Selena POV:
As quietly as possible, I opened the door to Meredith’s house and peeked into the living room. I didn’t see anyone around so I padded over to the kitchen to find something to eat. My stomach was growling from hunger. I stopped as I placed my hand on the counter and looked around just in case I had missed someone.
I was looking through the supplies when I heard footsteps behind me. I jumped and turned back to find Meredith approaching casually. She looked at me and smiled. “Selena, you must be hungry.”
I simply nodded my head, feeling embarrassed about the past few days.
I found bread in the fridge and proceeded to make myself a toast, keeping my back to the house. I went to sit on the dining table and the sound of footsteps coming from behind me let me know that Meredith had followed me into the kitchen.
“There is some food in the fridge. You should take some,” she offered.
“Any jam o
Selena POV:The sound of footsteps arriving signaled that Argon was done with his morning routine. I watched as he came down the stairs and stopped at the foot when he saw me. “You’re up early today,” he commented to Meredith. Meredith chuckled. “Yeah, I got a call that Selena was headed home, so I woke up earlier than usual,” she admitted. I had not known the real reason why Meredith was awake and taking take of me, but I understood right then that Duncan had given her a heads-up. Argon snorted. “He is very nice,” he said. “Selena, Meredith and I made sure the forest was tended to. Don’t worry about it. It’s usually customary for the newly mated couple to have time together to get used to their new circumstances. But there is a lot going on in the witch world and yours… so we can’t give you a full week to recuperate,” he explained. “It’s fine. I
Selena POV:“Selena, stop!” Duncan yelled from behind me. I didn’t stop. I kept running for the house, hoping to lock myself in the bedroom until he didn’t chase me any longer. I really did not want to find out what he was going to do to me. I could feel him gaining on me and I tried to run faster, but I was no match for him physically. He placed himself in front of me, his arm on mine, trying to stop me, but we were moving too fast. The momentum spun me around, causing me to crash into him, sending us tumbling to the soft grass. I landed heavily across his chest, eliciting a grunt from him. I lay still for a moment, catching my breath before I pushed myself off him and into a sitting position. Duncan was still on his back, breathing deeply and looking at me with calculating eyes. There was no anger there, but his eyes were filled with caution and something else. He sat up, never taking his eyes off me until he was facin
Selena POV:My cheek was pressed up against his chest and I could hear his rapid heartbeat. Our hands were still joined at our sides as my other was pinned to me by his arm around me.Our emotions swirled in my head, fighting for dominance as our bodies remained motionless. My anger. His confusion. It didn’t matter that our physical contact brought us a certain calm. We were both fighting it as neither of us wanted to give in. “Selena,” Duncan said quietly, his breathing strained. “Yes?” I whispered back. “Why did you run? Can you be honest?” he asked. I knew that he meant our mating and not this morning. “Because…” I was even quieter than before. “Because why?” he pressed. “I don’t want to say.”He moved his hand up my back and to my neck, pressing so that I would look up at him. He was intently looking down at me, waiting f
Selena POV:“Selena, wake up,” I heard Duncan’s voice calling me from far away. I felt myself being gently shaken and I reluctantly opened my eyes to see Duncan’s handsome face above me. “It’s time for bed. Go get ready while I close up the house,” he whispered as he ran his hand down my arm to my hand to help pull me from my slumped position on the couch. “Close the house?” I asked softly, still groggy. He smiled. “Yes.” He didn’t mention that he wanted to be alone and free from interruption from the pack members. After he helped me to stand, I watched him sleepily for a moment as he made sure to mark my spot in the book and place it on the coffee table. I turned and made my way into the bedroom, hardly aware of my surroundings, since all I could think of was getting into the big bed and going back to sleep. As quickly as possible, I changed into my sleep clothes. I brushe
Selena POV:The rest of the day was spent in peace. We talked as little as possible, which was probably a good thing, since any type of conversation that we attempted led to some sort of battle. I also sensed that neither of us wanted to talk, so the silence was welcomed. After breakfast, we lay on the couch together for a few hours. I read while he watched television. Our physical contact brought that hum of calm and we both accepted it, letting it wrap its tranquility around us. The only time we moved away from the couch was if it was necessary.While we appeared calm, and for the most part, felt each other’s calm through the bond, there were sparks of other emotions that came through occasionally. I knew Duncan could feel the tension in my body every time we had to speak as I could feel his wariness when I saw he was lost in thought and he didn’t see me looking at him. Then there was the strange warmth coming from him when I caugh
Selena POV:I changed into better clothes and went downstairs. Despite this, I tried to keep some distance between Duncan and me because I was acutely aware of the level of intimacy in our relationship. If one could even call this a relationship. What did you call someone who was considered your spouse when you weren’t on the same level as them? Or didn’t really know them? He thankfully didn’t say anything as we waited for Meredith to come. We both tried to keep our emotions as calm as possible to try and avoid talking about what just happened. Finally, I mustered up the courage to talk about something that had been at the back of my mind since I found out about this pack meeting. “Can we talk about something?” I asked. “Talk?” he responded. “What do you want to talk about?”I sucked in a deep breath. “Is there something you want to talk about before I say my piece?” I ask
Selena POV:Duncan took me to the clearing where everything was set up. As we approached, I noticed that there were lights hanging from the trees to illuminate the park. They weren’t switched on yet, but by the time the meeting started, they would be. There were chairs and a table with a velvet cloth that held various items, which I assumed would be for the meeting later. “The meeting will happen here?” I asked him as he continued down the path towards it. “Yes. It will start soon,” he answered simply. “We are coming early to set it up for the others.”I heard voices in the forest as we entered the clearing. Automatically, we looked towards the sound to find the Sentinels rushing around, directing each other with the trays of finger foods.They looked like miniature works of art and too pretty to eat. “Do you guys need any help?” Duncan called loudly. They twisted slightly to l
Selena POV:He led me to the head of the clearing where a few chairs were kept. I sat down and Duncan finally ushered over a person. He was an incredibly big man. I was a little afraid of him. As he neared, the man looked directly at me. His eyes narrowed in study. I felt a shiver go down my spine from his look. After a few tense moments, he gave me a smile that said he was pleased with what he found. I released the breath that I was holding, gulping in a lungful of sweet air. “Selena, let me introduce you to Lamont. He is a Water Witch and a half-breed like you.”“Hello, Selena,” he said with a strong voice. “Hello,” I replied, holding my free hand out for him to shake. He took it between his two large calloused ones and gave a gentle shake. “I have been hearing about your progress from Duncan and Meredith. I understand that you are training to channel Earth and Fire at the moment?” he asked.