Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“What I mean,” Bell continued. “Is that it’s not just about you…”
Bell licked her lips, thinking of how she could best explain. She looked at Selene, wondering if she would understand or not.
“You think that everyone has given up on Alexander. That you’re the only one who still believes he’ll come back. But these people…”
Bell paused and sighed before continuing.
“Alexander brought you into this pack. He made you his wife because he loved you,” she said. “But the pack made you their Luna… because they believed in you and all the stories about you.”
Selene lowered her head.
“Why?” she asked.
Bell took a deep breath.
“Because they think they have nothing else…” she said. “Alexander was the last of the first, and you, no matter how direct or indirect, had a connection to the Goddess. You are the only part of the story that remains. Only you can give them the happy ending they are desperate for.”
Selene swallowed and hugged herself.
“They’re just stories…” she said softly. “They’re not true, and I had nothing to do with them.”
Bell smiled sadly.
“You’re right,” Bell whispered. “Those stories were made up about you by people who watched from a distance and interpreted what they wanted.”
Selene nodded her head.
Bell leaned forward, taking one of Selene’s hands and squeezing it gently. Selene lifted her gaze to meet Bell’s. She looked back at Selene with eyes full of affection and warmth.
“Maybe,” Bell smiled softly, “it’s time for you to tell your story.”
758 Everything Has Changed
Two days had passed since Selene’s arrival in Summer, and the events that had led to a scar on her jaw that would remain with her for the rest of her life.
The wolves of Summer were now gathered at her request.
The feeling through the crowd was tense and agitated. Those who had been involved in the fighting were monitored and kept on low doses of sedatives to help ease their anxieties and keep them calm. Still, the eyes in the crowd looked on each other with suspicion.
Selene stepped onto the stage. They turned to look at her. Many faces lit up, hoping she would announce her intention to remain and lead Summer. Others didn’t look up or turned away, not understanding why she was even there.
Galen, Bell, Fiona, and Landon were also in attendance. They remained at the back, allowing Selene to speak without their influence on the crowd.
She stepped forward to the microphone placed for her and cleared her throat.
“Thank you all for coming,” she began. “The past few days have been hard for all of us, and I’m sure many of you would prefer to be at home with your families.”
She saw a few heads nod, heard several scoffs, and the sounds of throats clearing.
Selene took a deep breath.
“I won’t waste your time,” she said. “I wanted to speak with all of you for a specific reason. The full moon is only a few days away, and at that time, Galen will be named Alpha of Summer.”
Murmurs and shouts mixed in the crowd. Selene raised her hand to ask for silence.
“I know some of you don’t agree with the change,” she said. “Some of you believe that I should be the one leading Summer.”
Excited shouts and whistles, as well as growls and boos, rose from the crowd. Again, Selene raised her hand for silence, and the wolves obeyed.
“I didn’t understand before, but I do now…” she said softly, “you long for Alexander, for everything to go back to how it was before the war. And you believe that I can bring it all back…”
She took a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly.
“You gave me your loyalty… your faith. You welcomed me into your home, your family,” Selene spoke clearly as she looked at the faces that stared up at her. “But I never deserved it.”
Murmurs spread throughout the crowd.
“I loved Alexander, I still do, I always will…” she continued. “He is a part of me, and I can still feel him every time I close my eyes.”
Selene closed her eyes.
“I can feel him standing here, right behind me. His hands on my shoulders, giving me the strength to face you all today.”
Selene reached her hand up to her shoulder, smiling as she placed it where his hand would have been. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
In the eyes that looked up at her, she saw a mix of hope, sadness, and confusion. These wolves were lost. They needed someone to lead them. They needed their Alpha. But he was gone, and in his absence, they had clung to her as a way of holding on to him.
“I am his mate, his wife… but I am not… your Luna.”
There were growls, shouts of frustration and anger.
Selene closed her eyes and pushed against the urge to growl at them. Galen was right. They were all scared and in need of guidance.
“You don’t want or need me,” she continued, talking louder to drown out the crowd’s shouts. “I am not deserving of the role. Not three years ago, and certainly not now.”
