53|Find Jon

53|Find Jon
~Serena~

It was foolish to even think that I could fool everyone inside that room. Spade and Declan were standing in the hallway when I stepped out of the bathroom, two bulky men ready to bombard me with questions about Alister Kaine.

The years I spent working with Spade amounted to this annoying access Declan has to my emotions because of the mate bond.

They turned their heads in my direction, the morning light that was slowly bursting on the horizon slipping through the open large window of the hallway basked my interrogators in soft, breaking dawn light. Side by side, they were a two-man barricade blocking my only way out. Since when did these two become tandem in hauling me?

“What?” I asked, my tone was bored as I plastered my best poker face, then I crossed my arms in the middle, glaring at these towering shifters.

“You know Alister,” Declan stated.

“Who’s he?” Spade seconded. Spade didn’t need to have access to my emotions to know what was going through my head. He knew the best version of me, the girl who had her emotions under control, who could walk through a war without my enemies knowing what I was thinking. My poker face was as pristine as a newly polished China plate.

I nibbled my lower lip, sliding a glance at the open window of the mansion. Sun rays were already at a broad blast on the horizon. The green treeline sparkled as the morning light bounced on it.

Alister Kaine. I was sure he was dead. His blood had tainted my hands four years ago. The fire that burned his lab was my last memory of him.

“I… I wasn’t sure if he was the same Alister I knew,” I started, then I glanced at Declan. “But I felt it through your memory.”

“His memory?” Spade cut in.

“It’s a fated mate thing,” Declan informed him. His tone was a little taut.

Day by day, we were discovering how intricate the connection fated mates have. But Declan was right. That was the only reason I could think of for this fear that burst inside me like an erupting volcano. Its molten taste flowed through my veins, a poison that’s slowly killing the progress I gained in these last couple of years.

Spade pinned Declan with a sharp gaze. ‘What the fuck is the supposed to mean?’ Spade’s gaze said.

Declan tipped his chin up, clearly enjoying the upper hand he had on Spade. They might be a duo in interrogating me, but their ego were still clashing, like two balloons rubbing against each other, aiming to pop the other one.

I sighed and ignored Declan and Spade’s pissing contest. The chills blanketing my skin as I walked down memory lane were stronger than what was happening around me right now.

.

.

.

~Flashback~

In the Hollow Forest, I dragged my feet and heavy heart away from Lia. She gave me everything I needed to walk away from Embercrest without any regret. Her words were the sharp blade that ended everything I had for Declan. The future ahead of me was dark, and my destiny was unclear.

I kept walking until I couldn’t feel my feet anymore. I fear that if I stop, I would lose my sense of self. This anger boiling inside me was the gasoline that fueled my desire to search for the river in the hopes of finding Jon. Right now, Jon is the momentary future that keeps me going.

Find Jon, then decide what to do next with my useless life.

‘One step at a time,’ I told myself as I ignored the pulsating pain in my feet. Thick bushes scraped the skin on my arms and face. The thick liquid trickling down my legs had already dried out.

I was a man who tasted his first dribble of water after crossing the desert when I heard the faint sound of running water.

I found the river.

Mike’s letter was like reading a map without a compass. I don’t know which part of the river Jon is on. Should I go up the mountains or down the ocean?

I pushed those thoughts aside and knelt before the river, scooping its crystal clear water with my hands and splashing it on my face. The water was cold and revitalizing. I did this three more times and filled my empty stomach with water as well. 

For a moment, I sat by the river and thought of my next move. I mulled over everything that had happened since my wedding, pinching myself and biting my tongue a handful of times, still wishing this was only a nightmare. I have all the evidence that I needed to understand that Declan didn’t really love me, but I still want to wake up from this bad dream.

My tears streamed profoundly, flowing in a rush like the water on the river, crushing down every bit of hope I have as it rolled down my cheeks.

The sound of twigs breaking broke the calming sound of the river. A fawn emerged through the elevated side of the river. It stepped down on the big stones, oblivious to the fact that this part of the river was already occupied.

The fawn was too young to be roaming around this rogue and hunter-infested forest. Its spots shine on its fur as it neared the river. Slowly, it flowed down the river and drank water.

My stomach tightened the longer I watched the fawn. I haven’t eaten a decent meal since the wedding, and this fawn could fuel me for whatever I decide to do next.

Moving like a sloth, I grabbed the nearest decent-sized stone I could hold, tested it in my hands as I weighed the amount of sins I would make in taking this young deer’s life to end my growling hunger.

As though it sensed the rising danger before it, the fawn lifted its face, its ears moving, sensing its surroundings. It locked eyes with me. I gripped the stone and rolled my shoulders, checking my muscles. I got one shot at this, but before I could throw the stone, a huge hand slid in front of me, slapping a thick fabric over my mouth and nose.

I struggled against the biceps that locked around me. It lifted me from the ground. A thick and solid wall was behind me, while a brawny arm crushed my small frame. I fought off the scent that soiled the fabric covering my mouth and nose, but I was too weak and wasted to have the strength to fight my captor.

I lost consciousness, and the last thing I remember was the fawn looking at me from the top of the huge stones across the river. And the next time I woke up, I was locked in a cell where I could neither stand nor lie down properly.