Third POV
A decade of planning, three and a half years of hard work, and it might all be undone by a fucking tip line.
I’ve gotten lax, lazy and discouraged by my plans’ low yields. Somehow I missed the developments in the Calypso pack, the search for Volana wolves that could return Selene to Bastien’s orbit.
In some ways it was inevitable. Bastien was bound to visit Eros lands one day, but I always imagined I’d have time to prepare, time to obscure Selene’s presence in Asphodel and erase her scent. I would have been able to hide her, if I’d only had the time.
Granted, it’s not as if things were going off without a hitch before. In fact, Bastien has proved to be imminently more resilient than I predicted. Rather than crumpling under grief and the crushing pressure of leadership, he’s persevered, growing even str
Selene’s POVAt first I hadn’t realized what Drake was doing when he joined my rebuttal about the status of my marriage, but as soon as Bastien turned away from me, I understood. If there’s one sure-fire way to distract an Alpha, it’s to provoke their possessive instincts regarding their mate, and my friend’s willingness to enrage a bigger, stronger wolf gave me time to slip away.By the time I get to the apartment I’ve changed routes and laid so many false trails I’m actually a bit afraid the Nova wolves might have beaten me home, but I’m counting on Drake to safeguard my location and force Bastien and his men to track me the old fashioned way.I push into the apartment with a sigh of relief, dropping my keys on the table by the door and kneeling to intercept the tiny bundle of love already rushing my legs. I scoop up my giggling daughter, my heart swelling with h
Selene’s POV By now they’ll have found the apartment. By now Bastien will know about Lila. Will he know she’s his? Will he recognize his own scent, like a bonfire in the nighttime forest, blended with my own through the apartment? Will Drake be safe at my mate’s mercy now the truth is out? I glance at my daughter in the rearview mirror, counting down the minutes until we finally reach the safehouse. She’s cozy in her carseat, playing with the cloth doll I gifted her at the equinox, babbling away happily in her own special language. We’ve been driving for more than two hours, and I’m beginning to worry that I haven’t heard from Drake yet. Surely he should have been in contact by now? Surely he should have checked in to make sure we made it to the meetup with his driver and were on the road. “Mommy,” Lila asks, catching me watching her. “Wh
Selene’s POVWe should have heard something by now. Luna huffs as I scrub dishes in the kitchen sink. After a simple dinner and a quick bath, Lila curled up on the sofa to watch her favorite show while I clean up. It’s amazing how unfazed she is by the sudden change in scenery and my undoubtedly tense energy.No news is good news. I tell my wolf, focusing on the glass in my hand. Especially when it comes to Bastien.He’s going to be furious, you know. She cautions, not sounding the least bit concerned.That only matters if he finds us. I remind her coolly.Oh he will. Luna remarks smugly, he always will.You know you’re supposed to be on my side. I complain.I am.I want what’s best for you. She adds. Bastien is what&
Bastien’s POVThe first thing I see is the fear on Selene’s face. Fear I hate myself for causing. She’s backed into a corner, appearing so much more like the lost little wolf I pulled from a tree, than the confident woman I met today.It takes all my strength to pull my eyes from Selene’s haunted expression and survey the rest of the scene, at which point I realize why she’s in the corner. The tiny body is visible even now, with pint-sized hands clutching her skirt and a gleaming pair of two-toned eyes peeking out from behind her leg.Mate, Axel croons with satisfaction. And mate’s pup. Mine, both mine.We don’t know who that pup belongs to yet. I caution him, though I cannot help but feel drawn to the tiny creature in a way I can’t explain.I don’t care who she belonged
Bastien’s POV“You’re doing this,” Selene accuses wretchedly, “Your wolf is doing this.”What is she talking about? I demand of Axel.She’s near her mate. Her instinct is to change. It has to happen eventually – her wolf has never been free.I swear under my breath. I know he’s right, but the timing is terrible. I remember my first shift vividly – all wolves do. It’s a horrible process, requiring almost every bone in the body to break and reform, slow and agonizing. Thankfully shifting gets easier and easier until it’s effortless, but there’s no way to make the first few any easier. You just have to suffer through.“It isn’t like that sweetheart. It’s just your time.” I explain apologetically. I gather up Selene and deposit her on the sofa, moaning and
Selene’s POVAfter eight years in a veritable dungeon, I thought freedom was escaping to Elysium.After spending three years married to a man who didn’t love me and obligated to help lead a pack of shifters who hated me, I thought freedom was finding my independence in Asphodel.After nearly four years of living without my wolf, I thought freedom was getting her back when I became a mother.I was wrong every time.This is freedom. Transforming, releasing my soul and setting her loose – that is the freedom I’ve been missing my entire life. Running on all fours through the rolling Vega hills with no map and no limitations, no hurdles to jump or weights slowing me down: it’s adrenaline like I’ve never experienced.I don’t care that I’m not in the forest, or that it’s broad daylight. I don&rs
Selene’s POVThat isn’t fair. I object immediately. And it isn’t ethical, how can you abide bringing an innocent child into your troubles.You mean the way you oh so ethically chose to hide your Volana daughter in a pack you know is incapable of safeguarding her, all the while knowing the Calypsos are after you? Bastien growls, genuine anger in his voice.From the sounds of it we wouldn’t be any safer in Elysium. I rebut, conveniently omitting the fact that I know we’re safer here because his saboteur is far from our only antagonist.At least in Elysium there’s an Alpha capable of protecting you. He rumbles. Now come on, out with it, who is her father?Why do you even care, Bastien? I exclaim. She’s not yours so why does it matter whose she is?
Bastien’s POVArabella is the one who set the fire that was supposed to have killed me.A few years ago I would have thought Selene was out of her mind for suggesting such a thing. Before the fire, Arabella seemed like the same vapid teenager I’d always known: Vain, self-centered and far too used to getting her own way. Dad and I spoiled her after Flynn died, letting her get away with murder out of misplaced guilt and convincing ourselves her antics were harmless.In some ways it served us right to be manipulated by her – if we were foolish enough to buy the act when she batted her lashes and played the delicate flower, well, that’s on us, not her. And though I was always aware the innocent act was just that – an act – I never imagined Arabella was concealing anything truly malicious.I underestimated her desire for power, as well as her ego and c