two are mates—" Lennicks comments with a hard swallow, "You two are fucking terrifying to be around..."

Silver leans over and presses a kiss to my temple, "Ignore him, I think you're perfect. He's just doesn't know how to handle a woman whose balls are bigger then his." I smile at his strange compliment and look towards Lennicks who is frowning deeply in our direction but isn't brave enough to talk back. 

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Song: Sick Muse--Metric