I couldn't shake the thought of Silas fucking Carter.
It was there when my dear children gorged themselves on the giant's own babies.
It was there when I led them back into the woods and pinpointed easier prey they could try to kill themselves.
It lingered, festering, when Avery made his first kill of a small bird and proudly showed it off while holding the creature by its broken wing.
I boiled behind smiles, knowing Silas would do anything to make sure I broke.
When I felt how much he loved being away from me, I knew Carter had won.
I burned as Silas did. I felt it all and couldn't do anything about it.
I was weak. Reid wouldn't have let this slide.
When Silas was wandering, yet again, Reid dealt with what was causing that.
Silas didn't want love. He wanted the thrill of being won and touching anything forbidden.
Carter was forbidden. I had to make him see that.
"I want you all to stay in the house" I ordered my children gathered around the fence with messed faces "do not come out until you see me return, ok?"
"Where are you going?" Astrid questioned.
I felt my stomach knot and the borrowed feelings burn there.
"To do my own hunting."
"Good luck, Dad!" Avery smiled widely "you can do it!"
Maisie grinned too and waved her little arms in encouragement.
I smiled down at my babies around me and let the pride swell inside.
Did Silas feel that when he looked at them? Or was he disappointed they weren't more like him?
"Inside" I smiled with a small chuckle to them "I won't be gone long."
Maisie bolted excitedly. Astrid was more cautious, lingering to look at me as Avery did as he was told.
When Astrid's eyes left me, I saw Ethel hadn't moved.
"Are you going to kill the man?" she whispered up to me.
She knew what was going on. She knew Carter and how he lingered when she was a baby. She saw it all develop into hate over the years.
But, I couldn't kill him.
"Your Dad wouldn't like that" I sighed back.
Ethel frowned to me.
"But, he's replacing you. You should get rid of him."
I wanted that so much. If I could just act on my threats, I'd do it.
If I did, Silas would pack his bags. He was already dancing on the doorstep enough as it was.
"Come with me. We'll talk on the way."
Ethel perked up excitedly and pattered by my side to look up at me with a grin.
"So... where are we going if you aren't killing him?" she looked around the path we retraced.
"We're still going to find him" I told her "and give him a clear message to stay away."
Ethel shook her head at me. She deflated with disappointment.
"He won't stay away. He knows you won't do anything because Dad won't let you."
Silas had me by the balls. Years ago, I wouldn't have let him have this hold over me. He did what I said and begged me for more. He was a sneak then, and he was a sneak now.
"You can't just kill humans" I sighed back "as very tempting as that is."
"Why not?"
"Look, I had a town turn on me just for running at Carter last time" I grumbled at the memory "they came after us and set the flower field on fire. Your dad lost his leg that way; a lot more too."
"But you were there to protect him" Ethel pondered over what I told her "not Carter. Dad chose you, not him."
He did. Why? Why didn't he go to Carter that day when I really wanted to tear his smart mouth off right in front of everyone else?
He always came back to me. Was it only because I had claimed him first?
"Do you think... Dad loves him more?" Ethel "all you two do now is fight. He cries a lot too."
I grimaced to Ethel, knowing she had heard and witnessed it all. It was no lie we weren't the same; especially not since Reid's murder of the rest of our children.
Who knew how it had also affected Astrid, Maisie, and Avery.
"Dad loves him more" Ethel decided on my silence "he always looks so happy when he's here. He used to look at you that way."
Ethel saw everything. She knew more than I thought she did.
122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfrzaonKnK
We continued towards town side by side.
I made sure Ethel stayed with me and didn't dart forward. She was so eager and looked to me expectantly when she pulled ahead just a little.
Soon, we were facing the edge of the trees beside the town Carter lived in.
I could feel Silas' excitement still pulsing through my gut. It disgusted me and made me shudder to try and shake it away.
"He shouldn't be hard to track. Just listen for a voice you want to tear out."
Ethel smiled at me, holding back laughter.
"So, you're just going to give him a little slap on the hand?"
"Shush, Missy" I pushed her toward the treeline "just stay put. I'll be back soon."
"Forget that" Ethel whined "I came all this way just to stay behind? I'm coming with you."
"I'm not putting you in danger like that" I growled back and leered over her "you stay where you are."
Ethel glared and rose up against me, scowling so fiercely that she looked like a changed creature.
"I'm coming, or I'll follow you. I know you don't want me walking those streets by myself."
Was that blackmail? She really was shocking me with all of this new defiance.
I liked it. She was growing into the fierce adult I wanted her to be.
She had to be like that if she had any chance raising her own family in the future.
