There hadn’t been much for me to contribute in Dmitri and Nathan’s strategy planning. I was sticking to my guns when it came to the traditional itinerary for large groups of alphas, and I refused to be pushed back into the role of docile female. So with just four days left until Candice was dead and they all left, I was going to avoid the lot of them. Dmitri had only just crawled into bed when I got up to start my day. The sun was just barely starting to peak over the horizon, so I left him there to sleep a few hours before we were due to join everyone for breakfast. Blake was already up and waiting on me by the time I snuck out of our rooms. We crept through the house like a couple of thieves until we made our way down to the garage. “Are you sure that you want to go all the way out there just for some sparing?” Blake grabbed a set of keys to one of the bikes. “We can’t use the sparing room here, on the off chance that C
I made Sophie tag along with me to the Luna’s Luncheon in the green house. I was hoping that listening to their gossip would help take her mind off her own problems long enough to relax a little. I should’ve known better than to press my luck these days. Kathleen, Connor’s mate, drew everyone’s attention as she made her way through the room towards me. She offered me a small nod, “Alpha Selene, I just wanted to convey my deepest apologies for Connor’s lack of decorum.” Sophie let out a small snort, “Lack of decorum? You’re kidding right? Because if any of us had come at you the way he went after her, I doubt your Alpha would’ve been as merciful as mine.” “It’s okay, Sophie,” I rested a hand on her shoulder, “I doubt she has any more power over her mate than any of these other lovely ladies here.” Katherine frowned at me, “Are you intentionally trying to insult everyone here? We are all the most influential
I was starting to wonder if I shouldn’t be sequestered away the rest of the world the same way Candice was. I was gaining a less than stellar track record when it came to dealing with other people these days. Granted Connor brought my irritation with him on himself. Blake let out a muffled grunt as my fist connected to his abdomen, just below the rib cage. He stepped back and held up his hands in surrender, “Fuck! Who pissed you off this time?” “No one,” I huffed. He arched his brow quizzically at me, forcing me to change my answer, “I guess me. I’ve been pissing myself off. We planned this entire thing out to most trivial detail, and every time I turn around I’ve fucked it up in one way or another. Now the best I can do is stay out of the way so I don’t fuck up anything else.” He flashed me his patented dimpled smile, “You’re too hard on yourself. We expected some push back from the other Alphas, so you can’t blame yours
It was hard to believe that all of this was just for me. Well, me and the miracle that was our baby, now that I was a shifting member of the pack. It was also a nice political move for Selene, even though she’d been resistant to the idea of opening up the celebration to including the visiting lunas. There was a mountain of gifts piled high and they were adding another table to hold the increasing pile when Blake walked in with me. Selene had agreed to let Nathan be her shadow for the day, to allow him to be at my side. She’d insisted on it in fact. She wanted me to have the comfort of my own mate at my side. This wasn’t just going to be about party games, and gifts, I’d agreed to use mine and my wolf’s gifts to help her find possible candidates for the Menae waiting to be called to server beside her. Sophie was her beta. Blake was her protector. Dmitri was her mate. But this was the only thing that I could contribute for her, our goddess
Selene came out of Blake and Kelly’s rooms looking like the weight of the world was pressing down on her shoulders. “Do you want to try to get some hitting in?” She cocked her head up to look at me with a wry smile, “I don’t think there is much left for me to learn in the next day or so that is going to help me, but I’m always happy to smack you around for a bit if you need me too.” “Come on,” I grinned down at her, “I’ve got a surprise for you that I think you’ll like.” “I swear to god if running drills, I’m going to break more than just your nose and ribs Nathan.” She shot me one of those rare warning looks that reminded you she was far more deadly than she looked, making me chuckle. “Just come and look,” I led her down to the tunnel system and out to the training grounds. She frowned at the men and women standing paired off for the evening sparing sessions, “I’m not going to practice kil
There was definitely something off about Selene tonight, but no one seemed to want to voice anything about it. I was willing to bet that the only person that would’ve spoken up, was Blake, but she’d ordered him to stay with his mate for the rest of the day and even arranged to have their diner brought up to them so that Kelly wouldn’t have to tax herself any further by dealing with more people. She kept staring off into space throughout the meal. Clearly her mind was somewhere else. But she still managed to fake a smile, and nod at the appropriate times as the conversations prompted. She didn’t even lean into Dmitri’s touch, which struck me as more odd than her lack of banter.&
It wasn’t hard to see that everyone had picked up on Selene’s complete lack of interest in everything around her. But just like everyone else, I said nothing. After the report Nathan gave me of the test run he’d put together for her, she seemed broken in a way that none of us knew how to heal. I couldn’t help but feel that things were only going to get worse. If ‘killing’ a statue had this effect on her, what was going to happen when she actually took a life? I cursed myself for letting her set the terms to all or nothing. Someone had to die, and I was starting to worry that she’d let it be her instead of having to take a life herself. Traditions and laws be d