Selene swallowed and took a deep breath.
“I think I could have been a good Luna…” Selene said gently.
The crowd quieted, watching her expression soften, listening to what she shared.
“Alexander and I… we could have made you all proud. If he were here…” she paused and smiled to herself. “That would have been… a different story.”
Far back in the crowd, Bell smiled to herself.
Selene saw his warm smile in her mind, comforting and cruel. Her eyes felt hot with the tears that filled them. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
After a quiet moment, she looked out at the crowd again. They looked up at her with sympathy and understanding. They missed him, just as she did.
“This pack was everything to him,” she said softly. “His family, his home, his people… all of you… He cherished each and every one of you.”
In the crowd, sniffles and light sobs could be heard. She saw several people looking around at each other, giving each other tender smiles or reaching out to hold hands.
“That is how I know he would hate to see what has happened here,” Selene sighed. “To know that his people were fighting each other, trying to kill each other…”
Many eyes turned down toward the ground, ashamed of their actions.
“That is not what he wanted, what any of the Alphas that have led this great pack would have wanted.”
In the crowd, she saw desperate tears. Looks of fear and confusion.
“I know some of you are scared about what comes next,” Selene continued. “Summer has always been led by a direct descendant of the first Alpha and Luna of Summer. But now… I’m sorry, there is no kind way to say this… it’s over. There aren’t any left.”
Loud sobs and unintelligible cries rang out in the crowd.
“Everything has changed,” she continued over the cries. “The time of the Goddess…”
She sighed.
“It’s done,” she said. “There are no more oaths, no more special powers… even our most basic bonds have weakened.”
The wolves huddled in small groups, supporting each other. Comforting each other. In the back of the crowd, Galen watched. His heart ached seeing so many in pain, but he wasn’t going to stop her. She was telling them the truth. One they needed to hear and understand.
“You have heard stories about the things that I did and could do, about the power that I wielded, with claims that I was chosen by the Goddess herself to save the wolves from destruction,” she continued with a sigh. “Because of those stories, you believe I can do things… that I can’t.”
759 What Summer Deserves
Selene closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“I can’t change the past,” she continued. “I can’t bring back all that is gone. I’m not the Warrior chosen by the Goddess. I’m just me…just Selene.”
She swallowed, her heart aching as she spoke.
“The Goddess, the first Lunas… the ley lines…” she said, halting briefly as her voice shook. “They’re gone. It’s all gone, and there is no reason to keep hoping… no reason to keep holding on so tight to the past.”
She took another breath, pausing to stop the tears before they could fall.
“But still… I do it every day,” she said softly. “I wake up each morning, hoping that time has moved backward. The war hasn’t happened, and there is still time to change it all…”
A mixture of gentle and heavy sobs from the crowd tickled her ears. Selene swallowed. She never had any intention of sharing these thoughts. Not with anyone, especially not an entire pack of people.
But after all she had witnessed, after all she had heard. It was the least she could do for Alexander.
“I have spent three years chasing the past,” she continued. “Ignoring the world around me, the people. I ran away from everything I knew and loved… all so I could keep living in the pain of what I lost.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose, letting it out slowly from her mouth.
“So, I know better than anyone that you don’t want that…” she said softly. “Not for you… not for your families, not for your pack.”
Selene opened her eyes and looked out at the crowd. Tears and silence. Faces drawn down into heavy frowns and exhausted expressions.
She thought back to when she had first arrived in Summer. At the amazement and excitement she had felt. Even though she had considered Summer an enemy pack at the time, she had respected their abilities, their advancements, and their reputation. They were strong, united, and worthy of the reverence paid by all the other packs.
It was a far cry from the Summer she witnessed now.
“Summer was once the best of the four great packs,” Selene said, “the most advanced, the most united, the strongest. But that, too, has changed.
“Now Spring and Autumn are gone. And Winter is the one that remains united, strong, and peaceful. And Broken Crag… once thought of as a pack barely a step above the beasts, leads the way for the wolves of these territories.”
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?