55|That Deal

55|That Deal
Present day

~Serena~

“Who is this Alister Kaine?” Spade asked from the front passenger seat of the SUV we borrowed from Alpha Seth.

Declan was behind the wheels. I sensed that if I took shotgun, Spade would pout like a kid in the backseat. I don’t know what was up with him. I thought he was already on Declan’s side since he told him about the oblivion, but now he’s acting like a jealous boyfriend. But then again, Spade was a complex being. He does things that might look out on the whim, but he has a bigger intention in mind.

“Someone I don’t wanna talk about,” I murmured and focused my gaze on the window, looking over the city as we passed by.

“You understand that we need to know who we are up against, right?” Declan butted in.

They were working against me again, using that good cop, bad cop strategy.

“I can handle Alister Kaine. You handle his minions,” I stated firmly.

Spade and Declan exchanged glances. I don’t know which version of the love-hate relationship between these two I liked better, the one where they hated each other’s guts or this one where they are BFFs.

Thankfully, they stayed silent throughout the entire drive back to the city. Even my mind link with Spade, and my connection with Declan was radio silent.

It was almost midday when we reached Dream Plaza. Unlike the hustle last night, the hotel was calm this morning. There were a handful of people inside the restaurant, but the hotel lobby was hushed. A security guard in a white long-sleeved button-down and black dress pants stood snappy on the door. He wore sunglasses, and his head moved stealthily as he scanned every person passing at the front of the hotel.

Declan parked in front of the restaurant three buildings down at the Dream Plaza. The three of us observed the hotel for a few minutes, scheming a way in without alerting our target.

“How do you want this to happen?” Spade asked me.

“They might recognize Declan and me, so we’re going inside that building.” I pointed at the apartment building down the street. It was five buildings away from where we were. “We’re going through the roof.”

“I can walk from the front,” Spade suggested. “They haven’t seen my face.”

“They could sense you’re a shifter,” Declan pointed out.

“I’m counting on it,” Spade answered. “The two of you can sneak in while I distract them. They won’t do anything to me if I go inside that restaurant.”

He has a point, but his strategy was putting him in danger. If this Alister was the same Alister from five years ago, he knew how to immobilize a shifter in just two seconds. 

“I don’t like that plan, Spade,” I mumbled.

He glanced at me through the rearview mirror. The question in his brown eyes was louder than his words. It wasn’t like me to worry about him. In fact, this was the first time that I worried about him. Spade was a good soldier, and my words made him pin a probing gaze on me. 

‘Who is this Alister, Heart?’ he said through the mindlink. Clearly, he understands I didn’t want to share this information with Declan.

‘He’s one of the scientists in the lab,’ I answered. Since he was the one who did a profile on me, he immediately understood who I was talking about and why I was acting this way.

‘What the fuck?’ There were no changes in Spade’s features. His poker face was spotless.

‘Please, be careful,’ I said, and unlocked the door on my side. “Let’s go, Declan.”

Declan snapped his gaze at me. “You good with his plan?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Spade can handle himself.”

I didn’t wait for their response and slid out of the car. Unlike last night when we rescued Declan, my heart was heavy. I was so sure that I could take down whoever stood in my way last night, but this morning, I was treading on shallow waters. I stared at Dream Plaza with questions swirling in my head.

How the hell is Alister Kaine alive? And what is he doing here? Did he plan all of this? Alister is a wicked man, and I can’t push aside the thought that he wanted me to be here right at this spot, at this very moment.

“Ready?” Declan rounded the car and stood by my side.

“Yeah,” I answered. “Let’s go.”

Declan and I walked casually away from Dream Plaza while Spade walked in the other direction. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw him talking to a woman, winning her over with his smolder.

‘What are you planning to do with that girl?’ I murmured through the mind link.

‘Diversion,’ he answered. I could hear the glee in his voice.

I shook my head, and that’s when Declan tossed an arm over my shoulder, drawing me close to his side. His body was warm and a solid wall of muscles. In his oblivion, I was already drunk in his presence, but here in the real world, his intoxicating touch was much stronger. 

I stared up at him with a frown, but he just ignored me and kept walking as if he wasn’t holding me prisoner in his arms.

“What are you doing?” My tone was clipped, and my daggered glare could slice his pretty face in half.

“Diversion,” he murmured, Spade’s voice echoing in my head again.

My face pruned, and Declan was practically dragging me with him. “Diversion… did you hear Spade?”

“No,” Declan smirked down at me, “but I know you two are talking behind my back, and I don’t like it. I think you should reject your current pack and go back to Embercrest, now.”

Who the hell does he think he is to command me? I nudge him with my elbow. He didn’t even wince. “Are you seriously getting jealous about me mind linking Spade?”

“Yes,” he replied so casually, but his annoyance reverberated loudly through our bond. “I don’t like you talking to any guy behind my back, wife.”

“Stop saying I’m going behind your back. Firstly, I am not your wife, and I can talk to anyone I want, and that is not going behind your back!”

“We had a deal, Serena.” He stopped and spun me until I was facing him. He hooked a finger under my chin and forced me to stare into his eyes. “You are mine.”

“What deal are you talking about?” I meant to sound as firm as possible, but the way Declan was looking down at me, and the way his breath brushed against my lips, was turning my world upside down. I can’t think of anything else but kissing his lips again.

If it felt good in his oblivion, it would feel a hundred times better in the real world.

“That deal we sealed with a kiss, baby,” Declan murmured. “You are only seconds away from giving in to this haze, and we’d be marking each other before you know it.”