Rejected by Another, Chosen by His Brother

Chapter 4: Do You Know Anything About Me?

Serena's POV

I don't know what I expected when I would be face to face with Hawk again.

Of course, I knew there was no way on earth he would burst into tears and flood my ears with heartfelt apologies. Yet, nothing could have prepared me for the absolute detachment in his voice.

He spoke to me in a way that even a distant acquaintance would have found cold.

I didn't want his warmth. Not anymore. Not after what he's done to me. But the way he so naturally flipped the switch as if he had been dying to strip off his mask of affection and finally got the chance.

Four years’ worth of memories continue to replay in my mind during those two days in the cell with barely any food or water, times he said he was too busy, all those moments he congratulated me for being so understanding when I'd lower my standards to living conditions even worse than the servants.

Some might have found it a low blow, but I reminded him of when I saved his life by sacrificing one of the most precious things to myself.

My wolf.

River

She had disapproved of him from day one even though she begrudgingly admitted that he was our fated mate.

"Maybe we should reject him and keep looking, I mean there's always fish in the sea, right?" She would say jokingly from time to time, but I brushed her off every time and we assured her that our fated mate was the best for us and nothing could be more perfect than that.

"Sometimes it takes more than just being mates, even fated ones," she had told me once but I still didn't listen.

However, three nights ago, when I almost drowned, I was forced to listen to her voice.

"I told you not to trust him."

It might have just been my imagination, trying to lie to me that I was not completely, utterly alone.

But I was able to hold my breath.

I heard the guards whispering about it while I was in a cell. They said I had been in the lake long enough to drown, over ten minutes. My body was found and probably to the disappointment of many I was still breathing.

That kind of subconscious survival only happened with a body that possessed a wolf.

Or maybe it was just a stroke of luck

My wolf being gone from that night 2 years ago, it had been a grand banquet within the pack house hall when out of the blue Hawk slumped to the floor foaming at the mouth, I could see the life gradually leaving out of his eyes and back then my naive foolish self was ready to do anything to save him.

River gave me a choice.

Her core energy would be enough to heal him, but she would be gone forever.

"No, River, there has to be another choice..." I begged her.

"Not anyone can discover in time to save him," she replied, "I know this is a surprise to you, even though I'm not exactly fond of him but you love him and I know you'll be devastated forever without him."

I broke down and said my goodbyes to River then I poured all of my core energy into him.

All of that just for him to remember with an odd scratch of his neck, then he bent his body to the side.

"Does all of that stuff really matter now? Why don't we focus on the present?"

"That stuff?" I said openly that the absurdity of what he was saying rang into his ears, "If it wasn't for the sacrifice of River, you wouldn't be here right now! You'd be dead!" I was doing my best to shove down the bitter pill that he refused to swallow.

His eyebrows knitted with confusion, "Who's River?"

When he said that I wasn't even angry, just deeply defeated, "She was my wolf" I cried into my palms as I buried my face with them, "... all this time and you didn't even know her name, tell me Hawk do you know anything about me?"

"I do," he said quicker than expected, "I know that nobody works harder than you, " he came closer and tried to put his palm on my shoulder and I pulled away, this seemed to have surprised him more than anything else but he recovered his confidence and pulled his hand back to his side.

"It's not going to be easy but you have to stay out of Elisa’s way until I convince her that you're not a threat, until then while you're still working it will be easy to hide you here in the basement,"

The more I listened to him the more I realized that there were probably a lot of loose screws in this man's head that I had missed for so long.

"If I'm understanding you right now..." I said massaging my forehead as I battled with a million different emotions at once, "... You expect me to stay here? To continue the work I've been doing?"

He raised an eyebrow as if it should have been obvious from the start, "Like I said nobody works harder than you, I couldn't trust anybody else with the work that you do."

Before I found this flattering but now, I saw it for what it was — manipulation, pure and simple.

"I won't do a single thing for you anymore, not one darn thing!" I hissed out with bitterness.

Suddenly he was all over my face and then he grabbed my arm.

"Serena, do not forget who you are speaking to. Whatever happens between us, I am still the Alpha of Bloodstone..."

I struggled, but it was like throwing water at a brick wall. Fighting against an Alpha was hopeless.

"I'm going to give you time to mull over it, stay here, continue to work and I'll make you Luna eventually,"

My eyes tripled their original size.

"Are you still wagging that carrot in my face even after it's rotten?"

He looked surprised again then angry.

"It seems I have been too lenient with you, fine leave... Good thing I never marked you anyways. But before I let you leave..."

He stepped outside and shut the door tight.

"You still have to serve your punishment for attacking the Luna and threatening the heir of the Alpha throne then — "

"The heir? Wait...is she…is she pregnant?"

There was only silence for a heartbeat.

"You have bigger things to worry about, Serena.”