"Not a peep" I wanted her, prodding her forehead with my arm "I'm serious, Ethel."
She nodded and kept her mouth closed.
"You'll do as I say. No rushing away or playing the hero. And NO touching Carter; I'll sort that out."
"I'll be right here" Ethel smirked and ran herself around my front legs cheekily before popping out the front to look up at me "let's go get Dad back."
Grinning down at her, I quickly kissed the top of her head and took the first steps out from our safety amongst the trees.
122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWPLYEmCA1
Carter was easy to find.
Like Silas, he wanted to live away from others. He was Reid's plaything once; maybe he couldn't bear the shame of what happened to him enough to live amongst people?
His house was a little brick and wood home with a tall wooden fence around the backyard. There was nothing boxing in the front except for tall trees either side of a stepping-stone path.
It reminded me too much of our own home.
It had windows almost in the same locations around the front door. I saw little red curtains that had been drawn across and tied in the middle with the thinnest length of ribbon.
There was a small kitchen with black counters where ours was in our home.
He had the living room next to it too; with a fireplace and small dining table too.
His rooms were much more open and didn't run into any walls until the end of the house.
I couldn't see the prick anywhere inside. I'd have too see if he was in his backyard.
His ute was parked out the front. He wouldn't just leave it here, surely.
"I can check the trees on the other side of the fence" Ethel suggested hopefully "maybe he went to get more wood?"
There was a spiral of smoke from over the fence. He wouldn't stray far from that. He was too conscientious to be that negligent.
"Check the trees" I agreed "but stay where you can see me."
Ethel nodded and peeled away to slide amongst the treeline.
I kept my eyes on the fence of the backyard as I approached slowly.
The disgusting churning in my gut was long gone, but I knew what the fucker had done.
I could hear the crackling of the fire when I got close enough to smell the wood of the fence. Peering over, the metal dish the wood was piled in wasn't being watched.
There were two chairs. A can of beer sat on one of them, still dripping from being pulled out of the esky nestled between both seats.
He couldn't have gotten far, either of them.
I couldn't see them in the house or feel Silas giving himself to Carter again. They were both just.... gone.
He wouldn't have left his car here. Town was too far for them to both walk.
Maybe he had gone to collect wood after all?
Movement caught my eye and made me turn towards it.
I saw Carter, smiling down at his phone while holding bundles of logs in his arms. He kept walking blind, until he shut it off and saw me there.
His face dropped instantly and he cradled the wood close.
"I told you what would happen if you touched him" I snarled while pulling from the fence to stalk him "I fucking told you and you still did it anyway."
"L-look, he came onto me!" Carter tried to defend himself as he backed up, looking for somewhere to hide "we didn't even have sex!"
"LIAR!"
I smashed a leg down onto his stupid fence to buckle the boards and crush a hole through it.
"Quin" he begged when he realised he had nowhere to go "please. I'm telling you the truth."
"Keep my damn name out of your mouth" I hissed and towered over the pathetic man still cradling his wood close in fear "I fucking told you."
I could smell Silas on him now that I was close. It didn't smell like sex, but he had still taken advantage of the situation.
"We kissed!" Carter blurted out and whimpered when I planted an arm either side of him so he was trapped "a-and things g-got intense."
Silas really couldn't be trusted. He lied to me, again, and I had to be the one to step in, again.
Where the hell was he? He wasn't crawling out of this without paying for it.
"What about my babies?" I snarled.
"B-babies?" Carter squeaked out.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" I leant down so that my breath huffed in Carter's pale face "what. Did. You. Do. With. Them?"
He closed his eyes and shook his head.
"You'll kill me" he whimpered.
"I'll fucking kill you if you don't tell me" I knocked the wood from his arms to make him jump back to avoid being hurt.
"W-we were in the car" Carter began, turning his head when he stared up at my dripping mandibles ready to tear him apart "and w-we went to the wood place t-to drop off the beds. Oh, fuck. Could you b-back up a bit?"
"Then what?" I pulled away slightly to let him breathe "what did you do?"
"Got mo-money" Carter squeezed his eyes shut again "S-Silas...."
I growled to him.
"H-he..." Carter corrected "....wanted to buy something for t-the kids."
"MY kids" I snapped and lunged to make Carter cry out "MINE."
Talking about them like he was already in my place. My blood boiled at how stupid I had been to let this go on this long.
"He was h-happy. Was talking about..."
Carter stopped and gulped. His eyes darted up nervously.
"What?" I breathed.
"M-money" he shrugged "he said he wished t-things were better. How I...."
