Mute from birth, Aiden Monroe, a young hybrid, had learnt from a young age just how cruel the world could be.

Yet, as means to pay off an old debt, Aiden finds himself trapped in wolf territory. With the Alpha of the Blackwater pack still deciding his fate, he places Aiden's wellbeing in the hands of his emotionally distant nephew, Lincoln Briar. 

At first, Aiden finds himself thinking that Link was just a cold hearted beast, a monster that spoke with such venom that even snakes would bow their head in respect. Yet, the more time that they were forced to spend together, the more Aiden began to realize that there was a tenderness to the beast, a gentleness, though subtle, that he had almost overlooked.

But when the outside threat that had been hanging over the Blackwater pack crept closer, Aiden, with his own life potentially in danger, finds himself thinking that perhaps a beast is only a beast after all.

And his silence, for as loud as it could sometimes be, would never be enough to tame such a beast. Right?

Silence and the Beast

Aiden saw one spinning out of control from his peripheral, but try as he might, he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the frosty blue stare that pinned him in place. Looking away seemed too similar to turning his back on a crouching tiger.

As Toby's stream of mocking laughter rang out, wafting through the air in the form of weaponized humiliation, Aiden sniffled. Planted his palms on the ground and lifted up from the awkward sprawl he'd landed.

Stop, he wanted to scream when he finally found the strength to tear his eyes away from Eric's. Wanted to leap up and snatch the personal artefact from his hands. Diaries were personal, and as Toby flicked through the pages, his mocking laughter rang out, rebounding and redirecting as it pranced around the open space, it felt very much like he was snooping in on all his deepest emotions.

/"I think the little creeper has a crush on your cousin, Eric. Look at this!/"

Chapter20