Chapter 5 5|I Have A Plan

~Declan~

I was careful not to use inhumane speed in chasing Serena's doppelgänger. The ghost of her had haunted me for the last five years.

No, I haven't forgiven myself for causing her pain and death. Part of me knew I was chasing someone who didn't live in this realm anymore, but my wolf refused to accept that Serena was really gone. He was a stubborn one, more stubborn than me.

A war raged between my mind and my heart as I merged into the crowded walking path. My mind said it was all my imagination, but my heart believed this imagination, and so did my wolf. He was restless.

If someone in this crowd were to investigate, they'd see the gold swirling in my eyes. My wolf fought for dominance. I paused and willed my wolf to calm down, craning my neck in search of the blond girl in this ocean of people going about their lives.

There were about thirty blond-haired women within a hundred yards. Through my heightened sense of sight, I spotted the blonde in the pedestrian lane at the corner of the street.

Red light glowed on the streetlights, and the green human figure lit up on the pedestrian traffic light. I had her side profile. My heart drummed in my chest as I took a good look at her. Her short blond hair brushed the top of her shoulders, neatly trimmed bangs kissing her eyebrows. The Serena I remember hated brushing makeup on her face. This one wore fake lashes, thick red lipstick, and eyeshadow as dark as the night. It made her cat eyes look bigger. Sporting a black ankle-length coat and leather high-heeled boots, she reminded me of a femme fatale Serena once made me read from one of her romance books.

Frozen, I watched the girl cross the street. My wolf restlessly tried to claw its way out.

I didn't bother scolding the drunken guy who bumped into me, cursing me for blocking his way. The girl finally reached the other end of the pedestrian lane. Even their height was the same. She paused under the pedestrian traffic light, pulled a cigarette packet from her coat pocket. Her coat parted in the middle, revealing a red baby doll underneath.

She lit up a cancer stick and slowly took a huge pull. Her side profile was still on me, but when she blew out the smoke in the air, she turned in my direction and locked eyes with me.

There might have been smoke blocking her face, but I swear I saw her smirk, and gold glowed in her eyes.

It knocked all the air out of my body.

Could it be possible? She looked so much like Serena, but not.

"What the fuck happened?" my body went rigid when Jared clamped a hand on my shoulder.

The green light glowed in the street traffic light. A van drove by, and the girl was gone.

I'm going crazy. That's all this was. I've been out of my mind since I handed down Serena's sentence, thinking I could manipulate the world and protect her. I was a stupid boy who schemed a plan that sucker-punched him right in the face.

"Nothing," I murmured and started walking toward Seth's hotel.

"Nothing?" Jared walked by my side, matching my unhurried pace. "You saw her again, didn't you?"

Jared saw me lose it the day Serena died. My wolf took complete control of my body, rummaging through the Hallow Forest for evidence that Lia was lying, killing every rogue and wolf hunter we stumbled upon along the way.

No one from the pack knew I was the grim reaper who hunted every rogue and wolf hunter who set foot in Hallow Forest. In front of the pack, I was the Alpha who lost his wife and grandfather in the span of a week, sad and brooding, but outside the pack, I was the monster the hunters and rogue feared.

Jared didn't leave my side. He protected my reputation, lying in front of the council if needed, but he also saw me at my worst. It took a while before I gained control over my wolf again. It hadn't been easy. Even to this day, Serena's ghost haunts me.

....

In our hotel room, I nearly spit out the Martin Mills I'd been sipping when Jared walked out of his room. "What the fuck is that?"

"What?" Brows knitted together, he looked down at his attire. He was in all-black high-waisted pants and a see-through long-sleeve top with a very large bow cinched on the collar. He matched this with black leather shoes and a huge teardrop earring dangling from his left ear.

"Didn't you get the memo that this was a masquerade ball?" he raised a gold mask, a naughty smirk on his lips.

"A what ball?" I frowned, recalling my conversation with Seth over the phone. That smile on Jared's face gave it all. He wiggled his brows and opened his mouth. I raised my hand, cutting off whatever words he was going to blabber. "No. I am not wearing that shit!"

Jared gasped, feigning hurt. "We're already here. Don't be such an Alpha spoilsport."

I slanted my eyes at him. "Sometimes I wonder if you are really my beta or Seth's."

He chuckled and walked behind the bar counter. I'd been sitting here since we arrived, the blond girl pervading my thoughts. She was a figment of my imagination, but she looked so alive and real.

"Wanna talk about it?" Jared asked, refilling my glass and serving one for himself.

"She looked so real," I said, feeling stupid for believing my mind's own trick. "She stared at me, and her eyes were glowing gold."

Jared hummed, unsurprised by my ridiculous statement. "Look on the bright side, Alpha. At least you're getting more and more creative each time you see her. Last time, she was walking over a lake; now she's finally a shifter." He raised his glass for a toast, a sad yet teasing smirk spreading on his lips.

Indulging in his pun, I clinked glasses with him and drank my alcohol in one go.

Jared refilled our glasses, allowing comfortable silence to settle over us. He cautiously treaded around my mood, then sighed, taking a sip of his drink before speaking. "This needs to stop. You know that, right?"

"I know."

"No, hear me out." His tone was wary. His hands stretched over the counter as though he were taking strength from it to speak his mind. "You have to move on. It's already been five years."

"I'm trying."

"Well, try harder!" His voice sharpened. He staggered back, realizing he just raised his voice on his alpha. "Don't use that alpha shit on me, Declan. I'd been cleaning up your mess long enough to deserve a voice in that stubborn head of yours. The council keeps pushing me to convince you to marry again. The pack needs a Luna, and you need to stop living in the past."

Pursing my lips, I stared at the rich liquid in my glass.

"You have to forgive yourself at some point. You did everything you could to save her."

"Yet she's still dead," I groaned.

"Exactly. Serena's gone, and you're still here. You have to take care of the pack, or you will lose it." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Gerald has been making a move to take over your position as alpha. One of our tech guys came across an encrypted message last week. He's speaking to the council one by one to overthrow you."

"That sly fucking bastard," I grunted. "Wasn't he satisfied that he caused my mother's death? Now, he wanted to take away the only memory I have of my wife?"

"Well, your wife is technically inside your head, so..." one of his brows curved to the ceiling, smiling arrogantly at his punch line. "Kidding aside, you need to wake up if you want to keep Embercrest in your hands."

"Why do I feel there's a hidden agenda in that statement?" My brows knitted in the middle.

Jared shrugged, reaching under the counter, producing a long rectangular box secured by a huge black ribbon. "I have a plan, and that includes pleasing our billionaire alpha friend, Seth Hawkins."

He opened the box, and inside lay the most hideous suit I had ever seen. It was white with blue and silver embellishments shimmering under the overhead lights. Grinning like a cheshire cat, Jared pulled out a knee-high boots and a fucking sword.

"No. Abso-fucking-lutely not!"

"Come on. You're going to be Prince Charming, only... you're charming away an alpha," he frowned. "That sounded way cooler in my head, but now that I've said it, it's irking."

I glared at the ridiculous costume inside the box and back at Jared. "Who are you supposed to be again?"

The space between his brows crinkled. "Can't you recognize this outfit? This is fucking Gucci!" I shook my head no. "2019 Met Gala, Harry Styles."

"Who the fuck is Harry Styles?"