LOGINShare
88: Olive Branch
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
Related chapters
Rite of Power 89: Tough Requests
Kelly had lunch all set up for the four of us before we made it up to her place. “I suppose this is going to be the last day we all get to have our private luncheons,” Kelly pouted. “How have you been doing with your ventures outside of these rooms? I hate to be pushy, but it’s going to be difficult to bring you one luna at a time to figure out which ones are naturally suited for the Menae and which ones need a little boost,” I tried to keep my voice calm and even, but I was starting to worry about our time line. “Better,” she smiled, “It’s getting easier to block things out. I might even try to make it down to dinner tonight.” I let out a sigh of relief. At least she was making progress. “Do you think you could handle working with Jeanette to arrange some activities for the visiting Lunas? She really wants to do something helpful with all the free time on her hands right now.” Kelly’s head bobbed, “Just her and her de
Rite of Power 90: Pain
I dreaded this part of the day all afternoon. We were just waiting on Sophie to join us for the end of the day meeting she’d missed for the last four nights. Luckily, my hormone levels had balanced out and being in the same room with Dmitri no longer turned him into a beast, well not any more than normal at least. “You look like you swallowed a fly,” Nathan was watching me with a concerned look on his face. “I’m just a little anxious, our first guests are arriving tomorrow,” I shrugged and tried to sit back and look more relaxed. “I can’t wait to get all of this over with so we can get things back to normal.” Nathan snorted, “What the fuck is normal for us anymore?” “Chaos and pandemonium,” Dmitri chuckled, “I think that is our new normal.” “I do not cause chaos or pandemonium,” Sophie huffed indignantly as she joined us. “So nice of you to finally join us,” Nathan grumbled at her, “Ha
Rite of Power 91: House Arrest
My mood plummeted when the door opened and it wasn’t Sophia on the other side. Fortunately, I was well practiced in hiding my thoughts and feelings from those in power over me, “Good evening Alpha Selene.” Her face gave nothing away as she slowly blew out a deep breath, “Hello again, Alex.” I waited a moment longer to see if anyone else was going to join us, “Sophie’s not coming to me tonight, is she?” Selene shook her head, “No, she’s busy helping Nathan and Dmitri arrange a few last minute details before our guests start to arrive in the morning. It will be easier to do this without them anyway.” I felt my heart stop as pain rippled through my chest, “You’re sending me back to him, aren’t you?” An expression of horror twisted her beautifully serene features, “After everything you’ve seen since we helped you leave your tower prison, do you really think I’d do something so cruel to you? If
Rite of Power 92: The Night that Wouldn't End
“You should try to get some sleep,” Dmitri’s hot breath tickled my ear as he tucked me against his chest; “There isn’t anything else we can do to prepare any more than we have already.” He was right. But even though I was thoroughly exhausted and my eyelids felt heavy, I couldn’t seem to close them and let sleep take me. I laced my fingers through the hand he had resting on my hip and tucked it under my chin, forcing his embrace to tighten around me. “You need to rest too,” I whispered over my shoulder. His soft, rumbling chuckle made his chest vibrate against my back as he held me. “That would be easier to accomplish if I couldn’t feel all the anxiety you seem to have been hiding from all of us all week.” I pinched off the emotional flow in our bond from him to me. “Don’t do that,” his deep gravelly voice sent a shiver down my spine. “I don’t want to be the reason you didn’
Rite of Power 93: The Vault
The incessant knocking kept either of us from asking each other how we managed to find ourselves out of the Aether, but in the same position we’d been in while we were there. I winced when Sophie’s voice interrupted my own thoughts, ‘I thought you wanted Alex safely tucked away in the vault first thing this morning?” ‘Give us a moment, we got a little distracted this morning,’ I had no desire to try and explain the truth to her when I couldn’t even explain it to myself. “Sophie’s here with Alex already, why don’t you go start a shower for us? I’ll help Sophie get her settled into the vault for the day and meet you in there in a bit.” “Selene,” his tone and expression told me that he wanted to make her wait. “We don’t have time to do this right now,” I argued. “We’ll make time later, for now, shower, please.” He let out a resigned sigh, “Fine, but we are going to have a discussion about this
Rite of Power 94: Day One
I didn’t have time to chastise Dmitri for trying to purposefully upset Alexandria. We still had to show up to one last planning session with Caleb and breakfast with the rest of the pack house before the first guest was due to arrive. “We still have to arrange a time for the Thompsons’ request to say goodbye to their daughter; they’ve added a request for Alpha Selene to be there,” the fact that Caleb didn’t like any of that tickled me pink. “I’m not sure what use I’d be, other than to rile Candice up, but,” I gave our Betas a nod, “Sophie see where I can fit it into my schedule within the next week or so, please.”&nb
Rite of Power 94: Political Warefare
The next few days were just more of the same. Awkward wake up calls to get Alex tucked away for the day. Breakfast was becoming crowded, so we had to open another dining hall to make room for our guests. Sophie and I got the Lunas settled in as they arrived while the Alphas disappeared with Dmitri and Nathan. Jeanette was a bigger help to me than I thought she’d be. Letting her plan the social engagements for the Lunas freed up some of my day to handle pack business since Dmitri didn’t seem to be able to get away from the other Alphas. Only about half of them even brought their lunas with them. “What do we think of everyone so far?” Sophie flopped down on the sofa, eager to get the day ended so that she could let Alexandria out of the vault and be alone with her for the night. Nathan grumbled something incoherently; he was growing increasingly cranky every day that we hadn’t been able to fit in a sparring session to blow off steam and
Rite of Power 95: From the Mouths of Babes
The new schedule looked promising, especially since none of the Alphas arriving today were bringing their Lunas. With Sophie ushering them to their rooms, Dmitri, Nathan and I were able to catch up with all the paperwork that’d been piling up the last few days. They took care of all the appointments that needed to be handled in person so that I could meet up with the lunas at our community center after seeing Kalliope. “I’m surprised your mate hasn’t come down with you to finish grilling me about my time with the Vὅlsung,” Kalliope frowned at me, “or has he decided to abandon your promise to look for Alexandria?” I took a deep breath and folded my hands in my lap, “She actually prefers to go by Alex.” Kalliope’s face ran through a gauntlet of emotions that I couldn’t quite follow. Then she looked at me on the verge of tears and whispered, “You’ve talked to her? She’s alive? Is she okay?” “Yes, yes and yes,
Latest chapter
Rite of Power Rite of War
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
Rite of Power 120: The Alpha of Alphas
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
Rite of Power 119: A Final Breath
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
Rite of Power 118: Death March
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
Rite of Power 117: A Long Day
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.
Rite of Power 116: Tick-Tick-Tick
“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
Rite of Power 115: Babystitting
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
Rite of Power 114: Dark Deals
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
Rite of Power 113: Erie Calm
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.&
