Silas’s P.O.V
I opened the door to her room as silently as I could so I wouldn't wake her and so that I could see her from my spot on the couch in the living room.
I wanted to keep an eye on her, make sure that she was doing alright. It calmed my wolf to see her at peace. I knew it made me some kind of creep for stalking her in her sleep, but this sudden irrational fear that had gripped my heart since this evening, wouldn’t get out of my head. Even as I snuggled under the blanket I used before, sleep was the farthest thing from my mind.
My mind raced with thoughts of Ezra and his possible involvement in Lily's death. There was something about it that bothered me very much tonight. I didn't know what it was, and perhaps I was only driven by my anger and desperation that I was simply creating problems out of nothing, but now that I had the opportunity to think things through, something about Lily’s death and Ezra's involvement in it didn't sit well with me.
I remembered my mother's words about Ezra's mother, Emilia, using witchcraft to seduce my father, the Alpha.
“Your father in his right mind would never do such an unholy thing,” she would say. “The Moon Goddess would not allow it. That Ezra is a product of witchcraft. That woman your father had lain with is a witch. She must be burned at the stake for using sorcery and witchcraft to seduce the Alpha.” I never really took her seriously as a child, and even now as an adult, because who in their right mind would?
I was always under the assumption that it was simply the ramblings of a scorned and jealous woman who couldn’t stand the fact that her mate had another child with a mistress, but now, even though I still had doubts about both the theory and its credibility, the seeds of doubt had already been planted in my mind.
And even though Ezra hadn't been there when the rogues attacked our pack, ravaging everything in their way…he had been there when Lily was murdered.
Lily and I were happy before Ezra came along, but everything changed once he returned. Lily, my beautiful Lily…by some twisted turn of events, ended up to be Ezra's mate. Nobody, not her, not me, not anyone in our pack, had expected it.
Moreover, when he returned, some members of my pack started to question my leadership and suggested that Ezra should be the rightful Alpha since he was the older child. But Ezra had earned their sympathy by standing down and ‘allowing’ me to rule.
“No,” he had told them. “Silas knows the pack through and through. He was there for you all when I wasn’t. He has helped you all through all the hardships after the Alpha and Luna’s demise. He is perhaps the best Alpha this pack could ever ask for.” I had been immensely grateful for his support back then, because after that, nobody else protested when I continued my leadership.
If only I had known.
I went back, again and again, to the night of Lily’s death. It was etched into my memory, every detail, every moment. I remembered the cold, damp air that night, the way my breath turned into mist as I made my way towards Lily's house. I remember feeling uneasy, as if something was off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, like my nerves were on fire and my instincts were telling me to run away as far and as fast as I could.
And then I remembered the blood…so much blood. It had pooled around her, staining the once pristine white carpet, and I remembered the sick feeling that rose up in my stomach, the disbelief that something so heinous could happen to someone so pure. I remembered kneeling down beside her, hoping beyond hope that she was still alive, but her skin was cold to the touch, and I remembered feeling like I couldn't breathe, like the air was being sucked out of my lungs, and I wanted to scream, to cry out in agony, but my voice was caught in my throat.
And then, Ezra arrived. And in the next few instances…I had been framed the murderer.
I remembered how Ezra didn't like it when I visited Lily, but he had still called me to dinner on the night she was found dead. And since there weren't any other scents in the house, I was now sure that Ezra was the one who killed Lily and had skillfully framed me for it.
I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen it before. My own brother, the one I trusted above all others, had betrayed me in the worst way possible. The anger and betrayal I felt towards him now was almost unbearable. Gone was all the concern for him I had in my bones. No longer did I care for his well-being. No longer did I see him as my brother. How could he do this to me, to our pack?
But I won't let him get away with it. I won't rest until justice is served for Lily, for my pack, for me. Ezra will pay for what he's done, even if it means tearing our family apart.
As I watched Zoya sleep from where I lay on the couch, and listened to the beat of her heart as her chest rose and fell at continuous intervals, I made up my mind that I would get revenge on Ezra instead of proving my innocence.
After all, why do I need to prove my innocence to a murderer? To a pack that had turned their back against me the instant something had gone wrong?
I would take my pack back by exposing his true colors. Ezra had already taken everything from me, and I couldn't let him take Zoya as well. Even if I didn’t accept her as my mate, she was still mine, chosen by the Moon Goddess herself.
And only I will have my final claim on her.