His eyes darted again and he cringed.
"....listened. He liked how things used to be. T-then he bought up the c-cream thing a-and..."
Cream thing? What the fuck was that?
"Well, he kissed me. In the car."
Carter gulped and nodded, straightening a little.
"I was worried about his back, I was" he found a shred of bravery to stand against me trying to piece it all together in my silent rage "b-but he said he didn't care. H-he didn't want them."
"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THEM?!"
I lunged again, making Carter cry out and throw his hands up to shield his face from me.
"He said he wanted things t-the way they were!" Carter cried now, straightening again to try and scare his decency "he said you wouldn't find out. Y-you couldn't f-feel him?"
"That mother-fucker" I huffed and turned from Carter to check that Silas wasn't lingering nearby like a sneak "I fucking knew."
"I-I was scared" Carter breathed up to me, inching forward until I snapped my eyss back on him "it was s-stupid. He wanted it, and I wanted it too. W-we kissed..."
That wasn't all they did. They may not have fucked, but I could tell by his nervousness that they had gotten pretty close.
There was so much they could do without reaching that point. All in his fucking car too.
"It burst" Carter glanced to me when I began to pace "a-and it scared the s-shit out of me. They were everywhere, just l-laying there all folded up."
My babies. They didn't even have a chance.
"What did you do with them?" I rounded in on him again.
I could hear the desperation in my voice. There was nothing tough about how I begged a damn human to what had happened.
"W-we cleaned them up" he folded his trembling arms "th-there was a bin a...."
"NO!"
I whined and fought against the agony tearing me inside. It pickled at my eyes and demanded to break free from my mouth I bit shut.
My body jerked against the tears; my limbs threatening to buckle.
All thought of killing Carter were immediately washed away. They only turned to mourning what I had tried so hard to protect.
I had been so close too. We were going to be happy again....
Thrown away like trash. My babies.
"I didn't touch them" Carter insisted up to me "o-once it was done, he said he was f-free. W-we fooled around some more..."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I burned with newfound hate at the human I glanced at "you watched him dump my babies and decided to fucking make a move?"
"Wasn't my choice" he held his hands up "I was told you wouldn't know. I got told that you forced it all on him and made him keep them. I thought it was all fine. The way he spoke about you sounded like you guys were done. He said you were horrible and forceful and couldn't keep it up."
My eyes snapped to Carter who closed his mouth and lowered his hands.
"His words, not mine" he mumbled.
Silas told him that? Something that I had cried to him about when I wanted to be alone? He coaxed it out of me so he could use it as a weapon to justify his own actions.
And I forced him? What a fucking laugh. Last I checked, Silas had changed his mind on trying to destroy the eggs this morning after we fucked for so long.
Maybe it was just him riding on the high of it all when he said it?
He betrayed me. I waited for him and he threw me away for this piece of trash. Just like the first time too.
I needed to make him pay. If he wanted the fucking old days back, then i'd give them to him.
"Where is he now?"
"He went out a while ago" Carter jerked a thumb past his ruined fence "said he wanted to walk it off."
I'll fucking snap his other leg when I find him. He won't be walking anywhere when I'm done.
"I'll wait" I growled "fucking arsehole."
"H-he might be go..."
"I'll wait" I glared to Carter "and when he comes back, he's going to tell me what happened."
"But I just told you?"
I didn't want to believe it. Seeing Silas return without my babies would be all the proof I needed to strike. I had every right to after what I heard. He wouldn't have anything to use against me after how he destroyed us.
"Ethel!" I called to the woods.
Carter looked to them nervously, backing up when my daughter came rushing out towards me.
She glared to Carter but didn't move toward him. Instead, she waited for me.
"Go home. Your father is on his way back here" I told her "I need you to take the others out of the house and guard the nest. He's destroyed our chance we had."
"Why would he do that?" Ethel frowned and fought the tears in her eyes "if he didn't want them, does he want us?"
"Baby" I shushed her, bringing her close so she could nuzzle her head into my arm "we don't know what he wants anymore. I'm trusting you to keep them safe until I come back. Your father...." I heaved in a breath that I let go sadly "....we'll see when he comes home."
I gave her a nudge for the trees and watched her leave quickly.
It broke my heart to send her out there alone, but it would shatter me if I had nothing left to return to at home.
Silas was human. If he was done with me, he was fine with all of us. Who knew what he would do?
"What are you going to do with him?"
I looked to Carter and promptly sat myself down next to his fence where I had a clear line of sight to the road.
"I'm going to wait and see."
ns 15.158.61.8da2
