MATED TO SERIES COLLECTION

25. LARA: MEETING THE IN-LAWS

"Get out!"

"This is my house."

"Leave."

"If anyone should be leaving, it's you!"

"Ethan!" a soft voice cried out.

A loud snarl filled the room before it fell silent again, but the silence only last for a total of ten seconds.

"It's not my fault! You should've told your little human where you came from. Were you ashamed? You've always been ashamed of who you are. A half breed that can't even shift to finish off a fight!"

"Shut up!"

"Why? Why should I stay silent? I told you that I never wanted to see your face again. I told you that you were never to set foot on my land again."

"It's not your land!"

"I am your Alpha!"

"Enough!" a gruff voice boomed. "Shut your mouths before I shut them for you."

I opened my eyes and blinked up at the blue ceiling to clear my vision before I pushed myself up onto my elbows. I felt weak and slightly sick. My muscles were straining just to keep me up. It was probably from the shock of what I saw. Maybe it was all just a dream. But way back inside my mind, I knew that what I saw was real. My eyes darted around the room until I located Silas.

He stood in a face-off near the doorway. My eyes darted from him to the man standing close in front of him. The man wore a pair of low-hanging shorts. Silas and the stranger had a similar body structure. Where Silas was a little taller, the stranger had a little more muscles. His hair was also a shade darker and longer.

The stranger's eyes darted over to me. Something inside me shifted when our eyes locked. I shrunk back when his eyes hardened. It looked like he wanted to kill me. I forced my eyes away from his when Silas turned towards me. He stepped away from the man and closed the distance between us. Silas took a seat on the edge of the bed next to me. My eyes dropped to his hand when he reached out.

Could he change too? I instantly shook the though away. If he could change like them then I would've already realized it. Silas wasn't an animal. As soon as I thought that, shame washed through me. They weren't animals. A sharp pain flashed through my head, making me wince. I lay back down and squeezed my eyes closed.

"Lara? How are you feeling?" Silas asked anxiously.

I licked my lips before answering him. "My head hurts."

"I'm afraid you had a nasty bump to the head." I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at David. "You hit the ground before any of us could catch you."

My eyes darted to the lean woman standing next to him and then to the man standing behind her. His icy blue eyes locked with mine. The man gave me a small smile as he stepped out from behind the woman.

"It's nice to put a face to the voice," he said softly. "My name is Devon and this is our wife, Valeria. Welcome to our home, Lara."

"Even if it's not under the best circumstances," Valeria muttered.

I managed a small smile but it quickly faded when the shirtless stranger stepped closer to the bed. He gave me a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"And I'm the twin, Ethan. I would say that it's nice to meet you, but in all honesty, it really isn't."

Silas snarled. Before he could jump up and tackle his brother, I reached out and gripped his wrist. He froze and frowned down at me. With a small shake of my head, I pleaded him with my eyes. He pursed his lips and tugged his wrist from my hold. Letting out a breath, Silas grabbed my hand and squeezed.

"Why don't we give them some time to settle?" Valeria said softly. "Dinner is at seven. We'll see you then."

Ethan opened his mouth but David stepped forward and gripped the back of his neck to guide him out of the door. With a small smile in my direction, Valeria followed quickly behind them. Devon hesitated.

"Come see me once you're settled," he said to Silas before he followed.

Silas waited until the door closed softly behind him and then he turned back to me. His eyes darted over my face. Worry darkened his gaze. Questions flashed through my head but it was too hard to concentrate on only one at a time. I swallowed and turned onto my side.

"Lara—"

"Not now, please," I whispered. "My head hurts too bad to try and make sense of any of this at the moment."

He nodded. Silas leaned forward and picked something up from the bedside table. He held a small white pill out to me.

"Place this under your tongue."

"Will you stay with me?" I asked him softly after taking the pill from him.

Silas stood and kicked off his shoes then crawled onto the bed. He lay down next to me and wrapped his arm around my waist. His lips brushed my forehead.

"Sleep, sweetness."

***

I didn't know when I fell asleep, but I knew the moment I woke up that Silas was no longer with me. He wasn't in the room, but someone else was. I could feel their eyes burning into my skin. A chair creaked and a few seconds later the bed to my right dipped. I tensed when calloused fingers brushed my skin from my forehead down my cheek to my chin. They slowly trailed back up and moved a few strands of hair behind my ear.

"I've never seen skin as pale as yours."

My eyes snapped open. I jerked back when I realized just how close we were. Ethan smiled as he leaned back slightly. His hand slid into my hair. My eyes fluttered closed for a few seconds when he brushed a spot that hurt.

"I'm sorry," he rasped. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Opening my eyes, I silently stared up at him. He was dressed now in a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt that hugged his chest. My eyes darted up to his messy hair and then down to trail over his face. There was a faint white scar on his jaw and one higher up near his hairline.

"Lara?" My eyes locked with his. "Do you forgive me for scaring you?"

My answer was important to him, I could tell. I swallowed and then gave him a nod. Ethan gave me a small smile that quickly turned into a smirk.

"Don't tell anyone I apologized to you, my beauty."

And just like that he was gone. I sighed as I rolled onto my back. My life has gone from being shit to being great and then to one of confusion. Silas had a lot he needed to tell me. I raised my hand and stared at the ring on my finger. I knew it was a mistake to agree to get married so soon after meeting.