Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“I saved your life at the lab and with the Dark Queen,” Selene stated. “So help me. Take me to Spring.”
Alice pursed her lips and closed her eyes. She took a slow deep breath through her nose and let it back out.
“If you want to get down and dirty. Count up our tabs to see who really owes who. We can do that….” Alice said. “But let me make myself perfectly clear. I am not taking you to Spring.”
Selene gritted her teeth angrily. She should have known it was no use asking Alice for help. She didn’t give a damn about Alexander.
“Fine,” Selene said. “I will find someone else. You’re not the only person that has ever snuck in and out of Spring.”
“No, but I am probably one of the only ones still living,” Alice replied. “And I am certainly the only one here in Winter.”
“Then I’ll just get a scout to get me in and go on my own from there,” Selene sighed.
“You’ll get yourself killed if you do that.”
“Then help me!” Selene growled.
“I am helping you,” Alice sighed. “Spring is a death trap. Even without the fae and rogues, that place is filled with ways to die at every step if you don’t know where you are going.”
“Why are you trying to stand in my way!” Selene shouted angrily. “If you aren’t going to help me, then just leave me alone.”
“You came to me,” Alice replied. “And I am not trying to stand in your way, Selene. I am trying to keep you alive.”
“That was my mistake. I don’t know why I thought you might actually care about someone other than yourself,” Selene huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head with frustration.
After a short silence, Alice spoke.
“Selene,” Alice said calmly. “I am trying to be understanding right now.”
Selene furrowed her brow, swallowing as she heard the soft but dark tone beneath Alice’s words.
“I am trying to be patient and kind with you. Because I know that you’re hurting. I know you are fighting so hard to keep from suffocating in the pain eating away at you every waking moment and probably in your dreams too.”
Selene clenched her jaw and lowered her eyes.
“But as I have tried to tell you before,” Alice said, her voice shifting to an angry whisper. “You are not the only one that feels pain, anger, regret, and mistreatment.”
Silence fell between them. Alice took in another sharp breath and lowered her head.
“I have two lives growing inside of me,” she continued. “Depending on me for their nourishment, security, everything.”
Alice looked up at Axel, and she smiled sadly.
“It’s exhausting,” she whispered as a tear fell from her eye. “I’m tired. I want to sleep. But I’m afraid that if I do, I will wake to find him gone.”
Selene wiped the silent tears that wet her cheeks as she listened.
“All the energy I have is for my family. For them, and for him.” Alice smiled, reaching out and touching Axel’s cheek affectionately.
Alice sniffled and sat up straight.
“I have nothing left to coddle you with, Selene,” she said. “I won’t tell you to move on. I won’t tell you to grieve. I would never ask you to give up hope.”
Alice sighed, and Selene could see that she genuinely was tired.
“But I will tell you to keep your pain from hurting others.”
Suddenly Selene felt the fires of her anger come to life. Wiping away the last of the tears she had shed for Alice. She stood tall and stared down at Alice.
“I haven’t hurt anyone,” Selene growled. “All I have done is tried to find my husband!”
“Three weeks,” Alice said. “Axel has been in this room, in that bed, for three weeks.”
Alice looked up at Selene with a cold gaze.
“How many times have you come to check on him?”
Selene swallowed.
“None,” Alice whispered. “Not even today.”
Her chest felt thick and heavy, like something sat on it. It was getting harder to breathe.
“He… he has you…” she forced the words to her lips. “He’s going to be fine.”
“So will you,” Alice said after a short pause.
Selene felt the pressure on her chest ease, but she held tight to the anger.
“Yea, I will,” Selene replied with a nod. “When I find Alexander.”
She turned to leave the room but was stopped by Alice’s next words.
“Alexander would not want you to go to Spring,” she said.
Selene paused, her hand hovering over the handle of the door. But she didn’t say anything.
“Putting your life, or anyone else’s, at risk without knowing it is necessary. Alexander would not agree to that plan.”
“You think I don’t know my mate?” Selene growled.
“I think you are beginning to get desperate,” Alice replied. “And that is dangerous, Selene. You can’t do this alone.”
Selene took a deep breath.
“I’m not doing this alone because I want to,” she sighed. “I’m doing it alone because no one will help me.”
Selene pulled open the door and left the room.
Alice didn’t bother calling out or chasing after her. She was too tired for these games. Selene was struggling, and no one could blame her. Even Alice wasn’t really upset with her for not checking on Axel.
But Selene was childish in her emotions. She couldn’t see past herself. Sometimes she needed to be reminded that others suffered. That others felt pain. That others also clung to hope for a miracle.
