Jane |18+| ✔️

14. The time she began to accept the Implausible

Silas

The plate shatters in the sink as her hardened look contradicts the trepidation emanating from her perfect frame. I clear the rest of the table with a grin as her body slowly retreats. "Where are you gonna go, Jane?" I ask, somewhat exacerbated without looking at her. "There is nowhere to hide now that I've fucked up."

"You, fucked up?" her tiny voice drips with curiosity and concern. Still, her dainty hands shake as they try to collect the shards.

"Yeah, and leave it!" I cast a look her way as I stack the dishes before moving closer toward her. Her body jerks as she stands back, eyes glued to the contents inside the sink. "My behaviour has been slightly erratic since meeting you," I reach and turn her to face me. I'm met with a whirlwind of cosmic emotions as I try to calm her internal storm. 

"It has caught the attention of many. I'm doing my best to alleviate the awareness you have brought to those trying to overthrow my reign, Jane, but it's not an easy feat. As I tried to explain earlier, the true fate-mated bond cannot be ignored or replicated. The act of pretending you are nothing more than an ignorant human is torturing not only me but my wolf as well. Nothing would please me more than to announce the arrival of my Luna. My mate. My future..." my eyes blur before the salty substance drips down my cheeks for the very first time in my existence, "...but it's too dangerous."

Her arms slide across her chest as her chin angles, "dangerous or embarrassing for you?" The pang of devastation hits us equally as hard from the moans of discomfort. "Reeva—"

"is irrelevant when it comes to what you and I share," I hiss.

"You loved her, nonetheless?" Understanding encompasses my being as I watch my sweet little one: nodding without intent, her smile wavers. "I may only be twenty, but I'm far from naïve—in most aspects of life. I recognized you would have been with a plethora of others and probably loved more than just Reeva." A tidal wave of incompetency and inadequacy nearly drowns my wolf as he howls with discontent.

"I will stop you right there," I move quickly, placing her on the counter like I had a day earlier—before lowering to her level. "I love all my people, Jane. Every single one. It's an Alpha's duty to care for his entire pack, regardless of status or loyalty... and, in my case, species. Reeva was one of them, and yes, I played along pretending to be her destined mate."

"But why, Silas?" Her eyes drip with further confusion—my sweet Jane. I allow my eyes to dance around her many freckles that I just adore landing on my favourite—placed perfectly on the sclera of her right eye. "Silas..." her big, dewy eyes search mine.

"All you need to know, my little one, is that no one has ever mattered but you. What I feel when I scent you, look at you, hear you speak, touch you – and fucking taste you is nothing shy of pure raptured. It brings me to a place I've never been and only want to be, Jane. You own me in every way. No one has ever come close—as I never let them. No one has ever challenged me or spoken back to me. Tossed heated slurs and lived to talk about it... except you. You tease a smile and chuckle, something I haven't done since—"

"she died." The hurt is like a million knives falling from the sky, slicing into me. What will it take for Jane to understand that she is my fated mate—not fucking Reeva? After a longer pondering moment, I pull her to her feet and tug her out of the room. "I should clean up."

"I fucking think not. You're not a maid. You're my Luna, and it's best you start realizing it." I growl back—my resolve slipping from not understanding why this magnificent being is so insecure. Can't Jane see how perfect she is? How unique and brave she is?

"But Athena told me and—"

"You're not hearing what I'm saying, little one. It's dangerous to divulge every detail of why, what, who, and when at the moment. I will tell you only what you need to know for the time being—but I promise to explain everything once the dust has settled." After a wink, her curt little nod has me slightly grinning. "Reeva was part of the Sweetwater Pack. Born and raised. Her parents were the rulers – Alpha and Luna of Sweetwater well before I conquered the area nearly forty years ago." I slowly lead the way up to my bedchambers.