Team

Team
VINCE

Why does it feel like it's been an eternity since I saw her this close?

My heart's about to give out from how hard and fast it's going. I wanna snatch her from his arms so badly but I'm staying cool to hear why he's here with her. 

“I didn't do anything to her.” He finally replied. He didn't sound aggressive, and that made me lower my guard a bit. 

“She's unconscious. I don't know if you see that but I do. So you can't tell me you didn't do anything to her.”

“That’s because she's suffering some intense withdrawal symptoms.”

“From what?”

“From you.” 

My brows kicked up. I wasn't expecting that. It sounded good but yeah, I wasn't expecting it. 

“What are you talking about, Declan? And how the heck did you come here alone?” I made a gesture of looking behind him. “Are you that brave or just stupid?”

He chuckled. “I'm holding your greatest treasure. I was sure as hell you wouldn't wanna hurt me because you wouldn't wanna hurt her.”

“Sure. But you're gonna hand her over, right?”

“Sure.”

“And what happens to you after?” 

“Whatever you want. As long as you already agreed to my deal.” Again, he wasn't aggressive and that's beginning to bother me. 

What's with the surrender in his voice? It was the least thing I was expecting from him. 

“What deal?”

“Don’t hurt Beck. I know he deserves it but don't hurt him.”

“He killed my son.” I gritted out. The agony of Trent's demise came rushing in again. 

“You killed my family. Of course, Beck wanted to take revenge for me. You don't really have any right to be vengeful, Vince. You hurt us first. It's always been you.”

I hate how bad he just clocked me. I hate how true that was too. But they're not exactly innocent either. They kill innocent people and take over their Packs. I was just their karma. 

“I'm willing to give her back.” He continued, looking at her like you'd look at your favorite dish. He sure fell madly for her. Classic Elena, always stealing the hearts of every motherfucker who comes her way. 

I don't know if I should be proud or furious. 

“She needs a mate bond.” He looked me dead in the eyes while he said that. 

I swallowed a lump. “Yes, she does.”

I wasn't about to deny shit. Or act humble about it. I'm her damn mate. She should be with me. That's how it should be. They all gotta keep their eyes and claws off her for fuck’s sake. 

“I didn't know that. I didn't know you two were…” he swallowed that part. And then continued. “I found out when she became like this.”

“If you knew from the onset, I doubt you would have acted any differently.”

“I might have. You never know.” He replied and it sounded kinda genuine. That weird genuineness in his tone was dampening my anger and aggression. 

Declan, at my front door with my baby was the last thing I'd expected to happen today. 
And seeing him all calm isn't helping me properly process the moment either. 

“What's really going on?” I had to ask. It's not really making sense. 

“I'm making a deal—”

“Nah, not that. What's with the calmness?”

“Why? Do I always have to be barking threats whenever we speak?”

“Yes. That's how it's always been.”And it kinda needs to stay like that. This new development is throwing me off balance. 

“What if I don't wanna do that tonight? We can go back to screaming threats tomorrow. For tonight, I wanna talk.”

“You wanna talk?” That's the first thing on the list of things I thought I'd never hear from him. “Alright. But hand her over first.”

My eyes were beginning to hurt from seeing her in his arms. 

“You're gonna kill me once I hand her over.”

“There's a bigger chance of me killing you if you hold her any longer.”

He hesitated and then slowly slipped her into my arms. She shifted and then snuggled up in my arms. 

Sniffing up her delicious scent and listening to her heartbeat this close was slowly turning me into a wreck. I wanna gobble her up. Literally. But I need to dismiss him first. He can't see me looking all vulnerable. He can't see me acting all needy. 

“What do you wanna talk about, Declan?” The impatience in my voice was loud as fuck. 

“I'm not sure how to say this,” he began, biting his lower lip. “But is there a chance you might—” he stopped, fighting for more words. 

“Might what?” I was impatient. 

“You see, my elders wanted me to kill her. They believe it's the only way to get revenge on you. But I disobeyed and brought her to you instead.”

They wanted to kill her, huh? 

“I'll be needing the pictures of those damn elders.”

“No, Vince. That won't be necessary. I just need to know something. You do understand what's gonna happen to me once they find out I went against them, right?”

I didn't want to answer that in a hurry. His questions seem a bit misleading. Confusing. 

“I can take her inside while you two talk,” Leo said, stretching his hands for Elena. 

I glanced at her sleepy form and at him. Every nerve in me didn't wanna let her go, but then it's cold out here, and this talk seems like it's gonna take a while. 

“Don't let Claire see her yet,” I instructed, gently handing her over to him. 

“Sure.” He walked inside with her while I tried paying full attention to this weird conversation.

“I do know they're gonna revolt against you. They might wanna impeach you or something. I don't know. Why are you asking me that, Declan?”

“I'm just thinking. Is there a chance they'd wanna kill me?”

I arched my brow. “How would I know that?”

“Well,” he was hesitating again. 

He seemed to be fighting down the real question he wanted to ask. And he needs to ask that for me to be able to go inside and go be with Elena. 

“Declan, you're brave. If there's something you wanna ask, go ahead. I promise I'm not gonna kill you. Just for tonight.”

“Do you think there's a chance we'll ever make peace? You, the Walker family, and the existing rogues?” 

“What?”

He ran a hand through his tousled hair. “The elders think that shouldn't happen. But I think they're that way because they're scared you'll do to them what your Father did to them. And now they're trying to use me to get rid of you. I just feel like they're trying to start a very familiar pattern. They use me to get rid of you and then they use someone else to get rid of me. Like your elders did.”

Now, that's deep. And still very confusing. 

“So what do you wanna know exactly? You wanna know if I can ever make peace with your people or…”

“I want you to save me when they try to turn on me.”

“Say what?”

“I want us to be a team, Vince.”

“Nah, you're out of your fucking mind.” There's no way we're ever going to be a team.