~Declan~In the haze of the misery I felt when I lost Serena five years ago, I tried to forget about her by kissing another woman’s lips, hoping it would ease away this longing I felt for my wife. But all I felt when I kissed another woman was bile rising from my guts, turning my world inside out.I savored the feel of Serena’s lips. Her touch brought me back to our wedding night, where I first allowed myself to fully let go and be happy. She didn’t know this, but all my life, I had been trying to live up to my family’s legacy, and it was like being locked in a room with no windows or door to see what other choices I had. I wasn’t given the chance to choose anything for myself because I was next in line to be an alpha to a pack we really didn’t have. It was a curse I had to endure growing up.I hated my life until I married Serena. I was happy, and for the first time since Mom passed away, I wasn’t alone. But it was a short-lived happiness, and I suffered alone for five years again.
~Declan~I watched as her head spun with scattered, jumbled thoughts. It was only fair that she get confused as I was.From the moment she learned I was her mate, she stabbed me with a silver dagger that missed my heart by a hair's breadth. She painted it in a bright yellow highway line illuminating the road on a dark night that she’d rather drink pure aconitum vile than be marked by me. So I didn’t expect her to come here. After everything we’ve been through, after all that she said she suffered because of me, why did she cross the border of my oblivion? Much less convincing me to consider stepping out of this peaceful, dark place of mine to continue changing her mind about the mate bond.I felt her presence the moment she held my hand. My wolf was already at peace with my decision when she stubbornly kept walking into our nothingness. It was my first time dipping into this place. I didn’t know this even existed until my wolf brought me here. My wolf wanted me to mull over my decisi
~Serena~As I set foot inside the infirmary, my eyes immediately slid to the bed at the end of the hallway. There were ten beds inside the room, all of which were still covered with plastic wraps, except for the one where Declan was resting. Because werewolves have fast healing abilities, everything inside the infirmary was still brand new and barely touched.I stood before his bed, gazing down at my mate who was slowly fading into the afterlife.A white sheet covers the lower half of his body, and his bare chest is on display. The cacophony of my hushed footsteps and Declan’s low heartbeat rang in my ears. And as I got near his bed, I noticed how peaceful he looked in his sleep, like a child who doesn’t know how shitty this world was.Thick lashes kiss his cheeks, his lips were pressed on a soft line, and a faint laugh line creases his face. If I didn’t know how cruel Declan could be, I wouldn’t think he was the ruthless alpha who took everything from me.Instead of contemplating my
~Serena~I’d been standing at the door of the infirmary for some time now, listening to Declan’s faint heartbeat. If I didn’t know the current state he was in, I’d assume the heartbeat I’m hearing belongs to a human who had maximized his time in this life and was ready to rest in peace.The lub-dub was low and slow, as if he was already on the edge of his end, and I stood here waiting for the last thump of his heart restlessly.“Are you just gonna stand there?” Spade’s voice yanked me from my trance. He was standing at the end of the hallway, his back resting against the wall, while a cigarette stick was stuck between his lips. Smoke bellowed around his face as he gazed at me expectantly.“Yes,” I murmured, stepping away from the door and resting my back on the wall across from the infirmary entrance.“Are you really that clueless about what’s happening here?” he said, abandoning his post at the end of the hallway and walking towards me. His light footsteps permeated the silence of the
~Serena~What hit me was a massive and strong wolf, it dragged me down, rolling us on the forest floor. The ground was rough and cold. Dirt, dried leaves, and dew soiled my clothes. I sank my fingers on the ground when I had the chance, kicking the wolf on its side, and suspended myself from rolling down. Hands and feet scraping the ground, I grunted as I glared at the wolf that attacked me, ready to shift and fight back.I squinted when my vision became clear, the moonlight allowing me to see my attacker. The wolf was midnight black, bigger than a regular one because of its alpha bloodline, and I knew this wolf very well.“Spade!” My voice was caught between surprised and annoyed, my heart still racing because I thought an enemy had attacked me.‘Heard you were in the mood,’ he murmured through the mindlink, his eyes going round as he tilted his head.I dusted the dried leaves off of my dress, the scratches on my elbows and legs already healing. Then I run my fingers through my hair
~Serena~Four men lay unconscious on the cold ground. Jared and I ran to where Declan was, hissing as we reached for the rope binding him to the chair, which burned our hands.“It’s laced with aconitum,” Jared said. It could be laced with cyanide for all I care, but that wouldn’t stop me from removing Declan from this chair and from this place.I slipped my fingers between the rope and Declan’s skin, my skin sizzling as it burned. Pushing aside the pain, I grunt as I pull on the rope and successfully remove the ones binding his ankles. Jared did the same to Declan’s hands, bound to the back of the chair. Declan fell towards me. He was a dead weight and had me stumbling back on my ass. I wrapped my arms around his body, steadying us, but his skin was burning up, and the blood from his wounds soaked my dress.“We need to get him out of here,” Jared stated, but both of us knew we can’t take Declan the way we entered this place. In Declan’s current state, we would attract too much attentio