Darren's Downfall

by Arizona Tape

  “Yes, but—”

  “You promised me, Darius,” she hissed.

  “I promised you a lot of things,” I answered bitterly, thinking about all the things she used to ask from me. Things that had nothing to do with her, and yet, she made me do them. She made me promise to always do them like this. And as the sucker I was, I did.

  “I should’ve known you would break your promises to me. I should’ve known you would hurt me. You never loved me anyway,” Mer pouted, pulling her classical act. Years ago, I would’ve fallen for her act head over heels. I’d have bent backwards to ensure her I did love her, that I did care for her. She used to play me like a fiddle and like a real idiot, I fell for it time and time again.

  But now it only awoke disgust. There was only a flicker left of the special hold she used to have over me.

  “Can we not do this now?” I tried to avert the situation, not wanting to get into a full blown fight with Mer. Even if I was sure I wasn’t in love with her anymore, I didn’t want to test just how deep she had her claws in me.

  “Sure, you never want to do what I want. You don’t care about me. You just be happy with your redhead and forget me, pretend like I never existed. That’ll be best.” Dramatically, she grabbed the butter knife and twirled it between her fingers. “Maybe I should just stab me with this knife, that will make things easier for you, right? The world is a better place without me in it.”

  “Shit, Mer. I didn’t say that. Give me the knife.” Annoyance mixed with concern swirled in my stomach as I held out my hand.

  “Nobody ever loved me anyway, so I’ll just do the world a service and disappear. That’s what you want, right? For me to disappear? You’ll never have to see me again, Dar.”

  Why did she always do this? Couldn’t she just have a regular conversation like a normal person? Why did she always resort to emotional blackmail Angered, I leant over the table and grabbed her hand with the knife. “Stop it, Mer.”

  With a shriek, she let go of the silverware and cried out. “Oh my gods, you were going to stab me with it? You were actually going to kill me!”

  “No, I wasn’t!” I defended myself, the urge to bang my own head against the table slowly bubbling up. If I slammed my skull down hard enough, I could pass out and just avoid the whole lunch all together.

  A tear rolled down her cheek and she hid her face in her hands. “I’m just sad, okay? You don’t love me anymore and that is really hurting me.”

  I closed my eyes and balled my fists.

  Don’t fall for it, don’t fall for it.

  Exasperated, I threw my hands up and scooted around the table. I pulled her in a hug and patted her back.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  She sobbed softly, her whimpers breaking my heart all over again. Whether I liked to admit it or not, as crazy and abusive as she was, part of me just couldn’t stop caring about her.

  “Mer, I didn’t want to hurt you. Honest.”

  With tear-stained eyes, she looked at me. “I’m sorry too, Dar Dar. I didn’t mean to chase you away. I love you, okay?”

  A small piece of me rejoiced, but the most of me knew it was a blatant lie. Or not a lie, just not a truth. Maybe Mer loved me, maybe she didn’t. It didn’t matter, because I didn’t love her. Did I…?

  No, I didn’t. Not anymore. Not since—

  “Dar, I love you.”

  “Mer,” I protested, pulling my arm back. If I stayed this close to her, she would surely get the wrong idea. She gripped my leg and nestled herself closer into me. My whole body screamed, it felt so wrong to hug her again. I didn’t want her with, not anymore. For real this time.

  “Dar, I want you. Only you.” Her grey eyes softened and the silver specks I used to count reappeared. There was something utterly captivating about her gaze, and as a sucker, I couldn’t get out of her grip.

  “What about Rocco?” I asked, hoping it would make her stop if she remembered her boyfriend.

  “I told you, I don’t love him. Not like I love you. You’re special to me.”

  She confused me, why did she toy with my head? Why did she have a boyfriend if she didn’t love him? Why did she claim to love me still? I knew that wasn’t the case. And it didn’t matter, I didn’t want her. I just wanted Danny, only Danny.

  I tried to push her off of me, but she dug her nails into my leg and coiled herself tighter around me. “I love you, Dar Dar. Love me back, please?”

