50|You Betrayed Me First

50|You Betrayed Me First
~Declan~

I watched as her head spun with scattered, jumbled thoughts. It was only fair that she get confused as I was.

From the moment she learned I was her mate, she stabbed me with a silver dagger that missed my heart by a hair's breadth. She painted it in a bright yellow highway line illuminating the road on a dark night that she’d rather drink pure aconitum vile than be marked by me. So I didn’t expect her to come here. After everything we’ve been through, after all that she said she suffered because of me, why did she cross the border of my oblivion? Much less convincing me to consider stepping out of this peaceful, dark place of mine to continue changing her mind about the mate bond.

I felt her presence the moment she held my hand. My wolf was already at peace with my decision when she stubbornly kept walking into our nothingness. It was my first time dipping into this place. I didn’t know this even existed until my wolf brought me here. 

My wolf wanted me to mull over my decision; that’s why he brought me here. He was stubborn, but he understood why I wanted to set our mate free.

If I had known that taking my own life would pave a way through Serena’s stone heart, I would’ve done this two weeks ago.

We were only ten days away from the next full moon. I lost hope of changing her mind, but I guess there was still a chance for Serena and me. And that future will depend on her next moves.

She bit her lower lip, eyes laser-focused on mine, searching for a punchline underlying my request. She won’t find any, though. That request would either make this mate bond or break it for good.

“Where?” she murmured, her voice was low and careful.

I raised an eyebrow. “On the lips, of course.”

Her nose and ears flared. “What are you getting out of this trick, huh, Declan?”

I could see fear shaking her resolve. What was she scared of? I’ve seen her strength in fighting off those hunters. She could match my skills and Seth’s, but why does fear reverberate through our bond? 

I decided to just come clean. “I want to know if there’s a future for us, Serena. If I step out of this oblivion, we’d be back to square one. By staying here, you’ll have the chance to find someone who’ll mark you once I die. You’ll have the chance to save yourself from an agonizing death.”

“I don’t want that,” she murmured, that contained annoyance and anger rattling her voice. “You don’t get to play the hero.”

Why does she hate me this badly? It felt like she knew something that I didn’t. “Why are you so mad at me? I was so lost without you, Serena… I… I don’t understand this flaming hatred you have for me.”

“You’re still acting dumb.” Her molars rubbed together as she clenched her fist to the point that she was drawing blood from her palms. “I know everything. Lia told me everything.”

“Lia?” That woman… what did she do? I had known of her feelings for me since we were young, but I didn’t think she’d do anything to break Serena and me. I have scouts turning over each city just to find her, but I guess I just have to ask Serena what Lia did. “What did she tell you?”

Dark clouds surrounded Serena as she took a slow stride down memory lane. “The truth, Declan.”

“What truth? Make me understand,” I pleaded. “Five years ago, I sent her to get you safely out of Hollow Forest and bring you here to Brille. But she came home with your wedding ring and told me that the rogues got to you before she did.”

I still remember the pain that news brought me. It shattered me inside out, like a strong tree struck by lightning, splitting me in half and burning me alive. I never knew that kind of pain. 

“I told her to tell you I’m dead,” Serena revealed, sucker punching my heart out of my chest.

“You what?” I mumbled, dumbfounded. The gravity of her betrayal was salt dusted over my five-year-long wound. “Why would you do that to me?”

I had never valued a woman like I did Serena. I loved her dearly, and I was willing to give up everything for her, and she told Lia to lie to me? Why?

“Why?” she huffed. “You’re seriously asking me that? You betrayed me first, Declan. You knew Oliver killed my parents, and my marriage to you was the finale of your family’s plans to take over Embercrest,” she spat those words like poison she was forced to swallow. Her anger was rolling off her skin in thick, dark smoke, coating her frame like an aura of darkness.

All these revelations were making me sick to my guts. First, her purpose made me believe she was dead, and now she’s accusing me of conniving with Grandad? And Grandad orchestrated her parents’ accident?

“And you didn’t even think twice about believing what Lia has told you?” My voice staggered from the blow of her betrayal. She blinked at me, as if my words slapped her back to reality. “Didn’t it ever occur to you that she lied to you so you’d hate me?”

“What is the lie, Declan?” She whispered, looking away from me. “Your love for me or your loyalty to your family? I didn’t want to believe it. I loved you with all of me, but you betrayed me. You didn’t even bother to hear my side of the story.”

“Because I was trying to save you, Serena,” I hissed. “Grandad’s death caused a rift between our old pack and yours. Embercrest was inches away from civil war, and I wanted you out of Embercrest so we could handle everything together, like the husband and wife that we promised to be.”

My words silenced her. She stood there like a statue, hearing and understanding my truth for the first time.

“I am inches away from my death, and I swear on my wolf’s life in the afterlife that I had no idea my grandfather would do such a thing.”

“Don’t lie to me,” she murmured, forcing herself to keep believing the lies Lia had planted in her brain.

I shook my head, remorse clutching my throat in a vise grip. “Think about it, if Lia was telling you the truth, wouldn’t I have married someone else by now and rule Embercrest as if it were mine in the first place? Five years and I’m still honoring my promise to you, Serena.” 

“No, you’re lying,” tears gathered in her eyes as she started to see my truth. She could feel it our connection. I never understood why fated mates would have access to each other’s emotions, not until now. As Serena tapped into our bond, she realized that I was telling the truth and that she had allowed Lia to manipulate her all these years into despising me. 

Fist clenched, I blew out a heavy breath and smiled at her. “I’m sorry you had to endure the pain of Lia’s lies… take my life as a payment for all the pain I’ve caused you. I’ll hold up for as long as I can until you find someone to mark you before the full moon.”

“No…” she whispered.

“It’s alright, Serena, I understand your anger now, and I know I’ll find peace in the afterlife now that I know why you hated me this much, and that you’ll have a chance at a peaceful life.”

“No,” determination glowed in her ocean eyes in liquid gold. “You can’t die until I’m satisfied with the truth!” she hissed and removed the distance between us with elephant strides. She cupped my face, pushed on her tippy toes, and crushed her mouth against mine.