Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
Now dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, Selene sat cross-legged on her bed with her hair pulled up into a simple ponytail. She looked up at her mother and then quickly away. She didn’t have a good answer.
“At first, I wasn’t sure what was happening. Then, I thought maybe it was something about the Blood Moon. I hoped it would go away.”
“And when it didn’t?”
“It felt like it was too late then,” Selene sighed, “and Jackson said we didn’t need to tell you. Once we were married, my bond to Alexander would be severed anyway, so there was no point in getting everyone upset over something that didn’t matter.”
Corrine sat down on the bed beside Selene. She took one of her hands and held it. Selene looked away, pushing back the jumbled mess of her emotions, the twisting and turning in her gut.
“It matters,” Corrine smiled, “there was no reason for you to deal with this alone.”
Corrine reached up, turning Selene’s chin, facing each other. Selene swallowed down the swell of emotion that was pushing her to escape. Corrine gave her a soft smile.
“Selene, you are a strong woman. You are the tip of our spear. But that doesn’t mean you have to do everything on your own. We’re wolves. We are always stronger together than alone.”
Selene could no longer hold back her tears. Finally, she collapsed into her mother’s arms and let them flow.
“Oh, baby girl,” whispered Corrine as she held Selene. Patting her back and rocking her as though she were a small child. “It’s ok. Let it out.”
Selene stayed in Corrine’s arms for twenty minutes allowing her emotions to flow out of her in a river of tears. She hadn’t realized how much she had been holding in. But between the moment she shared with Alexander and telling her mother the truth, she felt a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
When it seemed like Selene had begun to calm down, she lay with her head in Corrine’s lap. Then, finally, Corrine decided it was time to broach the subject.
“Selene?” Corrine asked quietly as she petted Selene’s hair,
“Yes?” Selene answered.
“From what you have said, it sounds like finding out about Alpha Alexander hasn’t changed your plans to marry Jackson.”
Selene felt her heart still at her mother’s words.
“But,” Corrine said, “what I witnessed… it makes me wonder.”
Corrine lifted Selene’s chin so they could see each other once more.
“Has something changed between you and Jackson?”
Selene got up from the bed and stepped away from her mother.
“Selene?” Corrine called.
Fiddling with something at her desk, Selene did not respond.
“Honey, what is it?” Corrine asked, concern pouring into her words.
Selene took a deep breath.
‘I can’t tell her,’ she thought to herself, ‘I don’t want her to know how weak I was.’
Corrine stood up from the bed, watching her daughter’s reaction closely.
“Did he do something to you?” she asked carefully.
Selene felt her eyes widen and her heart speed up. Quickly she focused on calming her heart before her mother noticed.
“Things have changed,” Selene said. “For me.”
“Tell me,” Corrine said.
Selene still did not turn around. Instead, she looked at the picture that sat on her desk. The photograph of her and Jackson on his nineteenth birthday. They had only known each other for a few months at that point. But she had never been so happy..
“You’re right,” Selene began. “Jackson and I have never changed our plans. The wedding kept being pushed back for different reasons, and Jackson went along because he didn’t really have a choice. He hated it. He was upset, angry.”
Corrine listened. Selene turned the picture over.
“But,” she said, her voice shaking, tears returning to her eyes. “If I am being honest. After a while, I think I felt relieved each time it was pushed back.”
Her shoulders sagged forward. She hugged herself as the guilt of saying the words aloud ate away at her. Corrine stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Selene.
“It’s ok,” she whispered.
“No, it’s not,” Selene replied sadly.
“Why not? If it’s how you feel, why is it not ok?”
“Jackson is my mate. We have all known that for two years. There have been plans made, his place in our pack, in our family. I can’t just… change my mind. Especially not for Alpha Alexander of all people.”
“Selene, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have concerns about Alpha Alexander. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have feelings for him. Especially if he truly is your mate,” Corrine replied.
“How could we ever… I don’t see how,” Selene sighed.
Corrine pulled away from Selene and turned her by the shoulders gently. Brushing the tears away from her daughter’s cheeks, she smiled softly.
“Do you?” she asked, “Have feelings for Alpha Alexander.”
Selene looked away, but Corrine turned her back.
“It’s time to be honest, my girl. It’s just you and me.”
Selene closed her eyes and took in a shuddering breath. She closed her eyes as another wave of guilt flooded her heart.
“Yes…” she whispered out in anguish, “… I’m sorry.”
Corrine felt her own heart squeeze with pain. She wrapped her arms tightly around Selene.
“Oh, no, no, baby. There is nothing to be sorry about.”
How could she not have seen it, her daughter had been struggling for so long, and Corrine had never noticed.
“I didn’t mean to….” Selene sobbed, “I tried to fight it. Tried to focus my heart only on Jackson.”
“I know, honey, I know you did.”
Corrine thought back over the time that had passed since the Blood Moon. All the times that she had seen Jackson and Selene working extra hard on their relationship. Spending so much more time together than they ever did before.
She had assumed that it was all just their excitement to be married. Jackson had practically begged for the wedding to happen every month since then. He was insistent; it always made Corrine happy to know how much Selene’s mate loved her.
“I have always been true to Jackson, and Alexander has respected that. Even when we first met, he felt the pull just as intensely as I did, but he saw my hesitation. He resisted his urges so that he could know why I was hesitating.”
Selene paused, thinking back to the night of the Blood Moon. As she saw it now, Alexander had always sacrificed for her.
“I made it clear to him that I would not leave Jackson, that I would still only marry him. Alexander was hurt, and though he knew it meant he would remain unmated, he respected my decision.”
Selene thought back to the full moon in Summer, holding him in her arms and speaking to him from her heart.
“I don’t mean to sound critical, Selene,” Corrine said softly, “but what I saw was hardly respectful towards Jackson.”
“I know,” Selene said, quickly adding, “and this has never happened before! I swear!”
“Are you sure your feelings for Alpha Alexander are real? What about Jackson?” Corrine asked. “He is a good man, and he loves you so much.”
Selene reflexively shielded her body with her arms, hugging herself tightly as she remembered how Jackson had grabbed at her. The pain she had felt, the bruising… Selene gasped and quickly pulled up on her shirt, pinning the collar just under her jaw and resting her chin on top of her hand to hold it in place.
The action was not missed by Corrine. She eyed her daughter carefully, trying to catch a glimpse into the eyes that were now actively avoiding her. She looked down at Selene’s hand holding the collar of her shirt so tightly. It was bothering 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?