  “I can’t…” I couldn’t breath. She was suffocating me with her clinginess. Why did she do this to me? This couldn’t be love, could it?

  No, it wasn’t. I knew it wasn’t. Not after seeing how Danny treated JP and Regan. There was a mutual respect, support, and two-sided communications. Their relationship was nothing like how ours used to be. Ours was possessive, consuming, obsessive, exhausting. And it was nothing like love.

  “Mer, I don’t—“

  “Shhh, just be silent, Dar Dar. You know you want me.”

  “Mer, I’m not—”

  “Love me back, Dar, I’m yours and you’re mine.”

  I tried to get her off of my lap, but she had tangled herself around me like a boa constrictor.

  “Love me,” she hissed in my ear, flicking her tongue against my lobe.

  “Darren?” We both looked up and vomit hit the back of my throat.

  “Danny.”

  Her eyes widened as she looked at us, no doubt coming to a conclusion that didn’t reflect the situation at all. She clenched her jaw and scoffed. “So this is what you meant by ‘royal affairs’? You could’ve just said so, Darren.”

  I managed to shove Mer off of me and ran behind her. “Wait, Danny. It’s not what it looked like.”

  “Hah, like I haven’t heard that one before.”

  “I promise, it wasn’t. Let me explain…”

  Danny stopped and glared at me, her eyes blazing with fire. “Look, when I said before that you weren’t my possession, I meant it. But that doesn’t mean you can go behind my back and screw anything you want. It doesn’t work that way, Darius.”

  Before I could reply, she stormed off into the gardens. Someone on my right cleared his throat and I found my friends watching the spectacle unfold.

  “I think you should leave her alone,” Ashleigh said, holding up her hand as I tried to follow Danny.

  “I-I’ll go a-after her.” JP pointed backwards and quickly jogged behind her. Good, at least she had someone with her. I looked at Aspen, but he just shook his head in disappointment.

  “Not cool, Darren.”

  Regan tapped my shoulder and pointed towards the castle. “Follow me.”

  I grimaced and stared wistfully in Danny’s direction. But when a man like Regan asked to follow him, that was what you did.

  Dear gods, I hoped he wouldn’t punch me.

  Chapter 7. Regan

  With dread, I joined Regan at the koi pond. I prepared myself for a good talking to, but then again… Regan wasn’t really a talker. Would he just punch me in the gut and throw me in the pond?

  I would actually deserve that.

  “She really likes you.”

  Stunned, I stared at the man next to me. That wasn’t what I expected to come out of him.

  “O-Okay?”

  He crouched down and broke the water surface with a gentle ripple. He dipped his fingers into the pond and tickled one of the bigger koi. I held back a smile as I watched him.

  Even though Regan looked like a brute, he had a gentle side to him that I was sure Danny brought out of him. He splashed some of the water onto a lotus flower and threw a handful in his face.

  “Was that her?” He asked, pointed back at the gazebo where Mer was still sitting.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your first mate.”

  Surprised, I sat down next to him. “How did you know?”

  He shot me a mysterious smile and tapped his chest. “I saw it. Your memories. Back in the castle.”

 
I squinted my eyes as I racked my brain. Did he mean when I temporarily broke my connection with my locket and begged it to help Regan?

  “I recognised her grey eyes.”

  Regan was full of surprises. Weeks had passed since that incident, he had never hinted that something else than a power shift happened that day. I wondered what else he saw.

  “Her name is Meredith. We used to be together, before... “ Hesitantly, I stared into the sky. “Before I ran away.”

  “Did she hurt you?”

  I laughed harshly and ran both my hands through my hair. “She broke my heart multiple times.”

  “No, did she harm you?” he asked, pointing at the scar on my upper arm. I traced the silver line and shook my head.

  “No, never in that way. This was from a tree falling accident.”

  Regan stared at me, silently asking me to go on. I sighed and figured there was no use in hiding my past from them. Not if I really wanted to be part of the group.

  “But yes, she did torment me. Mentally. She liked to control me like her little puppet. And I fell for it every time because I loved her.”

