Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
After leaving Bell and Galen to their own devices in the conference room, Selene took him back to their room. While he was hoping to continue their interrupted morning, she had something else in mind.
Selene gave him his father’s last journal. She explained what it was and where it had been found. At first, he wasn’t sure how to respond. He knew his father had kept journals of his experiments and travels, but this was the last. In this book were his final days.
She had left him alone to read it while she checked in with Nessa. Alexander was grateful but also nervous. He wasn’t sure why the thought of reading this journal filled him with anxiety. But it did.
He took the journal to his office, feeling more in control of himself.
After two hours, he had read every page and looked at every sketch.
He had forgotten about the sketches. His father always loved to add them to his notes. He said it helped him remember the details of his research better. Seeing it in his mind and then repeating the image on the paper was a way of relearning the whole thing from start to finish.
Alexander sighed.
Fae and Werewolf… the same? He didn’t understand how it was possible. But his father was convinced, and somehow Alexander had helped him prove it.
He wasn’t sure how to feel about that or any of it.
Alexander sighed.
This was his father’s last journal, but he had lived for a few weeks still after this. The USB drive must have been the final piece of his research. Whatever Cain had learned, he suspected that Spring and Autumn were already on his trail.
Based on the things that had happened in the past year, Alexander had to assume they had either caught up or were about to.
It was more imperative than ever that they open those files. They needed to know what Cain knew before it was too late.
***
“Can I?” Selene asked.
Alice gave a playful grin.
“I asked you first.”
Selene sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t feel the same way I did about you before; I don’t think you are trying to sabotage our lives anymore. But I also don’t know you very well. So, do I trust that you are completely on my side? No. Do I believe you will never betray me? I’m not sure. Do I think you are my best shot at solving this puzzle?”
Selene paused, she looked at Alice, who watched her attentively.
“Yea, I do.”
Alice laughed.
“You are being honest again,” she smiled. “It’s a good look on you. Holding back isn’t right for you.”
“Thanks…. I think.”
“Mmhmm,” Alice nodded and then looked back to the screen. “As for this, you are correct.”
“About what?”
“I am the best shot at solving this puzzle,” Alice smiled, turning the laptop screen to face Selene. “Since I already did.”
Selene stared at the screen, but all she saw were a lot of letters, numbers, and symbols written in lines all over the page.
“I don’t know what any of that is,” she said. “Shouldn’t there be folders?”
“Well, if this drive held actual documents, yes, it should,” Alice replied. “But that’s not what this is.”
Alice turned the computer back and typed several more commands before pulling the drive and closing the laptop. She handed the USB back to Selene.
“So… what is it?”
“This is a key,” Alice replied. “There is definitely information on there. But the only way to access it is by merging its code with the code of another program. One designed to read this thing.”
“What program? And how exactly could you figure that out when Nessa wasn’t able to after all this time?”
“Well, I doubt Nessa has spent much time snooping in Summer systems and memorizing code sections in different simulations,” Alice sighed. “But at least one of me has. I recognized it pretty quick. Then I just had to do a little digging to create the missing pieces and prep the key for use.”
“So, this is part of a simulation?” Selene asked, remembering the journal mentioning a simulation that Alexander was being trained on.
“It’s connected to a simulation. So, all you have to do is run it while keeping the drive with you. It will connect and show you the message.”
“That’s all?” Selene asked.
“Yea,” Alice replied. “Pretty simple to figure out. As long as you know exactly what you were supposed to do, which simulation it connects to, and have admin rights to the program. I might not have mentioned that only the person who owns the program can actually use the key to see the message.”
“So, Alexander?”
Alice nodded.
Selene took a deep breath and nodded. She suddenly felt a weight easing off her shoulders. There were still things to do and questions to answer, but this was a step in the right direction. She looked at Alice and smiled.
“Thank you,” she said.
Alice grinned and turned away, pretending to be more interested in the wall.
“I had nothing else going on right now,” she replied.
An hour after Selene had left, Axel returned.
He found her staring at the computer screen.
“What are you looking at?” he asked, coming over and kissing the top of her head.
Alice smiled and reached up to him. He leaned down to hug her with his chin resting on her shoulder.
Axel glanced at the computer screen. He wasn’t proficient in computers. He had some basic knowledge, but that was all. What he saw was a blank screen. A white page with a blinking cursor.
“What is this?” he asked.
Alice swallowed.
“I’m not sure…” she said softly. “I think… I was trying to make something. But… the how got away from me.”
Axel clenched his jaw. He kissed her cheek and smiled.
“Let’s find something else to do, alright?”
“I helped your sister,” Alice said. “I solved her puzzle.”
“What puzzle?” Axel asked.
“It was a computer puzzle,” Alice replied. She swallowed before speaking again. “I was able to do that… but now….”
She stared at the blinking cursor.
“I don’t know what I was trying to do.”
“Come on,” Axel said, pulling her to stand.
Alice stood and turned to look up at him.
Axel smiled and touched her chin.
“The doctor said you needed to rest,” he whispered. “The more you overwork yourself, the worse it will get.”
“Until it’s the worst,” Alice smiled with tears in her eyes.
“No,” Axel shook his head. “No. He said that it could be temporary. The blood Bell gave you has already healed more than they expected.”
Axel held her face in his hands, gently stroking her jaw with his thumbs.
“We’re going home, Alice, and you’re going to rest,” he said. “In time, you’ll get better.”
Alice leaned into his hand and smiled. She took a deep breath.
“No rest for the wicked, sweet boy. I still haven’t given you my report on the rogues.”
***
Once Selene had explained what Alice had told her, and he had gotten over the shock of Selene asking Alice for help. Alexander had immediately taken her to one of the simulation rooms.
“My dad was the one that originally designed the program you saw when you were here for the exchange,” he said as it was loading up. “He told me there had been rumors of fae sightings. He was worried that someday they might come back.”
The forest scene loaded around them. The Treant she had seen massacre the first team appeared before her eyes. She gasped, remembering the attack in Winter.
Because of this simulation, she and many others survived that night. If she hadn’t witnessed the team’s mistakes and learned from them, she had no doubt she would have died. Even with the aid that Alexander and his wolves had provided.
“It’s alright,” Alexander whispered. “I adjusted the settings to peaceful; he won’t attack.”
Selene nodded.
Alexander looked around at the scene, but nothing was happening. It all looked the same to him.
“I don’t get it,” he whispered. “Am I supposed to do something?”
“She just said to start the program and that you would be the only one able to access the message. Maybe you need to be holding it?” Selene replied, offering Alexander the USB.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?