MATED TO SERIES COLLECTION

46. LARA: MEMORIES, REALIZATIONS AND FEAR

When I was little my mother used to sing to me all the time, but that was all before she got addicted. It was fun times—those I could remember. We were close but then she met a man and he changed everything. I went from enjoying dinner with her at the dining room table to eating alone in my room. She didn't tuck me in anymore because she was barely home. I had to learn how to do things on my own. Every day that passed she lost more of herself.

One man after another. One worse than the last. I hated them all.

I waited until I was old enough to leave and I never looked back. I never tried to remember the good times, until now. Until here.

I was still tied to the chair in the darkness. It was hard to tell how much time had passed. It could've only been a few minutes, or hours, or days. Maybe even months. The man with the foul breath brought me food and water twice. He watched me while I ate and the moment I was done, he'd tie my hands again and left me alone. My bladder was killing me but when I asked to use the toilet, he'd told me to: 'Piss my pants.'

The longer I stayed in the room the more I realized a few things.

One was the fact that I was more like Avery than I realized and the second was the fact that I was no better than her. She played both brothers—made them think that she loved them but in the end she probably only wanted one.

Truth was that I loved both men. I wanted them both, but I could only have one and the one I could have was being hurt by me because I couldn't stay away from the one I couldn't have. I was hurting Silas more than Avery had hurt him.

Ethan was hurting too, but for a whole other reason. He chose to mate Avery after she killed his child and created a wedge between the two brothers.

Tears filled my eyes when I realized that I was doing the exact same thing. Having phone sex with Ethan might have been the last straw for Silas. He probably hated me as much as he hated Avery. The way I reacted when I found out about them. . .I winced. When Ethan told me that the baby wasn't Silas's, I should've gone to talk to him. Instead I stayed with Ethan.

If Silas decided to walk away it was my own fault.

When I got out of here, I needed to make things right. No matter how hard it would be to stay away from Ethan, I'll try my best.

Silas was my future and I needed to set things right before I lost him for good.

***

My body jerked when a loud bang echoed around the room. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked rapidly at the sudden light that was directed right at me. I couldn't see a thing beyond the light but I knew I wasn't alone in the room any longer. Eyes were burning into me but I couldn't see them.

Movement had my head snapping to the left.

Dread flooded me when a familiar laugh suddenly filled my ears. I would recognize it from anywhere. The laugh belonged to the man who had made me run. It belonged to my tormentor. A man worse than the devil himself.

"My little girl," he muttered. "How much you have grown. Look at you!"

He stepped in front of me, blocking the bright light. I still couldn't see him clearly but I could tell that the years hadn't been good for him. He had aged and grown a beer belly. I bet he'd have a lot of grey hair and wrinkles now.

"Who's the lucky bastard who got to stick his dick in that—?"

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

I recognized his voice as the man who'd had kidnapped me. It's been a while since I've seen or heard from him. He stormed up to the man in front of me and pushed him away.