Ninety

Declan's POV

As I strolled through the pack hallway to Damon's room, a few members greeted me along the 5. I threw a nod their way as I walked by. I soon reached Damon's door, and I stopped to regard the area, noting how deserted it was before knocking on the door.

There was no reply after the first series of knocks, but when Damon finally opened the door, his surprise was evident in his wide eyes and slightly parted lips as he gave me a once over.

I could easily tell from how drawn his expression was that he was still pissed at me. He completely avoided coming to my office and submitted all his reports to me through his beta. At first, I thought he would eventually simmer down. After all, who didn't know what his temper was like? He was the type that would get all mad but wouldn't hesitate to forgive ten minutes later. But who knew he would still be angry, so I decided to come over myself.

He was silent as he held the door knob, looking at me. But he soon regained his composure and pushed the door wider, turning around to return inside. It was hardly a warm welcome, but I knew he wanted to talk, which was why he left the door open.

He didn't offer me a seat and, instead, grabbed his pads to play games. I ignored his obvious show of distance and sat on the other side of his bed, grabbing the other pad he left on the bedside table.

When I joined him in the game, he turned to glance at me but didn't say anything. As we played, I looked at him and asked, "Are you still mad at me?"

He didn't reply, but I wasn't out for him to talk anyway. I went on. "You usually don't get this mad at me, I must have said something really bad that day. What made you so mad?"

He turned to me and placed the pad on his knees. "Why are you being so cold and calculative?"

I knew what he was referring to, but I didn't interrupt and let him go on. He paused and asked, "Do you not feel intimidated?"

My brows creased. "What do you mean?"

"For someone as competitive and proud like you, how could you just accept to get married to someone like Dakota? Get married to the daughter of the person you hate the most?"

I breathed heavily under his sharp gaze.

He asked, "What are you up to, Declan? I hate that none of us can read you. We might all be brothers, but we just do our own thing away from one another. So I hate it when you try to control our decisions. I had to accept that we rejected Selene to keep her safe, but I'm not and won't be a part of marrying his daughter. No way."

I was stunned and taken aback as I didn't know what to say. Was he not going to be a part of it?

"What do you mean?" I asked. "We get married together... we're..."

"Yes, we're triplets. But we only have to get married to the same person if that was our mate. But since you decided to toss her away, why do we need to anymore?"

"But you know well that there are things we have to sacrifice for the pack. For the well-being of the pack..."

"No," he interjected sharply as he pointed at me. "You have to sacrifice. You're the alpha."

"What the fuck are you talking about? We're all alphas."

"No, we are not." He laughed. "You are alpha. Stop pretending we are, when we are just your sidekicks. Nevermind though, I've never been cut out for it, so, it's a relief you're so good at it. But to correct your earlier statement, you are the alpha. Only you've got to sacrifice."

I was speechless as I looked at him and for the first time I realized I knew nothing about him. Sure, he was my brother but none of us had ever been up in the other's business before until we had to be entangled with the same mate. I knew nothing about him and I couldn't figure out why I felt affected by his words.

He sighed. "Let everybody do want they want. I don't care what Daniel decides but I'll do things my own way. You're the one that truly matters anyway as the alpha, no one will be all up in my business."

"What do you intend to do?" I asked.

"I want Selene," he said, looking me straight in the eye.

"Selene?" I asked, thrown into shock for the second time that day.

"Yes."

My forehead creased as I regarded him. "Is this a side effect of the mate bond? Since we rejected her, you shouldn't feel attached to her anymore. I mean, she's not the type of girl you would like."

It was rather incredulous that Damon would really be that into her. I initially thought he was only saying that to irk me the other day but I didn't realize he really meant it.

He gave me a look. "And why does that matter? Sure, I've never been with a conservative person before but does that really matter?"

"What do you like about her?" I asked, still in disbelief.

He looked at me quietly and didn't immediately reply. He lowered his head for a moment before looking up at me as he said, "She gives me peace. I found peace in the few days I was chanced to be around her. It felt... it felt as if I've been on a rollercoaster and I had just found relief."

"Not that you really like her?"

"What's to not like about her? She might not be as superior and fancy as the other girls but she's intelligent. She is easygoing too. That's enough for me," he responded seriously and for some reason, I could tell he was really serious. I didn't know if I should be happy that he was really serious about something for the first time ever or that I should be bothered that he had such a simple reason to chase her.

"I am speechless."