Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
Selene turned away. She took a deep breath as she pushed back against the heaviness in her chest and the memories that shook her resolve.
“I’m okay,” she said softly.
“I didn’t mean to pressure you,” Myka sighed. He moved back to sit on the ground where he had previously been. “I just thought… it seemed you had fun with them today. Like you were able to relax a little.”
She looked back at the tents. He was right.
At the start of the day, Selene’s focus had still been on reaching the village, on searching for the answers she needed. But after talking with Stefan, something felt different.
It wasn’t that she had forgotten about her mission or that she had changed her mind. But as they hiked up the mountain, she listened to Myka’s lessons about the plants they passed. As the children laughed and asked questions. She found herself able to breathe a little easier.
For a moment, the pain in her heart had softened.
Around the campfire, she had felt at ease with them. Sharing her stories and listening to their questions and comments. They had laughed and looked at her with sincere and honest faith. It didn’t matter what she said. They believed her.
Selene looked at Myka. They all believed her.
Her chest was tight again. She tried to breathe, but her throat felt like it was shrinking, preventing her from taking in the air she needed. She looked away from Myka.
‘I chose you because I knew you would put the safety of those children above anything else. I chose you because, like your father and brother, you are a hero.’
Selene clenched her jaw and tried to swallow. The painful grip around her heart returned suddenly as though summoned by the memory of Alice’s words.
Why did it feel like the trees were closing in on her? Why couldn’t she get enough air into her desperate lungs? Why did her chest burn?
She stood from her seat, turning toward the trees.
“Selene?” Myka called.
Selene didn’t answer as her pace moved from a quick walk to a jog.
She ran into the trees, taking hungry, greedy breaths as she did. She needed air. She needed to breathe. Every breath was too short, too small.
As she ran, Selene saw that moment in the lab. As Alice stared at Selene while Holden stood between them.
‘No matter what, remember?’ Alice had demanded.
Alice was prepared to die to get those children out of that lab. To give them a chance to live.
Selene tripped over a root, her mind was disoriented, and she couldn’t keep her balance. She fell to the ground, slamming her shoulder against a rock.
She rolled onto her back, still gasping for air. Uncontrolled tears streamed down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut tight.
‘Your father saved my life,’ Stefan’s voice whispered. ‘He was a great man; without him, none of us would have gotten out of Autumn that night.’
Her father had died saving those children.
Selene let out a sob and brought her fist to hit hard against her chest repeatedly. Trying to make the pain stop.
Her breaths were quick and short. She couldn’t get it under control. She couldn’t stop the pain. Why wouldn’t it stop?
‘I have to join the fight,’ Alexander’s voice whispered. ‘No matter how much I want to stay by your side and see this thing through… I can’t ignore what is happening out there.’
Suddenly it all stopped. The pain. The weight in her chest. Selene took slow, heavy breaths as her mind began to clear with one of the last conversations she had with Alexander.
‘You brought Burning Ember into this alliance with one promise….’ She had smiled at him, knowing his reason for leaving.
Alexander nodded, returning the same smile.
‘To keep her people safe,’ he said.
Alexander had left that night, and she hadn’t seen him again until just before they went into the portal. Just before she lost him again.
He made a promise to keep the people of Burning Ember safe, and he had kept that promise. He had risked his life to keep it. Even knowing they might never see each other again.
That’s who he was. That’s who they both were. Who they had always been. But now….
She saw the smiles of the children around the campfire and heard their laughter.
“What am I doing…?” she whispered mournfully.
Selene took in a shaky breath. She closed her eyes as the sobs she had held back for the last two months overwhelmed her.
Myka had tried to run after her, but he couldn’t give chase for long. Though worried, he wasn’t willing to leave the children alone at the camp.
Two hours passed, and he remained at the fire, waiting. He kept his eyes on the trees, looking for any sign of her. He had tried to use his ability to listen for her, but Moonguard was different than other places. It was more difficult to pinpoint individual sounds.
Finally, he saw her approaching from the same direction she had gone. Myka stood up and hurried over to her.
“Selene!” he called. “Are you all right? I was worried.”
She remained quiet as she walked over to the fire. Finally, she sat down without a word. Myka took his seat and waited patiently for her to say anything.
After a few minutes, Selene took a deep breath.
“It’s not here, is it?” she asked softly, her eyes still focused on the fire.
Myka furrowed his brow.
“What’s not here?” he asked.
Selene swallowed. She licked her lips and then looked up at him. Her eyes were red and swollen. It was obvious that she had been crying. Myka felt a tug at his heart. He didn’t know what had happened, but she seemed to be struggling alone again.
“The ley line,” she whispered.
Myka’s eyes widened in surprise. Then, his expression fell as he took a breath and lowered his gaze.
“No,” he replied honestly.
On their arrival at the mountain, Myka felt that it was a different place than most. The sound was unique. After Selene spoke of Leshy, something in him said this was the reason for the difference. This land was connected to that being in a very intimate way.
Though they had yet to reach the village or the mound, Myka knew the ley line was not there.
He tried to listen to the song of nature through the trees, in the earth. Myka began to see a story play out in his mind. Leshy had made an allowance for the Goddess, allowing her mound to exist in these lands. But the ley line had only been connected here for a short window.
Long enough for the Queen to die and her mound to form. Long enough for her Lunas to spirit her away inside the ley line. But once she was gone, Leshy severed the connection which had bothered its rest.
“I’m sorry, Selene,” he said. “I was going to tell you… I just…”
“It’s all right,” she interrupted with a gentle smile. “I wouldn’t have believed you before seeing the mound and village myself, anyway.”
Myka felt as though he had let her down. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he wasn’t sure about it until they had hiked up the mountain. As they made their way up, his connection to the land grew stronger until he could finally hear the entire story.
He knew she would have difficulty accepting his word, so he had planned to tell her after her visit to the village in the morning.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Selene looked back at the fire.
“Am I all right?” she asked herself.
She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as she turned to look up at the stars above.
“I don’t really know,” she sighed.
Myka felt a pang of guilt in his heart. He sat forward and tried to reassure her.
“Just because it’s not here doesn’t mean—” he began.
“I’m not giving up,” Selene interrupted, still looking at the sky. “He’s out there somewhere. But he’s not here.”
She lowered her gaze back down to the fire.
“He can’t be here,” she said.
Myka furrowed his brow.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
He knew, of course, that the ley line was not active in Moonguard. But he could tell that there was some other meaning behind her words. Just as before, he felt uneasy about what she said but without any way to explain it.
“Because if he was here,” she whispered. “He would be so disappointed in me, and I don’t think I could bear it.”
Myka wanted to ask what she meant, but the shine in her eyes and her painful expression made him hesitate.
But ultimately, the sound of Sadie crying out from her tent pulled him away from the conversation. Her nightmares were a regular occurrence, and Myka was used to comforting her. So it didn’t take long to get her back to sleep.
When he returned to the fire, Selene stood waiting for him.
“Thank you,” she said. “For indulging me with this trip. But it would be best if we left the mountain tomorrow.”
“What?” he asked with surprise.
“I would like to visit the village in the morning,” she continued, “but we should be heading back down before midday.”
“We still have a few days left, and the kids—“
“They’ll be disappointed,” she nodded. “But I need you to indulge my selfishness one more time.”
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?