Little Red's Riding

Something Else Too

Silas had hardly slept all night. He had shared a room with Soren, who snored like a- well he wasn't quite sure what. He thought maybe the sound was close to what a bear or a water buffalo sounded like when it slept. Something large and rather congested. And they'd had to share a bed which was how he'd learned that Soren tossed and turned and kicked in his sleep as well.

But apparently Oliver, who he normally would have shared a room with, had retreated to a room with Lottie, or at least they had disappeared after dinner together and he wasn't about to disturb the two of them if there was any chance that they were growing closer again. In Silas' opinion Lottie was the best thing that had ever happened to his Beta, even if she wasn't his true mate, and he'd told the man often enough since she'd been back, that he needed to open up his eyes and see it.

While Silas had hoped that Soren would perhaps take this night to spend time with the mother that he hardly knew, it seemed that this most definitely was not the rescue mission when that was going to be happening. Then again, in a small way, that made sense. The widow Lemp had lived quite near the pack all those years and Soren had never gone to see her, at least as far as he knew. And on the entire trip South, they had hardly spoken to each other, although the silence seemed to be one sided. Any time Mrs. Lemp spoke to her son, he inevitably answered with short, polite answers and she usually fell silent within three questions.

But even if Silas had had a room all to himself in the grandest inn in the Capital, he doubted that he would have been able to sleep for more than a few moments at time. Now and then he would find his eyes beginning to shut, even with the racket that Soren was making, but then he would jerk awake, filled with a feeling of dread that his mate was in mortal danger and that there was nothing that he could do to save her. He was so close to her now, there had to be less than a mile between them and yet she was still impossibly far away.

It was still dark when he forced himself out of the bed and found the inn's washroom and began to wash up. He was somewhat surprised to find that they had running water, but maybe it wasn't all that surprising to see in the Capital. Maybe all the buildings here, even in the poorer parts of the city had running water. He wasn't sure what time it was, but at this early hour he had the washroom all to himself, and he took advantage of it, stripping down and stepping under the hot spray of one of the showers, scrubbing his skin until it was red.

Coming back to the room with a towel around his waist, Silas was surprised to find that Soren was pulling on his boots.

"I have a friend here in the city. I haven't seen this friend in a few years but I think they might be able to help us. I'll try to be back by dinner."

"Dinner?" Silas raised his eyebrows. "You think whatever it is that you're doing will take all day?"

Soren rolled his shoulders and then shrugged. "It might." He turned and stared out the window at the street below before giving his Alpha a long look. "I haven't seen this friend in a very long time. I'll have to find them first. And then I'll have to convince them to help me. It's a long shot."

Silas nodded.

"I guess I'll go find the others and see what plan the rest of us come up with. Good luck."

Soren turned from the window and headed towards the door before pausing to grip Silas by the shoulder. "Be careful here. My sister needs you. I want to meet her and for that she needs you to survive. Don't do anything reckless. I know how Alphas are. As much as I've spent my life believing you're a bastard, I can see that you love her. We'll find a way in. If there's really a ball it's the perfect opportunity to get inside the palace gates. And once we're in she's as good as ours."

Silas made a sound and Soren must have taken it as confirmation that he wouldn't do anything ridiculously stupid, because he turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Silas was half dressed, buckling his belt, when there was a knock at the door.