Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
Selene knew that the village held no answers on bringing Alexander back, but it was one of the last places they had fought together, side by side. She wasn’t ready to face Summer. There were too many memories and people that would look at her with pity.
Moonguard was different. It wasn’t a happy memory.
Here they had put themselves in danger and killed unarmed enemies. Here, she had seen the disappointment in his eyes as he realized that they might not want the same things in life.
Selene swallowed. She saw her brother and Alice in her mind. They smiled and laughed as he reached out and touched her swollen belly.
Her hands tightened into fists, and she clenched her jaw. She took a deep breath and then shook her body, pushing away the wave of anger and resentment that tried to surface.
Clearing her mind, she returned to her hike. She wanted to reach the village. She needed to see what these new creatures were to gather some information on them. It was the only way that this trip would have any value. It wouldn’t be just her selfish and reckless decision to endanger others.
Something in the bushes caught her eye as she climbed up a small hill. She slowly made her way to it, looking around before she reached down and picked it up. It was a small dagger. She recognized it immediately as one carried by the scouts of Winter.
But why was it here? Why was it tangled in these bushes?
She looked around again. This time she noticed how the grass was flattened just past the bush. The way the small flowers had been trampled and pulled from their roots. And as she leaned closer, she saw the deep grooves in the dirt. Drag marks were left by fingers as they had desperately tried to grab hold of something before being pulled further into the underbrush.
Selene swallowed. She turned her head and looked in the direction of the drag marks. It would take her away from the trail. But, from what she could see, a slope was not far from where she stood. A good chance that something could be down there, ready and waiting to ambush her.
She took a deep breath and summoned a small blade to each hand. Then, carefully and slowly, she moved away from the trail and into the brush.
When she reached the slope, she looked down. There was no sign of movement. After a thorough scan of the area, she jumped down, preparing to be attacked. But there was nothing.
Selene continued to investigate the area. She found a piece of fabric torn and attached to an old tree branch. The drag marks continued in the same direction. As she followed them, she saw signs of struggle. The scout must have found a way to fight back around here.
A few feet ahead, Selene saw something that was both hopeful and concerning.
She had now faced enough treant to recognize their particular roots compared to a standard tree. What she was looking at was a severed limb. The scout somehow managed to get himself free and sever one of the roots from the treant. It was quite impressive.
Looking at the signs of struggle, it seemed likely that the scout had run off in one direction further into the trees, but the treant… had changed its direction. It didn’t follow after him. Why?
Selene followed the signs of the treant’s movements. It led her to what appeared to be some sort of backwoods trail. It wasn’t clear of grass and bushes like the standard hiking trails made by the Moonguard wolves, but it was clearly used frequently.
She followed the trail for a little longer, wondering where it would lead. Finally, as the path went up a significant slope and she stood at the top of it, she took a moment to try and get her bearings by looking out at what lay ahead. Her eyes widened, and her chest tightened with a terrible realization. In the distance, there was only one clear destination.
The lake.
***
The children had all worked together to pack up the camp quickly and efficiently. Myka praised them and promised that when they returned to Winter, he would treat them all to a good meal with a big dessert.
Sadie had finished her task quicker than most of the others. She took out the journal that Peter had given her and found a place nearby to sit and look through it again. Finally, she returned to the page about the lemon berry. Looking at the sketch of the tree, she felt disheartened.
Of course, she was curious about the flavor, but what she really wanted was to be able to tell Peter that she had found one. To show that she had read his mother’s journal, paid attention to it, and even found something his mother had once seen.
To add her own little note in the journal. Her handwriting placed beside that of his mother and grandmother. Then, she could show him she was truly a part of his family. Then, he might allow her to call him dad.
Sadie took a deep breath, letting out a gentle sigh.
She looked up from the journal and looked around. Her eyes scanned the area, looking for nothing in particular, such an uninterested glance that she almost missed it.
But she didn’t.
Sadie gasped and turned back. Her eyes widened, and she stood from the small boulder she had used as a chair. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was only a few feet away, slightly hidden among the other trees.
A lemon berry tree.
Sadie let out a soft laugh.
“Myka! Stefan!” she called out, looking over her shoulder toward them.
Myka turned at her voice. He smiled when he saw the expression she wore. Something good must have happened.
“It’s a lemon berry tree!” she laughed, pointing behind her with delight.
Sadie turned back, and she started to run in the direction of the tree. But she didn’t get far. She fell to the ground, the pain of her face hitting the dirt registered before she felt the tight squeeze on her belly.
The wind was knocked from her chest, and as she gasped and wheezed, she heard Myka’s voice and Stefan’s too.
“Sadie!!!” they both screamed.