  I stared at his dark face and cringed internally. I knew that it was hard to explain how exactly Mer used to torture me. Whenever I gave examples, they all sounded so petty. Nobody had ever taken me serious when I told her she was abusive and dominant. They all laughed, patted me on the back, and told me I was a strong man and she was just a frail little woman. I just needed to ‘man up’. Only Leander had believed me and helped me escape her claws.

  And then I just fled and denied she or I existed. If I never got close to anyone ever again, nobody would ask me about her. And yet, with meeting Danny, the exact opposite happened.

  But what if Regan didn’t believe me? If he didn’t, and Danny didn’t, my relationship with her or my friendship with the group was over. Done. I’d be all on my own again, just how Mer liked it. She really was an expert in getting people to cut me off.

  Regan patted my back and sighed. “That’s tough.”

  “I know it sounds ridiculous, but she isn’t as innocent as she looks. It’s hard to believe, yes, but—”

  He held up his hand and cut me off. “I believe you.”

  Relief I never experienced before crashed into my chest and tears jumped in my eyes. He believed me? Just like that, without me having to explain everything in detail? Without the disbelieving eyes and the mocking scoffs? I swallowed and drew in a fresh breath of air. “You do?”

  Regan nodded and tapped his chest. “I felt the anguish. In here.” He gave me short smile and then went back to playing with the fishes. I stared at him, wondering if he was going to say more, but after a couple of moments, it seemed unlikely. Mindlessly, I brushed my own hand through the water and wondered what I needed to do now.

  Even if Regan believed me, I still needed to explain this to Danny. I needed her to know she was the only person I wanted.

  “Thank you?” I muttered, trying to jolt a new conversation.

  “Sure.” He dug a pouch out of his pocket and the scent of dried meat hit my nose. “Here.”

  Surprised, I accepted a bit of jerky. “What is that for?”

  “Friends share.”

  A smile curled up the corners of my mouth and a warmth spread through my chest as I chewed on my piece of meat. “Friends?”

  “Yeah.”

  I shook my head in amusement and grinned. It had been a long time since I had friends. No, since friends had me. After all, I had considered the whole gang as friends for a while now, but I hadn’t been sure if they saw me in the same light.

  For a moment or two, Regan and I just sat together by the water. Every now and then, he splashed some water up at a flower or tickled a koi. He handed me another piece of jerky and I gladly accepted. After all, he was my friend.

  Regan cleared his throat and pointed at two figures appearing from the garden. “JP worked his magic.”

  “He’s a smart man,” I agreed, staring at the two slender forms. They were casually strolling back to us and I didn’t detect any tension coming from Danny. He really must’ve calmed her down.

  "You should mate her."

  I jerked up at Regan's word, unsure if I heard him right. How did he...

  "I know,” he added, biting another piece of meat.

  "How?" I asked, pulling my wolf as far back as I could. It was one thing being in a relationship with Danny, being her second mate was a whole other story. And let alone mating. I didn’t want her to know, I didn’t want that to be the reason she was with me. I’d been so careful not to show how my wolf gravitated towards her, so how did he find out?

  "The bond,” he smiled, tapping his chest again.

  "And you're okay with it?" I asked, surprised Regan had known for weeks but had never brought it up.

  He scratched the side of his face. "Why not?"

  I ran a hand through my hair, processing the new information. Regan knew I was really Danny's second mate. No, not just knew... He approved?

  "I... I don't know, I figured you would be mad if you found it."

  "No.” Regan shrugged, like always, not using a lot of words. But by the gods, I wish he would explain.

  "Why not?" I asked again, trying to wrap my head around it. What had I done that Danny's first mate really accepted me as one of them?

  He stared at me, almost taken aback. "She loves you."

  "And that's enough?"

  "Yes." He frowned, looking genuinely confused by my insecurity.

  "But mating with an already mated wolf. That's unheard off," I protested.

  He gestured at us. "All of it is.”

