~Declan~She couldn’t hide the twinkle in her eyes or control the reddening of her cheeks. She bit her lower lip, then burst into a huge laughter. Our laughter filled the car. It was a melody I hadn’t heard in over half a decade. Lost in her glee, Serena shoved my shoulders like she used to do back in the day.“Oh, that was ages ago!” Then she pushed the mischievous strands of her hair out of her face, recovering from that flare of laughter. She cleared her throat, composing herself, as if she didn’t mean that joy to come out.“And you’re still using that line,” I murmured, my laughter toning down.“It worked on you and Spade,” she said. If she intended to kill the mood by mentioning that name, she succeeded. Just the thought of them together was a bucket of ice-cold water dumped over my head. “You and Spade, huh,” I said, that tandem leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.Serena’s laughter was history. “Yeah, me and Spade. Are you jealous?” she teased, sounding like Serena way back bef
~Declan~It was late afternoon by the time we reached the address Serena took from the convenience store’s office. Nestled in the outskirts of the city, a bungalow-type house with the backdrop of towering trees was directly at the spot where the phone's map blinks red.The neighborhood was quiet. There was about a ten-meter distance between units, and the multiple cars parked in front of each house made this place an odd residence for someone working at the convenience store. It was sketchy, and this nagging feeling in my chest intensified the longer we stayed here. The bungalow’s window curtains were drawn down. Overgrown bushes and dried leaves had piled up on the lawn. A black van parked in front of the closed garage was the only indication that someone could be inside that house.“How did you get this address?” I asked Serena. To keep a low profile, I parked two houses from our target location. She had been eerily silent since our conversation in front of the convenience store. H
~Declan~The car engine purred as I started the car. “Where to?”Serena doesn’t even bother buckling her seatbelt. “The convenience store,” she groaned out those words, as if I should understand where that was. Then it hit me. She wanted to go back to where I picked her up.“The convenience store? Why?” I probed.She blew out a hiss. “I need to check something.” I opened my mouth to fire up another question, but she silenced me with a sharp glare. “No more questions. Just drive… please.”I paused, studying her intently. That ‘please’ sounded like a plea, but her face told me she just said that so I would keep my mouth shut and put this car on the road.‘What was going on with her? Something shifted in Serena, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.’After giving her another once-over, I put the car into drive, and we drove back to the convenience store in silence. In the silence inside the car, her heartbeat and breathing were louder. Serena had been taking and blowing shallow breaths, th
~Declan~A tense silence swelled inside the room, Roan’s voice echoing in the emptiness, a church bell gong waking us from slacking on our investigation.Everything we knew about these people was all theories and assumptions. Roan was a breathing witness to what they were after—Shifter’s blood.It was puzzling. Why shifter’s blood? And all their victims didn’t have their wolves yet, and Roan wasn’t privy to the existence of werewolves, or if she was one.We’ve all fallen deep into our thoughts. Roan nibbled her lip and stared like a kid not knowing what to do next, waiting for the adults to guide her.“I can see what they had done to you, Roan.” Serena sounded as if she were talking to a wounded animal. “But I have to ask, how did you end up in that trailer?”I can sense Serena’s eagerness to sort this situation out, but she’s treading on shallow waters here. We still don’t know if Roan was human or a shifter.The wounded girl detached her gaze from Serena, looking anywhere but us as
~Declan~I’ve been with Serena since this morning and in that time frame, I figured out one thing. This version of her has a wall as high as Mt. Everest. It’s not gonna be an easy climb. I need crucial and intricate planning if I wanted to conquer her anger.I had changed strategies since university. Showing her I was on her side didn’t work, and protecting her didn’t work either. Even saving that girl didn’t shake her resolve. And now that I had confessed guilt for what happened five years ago, her anger only escalated.Serena stared at me, trying to decide whether to rip my head off or tear me apart limb from limb. She might not voice it out, but I could feel her desire to end me through the bond. She hasn’t decided yet. Maybe that’s a good thing. At least I still have time to fulfill my promise.“Declan,” Seth carefully stepped out of the house. He could feel the tension between Serena and me. “Heart, the girl is awake.”Serena pinned me with one more daggered glare, then she huffed
~Serena~Based on everyone’s reaction, Clint was the only one who didn’t know about my newfound connection to Declan. Alpha Seth and Jared clearly understood why a very cross alpha was descending the stairs, a lion eyeing its prey.Clint’s glamorous beta position was no match for Declan’s rights and power. Alpha Seth and I were the only ones who could keep our heads held high as Declan made his way to the living area. Jared and Clint had their heads hung low, a wolf’s nature in bowing down to an alpha.“She put my pack in danger, Alpha Declan,” Clint forced every word out. The veins on his hands and neck were ready to snap at any minute. “I was the one who lifted that girl from that reeking cot in that trailer truck. It was my decision to bring her inside the car, and I was the one who called Seth. If you want to blame someone, blame me.” I didn’t need Declan’s protection or his saving. For five years, I had been all by myself, fighting for my life each day, relying on no one.As De
~Serena~“Yeah, man… we don’t know who she is. She’s not one of the missing girls, but she looked like she needed saving,” Declan informed Alpha Seth over the phone. We were already five blocks from the construction site, driving without a destination in mind. Saving this girl from the trailer was a spur-of-the-moment decision; now we had no idea where to take her.Declan and I were both shaken. Yet on the outside, we’re calm and collected.The girl sitting unconscious beside me on the backseat had bruises all over her exposed skin. Dried blood stained her threadbare dress. Declan left the windows often, but the pungent scent of what she’d gone through had already clung to my senses.Although she was covered in pain and suffering, her beautiful features can still be recognized. Blood and dirt matted long, dark hair covered half of her face. Pouty lips, pointed nose, and prominent cheekbones wore purple bruises instead of makeup. Her arms, petite and as pale as bond paper, bore needle
~Serena~The phone call address was a construction site in the city. Based on their permit, they’re building up a mall under ‘A Brown Company.’ The site was massive. I haven’t been in this city that long, but from what I could see, they had taken down a handful of establishments just to get this construction up and going.Men in safety hat, reflectorized vest and safety shoes milled about the disturbed parcel of land. Excavators dig into the ground and filling up trucks with dirt. Cranes and backhoe also take part in this construction site’s busy day.Declan parked in front of the restaurant across from our target location.“How are we going to find our guy?” he voiced my own thoughts.It was broad daylight, and the construction site was off limits to the public. There were almost fifty people in sight, and there were probably more people inside the spot fenced with a high, blue tarpaulin in the middle of the location.Observing the scene, I noted a pile of trailer trucks on the othe
~Serena~“It was a long shot,” was the best reason I could come up with, which Declan obviously didn’t buy. Standing with my statement, I held my head high and walked past Declan, sniffing his delicious masculine scent that I had been trying to ignore since this morning. A note of tobacco also hit my senses. On the pavement beside his shoes was a still smoking cigarette butt.‘How long did he stay here?’Being in this job required vigilance. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t let my guard down even for a second. How did I not sense Declan? It’s either I’m losing my shit or Declan is just one hell of a tracker.He caught up with my steps. Walking casually, as if my obvious annoyance didn’t bother him at all.“So, this long shot of yours, does it have a second step?” I could hear the laughter in his voice.I exhaled. “Nope.”As we stepped out into the streets, I realized his car was parked on the curb.“I know someone who can trace where that call came from,” he sing song, an evidence that he