Wife.

The word vibrated through me. What was he talking about? I was so confused, nothing about what was unfolding made any sense. I blinked but I did not wake up. Nothing changed. I was still standing stunned, my gaze rapidly moving from one stranger’s face to another. Their eyes fixed on me with an intensity that was enough to squeeze the air from my lungs.

I looked down to the scarf before I looked to lock eyes with Silas for a brief moment before he stood beside me, taking my hand into his.

“She is my wife.” This time there was a softening in his voice.

I swallowed looking around at the disgust in the eyes of the vampires watching on, all with varied expressions of shock. If they hated me before, they despised me now.

“Wife?” Rowan echoed, stunned.

“This cannot be allowed,” Thane interrupted forcefully.

“It is the law,” Jude countered. “It can’t be undone.”

I couldn’t be his wife. How on earth had I gone from being his Sire to his wife? I felt a tremble inside.

The word vibrated through me, awakening all the wants I had written off as human wants that had no place in his world.

“He has chosen, she wears his mark,” Jude added. “No vampire has the power to break this bond.”

Rowan’s forceful glare stayed on Silas.

Mark? Bond? I was so confused and bewildered. I couldn’t even string a sentence together.

Silas’ hand tightened around mine, anchoring me to him when my mind was spinning. I had so many questions but I stayed silent. Had this been part of Silas plan to keep me safe? To pass me off as his wife?

Wife. The word felt foreign.

“And that’s why we are here today.”

“What are you talking about?” Rowan muttered annoyed.

“Talon and Thane took my wife. They strung her up like an animal and tortured her.” Silas voice carried across the vampires silence. His voice hard and angry. “They have to be punished.”

Thane exasperatedly looked to Rowan whose attention was still on Silas.

“She is not a vampire,” Rowan declared, as if that was enough to thwart what Silas was asking for her.

“It does not matter. She is my wife and is therefore afforded the protections of our kind.”

Rowan frowned. “She is a Sire. Married or not.”

Silas shook his head.

“She is his wife and therefore her life is as sacred as ours,” Jude added. There was no emotion in his voice, he was talking in a calculated and factual manner. Steady and emotionless.

The crowd began to argue and Rowan held his hand out. “Silence.”

I swallowed, trying to keep my composure. But the truth was Vampires brought out a fear in me that was almost impossible to face. Maybe it was because they had inflicted so much pain on me, that I could not see them as anything else other than monsters.

The man who had tried to force himself on me, the sister who had tortured me. They had brought me nothing but pain and fear.

“There are no laws that protect Sires,” Rowan argued with disgust.

Another female vampire on the council stood. “He is right.”

“Our laws are very specific to position. It does not distinguish between Sires or Vampires. She is Silas’ wife and therefore holds the same rights as if he had taken a vampire as a wife,” Jude explained calmly as he stood beside Silas.

Rowan was already shaking his head. He wasn’t going to accept this.

“Thane and Talon will need to be punished as if they had dared to harm any vampire standing here,” Silas requested calmly despite the rising tempers.

“That is not possible,” The female counselor said, stepping closer.

Thane and Talon shared a look and for the first time I saw a flicker of fear in their eyes.

“Marriage doesn’t make her one of us,” Thane argued, knowing he would have to face being punished if the council side with Silas, even reluctantly.

“Our laws are to protect our kind. Not Sires,” the female councilor stated. Her curious gaze took me in like I was something foreign to be studied.

I did not believe for a second she would be kinder than her colleague.

“No where in our laws does it specify that. The only word is mate which the modern day term for is wife.” Jude challenged with a direct gaze to the female.

The background hum of disapproval grew.

“She is not one of us,” I heard someone mumble.

Another vampire agreed. Thane began to smile, feeling more confident that they would not afford me the same protections as a vampire wife.

The crowd was growing more resistant and I feared that this was unleashing a whole new level of hate for my kind.

“Jude has already confirmed that her position is legitimate. It is not up for discussion or interpretation,” Silas stated. “I only want the two vampires who have broken our laws to face the punishment they deserve.”

The room erupted but Silas stood steady, refusing to back down despite the commotion coming from his peers.

“You can’t be serious?” Thane spun to question Rowan.

Rowan glared at Silas for a few seconds before he looked to Thane.

“This is unprecedented.”

“This is a union, no vampire can break. I’m warning you Rowan, if you go against me you will lose.”

I looked shocked at Silas before allowing myself to take in Rowan’s expression.

“I can make things very difficult. It’s your choice however but if I was you I would tread carefully.”

They seemed to size each other up for a long while before Rowan broke the stare down, almost signaling he was going to back down.

“I need time to look into this matter. I will issue my verdict tomorrow.”

I didn’t want to have to go through this again.

The crowed grew nosier.

“You are dismissed,” Rowan commanded.

Silas put his hand to my lower back and steered me through the crowed that seemed to grow closer. Jude walked beside me, making himself a buffer against the opinionated crowd.

Once we were out of the main room I took a deep breath, trying to tame my racing heart.

Silas was silent until we made it into the car.

“I’ll confer with the council,” Jude stated to Silas as I got into the back of the car.

“This isn’t your fight Jude,” I heard Silas reply.

“You know it is.”

Their relationship was complicated but I appreciated Jude’s steady support in amongst the enemies who only wanted to watch me suffer.

Silas gave Jude a nod before getting in the car beside me.

My hands were still shaking when Silas gave the driver instructions and we started to move.

I dared not say a word until the privacy screen went up between the driver and us.

“What was that Silas?” I scoffed, still finding it wildly unbelievable.

He took my hand in his. “What is there to explain Avery?”

I pulled my hand from his. “The part where you declared in front of every vampire that I’m your wife Silas.”

“Is it not what you wanted?”

I looked to the ceiling, trying to contain my temper.

“In my culture, the guy usually asks and waits for an answer Silas.”

He shrugged. “Our culture works differently.”

Was he serious?

“How on earth Silas? Is this some sort of plan to save me?”

The human side of me that had loved him refused to entertain the thought that he had done it because he loved me.

“You’re the mother of my children Avery. Is this not what you want?”

I was trying my best not to get angrier. “How am I your wife Silas? I don’t understand.”

My mind was still reeling and I could not figure out how we had gotten here.

“We have consummated our relationship. We shared blood.”

Our eyes held. Memories of all of those moments rushed back. Some good, some hot and some painful.

“The last piece was to give you this.” His hand went to the scarf he had given me to wear.

I had not known it held such significance.

“It is a sign of my commitment to you. You are mine and I will take care of you.”

“And I thought you gave it to me because of the weather,” I replied sarcastically.

“It was only a formality.”

I took in a deep long breath and counted to ten. “I just discovered we were married the moment everyone else did. That’s not how this is supposed to work Silas.”

He seemed unable to understand my anger.

“You are mine Avery. I was never going to let you go. This was the next logical step.”