The heavy vial of suppressant medicine sat on the table like a lead weight between them. It was a small thing — just glass and liquid — but in this room, at this moment, it felt like it was the size of a boulder. Alaric stared at it, his vision blurring at the edges as a crushing realization settled over him like cold water.
Silas had not taken that medicine to hide from enemies. He had not taken it to survive a mission or complete a job. He had taken it to erase the bond.
To cut the invisible thread that connected them at the soul. He had preferred the numbness of a drug — the grey, hollow emptiness of it — over the feeling of being tied to his Prince.
That thought was not something Alaric could fight his way out of.
He moved. But this time, he didn't stand over Silas the way he usually did, filling the space with his size and his authority and the quiet threat of his presence. This time, the great Alpha Prince sank to his knees on the cold marble floor.
