Chapter 4 4|I Know That Face

~Declan~

"What do you mean she's gone?" I slammed my fist on the Oakwood desk. The glass of bourbon I'd been nursing after handing down Serena's sentence rattled.

Lia flinched, quickly hiding her trembling hand behind her back. "I followed Serena as soon as I could, but the rogues got to her before I did."

Stunned, I clenched my fist, feeling my world crumble. Lia had one job. She needed to make sure Serena made it through the Hallow Forest, take her to my contact in The City of Brille, and explain why I did what I did.

I can't believe this. My Serena. She's gone?

I shook my head, anger simmering inside me. Trying to keep my anger at bay, I took a huge breath and met Lia's eyes. "How fucking sure are you that the rogues got Serena?"

Lia was perfect for this job. She was an exceptional warrior, and Serena trusted her. They were best friends. If there was anyone Serena would listen to after what she had gone through, it was Lia. Did I make a mistake choosing Lia for this job?

"I..." Lia swallowed hard. She was never one to stutter. Warriors in our pack would shake in front of me, but not Lia. Seeing her shift from one foot to another would've been funny if this were another situation. She met my gaze before continuing. Fear and sorrow shone in her eyes. "I saw the rogues gobble the last of her, Alpha."

The hair on the back of my neck rose. Images of rogues ripping Serena's limbs like savages filled my head. Clenching my fist, my nails carved crescents onto my palm as anger filled my every fiber.

"Are you lying to me, Lia?" I let a sliver of my alpha aura slither out of my hands. It swirled through the air in thin waves only I could see, wrapping around Lia's neck and body.

Fear settled in Lia's body, her wolf whimpering inside her as my power wrapped around her in a chokehold. Lia shook her head, her legs wobbling, but she remained frozen across my desk, panic glowing in her eyes.

My power has grown considerably since I married Serena. What was the use of this power and title if I couldn't even protect the woman I loved? This entire week has been a fucking shit show. I thought the finale would be sentencing Serena to exile, fooling everyone in Embercrest with my best-laid plan. Then things would finally calm down, and I could be with her in a couple of weeks.

I had everything planned out. I needed to get her out of Embercrest, then ask her what truly happened. Grandfather's men knew nothing about what had happened inside his office that day. All witnesses died inside that room apart from Serena. She was the prime suspect, and the council was in turmoil. The clash between Embercrest and my old pack was a civil war waiting to explode in a violent, bloody fight.

I was holding the thin thread between keeping Serena safe and keeping Embercrest from ripping apart. All my effort went to waste? What the fuck am I going to do now? I cannot simply accept that I failed Serena. I promised I would protect her, and I failed miserably.

Lia's clenched hands remained on her side, her eyes watering as she stared at me. Her small frame shook as though turbulence raved inside her body. Her cheeks were turning deep red, silver swirled in her eyes, her wolf clawing its way out.

Drawing my power from holding Lia frozen, she dropped to her knees, gasping, chasing her breath.

"I would never lie to you, Alpha." Lia looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes. "Serena was my friend. She was family. I want her safe more than anything else."

There was a faint rogue stench in the air coming from Lia. But there were a lot of scenarios as to why Lia brought a rogue stench with her.

She shoved her hands inside the pocket of her zip-up jacket, then removed the distance between us, placing a ring on my table.

I stared at the ring with wide eyes. My heart broke in every possible way as my wolf howled in fury and pain.

I would recognize that ring anywhere. It was Mom's ring which I gave to Serena the day we got married.

Molars grounding, I commanded Lia. "Get out."

"Alpha-"

"Get the fuck out!"

Lia scrambled to her feet, tripping over the carpet. As soon as the door slammed closed in her wake, I stood and grabbed the glass of bourbon on my table, taking a sip. As the liquid spiraled down my throat, anger boiled within me. I hurled the glass to the wall, hitting the books stacked on the shelf across my table. The alcohol drenched the books as the glass splinters flew everywhere.

I felt sick, lightheaded. My chest rose and fell, the air around me became heavy. A massive chain suddenly appeared around my throat, tightening as the truth settled in.

No one could lie under the alpha's command. Lia was telling the truth. Serena never made it out of Hallow Forest, and I was the one who sent her to her death.

Growling, I slammed my fist on the table. It broke in half with a sickening crack. I stared at the broken furniture; the remnants of the security breach reports on the south border littered my office floor. Serena's ring glistened as it caught the light from the ceiling.

Here I was, scrutinizing how a rogue managed to slip through our security on the morning after my wedding, the week in which we had the tightest security in place since we invited the alpha of the neighboring packs in The City of Brille. I was reading paperwork while my wife fought for her last breath, losing her life in a rogue attack.

