Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“What?”
Myka sat back, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper.
“When he found out about this,” Myka said, holding the paper to her.
Selene grabbed the paper, bringing it into her sight line. A chill ran down her spine, and her chest tightened as she saw the scout’s original report.
“I was surprised when I saw the team from Bustling Bush running toward us,” Myka said. His elbows were on his knees, and he stared down at his hands. “But I was so thankful I didn’t think too much about it then.”
He let out a soft chuckle, licked his lips, and took a deep breath.
“Dane carried Stefan on his shoulders while I carried you,” he continued. “We hiked down the mountain for two hours without stopping. After Sadie told me that the creature had come out of the lake, I pushed them to keep going even after they were worn down and hurting in order to gain as much distance as possible.”
Selene closed her eyes. She swallowed painfully as silent tears fell.
“That was when they found us,” he sighed. “A whole team of them. Emergency responders, ready and able to help us all get back down the mountain, quick and clean.”
Myka sat back in his chair. He crossed his arms, clenching at first as he felt the sting of his wounds.
“We made it to our car and followed them back here to their territory,” he said. “As soon as we got here, there they were, waiting. A medical team from Summer.”
He nodded to himself and gave a bitter smile.
“I’m not the smartest guy in the world,” he said. “But even I knew that something wasn’t right about that.”
Selene took a deep breath, holding her jaw shut tight to keep from letting out the mournful cry that was building in her chest.
“Still,” he continued. “If they hadn’t been here, Stefan would have died.”
Her eyes shot open, and she turned to look at him. His jaw clenched, his nostrils flared as he took a deep breath through his nose.
“The wounds that covered his body, from the tail of that thing… they had that stuff in them too. The acid.”
Selene took a shaky breath. Then, a soft sob escaped her lips.
“Putting your armor on him kept him alive during the travel time,” he said. “It’s why you got as bad as you did. Nothing was stopping it from seeping into the deeper layers of skin. If we had taken it off him without a medical pin to replace it….”
Myka paused. He took a deep breath and pushed it out.
“Stefan,” he sighed. “Is going to be all right.”
Selene closed her eyes, thanking everything and anything that might be able to hear her.
“Sadie, too,” he said. “Her wounds were treated; she will be sore for a week or two, but she’ll recover. Stefan… has a long road to travel, but he will come out of it with no more than scars.”
Selene turned her head to look at him.
“Myka…”
He looked away.
“I understand…” he whispered, swallowing the heavy feeling in his chest. “I know how badly you miss Alexander. How much you want to find him.”
Selene chewed her bottom lip as she listened to him.
“If it was Peter…” he whispered.
Myka closed his eyes and shook his head. He remembered the feeling that had come over him when he saw Peter in danger… when he saw Sadie and Stefan in danger. The blinding rage and desperation.
The roots, the creature by the lake. It wasn’t a request for their help. It was a demand. He had imposed his will on them. He had used the vines to crush the hybrid that threatened his mate, and he had felt the strength of his claws as he tore open the monster that threatened his children.
He understood exactly why she had done what she had done.
“I thought…” she whispered. “I thought I would be able to keep them safe.”
Myka clenched his jaw.
“I know,” he said.
Myka stood from the chair.
“The children and I will be returning to Winter,” he said. “Peter will be able to treat my wounds, and now that Stefan has had the worst of it taken care of, he will be able to take care of him as well.”
He turned and moved to the door. He stood before it without even reaching for the handle.
“You’re being taken back to Summer,” he said.
Selene’s heart began to thump wildly, and her breaths became thick. Finally, she turned and stared at the ceiling as the tears gathered in her eyes.
“They are the only ones that can treat your stomach,” he said.
“I don’t want to go there…” she said in a pained whisper.
Myka closed his eyes. He felt the pain in her words. He knew how hard it would be for her to return to where they had started a life together, to the place filled with endless reminders of him.
“You’ve left yourself no choice this time,” he sighed.
Selene closed her eyes.
“I didn’t think… I didn’t think it would be this bad,” she said. “I swear, I never thought anyone would get hurt.”
“I know, Selene,” he said, looking down. He took another deep breath. “I don’t blame you. I knew how desperate you were, and I knew there was something you weren’t telling me.”
