Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“It certainly feels different here than anywhere else,” Myka sighed.
Selene closed her eyes, thinking of Lily.
Suddenly, she remembered Lily’s words after the bombing.
‘This place, it wasn’t just sacred to your pack. It is a connection between this world and the ley lines… to my mother. Just like Solana’s garden.’
“It was her place of power…” she whispered.
“That’s what you said,” Myka nodded.
Selene gasped.
“Solana’s garden… it wasn’t destroyed…” she said. She turned to Myka, her eyes lit up with hope. “If you can hear a distant memory, here, in this place after it was destroyed… maybe in the garden you can actually reach the ley line?”
After a disappointing call with Fiona, Selene was left feeling bitter.
She had gotten her hopes up after her trip to Lily’s Rest with Myka. For a moment, she thought she had finally found an answer. But that hope was taken from her almost immediately.
Fiona told Selene she had visited the garden shortly after returning to Summer. Instead of the peaceful and beautiful place where she had always sought refuge, she found a grove of death and decay. All the plant life in the area was dead, and even the grass had been affected.
Without knowing the cause, they cleared the area in case it might spread into the forest. Then, they burned away the dead plants and tilled the earth.
Selene was angry. She yelled at Fiona, saying that she should have been consulted. Fiona was quiet and patient. She even apologized for not thinking to call Selene about it.
When she hung up the phone, Selene screamed and flipped the coffee table onto its side, sending her maps in every direction.
She knew the chances were low that Solana’s Garden would provide an answer. However, she also knew that the dead plants were likely a result of Solana’s power being cut off.
The mountain was a dead end.
Solana’s Garden was a dead end.
And though she didn’t want to admit it, she knew that Spring was a dead end.
Was there really nothing left that she could do?
Selene dropped onto the couch; angry tears rolled over her cheeks as she took slow, strangled breaths.
There had to be something.
Alexander was not gone; he couldn’t be gone. Because if he was gone, she would feel it. She would know it. He was not gone.
She closed her eyes and took one long, deep breath. Slowly releasing it.
“Think, Selene… think….”
She rocked herself on the couch as she tried to think of any other options, but all she could think of was each time that she destroyed another connection to the ley line.
Every step she took to end the war, every door she closed to keep the Dark Queen from succeeding. Every single one of those actions now kept her from Alexander.
The way gate and mound in Spring, the connection between Summer and Winter, the mound in Moonguard.
Moonguard.
Selene sat up, remembering the events of Moonguard. The helpless monsters, the ancient child.
The Leshy had destroyed the mound with the snap of its fingers. It was a powerful being. Perhaps that was the answer she was looking for.
But she remembered Lily’s warning as quickly as she had thought of it. Not to mention, the Leshy had already made it clear that it only did what it wanted to do… she was far more likely to annoy it than tempt it to help her.
Still, the mound in Moonguard was something to consider.
The Dark Queen had been forced into her mound; it was a prison. If she could have easily accessed the ley line from there, she would have. But instead, she had to sacrifice countless numbers of her creatures to even come close to touching it.
But the mound of the Goddess? It was entirely possible that it could hold a deeper connection to the ley line. After all, the land was also home to an ancient being. Surely that meant it was inherently more potent than any other land within the werewolf territories?
There was only one way to find out. She needed to go to Moonguard, and Myka had to come with her.
***
After checking in with Myka, Selene was on her way to see Axel.
Myka was hesitant, but he finally agreed, with one condition. He would only go if Axel approved the trip. Selene didn’t like the idea, mostly because she knew that meant they would have to wait. Axel would insist on sending a scouting party first to ensure there was no danger, which would delay the trip a minimum of a week.
But it was better than nothing.
As Selene approached his office door, she hesitated. After trying to get Alice to take her to Spring, Selene had only visited Axel one other time while he was in the hospital. Even then, she had only stayed a few minutes.
When Corrine told her that he had woken up, she was glad. But, still, she didn’t visit.
