~Kade~
I walked around the town with Danielle’s hand in mine. We took a stroll through the woods and then back into town square talking about the past and all the memories we’d made together. We got coffee and sat on the benches around the well in the middle of town. She drank on her mocha and the foam-shaped mustache on her upper lip dripped down. I leaned in, slowly wiping it away with my thumbs as her lips parted and she gazed into my eyes.
Danielle brought the cup down to her knees. I drank from my tea and leaned back against the bench.
”What are you playing at?” She asked me. Her eyes spoke volumes of the sadness she felt but her lips were still tugging up in a smile.
”Why would I be playing?” She rolled her eyes and giggled.
”You’re being all cute and nice, you haven’t treated me this way until now. Why?”
”Is it wrong?”
”You’ve been frantic about finding Layla and suddenly you’re sitting here with me. You have to understand why I’m confused.” She tilted her head to the side. I could see everyone around us listening in and glancing over at our conversation.
My pack members were used to seeing me and Danielle together. We’d go into town every day and hang out with everyone, we’d always get coffee at our favorite coffee place and sit right here in this spot. We’d talk for hours about the future, marriage, children, and building our own little family of warriors.
When she left I didn’t come down here for a long time because everything here reminded me of her. It took me weeks to even start going back into my office but I never stepped up on the fifth floor, not until Layla came here.
I vowed never to set my foot up there, to never go into those rooms but I didn’t have the heart to tear them down either. It was our future in those rooms, one we had planned together, and all of those plans left when she did.
”I’ve regretted leaving you every single day” Her words were spoken softly and carefully. My head jerked to the side.
Her eyes were cast down on her cup, she drew her finger over the logo and refused to look up at me.
”Then why did you?” My voice was hoarse and saw the wheels in her head starting to spin for an answer. She looked up but didn’t face me.
”I didn’t have a choice,” she said and finally turned her head. I saw the woman I fell in love with so long ago, the one that meant everything to me, she who had my heart in the palm of her hand. Danielle was the woman who was created for me by the goddess. I remember the times she laughed so hard she fell on the ground, the times when she would play with the pups, and when she’d go up in her tower office and work. I used to look at her and see my whole life in her eyes but now that I looked at her, all I saw was a woman standing in the way of me finding my mate.
’Let’s do this’
”Why not?” I turned my body and shifted my head down a few inches. My brows furrowed in a makeshift worry and she leaned in.
”They said they’d kill you,”
”Who did?”
”The Emberclaws. They told me to come with them or they’d hurt the pack,’ shit, knowing whether or not she was telling the truth was hard as fuck.
”you could’ve told me.” I said and felt my facial muscles stern up.
”No I couldn’t, there was nothing you could have done and if you had gone against them or tried to protect me from them they would have killed you.” This distrust in my abilities from my former and current partners was starting to hit some nerves.
”I would have figured something out.” Danielle shook her head. I saw some of the pack members eyeing us warily after overhearing what she had said.
They were no longer walking by or pretending to be busy, they were visibly listening in on our conversation and I was worried that they might hear things that they shouldn’t. If they had not already.
People stopped moving, some stopped mid-step and turned their heads. Others walked by carelessly wondering what the hell was going on.
They tapped their friends on the shoulder, recaps were whispered and suddenly more eyes turned on us. Most of my pack members had no idea about the existence of the Emberclaws. After I found out about Danielle I made it my business not to let word get out. I didn’t want anyone to treat her differently just because of something she was born as.
’Kind of like how you treated Layla differently. Not just you, everyone’
You did too, you were just as worried as I was
’That’s true but I regretted it quicker’
How so?
I asked getting slightly annoyed by the insinuation.
’She didn’t have to leave before I questioned what we had done’
”Kade?” I turned back to the conversation. Danielle’s eyes were carefully scanning our surroundings and she was being brought up to speed on all of the observers we had.
Her cheeks blushed from the attention and she looked down at her hands.
‘you should’ve let me help you. I at least deserved to try.”
”Loosing that try would have cost you your life, I could not risk that.”
”it was not your choice to make.” I said and lifted her head by pressing under her chin. all i saw in her eyes seemed genuine. They were brimming from the unshed tears and her bottom lip started trembling. Her face contorted in sadness and her brows dropped as the first tear fell. Danielle always tried to hide her tears and her sadness. She never showed it this openly and I always had to pry it out of her whenever something was wrong. But it seemed like all of that was gone. The tears fell and she drew double breaths as her hands began to shake from the uncontrollable sobbing.
”Danielle, what’s wrong?” I asked and grabbed the back of her head. I leaned in, close enough for our foreheads to gently brush against each other.
Her head quickly flew back, the tears continued to fall down her cheeks leaving traces in her makeup. Her hand shot out and cupped my cheek. I froze for a second, the touch seeming suddenly foreign and unwelcome.
”I know you don’t love me anymore, I know you’re only here for answers but you don’t understand Kade-” she said and shook her head slowly back and forth.
”-They thought I was her.”
