"How long have you and my son been seeing each other?"

I hesitated. "Around two months."

His eyes dropped to my hands clutched together on my lap. When he glanced up at me, I saw a hint of amusement in his golden gaze. "And both of you are ready to tie the knot?"

"Is it against your culture to marry so soon?" I asked before I could stop myself.

David threw his head back and laughed. After a few minutes, his laugh faded. Shaking his head, he stood and walked over to the window to stare outside. Silence surrounded us for a while before he turned back. He gave me a small smile.

"I'm actually surprised that you haven't already been married yet. If you're in love and certain you want to spend the rest of your life with someone then we won't stop you." His smile faded as he tilted his head to the side. "Do you love my son, Lara? Do you truly love him?"

The question was very important to him. I could tell by the way he watched me and patiently waited for my answer. I licked my lips and swallowed before answering him.

"I love your son, Mr. David. Nothing in the world would be able to change my mind."

David gave me a sardonic smile. He shook his head as he walked away. I turned my head and watched him until he disappeared into the kitchen. The apartment was so silent I could actually hear him moving around. What was he doing? Curiosity was killing me, but I was too scared to move. I knew nothing about this man who claimed to be Silas's father.

They looked nothing alike. Although they were the same height and had the same body built. What if he was some crazy man? There had to be a reason for Silas to have left home so soon. Something had happened and I was dying to know what.

I jerked in fright when the front door was suddenly thrown open.

"Lara?" Silas called as he stormed inside.

He suddenly froze and tilted his head to the side. In an instant his eyes snapped over to mine. Worry darkened his gaze as he made his way towards me. He walked around the couch and sunk down on his knees in front of me. Hands cupped my cheeks and tilted my face up to his. His eyes darted all over my face before locking with mine.

"Are you okay?"

Movement from the corner of my eyes caught my attention. I turned my head to watch as David exit the kitchen with a glass of water in his hand.

"I'm afraid I scared your fiancé a little," he muttered before taking a sip.

Silas tensed. In the next second he was on his feet and heading straight for the man. I stumbled to my feet with a gasp when Silas grabbed him by his collar, spun him around and slammed him into the wall. The glass dropped and smashed to pieces on the tiled floor.

"Easy son," David rasped when Silas pressed an arm against his neck. "You don't want me to embarrass you by putting you on your ass in front of Lara."

Silas's hold eased slightly but he didn't move back. "How did you find me?"

"It was pretty easy." David smiled. "Wrin traced the call."

"Fucking bastard. I'm going to kill him." Silas moved back and ran a hand through his hair. "Get out."

David straightened and glanced at me. "You know I can't do that, son. I came here for a reason and I'm not leaving unless you're coming with me."

"I've told Wrin and mother that I'm not going for Ethan's ceremony," Silas yelled. "Nothing you say will make me change my mind! So guess what father? You flew all this way for nothing. Get. Out."

Silence followed his outburst. The two men stared at each other for a few seconds. David was the first to break eye contact. He turned towards me and gave me a small smile.

"Can you give us some privacy, please?" he asked softly.

My eyes darted over to Silas. He seemed to be hesitating but in the end he gave me a single nod. I took that as my cue to leave.

"Why don't you try the coffee shop you've been thinking about?" Silas asked as he made his way over towards me. "I'll come join you in a little bit."

I forced a small smile onto my lips but it quickly faded. Silas wrapped an arm around my waist and tugged me against his body. He dipped his head to press a kiss against my lips before pulling away. There were a lot of things I wanted to say to him, but instead of uttering a word, I slipped on my shoes and walked out of the apartment.

***

Silas

My eyes followed her until the door closed behind her and then I turned to face my father. His eyes slowly trailed over me before locking with mine. He stared at me silently for a few seconds and then turned away. I clenched my fists when he started walking around. With every passing second of silence that passed between us my anger started to rose.

The sweet smell of Lara's fear still lingered. I didn't care about the fact that he was my father—he scared her and I wanted to beat the shit out of him for doing that.

"You have a nice home," David finally broke the silence. "I don't expect you to be living here for long once you start your own family."

"What do you want?"

"Does Lara know about your heritage?" he asked, ignoring my question. "Does she know that you have Lycan blood running through your veins?"

I grinded my teeth. "She doesn't know, and she never will."

David pursed his lips. He made his way over to me and stopped right in front of me. I tensed when he reached out and gripped my shoulder. He gave me a small sardonic smile—a smile that I hated.

"You seem so sure of yourself son," he muttered. "What will you tell her when you have kids that can shift forms? Will you still lie to her then? What will you do when you snap? When your instincts can no longer be denied? Will you wait until it's too late?"

"Shut up!" I pushed him away. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"I know more than you! I'm elder to you."

"Just tell me what you want and get out," I yelled at him.

David's smile faded. "You know why I'm here, Silas."

"I'm not—"

"Your mother wants you home," David interrupted. "Doesn't her feelings matter? After everything she's done for you, you're willing to push her aside just because of your brother?"

He had me there. He was guilt-tripping me and it was working. Guilt slowly filled me as I thought of the woman who gave birth to me. I missed her a lot. I missed hearing her soft voice and I missed her hugs. My shoulders sagged. I quickly turned away from him before he could see how much his words affected me.

"She misses you, Silas. She yearns for you. There's only so much your father and I can do to ease her pain." He paused. "I'm not asking you to come home with me to attend your brother's ceremony. I'm asking you to come home with me for the sake of your mother. She's making herself sick with worry because of you."

I swallowed. "You've seen for yourself how well I am."

"My word isn't enough."

Going home would mean facing Ethan. The last time we stood face to face I said some things to him in anger. Not that he stayed silence. His words hurt me more than he could ever know. Just thinking about that day made me snarl. I thought I had a reason to stay but he proved me wrong. I left as soon as I could and the thought of returning home has never crossed my mind.

"Son?"

"I can't."

"You can. From what I've read about you, you can just make up any excuse you can think of and they would accept it. You are your own boss, Silas. Don't go looking for excuses."

My mind trailed to Lara. As if reading my mind, David started speaking again.

"I'm sure your fiancé wouldn't mind being alone for a few weeks."

"If I go then Lara's coming with me." I turned to face him. "I'm not leaving without her."

"Think about it Silas. She knows nothing about our world. She can't—"

"Are you saying that my wife to be is not welcome in your house?" I angrily question him.

He held up a hand. "That's not what I mean! You're both welcome—"

"Great!" I forced a smile. "When does the plane leave?"