40|It’s Not Me

40|It’s Not Me
~Serena~

“Seth,” Alpha Oren’s voice was a calm warning, “command Clint to stand down.”

I tried to be as calm as Alpha Oren, but when I spun on my heels and met Clint’s glowing eyes, my heart hammered in my chest. He stood at the kitchen entry, his shoulders stiff and broad like a cobra ready to attack. 

“Stand down, Clint,” Alpha Seth allowed a sliver of his alpha command to slither around Clint. The latter shook his head, a turmoil brewing inside him.

In a normal setting, Clint’s wolf should’ve bowed down to his alpha by now. Every wolf in a pack was made to follow the alpha’s command. It was in a shifter’s nature, but Clint’s wolf was putting up a fight, challenging his alpha’s instructions, and his eyes were trained on a prize. Me.

“What did you do?” Clint growled, throwing a prosecuting gaze at me. “What is that scent?” he tipped his chin up, sniffing the air and morphing into the same look as the four shifters back in the cabin. Desire, need, and hunger sank their claws into Clint’s wolf, driving him mad crazy.

Clint was a strong shifter. He wasn’t Alpha Seth’s beta for nothing, which meant his wolf also matched that power.

I staggered back, the back of my knee bumping on the single couch. Clint might hate me, and I would fight him any day, but he isn’t in his right state of mind. He was quickly sliding under a compulsion, and after what I witnessed in the cabin, I saw what shifters were ready to do to follow that compulsion.

“I don’t know, Clint,” I said, glancing up at Alpha Oren, crying for help. The elder alpha was making his way down the stairs and then stood beside me. Alpha Seth moved to stand between me and his beta, shielding me from Clint’s heated gaze. They could see Clint’s struggle to take control of his wolf.

“Clint, calm down. You’re stronger than this,” Alpha Seth commanded his beta. I wonder how he could come to my rescue. I had seen him scent me the way Clint did. 

Clint trembled in pain. The silver in his eyes was as bright as the morning sun, and its beams were directed at me. “My wolf is fighting for control, Alpha. Get that woman away from me.”

Clint was one second away from shifting, and once his wolf was out in the open, it’s a chaos that could quickly get out of our control. Their human neighbors would see his wolf, and we’d have an even bigger problem to solve. “Clint, Heart is a friend.”

“He’s not confused if she’s a friendly or not,” Alpha Oren butted in. “He wants to mark Heart.”

Alpha Seth looked over his shoulder, his eyebrows knitting together as he scanned my face. A sliver of gold swirled in his eyes before he turned back to his beta. “Go for a run, now!”

Clint hissed, the veins on his neck and arms were ready to explode as a battle for control occurred between him and his wolf. He grunted, his sneakers screeched against the floor as he sprinted towards the back door, disappearing from our sight.

Alpha Seth turned to me once Clint’s heavy footsteps were out of earshot. He tilted his head to the side, amazed as his wolf peeked in his eyes. “You’re really an interesting she-wolf, Heart.”

“It’s not me,” I murmured. “It’s this stupid mate bond. Alpha, please tell me you know how to fix this.”

Alpha Oren looked thoughtful for a moment, a flash of recognition crossed his face, but he pushed it away, glancing up at Alpha Seth. “Can you scent what Clint was saying?”

Alpha Seth nodded. “It’s like the sweetest scent of a ripe fruit. My wolf is agitated. He wants to come out and take a bite of that fruit.” He raked a hand through his hair, laughing at himself. Alpha Oren and I frowned at Alpha Seth. “If Declan heard me say that, I might not see the daylight tomorrow.”

Speaking of Declan, I can’t feel him nearby. 

“Where is he?” I asked.

A car revved towards the front of the house. My heart galloped in my chest before Alpha Seth even announced Declan’s arrival. “Speaking of the devil.”

Heavy footsteps approached the door. Declan slammed the door open. His wolf was already pushing forward when he saw me in the living room. 

“What… what’s going on?” he groaned, Jared following behind him with the same look of confusion.

“Serena?” Jared frowned at me. “What is that scent?”

Declan turned to Jared, his glare could turn Jared into ashes. “She’s mine.”

Jared raised his hand in the air, backing away from Declan. “No one is taking anyone.”

“Deck,” Alpha Seth called Declan’s attention. “Tell Jared’s wolf to go for a run before things get out of hand. Clint is already on a stroll.”

Declan didn’t need more explanation. “Go,” he told Jared. One word that meant his safety and mine, too.

“I’ll take Heart to your mom,” Alpha Oren murmured. “It’s better that you guys stay here.”

“You can’t scent that?” Alpha Seth asked his father.

Alpha Oren shook his head. “I’m mated, so I don’t scent her. I think I know what’s going on, but your mom would know what to do.”

I didn’t bother questioning Alpha Oren’s suggestion. If there was any chance I could get out of this mess, I would take it.

“I’m coming with you,” Declan murmured.

“I don’t think-” Alpha Seth cut in, but Declan silenced him with a scowl.

“That’s not a good idea, Declan. She’s your mate and your wolf would kill to mark her now,” Alpha Oren talked some sense into Declan, but the latter refused to accept it.

“She’s my mate, and it’s my duty to protect her. Let me worry about my wolf,” Declan declared.

“Declan, you don’t have to,” I said, offering him a grateful smile.

“I let you down five years ago, and I’m not allowing that to happen again, Serena.”