"You can't be serious! It's been months already!"

"Not now Avery."

"Then when Ethan?" There were a few minutes of silence before she continued. "Is because of that human isn't it?" The way she sneered the word made me feel sick.

"This has nothing to do with Lara."

She scoffed. "Really? Months ago you were ready to rush everything so we could have the Mating Ceremony. Now you're doing everything you possibly can to avoid it. We should've been mated by now Ethan. That was the deal, right?"

I jumped when something smashed against the wall. The walls in his home were paper thin which made it nearly impossible for anyone to have any privacy. I could hear everything they did in the room next door.

"The deal was for you to shut up and do as you're told!" Ethan yelled. "Silas is in a coma and you want to—"

"Since when do you give a fuck about your brother? You should be happy that he will never be waking up."

"Avery," he growled.

"I'll make you a deal," Avery said. "I won't bug you about the Mating Ceremony again but then you have to get rid of the human."

I pressed a hand against the curve of my swollen stomach as I waited for Ethan to reply. Silence followed her words. Whatever he said must've satisfied her because she left a minute later, humming under her breath. It wasn't long before I heard Ethan moving. His footsteps came to a stop right outside my bedroom door seconds before he knocked.

Tears filled my eyes and my chest tightened in pain. I squeezed my eyes closed when he opened the door.

"Lara?"

My hold on the sheets tightened. A minute later the bed dipped at my back. His scent surrounded me; making the longing I've been pushing down, resurface. I couldn't understand why I was longing for him the same way I've been longing for Silas. It never went away and it only intensified when he was near me.

"You heard?"

I nodded. "When do you want me to leave?"

"I don't want you to leave," he said softly. "Avery is unpredictable, Lara."

"Don't make up excuses to hide the truth, Ethan. I'll be gone before you get home."

He sighed loudly. I tensed when he suddenly placed his hand on my hip. My eyes fluttered closed when he turned me onto my back. His had slipped from my hip to my stomach. I had a baby bump now—one which Ethan caressed softly.

"What are you doing?" I questioned when he pushed my shirt up to expose my stomach.

"I'm curious," he whispered.

"About what?"

He didn't answer me. I made the mistake of opening my eyes to glance at him. Ethan was staring down at my stomach in wonder. My eyes widened when he climbed onto the bed and straddled my legs.

"Ethan? You're scaring me."

His eyes snapped up to mine as soon as I finished my sentence. They darted over my face—lingering on my lips for a few seconds—before locking with mine.

"I'm not going to hurt you, you know that."

"You're unpredictable," I whispered.

Ethan smirked. His eyes dropped to my stomach. In seconds his attention was already focused back on my stomach. Whatever he was about the say was already forgotten. He placed his hands on my stomach and slowly rubbed them in circles. My eyes were drawn to the small smile playing around his lips. I've never seen him smile before.

He suddenly leaned down and pressed his ear to my stomach. I held completely still and tried to even my breathing. My heart rate was about to hit the roof.

The feel of his warm breath fanning my skin was unnerving.

"I can hear his heartbeat."

"W-what?"

He turned his head and raised it slightly to glance up at me. "I can hear his heartbeat."

"No. T-that's not possible. H-how?"

He lifted his hand and touched his ear. "We have amazing hearing, my beauty. I can also hear your heartbeat."

My breathing sped up when he slowly moved over me. His body barely touched mine but it was very unnerving to have him so close to me.

"You're not as unaffected as you always seem to be," he whispered. "Do you want to know something?"

"What?" I breathed.

He pushed a knee between my legs and moved them apart. A gasp fell from my lips when I felt the hard length of him pressing against the apex of my thighs. Ethan made sure to keep the weight of his upper body off me.

"Do you feel how hard you're making me, Lara? Do you have any idea how badly I want to rip these pants off you and bury my cock inside your pussy? I want to taste you and feel you. I—"

"S-stop."

"Why?" He slowly started moving his hips back and forth. "You can't hide anything from me." Ethan lowered his head and brushed his nose alone the crook of my neck right where his mark was. He groaned. "You smell so good."

A whimper fell from my lips. I reached up and pressed my hands against his chest to push him away but I ended up fisting his shirt instead. I shuddered when Ethan licked my skin. Sharp teeth nipped my skin next, making pain shoot through me. His lips drifted lower but suddenly stopped. Ethan tensed on top of me.

My eyes snapped open when I heard the stairs creak. "G-Get off," I snapped.

Ethan raised his head. Emotions flashed through his eyes but only one stood out. He suddenly smirked.

"Forgive me." It was the last thing he said before his lips smashed down on mine.

He was kissing me. Ethan was on top of me and kissing me. I forgot about pushing him away the moment his tongue traced the seam of my lips. All rational thoughts fled from my mind when he continued to kiss me.

"Get the fuck away from her!"

Ethan's body was suddenly ripped from mine. Pain shot through my lip when he bit down before he was roughly ripped off me. His body slammed into the wall across the bed before dropping to the floor. He snarled loudly as he struggled to his feet.

I turned my head and stared in shock at the man who had ripped him off me.

"S-Silas?"

I struggled into a sitting position and then stood on shaky legs. Before I could move towards him, Silas stepped in front of me and growled.

"Get out."

Ethan tugged his shirt back in place. "Now you want to protect her. What were you doing when they were beating her?"

"Get. Out," Silas snarled again.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Sure brother. Just throw me out of my own home. "

I winced when he stormed out of the room and slammed the door closed behind him. The moment that happened, Silas stumbled forward and then fell to the floor.

"Silas?" Dropping to my knees next to him, I rolled him onto his back and then slapped his cheek but got no reaction from him.

Fear hit me hard.

"Ethan!" I screamed. "Ethan!"

Not even a second later the bedroom door burst open. Ethan dropped to the other side of his brother and pressed two fingers against his neck. He muttered something under his breath that was too low to make out.

"Stupid bastard," he muttered louder. "My phone is in my bedroom, Lara. Go grab it for me."

I hesitated but one glance at Silas's pale face had me hurrying out of the room. I came to a stop in the doorway of Ethan's bedroom. I wasn't expecting his room to be so clean. The bed was neatly made and everything else was placed in its place. Something red caught my attention from the corner of my eyes. My stomach rolled when I realized exactly what it was—a pair of skimpy red panties.

Shaking my head, I focused on finding his phone. It was on the dresser close to the door. I grabbed it and hurried back into the room.

Ethan was helping Silas into bed. I stayed near the door and silently watched them. If anybody knew that Silas had left the hospital, they would've already alerted us that he was gone. Two weeks ago the machines had been removed from him. Silas had been breathing on his own and that made the doctors hopeful. They still couldn't tell us when he would wake up.

Having him awake would be a surprise for everyone.

"Fucking stupid, brother," Ethan muttered. "Couldn't you have woken up like a normal person?"

"Normal is overrated," Silas croaked. "Had to get to Lara."

"Why?" Ethan picked something up from the bed next to Silas. "I told you that I'd take care of her, hadn't I?"

"By forcing yourself onto my mate?"

"There was no forcing."

They fell silent as Ethan helped his brother get dressed in a plain t-shirt and a pair of grey shorts. Once he was dressed, Ethan gripped his shoulders and pushed him down on the bed. Ethan even surprised me by pulling the blankets over him.

"You can't have her," Silas said. "You chose Avery. I won't allow you to hurt her."

"Lara is mine as much as she's yours, don't forget that Silas."