He paused, thinking of the children, of their laughter around the campfire. Then he thought of the moments when he had felt uneasy and how he had ignored that feeling.
Myka swallowed down the lump in his throat.
“I chose to bring the kids into this. So, I don’t blame you, Selene,” he said. “And I really do understand…”
Myka turned, looking at Selene lying on the bed, tears running down the side of her face as she squeezed her eyes closed. He hated that she lied, but he truly wasn’t angry at her. Instead, he could recognize that she tried to take steps to keep them safe and that she had realized her mistake in the end and tried to get them back home.
But when he thought of Sadie, of Stefan, he couldn’t look at her the same way.
“I can’t help you anymore, Selene,” he said quietly. “I have to focus on my family now.”
A fresh stream of tears fell from her eyes. Myka felt a painful grip on his heart.
“This isn’t what he would want, Selene, none of this,” he said. “You said he would be disappointed if you had found him in Moonguard. I think you’re right.”
Selene squeezed the blankets between her fingers and held tightly to the painful feeling growing in her chest.
“I think he would be disappointed to see you like this,” he said. “To know how much you’re hurting yourself.”
Selene heard the door close behind him, and there was no reason left to hold back the sobs that threatened to choke her.
They stayed in Bustling Bush for two days.
When they first arrived from Moonguard, the Summer team had gotten to work on caring for Stefan and Selene. Luckily, they had the supplies to treat them immediately. Still, Selene would need much more than what was available in Bustling Bush.
The doctor that had tended to Stefan told Myka that it would be best if he went to Summer as well, but Myka wanted to take him home. After calling on a favor from Bell, it was decided that Stefan could return to Winter and be put in Peter’s care.
Two medical trucks were sent from Summer, one to bring Selene back, the other to take Stefan to Winter with the supplies Peter would need to treat him.
One of the Bustling Bush wolves volunteered to drive the other children back home while Myka rode with Sadie and Stefan.
Stefan was strapped into the bed attached to the wall of the truck. He was kept on an IV that fed him antibiotics and painkillers. He had only been awake for a few minutes over the two days they had been in Bustling Bush.
When he woke the first time, he could only cry out in pain. The threat to his life had passed, and he would heal entirely in time, but it would be painful for a while. So, it was decided that it would be in his best interest to keep him sedated for the journey home.
Arriving at the southern border of Winter, Myka felt exhausted. They still had another two hours before they would be home.
He had hardly slept since the attack, and he hadn’t slept at all during the drive. Instead, he kept his eyes on Stefan sleeping in the bed, his tiny body covered in bandages. Meanwhile, his hand stroked Sadie’s hair gently as she slept with her head in his lap.
None of the other children had been injured, and he was thankful for that. But that didn’t stop the ache in his heart as he looked at the two children he had sworn to protect for the rest of their lives.
Myka took a slow deep breath through his nose.
How would he be able to face Peter? Myka had promised that they would be safe. That he would never put them at risk. That promise had been broken. No matter what Selene did or didn’t do, Myka brought them, and it was his job to keep them safe.
But now he was left wondering if they were even safe with him.
Myka could no longer deny what he had already suspected. The power inside of him, the power that the Dark Queen had encouraged him to use, the ability to impose his will on another living creature, felt good.
Taking their power into his hands, using it to crush his enemies, there was a pleasure in that process that disturbed him as much as it stirred him.
He had only taken hold of one creature at a time, the roots, the monster by the lake. But the Dark Queen had held an entire army in her control. For just a moment, Myka had wondered what that must have felt like.
He clenched his jaw as he leaned his head back against the truck. Closing his eyes, he fought to push back the rising doubt and fear in his heart.
The truck took them directly to the hospital. Myka had expected to find Peter waiting for them on their arrival. But when he got out of the car, it was not Peter that greeted him.
“Peter is inside,” Axel said, noting the confusion on Myka’s face. “When we got word that you were almost here, he wanted to double-check that the treatment room for Stefan was properly arranged.”
“There are supplies in the truck that he will need—” Myka began.
“Daddy?” Sadie called from inside the truck.
“I’m here,” Myka replied, hurrying to the door. “Are you okay?”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
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