What kind of alpha am I? I couldn't even protect my wife? A fucking useless alpha, you dipshit!

I looked around the office that once belonged to Alpha Lucian. He was more of a father to me than my own. Serena insisted that I use this office, too, because it reminded her so much of her father.

She even put a picture of us on the wall where her family's photos were hanging.

All of this was her idea. I never wanted to become an alpha in the first place. If I wasn't the alpha, I could've gone to her myself and saved her from those rogues. I would die protecting her!

Feeling the walls closing in on me, I sprinted on my unsteady feet towards the balcony, shifting mid-air. Landing with a furious groan on the ground, my black wolf dashed at lightning speed toward the woods.

My paws dug into the ground, leaving prints on the muddy ground. Now that Serena was gone, everything I worked for went to waste. I was a strong fighter and a good leader because of her, and I wanted her to be proud of me.

Growling, I jumped in the air and slammed my body on the tree blocking my path. The trunk broke in the middle. I rolled on the ground from the impact, gaining my balance before the top half of the broken trunk touched down the forest floor.

Serena's gone? Someone, please wake me up from this nightmare. I simply cannot live in a world where she doesn't exist.

I howled. My agony reverberated through the woods, disturbing the birds and animals in the forest. My wolf refused to accept this fact. This isn't how we were supposed to spend our first week as husband and wife.

"Alpha, where are you going?" Jared's worried voice vibrated through the mind link.

Now that I am Alpha, everyone has their eyes on everything I do. Nothing I do seems trivial. It's fucking suffocating.

"Alpha?" Jared asked again. As my beta, he must know where I am. "You've just crossed the border. Where the fuck are you going?" But as my best friend, he knew very well that I was not in the right mindset right now. "Declan?! Fuck!"

I shut him out, my paws digging into the dirt, the darkness of Hallow Forest cloaking my black wolf.

....

~Five Years Later~

"Don't you think it's enough that Embercrest is rogue-free?" Jared asked from the SUV's driver's seat.

I kept my eyes focused on the twinkling lights of Brille. Its noise and bustle in the middle of the night were a huge change from the serenity of Embercrest. The city never sleeps. Skyscrapers pitched on each side of the street operated twenty-four hours, housing the grandiose casino where humans squandered millions each second.

"Seth invited me," I murmured, thumbing over the cufflinks of my white dress shirt. "I didn't invite myself to this loud city."

Seth Hawkins, the alpha of Fallenmist pack, was a good friend of mine. He's holding a charity event for his birthday. 'That's what billionaires in the human world do,' Seth explained when I asked him what the charity was for. Seth was also a shifter, and unlike us, living a quiet and peaceful life in Embercrest, his entire pack blended well with the humans. So I made the exception of taking this ten-hour drive, half of it spent in heavy traffic, for a fucking drink.

Jared blew a breath, his disbelief in my words filling the entire space of the car. "So you're not here because of Roy's report?"

We had to adjust our tactics and mirror what the human government does. We've placed spies and moles in all cities. When shit goes down, we wouldn't be blindsided by rogues anymore. They've become smarter as time goes by. I don't know how they did it, but their attacks had been more synchronized. Rogues were supposed to be lone wolves, yet they seemed to have found a way to bend the law of nature.

"I didn't even pay attention to his report," the lie dribbled out of my lips like honey. Jared pursed his lip, giving me a side-eye. "Did Roy finally get laid?"

"You're such a bad liar," Jared huffed. Since we were stuck in traffic, he kept himself entertained by playing with the radio dial. "You endured a ten-hour, excruciating drive just to attend Seth's charity ball? Not to mention promising to wear a suit and tie for his charity event?"

I paid Jared's teasing tone no mind. I'm not a bad liar. He just knows me so well.

"I'm all in for having fun with the rogues here, but can we at least enjoy the view?" In Jared's books, enjoying the view meant spending two nights drinking and fucking random girls, human and shifter, whoever was available and willing.

"You can have your own fun," I murmured, watching the pedestrians on the side of the street go about their mundane lives. "Seth mentioned we could stay in his hotel for however long we want."

"Hell yeah!" he made a fist bump in the air.

My beta was such a kid sometimes. I shook my head, doing a double take at the woman ambling on the sidewalk.

I will never forget that angelic face- plump lips, soft, round jaws, and a striking blue cat's eye. She might have blond hair, but I know that face.

Serena.

"Stop the car!" I commanded Jared.

Jared jumped in his seat. "We aren't moving, man! We've been stuck here for ten minutes! Wait! Where are you going?" His protest and questions faded into the background as I slipped out of the car and dashed towards the sidewalk.