Claimed By The Twin Alphas

Chapter Fourteen: The Interrogation

LARA'S POV

"Who are you looking for, Lara?" he repeated

I turned to face him, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst from my chest. He was sitting up in bed, the sheets pooled around his waist, and the look on his face made my mouth go dry.

This wasn't the gentle Alpha who'd courted me for months. This was someone else entirely.

"I couldn't sleep," I said, keeping my voice steady even though my hands were shaking. "I was just looking at the snow. It's beautiful in the moonlight."

He didn't move from the bed, just kept staring at me with those dark, suspicious eyes. "You've been standing at that window for fifteen minutes."

Had it been that long? I hadn't realized. I'd been too focused on the figures in the tree line. On the twins who were still out there watching.

"I just needed air," I said, wrapping my robe tighter around myself. "The room felt stuffy. I'm sorry if I woke you."

"You've been acting strange all week." He finally stood from the bed, and I had to resist the urge to step back. He was so much bigger than me, so much stronger. "Jumpy, distracted, and hiding things."

"I'm not hiding anything," I protested, but the lie tasted bitter on my tongue.

He started walking toward me slowly, like a predator stalking prey. "Aren't you? Then why do you look terrified right now?"

"I'm not terrified. I'm just tired." I tried to smile, tried to be the affectionate mate he expected. I reached out for him, hoping to distract him with touch. "Come back to bed. We can—"

His hand shot out and caught my wrist before I could touch him. Not the gentle hold of a lover. The iron grip of an Alpha who wouldn't be denied.

He pulled my arm into the moonlight streaming through the window, and I realized too late which wrist he'd grabbed. The left one. The one with Cian's mate mark glowing beneath my sleeve.

"What are these, Lara?"

His voice was so cold that it made me shiver. He pushed up my sleeve roughly, exposing the silvery mark that pulsed with soft light against my skin.

My mind raced for an explanation, any explanation that would satisfy him. "I don't know," I said quickly. "They're just marks. Maybe from jewelry? Or a rash?"

"A rash." He repeated the word flatly, like he couldn't believe I'd even tried such an obvious lie. His grip on my wrist tightened, hard enough to hurt. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying!" But even I could hear the desperation in my voice. "Kael, I don't know what they are, I swear—"

"I said, don't lie to me!" His voice rose, and I flinched. I'd never heard him yell before. Never seen this side of him.

He yanked my other arm up, pushing back that sleeve too. The matching mark from Rowan glowed just as brightly, twin proof of my betrayal.

"Mate marks," Kael said, his voice dropping back to that dangerous quiet. "You have mate marks, Lara. Do you know what that means?"

I tried to pull my arms back, but his grip was like iron. "No, I don't know what that means. Please, Kael, you're hurting me."

"It means you're fated to someone else." Each word was sharp, cutting. "It means the Moon Goddess chose other mates for you. It means every time you've told me you love me, you've been lying."

"That's not true!" Tears burned in my eyes. "I do love you. I chose you. I want to be your Luna."

"Do you?" He pulled me closer, his face inches from mine. There was something in his eyes I'd never seen before. Something dark and angry and almost cruel. "Because these marks say otherwise. These marks say you belong to the Vale twins."

The name hung between us like an accusation.

"I don't belong to them," I whispered. "I barely know them."

"But you've seen them." It wasn't a question. "They came to the palace. They showed you their matching marks, and you lied to me about it."

I couldn't deny it anymore. He knew everything. Somehow, he knew.

"I'm sorry," I said, tears spilling down my cheeks now. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't understand what was happening. I was scared and confused and—"

"Scared of what? Of me?" His grip loosened slightly, and I saw something flicker across his face. Regret maybe. Or guilt. "Lara, I would never hurt you."

But he was hurting me. Right now. My wrists ached where he held them, and the look in his eyes was scaring me more than anything ever had.

"Kael, please," I tried again. "I don't want them. I don't want the mate bond. I want you. Only you."

He stared at me for a long moment, searching my face for truth. Finally, his hands released my wrists, and I stumbled back against the window.

"I'm sorry," he said, and his expression shifted completely. Suddenly, he was the concerned Alpha again, the one who'd claimed to love me. "I didn't mean to grab you like that. I just... the thought of losing you to them makes me crazy."

He reached out again, gentler this time, and pulled me into his arms. I stood stiff in his embrace, my wrists throbbing where he'd held them.

"I love you," he murmured into my hair. "You're mine, Lara. Mine and I'm not letting anyone take you from me."

The possessiveness in his voice should have been romantic. It should have made me feel wanted and protected. Instead, it made my skin crawl.

He pulled back and cupped my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. "But I need to keep you safe. From them and from yourself."

"What does that mean?" I asked, though I was afraid I already knew.

He leaned down and kissed my forehead, soft and gentle. The perfect loving mate.

"From now on, Dante will stay with you every moment. For your protection. You understand?"

It wasn't really a question. It was an order wrapped in concern.

"You mean he'll be watching me," I said quietly.

Kael's smile didn't reach his eyes. "I mean, he'll be protecting you. From the twins who are trying to steal you away. From the mate bond that's trying to break us apart." His thumbs stroked my cheeks, but the gesture felt threatening rather than tender. "You understand, don't you? This is for your own good."

I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him he was being unreasonable, controlling, that I wasn't a prisoner.

But the look in his eyes told me that's exactly what I was.