Third Person's POV Silas's sudden arrival froze the room. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his face pale beneath the sharp hotel lights. "Silas?" Freya whispered, shock rippling through her as she turned to face him. His expression wasn't the cool, calculating calm she had grown accustomed to. No-his eyes were wide, his jaw tight, and every line of his body screamed barely-contained panic. "I heard from Wren that you came here with guards," Silas said quickly, stepping toward her. His voice was tight, brittle. "I couldn't just sit by. I had to make sure you were safe." But his gaze flicked past her, toward Jocelyn Thorne, and the cold gleam of Alpha fury lit his eyes. "Yes," Freya answered slowly, her tone guarded. "I didn't expect Jocelyn to be holding a video of Eric… after his disappearance." Even speaking the words made her chest tighten. The flickering footage of her brother's battered body haunted her mind. She had replayed it over and over-the image of Eric Thorne, warrior of the Iron Fang Recon Unit, clinging desperately to a car door, lips moving in unheard pleas. And inside that car… someone had been there. Someone Eric trusted enough to beg. "Video?" Silas froze mid-step. "Yes," Freya said firmly, pulling her WolfComm device from her pocket and thrusting it toward him. The video played on the small screen, Eric's desperate struggle flickering in the grainy light. The blood drained from Silas's face. His hand trembled as he took the device, clutching it as if it weighed more than stone. His knuckles whitened. Five years. Five years buried and hidden-resurfacing in Freya's palm. Jocelyn felt the shift in the air. The way Silas looked at her now-like prey, like something already dead-made her legs quake. Even if she kept silent, the damage was done. Just possessing this video had condemned her. "Jocelyn," Freya snapped, her voice sharp as steel. She stalked closer, her wolf power rolling through the air. "I'll ask you again. Who was in that car? You were there. You saw it. Who was Eric begging for?" Her cousin's lips parted, but no sound came. The memory of her brother's agony scorched her mind. Freya's wolf pushed harder at the surface, claws aching to rend, to tear, to drag the truth out of Jocelyn's throat."Tell me!" she barked. The guards tightened their hold on Jocelyn's arms. She writhed, fear and desperation twisting her features. "I-if I tell you, I want your promise," Jocelyn gasped, voice shrill. "Swear you'll protect me. Swear you'll keep me alive!" Freya opened her mouth, but Silas's voice cut over hers, rough and urgent. "Freya, don't waste your breath on her!" He surged forward, his presence dominating the space. "You don't need her answers. Let me handle this. I'll find the truth for you. I'll find Eric. I swear it!" There was something in his tone she had never heard before-an edge of wild desperation. His hands reached for her, gripping her arms as if anchoring himself. His body trembled against hers, every muscle coiled tight with fear. "Silas, you-what is it?" Freya whispered, confusion threading her words. He wasn't himself. His aura was fractured, shadowed by something darker than guilt-something closer to terror. "I… it's nothing," he forced out, his voice breaking slightly as he tried to summon his usual composure. But his body betrayed him. Even his wolf seemed to shiver beneath the surface, unable to mask the dread that consumed him. "Because the one in that car-" Jocelyn's voice rose suddenly. The guards startled as her teeth sank into one of their hands. With a yelp, the enforcer loosened his grip. Jocelyn seized the moment, twisting free just long enough to scream her truth into the room. "The one in the back seat was him! Silas Whitmor!" The words split the air like lightning. Freya froze. Her breath caught in her lungs. Her gaze snapped from Jocelyn to Silas, whose face had drained of every trace of color. The mask of composure he wore so carefully shattered completely, leaving only raw horror in its wake. Jocelyn's chest heaved as she glared at him, defiance and spite lacing her expression. "That's right. Your Alpha. Your mate-to-be. He was there when Eric was dragged down. He did nothing!" Silas moved in a blur, his dominance flooding the room like a crushing wave. Jocelyn choked on her words as his aura slammed against her, forcing her wolf to submit. Her knees buckled."Shut your mouth!" His roar shook the walls, his wolf bleeding through in every syllable. His eyes glowed with a dangerous, golden fire. But Freya stood rooted to the ground, the shock sinking claws into her chest. Her heart thundered, her mind racing through the fragments of memory, the inconsistencies she had ignored, the shadows in Silas's gaze every time her brother's name surfaced. "No…" she whispered, her body trembling. "No, that's not… Silas, tell me it's not true." His head whipped toward her. His lips parted, but no words came out. The silence was heavier than any denial. The weight of it crushed her. For the first time in years, Freya felt her knees weaken, not from fear but from betrayal. Her wolf howled within her, the sound a keening wail that threatened to split her apart. Eric's blood. Silas's silence. The truth clawed at her chest. And suddenly, she realized-maybe Jocelyn hadn't lied at all.