Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“A reasonable request, Alpha of Winter,” she said. “I am a Priestess of the Goddess, summoned by a call for aid.”
“From whom?” Axel asked.
Lian gave him a gentle but warning smile.
“Now you are asking me to explain myself?”
Axel sighed and shook his head. He wanted an answer, but something about the faded crescent moon on her forehead eased his mind.
“This man,” Axel began, motioning toward Roman, “has entered my territory intending to take one of my wolves against her will. He then attacked my guests and myself.”
“I came for my mate!” Roman corrected with a thick and heavy growl. “And I was not the one who began the attack.”
“I did not ask you, misguided son of Autumn,” Lian replied to Roman.
Roman growled back at Lian, but she only turned her attention back to Axel.
“Is it true he comes for his mate?” she asked.
Axel sighed.
“Yes, his mate has been under the protection of Winter for six years. She ran from him in order to survive.”
“Bell,” Lian nodded in understanding.
“See!” Roman shouted. “He admits she belongs to me.”
“The wolf Bell does not belong to you,” Lian replied immediately. “Nor anyone else.”
“The Goddess gave her to me!” Roman snarled.
“You lack understanding of the Goddess’s will or the gifts she has bestowed!” Lian said in a voice layered in strength and authority.
Roman took quick, angry breaths.
“No wolf is given to anyone!” Lian snarled. “The bond is a promise that you are not alone, none of you. That someone can feel your pain, your sorrow, your joy.”
Lian was angry. Selene had only ever witnessed her calm, her concern. It felt unnerving to see the change in her.
“Your mate was never meant to be your victim,” Lian spat at Roman.
‘Why does it feel personal?’ Selene wondered as she listened to the way that Lian spoke to Roman. As though he had personally offended her, insulted her.
Roman clenched his jaw and stared with rage-filled eyes at the Priestess.
“You have been deemed unworthy by the Goddess,” Lian said to him.
Roman growled.
“Bell has been bonded to the whole of Winter. So long as she stays, the Goddess no longer recognizes the bond you share with her.”
“You can’t just–” Roman argued through gritted teeth.
“You have no business here,” Lian stated firmly.
“Who the hell do you think you are!” Roman growled.
He shifted into his wolf, a large black monster with ragged tufts of white and grey. He snarled and growled as he ran and leaped forward at the Priestess.
She turned her attention to him, staring him down as he ran toward her. Then, lifting her hand, the wind around him picked up. He was jostled from side to side and lifted off the ground before being unceremoniously dropped.
He let out a painful yelp and then scrambled to his feet. Then, growling and snapping, he tried for her again.
This time a sharp, fast breeze cut at him like knives until he backed away from her and shifted back into his human form. Gashes of red appeared along his face and arms.
Lian stared at him with a face of calm. But her eyes held grief and anger that only served to heighten the irritation that Roman felt.
Once more, he recklessly charged at her. But this time, she didn’t even allow him one step.
She slowly closed her hand into a fist, staring at him with hatred.
As he kept his eyes on her, he felt a weight on his legs, shoulders, and back. His entire body was groaning and crying out as it seemed that the gravity around him had increased to the point that he could not move, talk, or even breathe.
Lian stepped forward.
“Alpha of Winter,” she called.
Axel, who had stood by and witnessed in both fascination and horror the events unfolding before him, suddenly realized she was talking to him.
“Yes?” he replied, moving toward her.
Lian looked back at him. Axel couldn’t help but notice that she seemed tired now and that her hair was no longer the pure jet black she had arrived with. Instead, now there were small streaks of grey scattered throughout.
“The bond that we placed for Bell within this land remains strong. But she must stay here. Beyond your borders, this creature will be able to claim her.”
“What’s going to stop him from returning now that he knows she’s here?” Axel asked.
“If the Alpha of Winter wishes it, I can help you seal this land from him. If you swear an oath to the Goddess that Bell will be safe here. That she will be honored, respected, and treated with care.”
“Absolutely, without hesitation, I swear it,” Axel replied. “Bell is like a sister. Her safety is essential to me.”
“Good,” Lian replied. “Then I will I seal this land from Roman of Autumn. He will no longer be able to enter this territory so long as your oath remains.”
“How can we thank you?” Axel asked.
“Do not,” Lian replied. “I am glad that Bell will be safe.”
Lian glanced back, catching Selene’s eye with a look of disappointment.
“But I should never have been called here.”
“What do you–” Axel began to ask, but Lian was already gone, and so was Roman.
He furrowed his brow and turned in a circle, looking into the trees but didn’t see either of them. Then, as he searched the ground, he was heartbroken to find that his braid was also gone.
Selene hid behind the tree until Axel was distracted and quietly hurried away toward the hospital. She put the look that Lian had given her into the back of her mind and avoided thinking too hard about it.
***
About a mile beyond the southern border of Winter, Roman fell to the ground, landing heavily and rolling a few feet before coming to a stop.
He coughed and spat as he tried to get to his knees.
“From this point forward, you will never be able to set foot inside the territory of Winter. Attempting to do so will only return you to this spot,” Lian explained.
“You have no right!” Roman shouted.
“I do not care to speak with you,” Lian said with disgust in her voice.
Roman narrowed his eyes.
“Why do you act as though you know me? As though I have done something to you?” Roman asked. “I know all the faces of the ones I’ve hurt… yours is not among them.”
“Because I do know you and all those that remain in Autumn. It is not you alone that I find disgusting and disturbing. But the whole of it,” Lian scoffed. “What a disappointment.”
Roman growled, but the wind around them began to swirl and move. He covered his eyes, and then it was gone. And so was she.
Bell and Galen were both admitted for the night. Galen had a concussion and several minor injuries.
Bell had yet to wake up after being brought in by Saul. But the doctors all felt that it was simply a response to the renewed trauma and her body’s natural way of protecting her mind and the baby from the stress.
They felt there was no reason to be concerned but kept her closely monitored.
Wyatt had Galen’s bed moved into the same room as Bell, so he wouldn’t worry about her too much.
Alexander had been seen and cleared, just a few small injuries, nothing spectacular. Fortunately, the same was true of Axel.
Corrine fussed over them all, calling them fools for not sounding an alarm or sending for help.
“I’m going to be sticking around for a few days,” Alexander said. “I know Galen got a little behind in setting up the security system due to some complications at the southern border. But I can help him get that all squared away. So it will only be a few days until it’s up and running instead of another week or two.”
“Thank you,” Axel nodded. “Roman may not be able to enter Winter, but I guarantee that won’t stop him from sending anyone he can to come for Bell.”
“Are we sure he can’t come back?” Alexander asked.
“If it was a Priestess who said it, then it’s a guarantee,” Corrine replied.
Alexander nodded, accepting her word. He had only ever heard what Selene had said about the Priestesses.
“So, what do we know about Roman, anyway?” Alexander asked..
“He’s Bell’s mate,” Corrine said.
“And Tomas’ son,” Wyatt added.
“What?” Alexander asked. This was the first he had heard about it.
Wyatt nodded.
“He also gave me this,” Axel sighed, pointing to the scar on his face.
“What?” Selene jumped up from her chair.
She had remained quiet since arriving at the hospital, just trying to think through all that had happened.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean, he is the one that gave me this scar,” Axel replied.
“I thought you didn’t remember what happened?” Selene asked. “You said it was all a blur, that you only remembered bits and pieces, and none of it made sense.”
“That’s true,” Axel nodded. “Until a few months ago, I didn’t remember much of it.”
“What happened a few months ago?” Alexander asked.
Wyatt and Corrine gave each other a look and then glanced at their children.
Axel sighed and looked at Selene before answering.
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?