But before she could understand what was happening, why they were screaming, why she had fallen. She let out her own scream as she was suddenly dragged back into the trees.
For the slightest of moments, Myka froze.
He saw the roots wrap around her waist. He saw her fall. At that moment, everything stopped. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t scream. All he could do was watch in horror as it happened.
“Sadie!!!” he screamed as he came back to his senses.
His heart leaped into his throat, and he felt as though the blood was drained from his body as she was dragged back into the bushes with a scream. He and Stefan both moved to run after her. But Myka couldn’t let Stefan go. He had to keep him with the others.
“No!” Myka shouted.
They reached the rock before Myka could stand in Stefan’s path and block him from going further. He grabbed him by the shoulders. “You stay here, keep the others together and safe.”
“No!” Stefan shouted back, trying to push past Myka as he kept his eyes on where Sadie had been dragged.
“Please, Stefan!” Myka shouted, his voice filled with emotion. “I can’t have both of you in danger.”
Stefan looked up into Myka’s eyes. He saw the concern and fear. He clenched his jaw and looked away, but he nodded.
“Thank you,” Myka whispered.
Stefan watched as Myka shifted into his wolf and ran after Sadie. He was angry and afraid. It was the second time he was leaving his sister in danger, letting someone else be the one to rescue her. But would Myka return the way that Alice did? Was it already too late?
Stefan took a deep breath and lowered his eyes. On the ground, he saw the journal she had been holding. The one that Peter had given her. He reached down and picked it up, closing it gently and tying it closed. He hugged it to his chest and looked back up at the trees.
Behind him, he heard the sound of sniffling. He looked back to see the others huddled together. Two of the boys were crying. The other one stared in the direction she had been taken. His eyes were wide, and he took slow, deep breaths. The girl put her arms around the two crying boys, trying to comfort them.
Stefan swallowed and looked back where Sadie and Myka had disappeared. He took another deep breath and cleared his mind. Then turned and walked to the others. He approached the boy that wasn’t crying, just staring into the trees from the shock of what he had witnessed.
His name was Dane. He was usually very tough and sure of himself. He had been the one that had promised to catch more fish than anyone. He was older than Stefan, the same age as Sadie. Though he often teased her, he was actually very considerate of her.
Dane had sat beside Sadie at the fire, listening intently as she described the lemon berry tree in great detail. He asked her questions and read the parts of the journal she pointed to him. He didn’t care anything about the tree or the fruit. But he knew Sadie wanted to talk about it, so he listened.
“She’ll be all right,” Stefan said, trying to sound confident. “Myka won’t let anything happen to her.”
Dane blinked and lowered his gaze to Stefan.
Stefan was surprised to see not just a look of worry or concern. But fear, sadness, and grief.
Dane looked away.
“I just never thought I’d have to see it again… hear it again,” he whispered.
Stefan furrowed his brows.
“Hear what again?” he asked.
Dane swallowed.
“Sadie…” Dane whispered sadly.
“What do you mean?” Stefan asked.
Dane didn’t answer. He lowered his eyes and stepped back. He sat beside the others and put his arm around one of the younger boys.
“They used to take her away…” the girl said, hugging one of the boys. “We didn’t know why… but sometimes… a lot of times. We heard her.”
Stefan swallowed as he looked at the four children. They were scared and worried. But it wasn’t the creature that had taken Sadie that they were afraid of.
He knew the lab was a bad place and that Sadie had been treated differently than the others, but he didn’t know to what extent.
Stefan had been trapped in Autumn for a couple of weeks, but these kids had spent their entire lives in that lab.
Sadie had spent her entire life in that lab, screaming.
Stefan clenched his jaw and looked back to where she and Myka had disappeared.
‘He’ll save her… he has to,’ Stefan told himself.
***
He rushed into the bushes, moving as fast as he could. He could hear her not far ahead. She wasn’t screaming anymore, but she was struggling and crying.
Myka growled and pushed further into the thick undergrowth of the trees. Before long, the area opened up to a small clearing. As he cleared the last of the bushes, he saw Sadie still being dragged across the clear.
Another growl, and he charged forward, running just past her to clamp his strong jaws down on the root wound tightly around her waist. He bit down hard. A bitter liquid spilled onto his tongue from the root as he shook and tore until it started to give.
The root snapped, and what remained flew back into the trees while the end Myka had bit down on was still in his mouth. Then, finally, he let it fall and shifted back to his human form.
“Sadie!” he called as he rushed to her side. Immediately he worked to remove the root still wrapped around her.
She gasped for air and whimpered as the root was finally pulled away from her body. Myka looked down, her shirt was torn, and the root had dug into her skin as it dragged her through the forest leaving behind angry red welts and burns.
“Can you stand?” he asked.
“I think so,” she whispered.
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?