Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
Selene furrowed her brows.
‘I thought it was strange,’ Lily whispered. ‘When they died… they weren’t relieved. They were angry. But not about losing their lives… it was like a defeat. The anger of an enemy bested.’
“I don’t understand,” Selene shook her head.
“These wolves were not forced to become monsters. Instead, it was their reward.”
“What?” Selene asked in disbelief, shaking her head. “No, no, I heard them crying when we arrived.”
“Transformation is not easy and rarely painless,” The Leshy replied.
Selene looked out at hundreds of bodies strewn all over the settlement. She clenched her jaw and looked away.
“You still mourn them,” it whispered, narrowing the small boy’s eyes at Selene. “I do not understand. These wolves chose to become monsters. They knew the goal of annihilating the wolf and then the humans. So they spread the dark corruption from their souls, yet you mourn them.”
Selene scoffed.
“I can’t choose to stop caring about life,” she said. “They stood there as I cut them down, unguarded and defenseless.”
She paused, swallowing and licking her lips.
“Even my enemy deserves a fighting chance.”
The boy tilted his head. Then, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
In the distance, there was a loud rumbling sound, and for just a moment, the earth around them shook. Selene tried to steady herself, then looked up at the boy with wide eyes.
“What was that?” she asked.
The boy lifted his chin.
“The tomb of the Queen has been infested with monsters for years. Recently, even more of these have taken residence there. But they are mindless.
“They walk in circles, and they do nothing without command. If you enter her tomb, they will allow you to pass undisturbed until you reach the center. Then they will all turn on you.”
The boy looked away as if bored.
“The fastest and most efficient method to destroy the tomb was to destroy the monsters while they are unguarded and defenseless,” it said. “But you seem uncomfortable with this.”
Selene was surprised by what she heard.
“Since you have cleared the rot from this land, I can do this small favor for you,” The Leshy replied without looking at her.
Selene lifted her brows in surprise.
“You destroy the mound? The connection to the ley line?” she asked.
The Leshy shrugged its small shoulders.
‘It’s true,’ Lily whispered. ‘I could feel the raw energy of the ley lines before, but it’s gone now. The Leshy severed this connection.’
“Thank you,” Selene whispered. “I truly appreciate your help.”
The Leshy smirked.
“Remember to leave me a gift of bread and salt from time to time to show your appreciation,” it said, “I am returning to my slumber.”
The boy began to walk away.
“Wait!” Selene called to him.
The Leshy turned with curious eyes.
“There are still three more connections to the ley lines. We don’t know their locations. With your help, we could–”
“No,” it stated simply.
“No?” Selene asked.
“No,” it repeated, shaking its head. “I will not aid you any further.”
“But… why not?” Selene asked.
The boy grinned.
“I am allowing the wolves to hunt,” it replied with a soft laugh.
Selene sighed.
“Besides,” The Leshy continued, “I have already been awake too long and used too much of my power. If I stay longer, my presence will wake others. Much grumpier others.”
Selene wanted to argue, to convince this powerful being to help. But again, Lily reached her through a sense of foreboding and dread.
“I believe in you, little wolf,” The Leshy said, “You will clear the rot from this world… if not….”
The Leshy smiled and shrugged its small shoulders. With that, it turned and began to walk away. As it got further away, Selene noticed something strange.
All around her, the bodies of the fallen wolves were changing. Aging, rotting, and decaying until they were returned to the earth through the natural process. She looked back to where she had last seen the boy, but he was gone.
When Alexander returned to Selene’s side, he was shocked by the absolute emptiness of the settlement. There were no shuffling figures, no bodies on the ground. Only Selene walked alone down the rugged dirt road toward him.
She explained what had transpired. The disappearance of the bodies, the destruction of the mound, the veiled threat of the Leshy.
They were both exhausted.
The settlement was empty. There was no reason they couldn’t just choose a home and take a well-deserved rest. But they both felt the emptiness of this place, the haunting quiet.
Selene led the way as they moved through the trees and the brush down the mountain to their car. Almost three hours had passed by the time they reached their destination. Finally, both too tired to chat or plan their next move, they crawled into their seats and fell asleep.
When she woke up, the car was moving steadily down the road. She sat forward, surprised by the restriction of her seatbelt.
“Good morning,” Alexander’s warm voice called to her.
Selene did her best to stretch in her chair before turning to him with a lopsided grin.
“Good morning,” she replied groggily. “Is it morning?”
Alexander let out a soft chuckle.
“It’s closer to evening,” he said. “It’s almost four o’clock.”
Selene looked out onto the road, trying to gather her bearings.
“Where are we?” she asked, not recognizing the landscape around her.
“Between places,” Alexander replied. “We are headed to Winter, it’ll be well past midnight by the time we arrive, but Axel’s already aware that we are on our way.”
“Winter? Not Summer?” she asked. She had expected that they would return home.
“You already said that your mission has a deadline that could go off at any time. I figure the ‘awakening’ of an ancient being probably doesn’t bode well for taking our time. We need Myka to help us with the next connection point and Myka’s in Winter.”
Alexander shrugged his shoulders as he spoke with a warm smile.
Selene reached out and laid her hand on his knee.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For always being there for me,” she said.
Alexander turned with a loving gaze and playful grin.
“You’re locked in for life, my love. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thank the Goddess for that,” Selene smiled.
***
Alexander was not wrong when he said it would be well past midnight when they arrived in Winter. It was close to three in the morning when they pulled up to the house.
A very tired Corrine waited for them just outside the front door.
“Mom, what are you doing up?” Selene called out, running to her mother and embracing her tightly.
“I didn’t want you kids to arrive at a dark house with no one waiting,” Corrine smiled warmly. “Axel planned to be the one to greet you, but I sent him away a couple of hours ago. Alice insisted on staying by his side, and she’s only been out of the hospital a couple of days. So, I told them to go home and rest.”
“Good idea,” Selene laughed. “But you didn’t have to wait for us. We could have let ourselves in.”
“Hush, let’s just get your things and go inside for some rest.”
Alexander grabbed the bags from the trunk of the car. They didn’t have much with them since the plan had been to return to Summer after destroying the mound in Moonguard. But they at least had some clothes for a day or two.
“Were you able to complete your mission?” Corrine asked as she walked with Selene to the door.
“The first part,” Selene nodded. “The mound in Moonguard has been destroyed…. As well as the Moonguard pack.”
“What?” Corrine asked with disbelief.
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?