41|You Were Right

41|You Were Right
~Serena~

When we stepped outside, Declan’s car was still humming. He must’ve been too distracted and forgot to turn the engine off earlier.

“You two take the car,” Alpha Oren announced, grabbing another set of keys from the keyholder.

“You’re not coming with us?” I frowned at him, worry drumming in my chest just thinking of being confined inside the car with Declan again.

He smirked and headed for the bike parked side-by-side with Alpha Seth’s car. I thought the Rebel 300 belonged to Clint. He looked like he would maximize the speed of that motorcycle on the highway out on a whim.

“I don’t do cars,” Alpha Orean added, throwing a shuddered gaze at Declan’s rental car before climbing on the bike. He slotted the key in and turned the engine on. “You know the way back to the mansion?” He asked Declan.

Declan nodded. “Don’t knock over people along the way, Alpha.”

Alpha Oren smirked, feeding fuel into the motorcycle, the engine groaned, ready to cover miles in just a few seconds. I understood the underlying cue in Declan’s statement when Alpha Oren reached the road. The bike’s speedometer hit 70 in just two seconds.

“We better follow him before he runs over someone,” Declan cajoled, holding the passenger side door open for me.

My stare bounced at him and at the door he’s holding, the wind blowing my hesitation like a wildfire. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Cora would know what to do,” he assured me. I don’t know much about Alpha Seth’s mom, but they all seemed to trust her abilities or knowledge about what’s going on with me. I’m pretty sure if I go back to the North, I would find someone who could help me, but was I really willing to take that risk? It would take me a day to get back into my pack in my wolf form, but that could also cause a lot of trouble along the way.

Sighing, I accepted that I have no choice but to go with this plan, meet Cora, and find out what’s really happening. 

“It’s just the two of us in the car. Can you really hold back your wolf?” I slide a glance at the car. We’d be locked inside that for who knows how long. My scent would drive Declan’s wolf crazy. He is my mate, and if this scent has that effect on Clint, I can’t imagine how much pain I would put Declan in.

Declan blew a breath, looking me straight in the eyes. “I know what you’re thinking and fuck it, my wolf is trying his best to behave and not overpower me, but he knows that we need to make up for our mistakes in the past, Serena. And if it meant enduring this howling pain of being close to you and not being able to mark you, then we’d deal with it.”

At that moment, his sincerity reverberated through our connection. I perused Declan’s emotions for any hidden agenda, for the punchline to come in, but it didn’t. I concealed how that declaration affected me. He didn’t need to know that he was slowly peeling down the walls of revenge I had put on as a suit for the past five years.

“Fine,” I huffed and hopped inside the car, saying a small prayer to let the two of us get through this drive without another mishap.

The tension inside the car was molten. My wolf’s anxiety echoed like an upbeat tune. With the shifters in the cabin, the run back to Alpha Seth’s safe house, and Clint, I was able to put her emotions aside, and now that we have nothing else to do but sit beside our mate, all the cells in my body were strained.

Everything Declan did made my heart pound. His tight grip on the steering wheel, the way he flawlessly shifted gears, the rigid veins on his hand and forearm, even the way he breathes, make my heart gallop in my chest.

I tried my hardest not to squirm and reach up to wipe the sweat building on my forehead, but it was all futile. Declan had the key to my emotions, and no matter how hard I tried, he was bound to know what was happening with me and my wolf.

“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not helping our case, Serena,” he murmured, his voice strained.

I gulped the golf-sized ball in my throat, pleading guilty. “I can’t help it.”

Declan’s jaw ticked. “Talk to me. Get your mind off things.”

Even his voice had my spine sweating. I pinched my eyes shut, drawing in this desire swirling in my system on the passenger side.

“Tell me how your day started,” Declan suggested. 

“My day… uhm,” I fiddled with my clammy hands.

“Yes. How did you end up at Seth’s safe house?”

“Oh, that… I… I had no idea. One moment I was inside my safe house,” making myself come to the image of you, I thought, and my legs pressing together as I remember the filthy thoughts I have about him. 

Declan threw a curious gaze at me, waiting for me to continue. I cleared my throat. “Then came this shifter who wanted to knock down my door. It was like he was under a spell. Then three shifters followed him, wanting the same thing, so I ran back to the safe house, hoping Alpha Oren would know what to do.”

Declan’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “They scented you?”

I hummed a yes. “You should’ve seen how Clint acted when I arrived at the safe house. It’s like Clint and those shifters at the cabin were under some kind of compulsion.”

“They want you,” Declan murmured. “But how is that possible? You are my mate, not theirs. I should be the only one who could scent you from a mile away.”

“I know.” I turned towards the window, contemplating the fact that Declan isn’t the only one who wants me now. Every unmated wolf could scent me.

Some people would bask in this amount of attention, but not me. I had lived off the radar for a very long time, and avoiding this kind of attention was not on my primary set of skills.

“This is all my fault,” Declan murmured.

“Why do you say that?” I frowned at him.

“Call it a hunch, but none of this would have happened if you hadn’t met me again, Serena.”

“We don’t know that,” I said, my voice betraying me.

“Yeah, we do. This is happening because I am your mate, and we couldn’t mark each other because of what happened five years ago.” His chuckle was sardonic. “You were right. Your life is a mess because of me.”

“Don’t say that.” I bit my lower lip. I don’t know what I can’t just agree with him. Everything he said was true. I had been slapping that truth in his face since we met, but there was this howling need inside me to prove him wrong. 

“Why not?” He challenged. “You said it yourself.”

“I know! But if what you’re saying is true, the only solution to this problem is for you to mark me.” I fired at him. “And I can’t have that, no matter what, Declan, we cannot mark each other.”

He recoiled as if I had physically slapped him in the face.

If we are right about this, the only solution left is for Declan to mark me. But am I willing to surrender myself to the man who destroyed my life just to get over this dilemma? If I do that, I would be throwing away five years of planning my revenge.

“If it comes to that,” Declan filled the silence between us. “Then I would give up my life so you’d be free.”

I whisked my gaze at him. “You what?” I chuckled at the nonsense he was speaking about. “That’s absurd.”

“No. It’s the right thing to do,” he murmured. “You said I took everything from you, then you can take everything that is mine, Serena. My life is the only thing that’s left when I lost you.”