Axel was here. He was recovering. But until he woke up, he was still in danger.
Alice couldn’t pretend to know exactly how Selene felt, nor did she want to. Though she caught herself glancing toward the door and briefly entertaining the idea of going after the girl, she knew she couldn’t.
Not because of Axel or even the babies. But because Selene wouldn’t actually let her or anyone else help.
Things for Selene were only going to get worse, and she, or more likely someone else, was going to get hurt.
In the last few days of the war, Myka quickly realized how lucky he was.
He knew where Peter was. He knew that he was safe. Both were safe, and neither had to worry for the other. That was a luxury that few others had.
He watched as, one after another, families learned of their loved ones’ deaths. As wolves whose mates were killed in battle were put in rooms and monitored as they suffered through the loss.
It was painful to watch, especially among those he cared about.
Bell was hard at work taking care of everyone around her. Yet, she kept a smile on her face and lightened the spirits of all her patients. Even Alice seemed comforted by her presence while waiting for news on Axel.
But all the while, Myka saw the pain and worry in Bell’s eyes. While clearing the houses, Peter told him that Bell’s husband was missing in action. Because they weren’t mates, without communication, there was no way for her to actually know one way or the other if he was still alive.
Luckily, the sparkle in Bell’s eyes returned after Galen surprised her. Myka could have lived off the joy she brought into every room after that. Even when Galen had to return to Summer, and she remained for another month, that happiness never wore down.
From the moment that Myka found Alice sneaking off toward the gate until the day that Axel finally woke up, he did his best to comfort her.
Alice was strong, and she hid her pain well. But this was one of the only times he had seen her so openly vulnerable. He was desperate to help her through the pain.
When he realized he could help Axel, nothing could have stopped him, and seeing the look in Alice’s eyes when Bell told her that the infection was gone was worth more to him than he could ever express. But the days and weeks that followed were difficult.
Alice pulled into herself more often. She was quiet and refused to leave the room. That was why Myka had to resort to dirty tricks. He called Sadie and Stefan in as reinforcements. Whenever he wanted to ensure she ate, he sent them to bring her to lunch. Challenging as she was, she could not refuse them. Children had always been both her weakness and strength.
As he watched her laughing with Sadie and Stefan while they ate their lunch, Myka knew how much she was still hurting inside. But he also saw how she had opened up and how she was finally living this life. She would be a fantastic mother to her twins, just as Axel would be an amazing father.
Though they hadn’t been close before all hell broke loose, Myka still cared greatly for Selene. So when he saw her come through the gate, he was relieved, happy that she had made it back.
But then everything fell apart. He watched her heart break as the portal closed. As she tore at the mountainside with her fingers, screaming for Alexander. And as he had to tell her that the ley line was silent.
For weeks after the war, Myka divided his time between comforting Alice, investigating the mountainside, researching the ley lines, checking in with Selene, and working with the orphans from the lab and Blue Reef.
Myka had been building his relationship with the children since before the fighting broke out, but after, many of them seemed to rely more on the time they all spent together. They had taken to calling themselves his troop since he wouldn’t let them say they were his pack.
Since the children had arrived in Winter, Alice and Corrine had worked to find them homes. Whether on a temporary or permanent basis. Many of the children from the lab were open to the idea of being adopted. During the weeks that the refugees stayed in Winter, relationships were developed, and families were formed.
None of the children of Blue Reef were willing to be adopted, but they had agreed to stay with some of the nomad families. So when the time came that most of the nomads left Winter, the children decided to remain, and at least two of the nomad families also chose to stay.
Myka’s troop consisted of the Blue Reef children and eight of the children from the lab. However, he did make a point to keep in close contact with each family that adopted the others.
Not all the members of his troop spent every day with Myka, but they all gathered together for their evening meal. Those that had foster families would bring them. Each meal was a gathering of no less than twenty-five.
Peter had been busy at the hospital most of that time as well. Many injuries required longer and more intensive care than anyone had expected. But the slower healing was apparently the new normal, and the doctors and nurses were the ones that needed to keep up with it.
Myka and Peter were both safe during and after the war. They both were able to go home to each other almost every night. But they were both so busy during their days that they were always exhausted by the time they finally had a moment alone.
Their conversations had become summarized, drowsy dialogue as they lay in bed trying to stay awake long enough to share their days. They often fell asleep mid-sentence, and one would always leave before the other woke the following day.
Though he was busy and tired on most days, Peter always found time to eat dinner with Myka and his troop. First, he would sit beside Sadie, chat about her day, and give her his undivided attention. Then, while Myka and Sadie joined the clean-up, Peter shifted his attention to Stefan.
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?