Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“I can’t fight you,” Selene sighed.
“Because you promised Axel?” Alice asked.
“And Alexander,” Selene replied.
Alice smiled and nodded.
“Those boys don’t even know the power they hold in their words,” Alice said playfully. “One turned the chosen one into a pacifist, while the other turned an evil spy into a housewife.”
Selene snorted. Her eyes went wide with surprise at her actions as she covered her mouth with her hand.
“What? Don’t believe me?” Alice smiled, smoothing her clothes as though she wore an apron. “I make a mean apple pie.”
Selene watched the show Alice was putting on for her. As angry as she had felt just moments ago, she could already feel it all falling away.
It seemed ridiculous. She had heard Alice tell Myka that she was riling Selene on purpose, yet she still got so angry.
But Alice hadn’t.
Sure, she had raised her voice and once or twice acted as though she were angry. But Selene watched her expression. She listened to her voice. Every single move Alice made was planned. She had never been angry; she was just trying to get Selene to react.
“How do you it?” Selene asked.
“The pie?” Alice replied, shrugging her shoulders. “I can get you the recipe when we return to Winter.”
“No, not the pie,” Selene said, with just a hint of irritation. “How do you stay so calm?”
“Calm?” Alice asked. “I’m not sure that describes me, though I could see how it might appear that way.”
“How is it that nothing seems to affect your mood?” Selene asked. “Even in the lab, seeing Holden, you seemed fine.”
Alice smiled.
“It’s part of the job.”
“Seriously,” Selene continued. “The only time I have actually seen you drop the act was when you got angry at my comment the other day.”
Alice pursed her lips and took a breath through her nose.
“Well,” she said with a shrug. “You hit a nerve. I know you think I’m this monster that survives by draining Axel’s soul and plotting the downfall of Winter. And I’m so very sorry to disappoint, but I am mostly human. As such, I too can have my feelings hurt, and my pride wounded.”
Selene looked away.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “I shouldn’t have said that. I know that you have taken the welfare of others on yourself many times and risked your life to save them. I was lashing out, and you didn’t deserve it.”
Alice smiled and tilted her head at Selene.
“Well, that’s an improvement,” she said.
Selene furrowed her brows.
“You apologized,” Alice continued. “Not because you were forced to by someone else, and not out of pity. But because you understood that you were in the wrong.”
“You make me sound like a child,” Selene growled.
“You act like one a lot of the time,” Alice smiled.
Selene rolled her eyes.
“So,” Selene sighed. “Are you going to tell me how you manage to keep calm?”
Alice thought for a moment.
“It’s… survival,” she smiled. “If I didn’t know how to react in a specific way to Holden’s demands or to the events around me, I put myself at risk. He may not be here anymore, but now it’s not just me is it? If I don’t anticipate the needs and potential reactions of those around me, how can I keep Axel or Myka safe?”
“Is that why you volunteered to come?” Selene asked, with a weight in her stomach. “Because you thought I would screw this up and make Myka feel like he couldn’t trust me.”
Alice smiled and shook her head, whispering, “No.”
“Then why?” Selene asked.
“Because of you,” she replied, still smiling. “Because you have been given an incredible burden on top of a very stressful year.”
Selene scoffed.
“You came… to make my life easier?” Selene asked. “By driving me crazy?”
Alice laughed.
“I was raised by a sociopath,” she shrugged. “Social norms are not really my thing.”
Selene couldn’t help but feel a strange kinship with Alice. Of course, she didn’t understand it and, honestly, didn’t particularly like it. But it did make her feel a little more at ease.
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.
“It has been… a hard year,” she whispered.
“Selene,” Alice whispered.
Selene opened her eyes and looked at the other woman.
“I had to survive by keeping every part of me, that was me, trapped in a small dark hole inside my mind,” she said. “But you don’t have to do that.”
Alice smiled.
“You have spent your entire life becoming a fierce warrior,” she said, “but not everyone is your enemy.”
Selene sighed and nodded her head.
“I’m working on it,” she said.
“Good,” Alice replied. “But if you feel that overwhelming need to take out your frustrations on someone, I am here.”
“Pretty sure Axel wouldn’t like that,” Selene countered with a half-hearted grin.
“Pretty sure I could smooth it over if he didn’t,” Alice replied with a smile and a wink.
“Gross…” Selene sighed.
“Selene, there is one more thing I want to talk to you about,” Alice said. “Actually, it’s kind of two things.”
Selene let out an exasperated sigh. The conversation had worked her up and then drained her of her energy.
“What is it?”
“Here,” Alice said, holding her hand out.
Selene looked in Alice’s palm, where a pin sat. She thought it was hers, but it seemed slightly different.
“What is that?” Selene asked.
“An upgrade,” Alice replied.
“What do you mean?” Selene asked, taking it and looking closer at it.
“I had a few gadgets when I switched teams,” Alice replied. “During my stay in Summer, Nessa and I discussed a few of them. We got the idea of how to make some improvements to the current model of your pin.”
Selene furrowed her brow and looked up at Alice.
“I didn’t hear anything about this,” she said.
“No,” Alice smiled. “Neither Nessa nor I are great with authority we don’t fully recognize… so… it was our little secret. Though now, Nessa has presented it to Fiona and Galen, gotten approval, and production began before you and Alexander arrived in Winter. This is one of the very first models, Nessa sent it to me directly to test out, and it works beautifully.”
“Uh… ok…” Selene replied. “Still don’t love that you guys did it on your own… but if Fiona and Galen okayed it, I guess it must be a real improvement.”
“Mmhmm, mmhmm, yep, put it on.”
Selene furrowed her brows.
“You said this was a test model that Nessa sent you,” she said.
Alice nodded.
“Which means she programmed it for you,” Selene said. “I can’t use it. I mean, yea, as a patchwork system, but not as anything more than that.”
“Oh, I already programmed it for you,” Alice replied.
“You programmed it for me?” Selene asked.
Alice nodded.
“Alice, when my first pin was programmed for me, they made me go through testing and blood draws. There was a lot to it.”
“Mmhmm, yea, I just went in and copied your biometric data to the new device. So you currently could use either one.”
Selene closed her eyes, bringing her hand up to rub her temples as she released an exasperated sigh.
“You hacked Summer again?” she asked softly.
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?