  I rubbed my face, not understanding why Regan was so okay with this. Mated wolves didn't remate, not without overwriting their bonds. I couldn't risk her connection with Regan, not because my idiot of a wolf still whimpered every time he heard Mer’s call. No, that was not the right reason to mate with Danny.

  Regan nudged, drawing my attention to the scenery in front of us. JP brushed a strand of Danny's firey hair from her face and I could tell she just melted from his touch. She giggled as he whispered something in her ear and like a lovestruck cub, she batted her eyelashes at him. They were adorable.

  JP definitely defused the tension.

  "Jealous?" Regan asked, his eyes boring into me.

  Was I? Jealous? Of what?

  "Of them? No. Why would I be?"

  "I used to be," Regan admitted.

  My mouth fell open. Regan, Danny's first mate, used to be jealous of JP? "Why?"

  "She loves him. But he has no wolf, no bond, no claim." He stared in front of him and pushed his hair back. "When we mated, I felt it.”

  "And that made you jealous?"

  "No, I stopped. She loves us equally.”

  "Oh."

  He placed his hand on my shoulder, almost reassuringly. "You too,” he spoke, almost smiled even. "Mate her." And with those words, he got up from the pond and joined Aspen and Ashleigh by the castle, leaving me with my thoughts. And I wondered, how I possibly could convince Danny that this was all a mistake. That I wanted just her and only her.

  Chapter 9. Danny

  Hesitantly, I stared at the horizon. The sun was just setting, but I wasn’t sure whether Danny would actually show or not. I guessed I couldn’t blame her if she didn’t.

  Why did I let Mer get to me? I knew she was bad for me, I knew she was evil and just liked to toy with my emotions. And still… A first mating bond wasn’t easy to shake.

  “The gardens are beautiful at night.”

  My heart jumped up and I turned to find my beautiful redhead. She came!

  “Danny, you’re here.” I dried my clammy hands on my pants and presented her with the golden peach from Ma’s tree. “For you.”

  She chuckled as she accepted the fruit. “Most people bring flowers to a date, but you’re brought me a nectarine?”

  “It’s a peach. I got it from my mother’s tree.”

  “Oh… Then thank
you?” she smiled, sniffing the sweet scent of the fruit. “It smells good.”

  “Taste it.”

  “Right now?”

  I shrugged and grazed my hand over the small of her back, guiding her towards the centre of the garden. “Why not?”

  “Okay then, you weirdo,” she teased, but I could tell she wasn’t really weirded out. She took a big bite from the peach and the juice and aroma danced into the flowery night. “Oh my gods, this is delicious.”

  Oddly proud, I nodded and gestured her to eat more. I didn’t have to ask her twice. Happily, she took another bite and bliss stretched across her face.

  “Darren, this is amazing. Your mother grew them?”

  I smiled in confirmation, recalling my childhood. The whole memory was entangled with the scent of peaches and the laughter of Ma.

  “That’s incredible. Can I thank her later?”

  “Ummm, she passed a couple of years back.”

  Danny gasped, her hand flying to my arm. “Shit, I didn’t realise. I’m sorry.”

  “No, it’s okay. You didn’t know.”

  She stared from the peach at me and back at the fruit. As if she realised something important, she smiled and quietly ate the rest of the sweet flesh. She licked the pip clean and put it in her pocket.

  “Did you just put the pit in your dress?”

  My redhead smiled and nodded. “Yes, so maybe someday, we can have a peach tree of our own.”

  A lump formed in my throat and tears stung in my eyes. “Do you mean that?”

  She nodded and curled her arm around mine. “I do, yes.”

  “So you’re no longer mad?” I asked, hopefully. I couldn’t bear the thought of her being upset with me. Not over Mer. I couldn’t let my ex ruin another beautiful thing.

  “Regan explained it to me. I’m sorry that I overreacted.”

  “Wait, why are you apologising? I’m the one who should be sorry. I should’ve known she was putting on a show again.”

  “I jumped to a conclusion and didn’t even let you explain. That wasn’t very nice of me.”

  Baffled by her patience and honesty, I stared at the red-haired beauty next to me. Was she really with me?