When The Heart Sings

Chapter 23

Darien's POV:

Humoring these humans was not how I had planned to spend my morning. The only reason I was putting up with it was because this one hour would keep them from attempting to search the house. They would have discovered Serena and tried to take her away thinking that I was actually the kidnapper. It would have come to a fight. I would not have let them take her. She was mine.

The fight would have scared Serena, so for Serena's sake and peace of mind, I had gone along with the officers. I was restless with the separation and glanced at my watch, 50 minutes left. They knew I was timing them too.

Instead of having my mate on my lap and wrapped in my arms, I was sitting on a flimsy plastic chair in a small waiting room while they ran my fake ID through their systems. If they wanted to put me in a foul mood, they were succeeding.

Nick sat in another chair gazing at the ceiling in boredom, wishing I hadn't made him drive me. I stifled a growl and clenched my fists as I felt the bond twist sharply. Nick glanced at me in surprise. I demanded, "Is Serena okay? The bond is twisting."

I felt the bond rising up like a tidal wave, bringing a blinding rage and fury with it. I felt like killing something, although I had no idea what. It took a force of will to remain sitting. My vision started to go red even as I watched Nick send a text to someone with a cellphone back at the house.

He glanced back at me and his eyes widened in shock, "Your eyes are going black. Don't lose control in here." He was worried and rightly so, the last time I had felt like this, I had initially lost control in my desire to get to Serena when she was in that lab.

As suddenly as it had come, the bond started to relax and subside. Nick's phone buzzed and he glanced at it, before showing me the screen. Serena says she is fine. That Canadian nature show you put on is featuring top predators and she jumped a few times at some of the clips. Alex isn't even letting anyone in the living room. Carmen and Josh are currently hiding in the garden after he snarled at them for trying to sit on the couch closest to the kitchen.

The picture below had been taken from the kitchen and showed Serena sitting on the couch watching tv. Alex sat in the chair beside her while glaring at the camera. Those two were the only ones in the living room.

I took a deep breath and tried to relax. She was okay. The bond was subsiding again. I wasn't sure why it had surged like that in the first place. Perhaps something had startled her and the bond had overreacted since it hadn't quite finished settling yet and we were so far apart.

Nick watched my eyes and relaxed, "You okay? Your eyes are back to blue. What happened?"

I shook my head since I also lacked an explanation, "The bond suddenly twisted. I have never felt it react that strongly before. It has eased up now, but I had not expected the bond to act like that."

He sighed, "Just hang in there. It will be better for Serena if we can get through this without raising any suspicions and the clearance paper will be worth gold if someone stops you later on."

My reading ability told me that he didn't want to be here anymore than I did. I nodded and shifted in the chair as the plastic twisted slightly under my weight. The stupid thing was so close to breaking it wasn't funny. I couldn't wait until Serena and I were in the mountains together. The presence of the Tarulk in the house had me uneasy. They could easily harm or kill her. Humans were surprisingly fragile and that fact constantly had me worrying about her.

I hadn't told her yet, but I had already purchased a house deep in the mountains. She had told me that she liked gardening and this one had a large well-kept garden. It was the only house on a huge section of land, so we didn't have to worry about neighbors.

She was always so happy for any little gift or gesture, and I knew she would love this house. Considering the little I knew of her past, I knew she treasured anything given to her whether it was just a simple gesture like a smile or an object.

I couldn't wait to see her face when we drove up into the front yard of this place and I got to tell her that it was hers. It was going to be a surprise.