"Why are you mating Avery?"

"What?" I glanced at him with a frown.

Silas was sitting with his back against the door and his eyes focused on me. He was waiting for an answer but I really wanted to ignore him. This was the longest we've been together without fighting. I kept expecting him to bring up what had happened between me and Lara, but he didn't.

"Why are you mating Avery? There are a lot better mating material out there than her. She had an abortion because a baby would ruin her plans. You're mating because you need a mate and an heir."

"I'm mating because it's expected of me."

Silas chuckled. "Since when do you do anything that's expected of you?"

"Since I took over as Alpha!" I snarled.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter as anger coursed through me. Silas shifted in the seat. He stayed silent for all but one minute before he started speaking again.

"Why Avery? If you have to settle down, why didn't you choose someone better?"

"Better? Why do you suddenly care so fucking much?"

"Because I'm trying to understand."

"Understand what?" I yelled.

"Understand why you would throw away your true mate over some bitch who ruined—"

I growled at him. "You know nothing, so why don't you just keep your mouth shut?"

Silas scoffed. I pressed my foot down on the accelerator. Maybe if I sped up, we'd reach Alark's house sooner. The longer we stayed in the truck together, the more dangerous it would become. I couldn't let him know what Avery had on us. It would ruin his chances with Lara. My chances were already ruined, but his weren't.

"Ethan?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you love Lara?"

The breath got caught in my throat. Nobody was supposed to know how I felt about her.

"Don't lie to me. I've had enough of that. I want the truth, Ethan."

"Yes," I muttered. "I love Lara."

"You just don't want her because she's human."

"I want her whether she's human or not, but I can't take her as my mate, Silas."

"Why?"

"You won't understand," I told him.

"Then make me understand, Ethan!" he yelled, slamming his hands down on the dash.

My eyes darted to the rear-view mirror. The sun was just starting to rise. By now they must've realized that we were gone. I'd asked Calib and Wrin to keep an eye on things for me. The pack was in good hands.

"Remember when we just turned fifteen?"

He nodded. "We went camping by the lake."

"That's where you kill—"

"Don't," he whispered.

I glanced at him but he had turned his head away to stare out the window. Did he lie in bed at night thinking about that night like me? Was it haunting him as much as it was haunting me?

"We made a pact, Silas." I swallowed. "What we didn't know was the fact that we weren't the only ones out there that night. Avery has evidence."

"What?"

I nodded. "Avery recorded a video of you—"

"She's blackmailing you?" he growled.

I forced out a laugh. "She's doing a lot of things. Blackmailing is one of them."

He ran a hand through his hair as he cursed under his breath. As he lowered his hand back to his lap, I saw how badly he was shaking. It shocked him to know that we weren't the only ones who knew about that night. When we left the lake we thought that we had buried everything along with the body, but we were wrong. Years later it all come back to haunt us. There was more he needed to know and I wasn't sure how he was going to react.

I glanced in the rear-view mirror again before pulling the truck over to the side of the road. The moment it stopped, Silas was out of the truck. I sat there for a few more minutes before I got out and walked around the truck towards him.

He was hunched over.

"I didn't mean to kill him," he croaked. "I was angry and—"

"I know," I interrupted him.

"You wouldn't have killed him." He straightened and turned to face me. "He hurt her so bad, Ethan. I was so angry at him for what he had done. All I thought about was making him hurt as badly as he was hurting her."

"I'm glad you killed him." His eyes widened. "If you hadn't he would've done it again. It's not something you can change about someone. Who knows how many other animals he had tortured before we caught him. He deserved what he got."

Silas blinked rapidly. "Is that why you hate me?"

It was my turn to turn away from him.

"I always thought it was because of what Avery did to me—to us. If I had know that she was with you, that she was pregnant. . .I'm sorry."

"You have no need to apologize. We both learned our lesson with that bitch. Do you know that if I could turn back the clock, I wouldn't change a thing about what happened that day? I was glad it happened before things got more serious."

"You lost a baby," he pointed out.

I smiled at him. "It hurt then and sometimes it still hurts, but I wasn't ready to be a father then."

"But you are now?"

I shrugged. A part of me longed for a baby. Seeing Lara's stomach growing and hearing the baby's heartbeat, I longed for it, but I would never be able to have that. I stepped closer to him until we were only inches apart.

"I don't hate you, Silas. I never have and I never will. I envy you." Reaching up, I gripped the back of his neck and pulled him closer until our foreheads were pressed together. "No matter what I say, how I act or what someone else believes, I love you Silas. I would do anything for you and your mate."

"I don't understand," he said softly.

I pulled away but kept my grip on his neck. "The kid we buried was Avery's brother."

Silas paled. I gripped his arms when he stumbled backwards. He sucked in a deep breath and made a choked sound.

"They believe that he ran away and I haven't told them the truth. Only Avery knows what happened to him and she won't tell anyone for as long as I do what she wants."

"W-what does s-she want?"

"She wants to be Alpha Female. She wants everything that comes with the title."

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

I gave him a sad smile. "I'd live through hell everyday as long as nobody finds out about what happened at the lake."

"Why?"

"Let's leave that for another time. We need to go kick some ass and get your mate back."

He frowned at me. I could see the confusion flashed through his eyes. Silas had a lot of questions but we were wasting time. Lara needed help and I was going to do everything I could to get her back safely to her mate.

"Does Lara know?" I asked him as we climbed back into the truck.

"No."

"Good. She doesn't need to know."

There were too many traditions still in place. Even though our mother and fathers had made sure to change a lot of things, some pack members were still old school. If it got out that Silas killed a kid and that I helped him burry the body, he would be locked up and I would be stripped from my title and punished.

In our pack it was tradition for the first born to take over leadership—it was made law by one of the elders. Silas was born a few minutes before me but since he couldn't shift I was automatically chosen to take leadership. It was expected of me. So I accepted the responsibility even though I had my own plans.

My phone started ringing, breaking the silence between us. I pulled it from my pocket and glanced down at the screen. "It's dad."

"You're not going to answer it?" he asked when I pushed it back into my pocket.

"No. We have a few hours head start on them. Only Calib and Wrin know where we're headed."

"They won't tell?"

"I've ordered them not to. We'll reach there before they find out where we are."

The man wanted six million in exchange for Lara. Silas had sent the man to jail which complicated things a little more. The man obviously had a grudge against Silas. He could hurt Lara but it could also mean that he wouldn't just hand her over. He could use Lara.

He could kill her.

My eyes darted over to Silas. Avery was ruining my life; I wasn't going to allow anyone to ruin Silas's. At least one of us would be able to be happy. Silas had a child on the way already while I had nothing. It might be hell being mated to her, but I'll make sure to make her life as hellish as she was making mine.

Once I found out where she hid the video, I'll destroy it and make sure she paid for everything she'd done to us.