Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“People change,” Selene sighed.
“Not that much,” Alice replied, the smile remained on her face, but in her voice, it was gone.
Selene looked up, meeting Alice’s eyes.
Maeve looked between the two women. She could feel the tension growing between them. Selene was desperate to keep her secret, and Alice was suspicious of what she was hiding.
Maeve stepped toward Alice, placing herself between the two women, slightly blocking Selene.
“I was the one that attended in Selene’s place,” Maeve said, smiling at Alice, “did Alpha Rosen have any complaints?”
“Complaints?” Alice smiled at Maeve, “I trained you myself. How could there be any complaints?”
“So then… no problems, right?” Maeve said.
“You did well, Maeve,” Alice said. “But the problem is, you were not assigned that meeting.”
“What’s the big deal?” Selene asked. “It was a basic check-in. You already said she did fine, and there were no complaints, so why are you making an issue of this?”
Alice touched Maeve’s elbow, signaling her to step aside, but Maeve hesitated.
“It’s okay,” Selene whispered, touching Maeve’s back.
Alice let out a gentle scoff and smiled as Maeve stepped aside.
“Selene, your personal life is your own,” Alice began with a far less cordial tone than before, “what you do… when, where, who… I could care less.”
“Good, then we understand each oth—“
“But,” Alice interrupted, “you asked me…. No… you begged me… to take Maeve under my wing and train her.”
Selene furrowed her brow.
“What does that—” she began to ask.
“Maeve,” Alice interrupted Selene’s question.
Maeve looked at her.
“Yes?”
“Is Selene lying to me?” Alice asked, keeping her eyes locked on Selene.
Maeve swallowed. She looked at Selene and back at Alice as she considered what to say and how to say it.
“She… is here for personal reasons…” Maeve replied carefully. “That’s true.”
Alice let out a slow breath, closing her eyes. After a moment, she swallowed and opened her eyes before taking another step toward Selene.
“Half-truths and misdirection….” Alice whispered. She clenched her jaw as her eyes grew bright with anger. “Is this what we agreed to?”
‘I am trusting you, Selene… you understand how significant that is, don’t you?’
Selene’s eyes widened with understanding as Alice’s voice called out from the past. Now she realized her mistake.
“I think maybe we all need to calm down a bit, yea?” Maeve said, carefully beginning to move to separate them if needed.
“Maeve,” Selene said, keeping her eyes on Alice, “we’re fine. Stay where you are.”
“No offense, but Alice doesn’t seem all that fine,” Maeve replied softly.
Alice did not respond, no quip, no smile. Which only unsettled Maeve even more.
“That’s because Alice is misunderstanding the situation,” Selene said.
“Am I?” Alice replied flatly. “Please, enlighten me.”
Selene took a slow breath and moved toward Alice.
“I know what you are worried about,” she said softly, “this is not that, I promise.”
Alice gave a gentle scoff.
“Should I just take your word for it?” Alice asked.
“You said you would trust me, didn’t you?” Selene asked. “Give me the benefit of the doubt here, okay?”
Alice clenched her jaw.
“I already have,” Alice said. “When I didn’t question you about the meeting a week ago. When I didn’t come here that day and when I waited patiently to hear anything from you at all.”
Selene swallowed as Alice stepped even closer. They were only inches apart now. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, but she could hear Alice’s heart beating in a calm and steady rhythm. The steadiness unsettled Selene.
“But two days ago, to my genuine surprise, Maeve suggested rescheduling our meeting,” Alice’s eyes flared angrily. “I don’t like surprises, Selene.”
It was at this moment that Selene realized something very unexpected. The anger in Alice’s eyes and words was layered with disappointment.
She considered all that Alice had said. One year ago, they had made an agreement. More specifically, Alice had agreed to Selene’s request and, in doing so, had decided to trust in Selene.
[ 1 YEAR AGO ]
“No.”
“No?” Selene questioned with surprise. “What do you mean no?”
Alice tilted her head and smiled as she leaned back into the oversized chair behind the desk.
“You made a request, and I answered that request,” she replied.
“But you answered with a no,” Selene said.
“Yes,” Alice nodded.
“Why not yes?” Selene asked.
“Because the answer is no,” Alice smiled.
Selene closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it back out slowly through her nose. It was always like this with Alice. Back and forth, never agreeing on anything. She had known the chances were low that Alice would agree to her request, but it didn’t make it any less bothersome.
“Why?” Selene asked.
“You already know why,” Alice sighed. She stood up from the desk and began to move away. “Now, I need to get back to the children, or Axel will use my absence as an excuse never to stop playing or get back to work.”
Alice was almost at the door when Selene called out.
“Alice, wait!” Selene shouted. “I brought her with me. At least… at least meet her.”
Alice stopped and let out a sigh.
“Then you can decide for yourself,” Selene said. “Wouldn’t that meet your requirements?”
When Selene decided to bring Maeve to Winter to learn from Alice, she knew it was a long shot.
Alice had begun training wolves of all packs in information gathering and self-defense two years earlier. But she had specific rules and requirements for any wolf that would train under her. The most important rule was that she picked every one of them herself.
If a pack were interested in having a wolf trained, the Alpha would send a request. Alice would research the pack in her own way and then decide who would make the best candidates. At this point, she would meet with the candidates to test and interview them before deciding.
Once Alice had picked her wolf, the Alpha could approve or reject the decision, but a rejection meant that she would train no wolf from the pack.
Alice took a deep breath before turning back to face Selene. She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Do you understand why I select my wolves the way I do?” Alice asked.
“To find the ones that have the most natural talent for the job you are training them to do,” Selene replied.
Alice smiled.
“Is that why you think this girl… Maeve, was it?” Alice asked.
Selene nodded.
“Is that why you think I should teach her? Because she has a natural talent for the job?” Alice asked.
“I think that she has potential, yes,” Selene replied. “I think if she wanted, she could learn almost anything she put her mind to.”
“Hmm,” Alice nodded, observing Selene. “But you specifically came here to ask me to train her. So, you must think that she has something to offer this job in particular, right?”
Selene nodded her head. She was confident that Maeve could excel at anything she wanted.
“And what is the job that I train these wolves for?” Alice asked.
Selene furrowed her brows and stared back at Alice.
Alice continued to smile. She tilted her head.
“I’m so curious about your answer, Selene,” she said with a gentle chuckle. “Truly, I am on pins and needles with anticipation.”
Selene wasn’t sure what Alice’s goal was or what she expected her to say, but it was clear that she was trying to trick her.
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?