I wandered around in the woods for several hours. I tried not to sit in one spot for too long just in case someone was looking for me. I wasn't running away from the pack. I had no where to go, I had Amelia, and I couldn't risk ending up somewhere like wolfsbane again. I stuck close enough toward the middle of the territory so that I could avoid patrol but not close enough to be seen by other pack members.

~Rylan.~ Aaron said.

I jumped and spun around to see where Aaron was but the woods around me seemed empty.

~I know you can't answer but you need to come home. We are getting worried and if you aren't home soon we will have to send patrol after you.~ Aaron said.

I glanced around again just in case I had some how managed to miss seeing him among the trees. He was still nowhere to be found which left only one conclusion. Aaron had just mind linked me. Had he always been able to do that? I knew he had some magical abilities because he had bound Amelia's powers back when she first arrived in Willow pack so that Matthew could help her. He'd performed the spell so casually I hadn't thought much about it since. Even after all the books I had read about magical abilities, trying to learn more about it, I hadn't even considered asking Aaron for help. It was fairly obvious now that he knew way more than he was letting on. He had even mentioned that mindlinks were fragile and difficult to use. I'd never considered that he knew so much about it because he could do it too.

My head was still spinning with this new information when I began climbing the steps to the pack house. Aaron could mind link, from a distance, just like I had with Quinn a few months ago. I was too engrossed in my thoughts to notice Alex and Aaron on the porch until they stood up.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked glancing at my partially torn sleeve.

I glanced at it as well and nodded.

"Where have you been? What happened?" Aaron asked.

"You attacked Quinn? Did he do that to your shirt?" Alex asked.

I shook my head and wracked my brain for answers. It was too many questions at once and I was back to not knowing which ones were actually safe to answer. I decided to ignore their questions and go with one of my own.

'Is Quinn ok?' I asked.

"His prides a little bruised and his arms still numb but Matthews sure there won't be any lasting damage. He said you caught him off guard. Were you sparing or fighting? He wouldn't tell us exactly what happened, just that he was really worried about you and we needed to find you and make sure that you're ok." Alex said.

'I'm fine.' I signed.

'We were arguing and...' I shook my head. 'I over reacted.'

"What were you fighting about?" Aaron asked.

'He...' I started but I couldn't think of anything to tell them. I couldn't tell them the real reason we had been fighting. If I did they would demand to see my arm as well and I didn't want to go through that again.

"I wanted to tell Silas about something that she isn't ready to share with others." Quinn said.

I turned slight so that he was in my line of sight as well. I hadn't heard him come out of the house. When he stepped closer to our group I took a small step back. Unfortunately my movement did not go unnoticed by any of the men on the porch.

"If it's something about her past then you have no right to press her about it. She's told us everything we needed to know. If there's more that she doesn't want to share yet, then so be it. Silas would be furious if he found out you were trying to force her to talk about something she's not ready to discuss." Aaron said taking a half step in front of me.

"It's not about her past. It's about present situations. Our situation." Quinn said.

Aaron's eyebrows went up. He and Alex glanced between Quinn and I curiously.

"Can we have a minute alone?" Quinn asked.

Aaron looked at me. I nodded. I knew that he was silently asking if I was ok with that. It was definitely safer than trying to talk to Quinn with everyone present.

"Ok." Aaron said and walked away into the house.

"You two have a situation?" Alex asked.

"It's a cover for whatever the hell secrets our girl is keeping." Quinn said.

Alex's brow furrowed and he looked at me.

"Secrets can be very dangerous..." Alex said.

"That's why she's not going to keep them all to herself." Quinn said.

Alex glanced back and forth between us before nodding and going into the house as well.

"Sit down, babe." Quinn said gesturing to the bench Aaron and Alex had been sitting at a few minutes ago. I sat down as he asked and he sat down next to me.

'Are you ok?" I asked looking at the blue sling that was holding up his arm.

"This?" He asked gesturing to his arm. "It's fine. In another hour I won't need it at all."