Nathan ran back to spend his day with Candice, some kind of last day with her mate bullshit. Dmitri had shifted back into his wolf to carry the goddess in Selene’s body out to their hideaway cabin, since she was deadlocked in human form. I was tasked with grabbing a motorbike for Dmitri to ride back on, since I’d be staying out there with Selene. ‘There’s been a change of plans,’ I linked to Kelly as soon as I was close enough. ‘Did you guys find Selene?’ ‘Yes, but she’s not herself today, so we’re spending the day out at the cabin,’ I expl
If you've made it all the way to end of this chapter in Selene's journey, then I hope that you've enjoyed the ride thus far. The next and final chapter of her life "Rite of War" should start posting around December of 2023. If you feel like being encouraging, and you have a minute or two to spare, please add a book review/comment. I don't know if it helps boost the story, but I do know that they boost my mood
I didn’t know how long I stood there, just staring at the lump in my hand as the thumping slowed to a stop. But I could still feel its pulse in my fingertips. Not fingers exactly, something more akin to monster hands. I found myself wondering if they’d be as pristinely white as the short velvety fur coving my arm if they weren’t coated in blood. “Selene…” Someone said my name, but they sounded too far away for me to recognize the voice. The dead lump rolled off my fingertips, falling to the ground with a wet thud. I didn’t feel anything now that it wasn’t pulping in my hand. I was numb and hollowed out, just like the lifeless husk at my feet.&nb
The sky was completely free of even the barest wisp of a cloud. It was as if the gods were watching, and had declared that nothing obstruct their view of the fight they’d been promised. There weren’t even any birds singing in the forest around our little meadow in the middle of the woods. Someone was going to die here today. Sophie had done well. A ten foot circle was clearly marked in the center of the grass with a larger circle marked around it another ten feet out. Beyond that, two white tents stood up on opposite sides of each other. I was supposed to do all of this, but the goddess wouldn’t settle for anything less than a full twenty-four hours. I had to kill someone today. I knew that I was physically capable of doing it. I was just a little iffy on if I had the conviction to kill her in such a gruesome way. It would’ve been much easier to just order her to stop breathing. But blood had to be spilt. I’d be rem
I felt a little guilty for leaving Blake to deal with Selene’s possession all night. Now I owed him, Kelly and Sophie big. I just couldn’t risk that she’d find a way to seduce me if we were alone together. She curled up beside Blake on the sofa, under a throw blanket with her head on his lap. At least he’d managed to get her to sleep before she was set to fight to death in a couple hours. Blake looked exhausted himself, like he hadn’t slept a wink and brought his finger to his lips in a shushing motion when he saw me. ‘How much trouble did she give you?’ His shrug
It wasn’t too hard to babysit a goddess once I started approaching the situation like I was taking care of my own little sister when she much younger. Aside from having a filthy vocabulary and an overwhelming sense of entitlement, it was just like taking care of a ten year old girl. She played in the water like she was a nymph, basked in the sun until it got too warm, preferred sweets and junk food over veggies, playing dress up with the plethora of clothes in the closet, and sitting on the floor in front of me while I brushed and braided her long, unruly curly locks for her. “She chose well with you,” she sighed contentedly as she watched me clean up our dinner dishes.
“I don’t understand, what is going on?” Alex stared at me as I watched Dmitri storm down the hall. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her out of the hall, “I don’t know yet either, but I’ll let you know what I can when I find out. Ok love?” She frowned at me, “Meaning you have to leave early this morning.” “You know I don’t want too,” I brushed the hair out of her face, “and in just one more day, almost all of this craziness will be done and over. Then I can ask Dimi and Selene to let us have a few days out at the cabin.&rdq
Nathan ran back to spend his day with Candice, some kind of last day with her mate bullshit. Dmitri had shifted back into his wolf to carry the goddess in Selene’s body out to their hideaway cabin, since she was deadlocked in human form. I was tasked with grabbing a motorbike for Dmitri to ride back on, since I’d be staying out there with Selene. ‘There’s been a change of plans,’ I linked to Kelly as soon as I was close enough. ‘Did you guys find Selene?’ ‘Yes, but she’s not herself today, so we’re spending the day out at the cabin,’ I expl
It wasn’t hard to see that everyone had picked up on Selene’s complete lack of interest in everything around her. But just like everyone else, I said nothing. After the report Nathan gave me of the test run he’d put together for her, she seemed broken in a way that none of us knew how to heal. I couldn’t help but feel that things were only going to get worse. If ‘killing’ a statue had this effect on her, what was going to happen when she actually took a life? I cursed myself for letting her set the terms to all or nothing. Someone had to die, and I was starting to worry that she’d let it be her instead of having to take a life herself. Traditions and laws be d
There was definitely something off about Selene tonight, but no one seemed to want to voice anything about it. I was willing to bet that the only person that would’ve spoken up, was Blake, but she’d ordered him to stay with his mate for the rest of the day and even arranged to have their diner brought up to them so that Kelly wouldn’t have to tax herself any further by dealing with more people. She kept staring off into space throughout the meal. Clearly her mind was somewhere else. But she still managed to fake a smile, and nod at the appropriate times as the conversations prompted. She didn’t even lean into Dmitri’s touch, which struck me as more odd than her lack of banter.&