Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
Tomas could hear how he was trying to force him, but even if Tomas wanted to tell him everything, he couldn’t. Telling this man anything would be breaking his oath.
“It’s not the right time,” Tomas finally managed to say.
“Fine,” the voice said. “You have six months to prepare.”
“What?!” Tomas shouted.
“We both know he won’t be able to resist his urges during a declaration of peace,” the voice sighed. “But once the clock has run out. He has a role to play; he will return.”
“Fine.”
“No more surprises, Tomas,” the voice said with warning. “I will have my eye on you from now on.”
The line went dead.
Tomas leaned back against the door and slid down to the floor.
His memories stirred.
Back then, Cain had agreed to work on the project again. Tomas felt on top of the world.
Until he walked into the house.
The smell of blood in the air had been overwhelming. Blood Tomas recognized. He ran to the back room. There she was, lying on the floor, blood covering her face.
Tomas ran to her side and called a medic.
“She knows now.”
Tomas looked back at him. The boy’s hands and shirt were covered in her blood.
“She can never leave me,” the boy said with a wicked grin, highlighted by his fiery eyes of burnt orange.
Even six years later, the memory still haunted Tomas.
Wyatt never knew, but Tomas had been happy to let him take Bell. And no matter what Wyatt did or didn’t do, Tomas never planned on telling that monster where she was.
Selene had spent the better part of the morning before their conversation trying to figure out how to approach the subject of retirement with her father. She knew it was a big decision and one that he wouldn’t be willing to make.
She was shocked by his reaction. He seemed almost relieved by the idea.
Axel, however, was less understanding of the decision.
“This is ridiculous!” Axel shouted angrily.
“Axel, calm down,” Selene said.
“No!”
“You always knew you would be Alpha,” Corrine said calmly.
“Not like this!”
“Would you rather your father died so you could take his place?” Corrine asked.
Axel looked at his mother with disbelief.
“Of course not!” he cried out. “But–”
“Most Alphas never know when it will be their time, and very few have had the opportunity to actually ease into the role,” Corrine interrupted. “You should be grateful.”
“Argh!” Axel let out a frustrated shout.
Axel turned to storm out of the room, but he was blocked by someone standing in the doorway.
“Dad…”
“Axel,” Wyatt said softly. “Come with me. Let’s go for a walk.”
Selene and Corrine looked at each other. Corrine smiled and nodded..
Axel followed Wyatt out the door.
“Is dad really ok with this?” Selene asked as the door closed.
“Come,” Corrine said. “Let’s sit for a moment.”
Selene and Corrine sat down together on the couch. Corrine smiled and took Selene’s hands in her own.
“While you were struggling with your decision about your mate, was it difficult?” Corrine asked.
“Of course,” Selene laughed. “How could it not be?”
“Why was it difficult?”
Selene gave Corrine a look of confusion.
“I didn’t know what to do. I thought I loved Jackson. I thought he was the one I was supposed to be with. But, then, when Alexander showed up, everything was different.”
“Did it feel that much different?” Corrine asked.
“Like night and day,” Selene smiled. “With Jackson, I felt comfort, warmth, like sitting on this couch. It was home.”
“With Alexander…” Selene smiled brightly and sighed, biting her lip without even realizing it.
Corrine laughed, drawing Selene’s attention.
“Exactly like it should feel,” Corrine said.
Selene laughed.
“It felt right,” Selene said softly.
“But you stayed with Jackson,” Corrine said.
Selene looked up at her mother.
“I… already explained…” she said.
“Yes, your duty,” Corrine nodded. “Did your duty comfort you when you witnessed the heartbreak in Alexander’s eyes every time you encountered each other?”
“What?” Selene said, shocked by the comment.
“Did your duty help ease the burden on Jackson’s heart as he struggled, knowing the deeper connection you felt towards Alexander? Even when you claimed to love only him?”
“Mom… I…”
“Was it your duty that mended your own heart each time Jackson treated you like a lesser being for daring to have feelings outside your own control?”
“Why are you saying all of this?” Selene replied weakly, her eyes glistening from the tears that sprang forth.
Corrine gave Selene a gentle smile and squeezed her hand.
“You were right to react how you did to Alexander at the Blood Moon. You were right to postpone the wedding with Jackson. But there came the point, my girl, where you were wrong.”
Selene swallowed down the lump in her throat. She knew she had done so many things wrong. But she didn’t understand why her mother was bringing this up now.
“Could you have continued that charade for years?” she asked. “Could you have lied to the people you love, denied your own sense of right and wrong, let the guilt eat away at you night and day, and still wake up each morning and pretend nothing bothered you?”
Selene had no response to give.
“You and your father are not so different,” she said. “He did the right thing for Bell, but he was wrong to accept the deal Tomas offered.”
Selene looked up at Corrine.
“The guilt has been eating away at him for almost three years,” Corrine said sadly. “Every day, he works harder and harder for this pack. Trying to make up for what he feels is an unforgivable sin.”
Selene chewed her lower lip as her chest swelled with emotion and the tears fell from her eyes.
“Wyatt told himself all these years that he had sacrificed the honor of a dead man for the life of a young woman they both fought to protect,” she continued.
Corrine took a deep breath.
“He has missed Alexander these past few years,” Corrine smiled. “Did you know that Cain wanted the two of you to meet? To see if you might be mates?”
Selene smiled. “Dad mentioned that when he told me what happened to Cain.”
Corrine nodded.
“After he told Alexander about Cain, he said that the two of you should never meet. So he was relieved when you met Jackson, not because you were mated to Axel’s Beta, but because you weren’t mated to Alexander. And you wouldn’t be forced to choose between your father and your mate.”
Selene took in a shaky breath.
“The lives we lost in the rogue attack, and later in the fae attack… they will haunt your father for the rest of his life. He knows it was a mistake not to accept the aid that Alexander offered. But he also knows that he wouldn’t have done it differently.”
Corrine looked up at Selene with a smile.
“When you knew that Alexander was your mate, you still let your duty overrule your heart and chose Jackson. Because of that, you now have an uphill battle to become Luna of Summer, and I would suspect, some things to work through with Alexander.”