My shoulders relaxed a little. I was terrified that I might have cause permanent damage. Pressure points weren't meant to be used lightly.

"I want to apologize for over reacting earlier." Quinn said. "I could have and should have handled that a lot better than I did."

'I'm the one that hurt you...' I signed shaking my head.

"Yeah and I'm glad you did. It reminded me that you aren't just a scared little girl. You can handle your own shit like a queen when you want to which just makes me even more curious and concerned about this..." He touched my elbow on the arm that we had been arguing over.

"You have to tell me what's going on babe. As a pack official I'm sticking my neck out right now by not reporting my suspicions to the others." Quinn said.

'I can't.' I signed shaking my head.

"So tell me what you can and show me that your arm isn't fucking broken or something." He said.

'I can't.' I repeated shaking my head again.

"Ohhh babe..." Quinn sighed. He shifted suddenly. One of his legs went over mine holding me in place and caught my wrists in one of his hands. He shifted his arm from its sling and ripped the sleeve of my shirt the rest of the way. I tried to pull my wrists away and wiggle free but after the material tore I knew it was too late. He could clearly see the nearly black hand print on my arm.

"Who did this?" Quinn asked.

I shook my head and tugged at my wrists. This time he released them but he kept his leg over mine so I couldn't get up.

'It's none of your business!' I signed.

"Oh sugar... any form of abuse is my business. It's pack business. The only thing I can do now is let you decided if you want to have me bring it to Silas or let you do it yourself." Quinn said.

'No! Please don't do that!' I signed quickly.

Quinn's brow furrowed and a look of pain crossed his face as he considered my desperation.

"Did Silas do this to you?" He asked in a strained voice.

'NO!' I signed horrified. Silas would never do something like this to me.

"Then why did you go pale when I mentioned telling him?" Quinn asked.

'Because I don't want to lose him!' I signed. My eyes burned and I had to blink back tears.

"You..." Quinn shook his head as he considered my words. Suddenly his mouth popped open and his eyes widened.

"You let someone do this to you because you think they can hurt Silas?" He asked shocked.

I looked away. This whole discussion was spiraling faster than I could think. Quinn knew way too much about what was going on and the more I let him know the more danger Silas was going to be in. I closed my eyes and swallowed back the urge to cry. I needed to suck it up and be strong right now. I couldn't be weak or broken. Silas needed me.

"Sugar... Rylan... look at me..." Quinn said turning my face back toward his. I kept my eyes closed and shook my head. This discussion was over. I wouldn't let him guess anything more from me. Quinn sighed and his warm breath blew across my face.

"Last chance babe. Look at me..." Quinn said.

I shook my head.

"Do you have any idea who Silas is?" Quinn asked.

I blinked. I knew exactly who Silas was. Unless he had been lying to me this whole time.

"To put it bluntly, Silas is a fucking monster babe. I can't even count how many people have tried to kill him, me included... Even the council has tried on several occasions to take him out. Everyone fails. If for some reason he can't out smart them then his wolf devours them. Trust me when I say Silas is not the one in danger here..." Quinn said.

I shook my head. Quinn didn't understand. Silas was an incredible fighter, sure, but that didn't mean he was invincible. That didn't mean I was willing to gamble with his life.

"Babe please tell me what's going on." Quinn said.

'So that you can turn around and tell Silas?' I signed. 'I tried to trust you. You already said you have to tell him. I'll do it myself.'

"Will you? Or are you just saying that because you think I'm going to drop it?" Quinn asked.

'I will. I'll tell him tomorrow.' I signed.

"Why not tonight?" Quinn asked raising an eyebrow at me.

'I'm tired and I don't want to deal with the councilman asking questions too.' I signed.

"If he doesn't know by tomorrow afternoon..." Quinn said.

I shoved Quinn's leg off of my lap and stood up.

'I said I'll tell him.' I signed. I just had to figure out what exactly I was going to tell him and where. Anything I said to him in front of Drake would put him in danger but if I was careful I might get a chance to speak to him alone before Quinn.