Now, he had been awake for two weeks. He was back at work, and he was making big plans from the rumors and rumblings that Selene overheard occasionally. She didn’t know the details but had heard it involved the other packs.
Selene swallowed the nerves that were rising up and reached for the handle. She stopped when she heard voices just inside the door.
“We should probably start thinking of some names.”
It was Axel’s voice. Selene felt a soft smile spread on her lips. It was nice to hear his voice again.
“Hard to do when we don’t know if they are boys, girls, or a mix,” Alice replied.
“Easy to find out….” Axel said, his voice taking on a playful lilt.
“Mmm, but then it won’t be a surprise,” Alice replied. She spoke playfully but with sleepiness in her voice. “We like surprises.”
“All right,” Axel sighed, “we can leave it as a surprise.”
Selene heard a soft giggle from Alice, and then they got quiet for several long moments.
“You should go,” Axel said, his voice lower. “I can see how tired you are. If you stay any longer, I will only wear you down.”
Selene moved away from the door and around the corner of the building. It was clear that her brother and Alice were coming to the door, and she really had no interest in hearing how Alice would respond to Axel’s comment.
It was another two to three minutes before the door opened. Selene watched from her spot around the corner.
Alice stepped out into the snow, Axel following just behind her. She turned to face him with a gentle smile, and he leaned down to kiss her. Selene turned away.
She swallowed the painful lump in her throat as the image of the hatch entryway to the treehouse appeared in her mind. Still and unmoving. Lifeless.
She clenched her jaw and shook away the thought as she heard footsteps walking away in the snow and the door to Axel’s office closed.
He sat down at his desk and picked up the nearest report. He had barely begun to read it when the door to his office opened.
Axel lifted his gaze to the entryway. He was surprised to see her standing there, but he said nothing as she closed the door and turned to look at him.
Corrine had told him about Alexander.
He had wanted to go to Selene and offer his support. But even after he was released from the hospital, he was restricted in his movements. He had gone to the house she was staying in several times. But never found her there.
Myka told him she spent her days hiking all over the mountain, searching for something she would likely never find. If she wasn’t there, she was in the library researching.
He knew she was suffering, but he didn’t know what he could do for her. So he had sent scouts to investigate every place marked as a significant fae territory in the history books. But unfortunately, many of those places were currently overrun with monsters.
It seemed that even more of the creatures had started appearing than when the Dark Queen was around.
As he looked at his sister now, he could barely recognize her. She had lost weight; her face was pale and shrunk, and the bags below her eyes revealed how little sleep she was getting. But the most noticeable change in her was the dark, angry look in her eyes.
“It’s good to see you,” Axel said softly, setting down the report.
Selene was struggling with the thoughts and feelings at war within herself. She was genuinely glad to see him and to know he was all right. But, at the same time, she felt a bitter resentment when she looked at him.
“I’m glad you are feeling better,” she replied.
Axel looked carefully at her; he could feel the hesitation in her words. As much as he knew she was in pain, he had no idea why she was angry with him.
“I stopped by to see you a few times,” he said.
“I’ve been busy,” she replied quickly.
“Yes, I’ve heard.”
Axel sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh. He understood how much she wanted to find Alexander, but he wished she would take a break. Eat properly and sleep. She would put herself in an early grave at the rate she was going.
Selene gritted her teeth at the expression on his face.
‘Just like everyone else,’ she thought angrily. ‘He thinks I’m wasting my time.’
“Selene, I hope that you–” Axel began.
“I need to take Myka to Moonguard,” she interrupted. “But he won’t go without your approval.”
Axel furrowed his brow; he leaned forward in his chair.
“Myka is not an official member of Winter, and neither are you,” he said. “If you want to go, I can’t stop you.”
“That’s what I said,” Selene stated. “But he insists that he wants your approval. So, if you just tell him you approve of our going to Moonguard, that’s all I need.”
Axel kept his eyes on Selene, but she could see he was thinking. Processing her request and declaring his judgments in his mind. She clenched her jaw, already knowing he wouldn’t give the approval.
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?