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.
Selena POV:I couldn’t say I was surprised that Duncan followed me. He walked beside me and waited for me to stand still. His focus had just fallen on me, but mine had never wavered for him. I was too afraid of witnessing anything but devotion for me in his eyes. He turned me to him slowly and his face slowly started to lose some of its hardened expression as he searched my eyes. I could feel a trickle of concern flow towards me through our bond. “Are you okay?” he questioned. “I’m fine,” I said. Both of his hands moved up to cup my face, but I couldn’t give a thought to the tender gesture as my mind whirled with all the possibilities that Ruth had presented. I knew she was trying to get back at me for speaking against her, but why would she sink so low? What was wrong with her?“Selena, if I ask you to go back to the cleaning and wait for a bit without questioning anything, would you do it?” he aske
Selena POV:A few moments of silence and tacit understanding later, I quickly fixed my appearance so we could return to the meeting happening at his house. I was concerned that we had been absent too long and didn’t want to supply fuel for gossip in any form. As we made our way back, hand in hand, I saw Neo standing on the porch, waiting. The dull thud of my shoes on the stairs did he look straight at us. “You’re needed in the library,” Neo said calmly.“Ruth?” Duncan asked beside me, his emotions giving off sparks of anger. “Yes.”“Thank you,” Duncan said. Nervousness slowly crawled into my stomach as I thought about what would be expected of me in regards to Ruth. Would this be another meeting like I had with the fire incident?“Selena, relax,” Duncan whispered to me as he led me to down the empty hallway. I took a deep breath and released it, trying
Warning: There is sexual content up ahead. Please beware.Selena POV:“Selena, thank god!” Meredith exclaimed into tears the moment I walked into the greenhouse. She ran over to me and hugged me tightly, sobbing into my shoulder. I hugged her with as much intensity, needing a moment with her after passing through the destruction. I felt nothing but gratitude to the powers that had allowed me to live and see the people I love alive. With everything that could have gone wrong, it was truly a miracle. We pulled away but kept our arms around each other. Meredith’s face was a contradiction in expressions. It held tears of released fears but it also showed absolute love for me. “We were so worried,” she started and then stopped to swallow down some of her tears. “When the ritual was over and we had all survived, I knew you had succeeded but we couldn’t find you. We tried everything but you… I mean&helli
Duncan POV:In Meredith’s greenhouse, we all felt the abrupt shift in the air. It seemed to be gone as suddenly as it had arrived. I looked over at Lamont with a questioning look. He looked stunned as well. I walked over to him and watched as he processed what was happening. “Is it gone?” I asked. “Yes. They succeeded,” he said quietly. But he didn’t look pleased. I arched my brow, feeling anger rise in me at his reaction. He looked up and then shook his head. “There is a shift in the air, but I can’t pinpoint what is wrong.” He sighed. “Call the witches.”I moved out of the greenhouse and looked outside. I could sense the destruction this thing had created, but it was farther off than the pack than I had realized. I dialed Argon and Meredith’s phone, but it just wouldn’t connect. I was sure that the magic eater had destroyed the power lines and it wouldn&rsquo
Selena POV:We were surrounded by the darkness.I was shaking with helplessness. I felt its ice-like fingers moving towards me and I frantically moved away from it. Looking over to my right, I saw that it was Meredith’s hand I was holding. She wore the same expression on her face that was flowing through me. On the opposite side of her, Argon was holding on her other hand. We had found ourselves in a small opening in the forest, trying to regroup, only to fall into its trap. The trees and bushes around us were alive with unnatural and pure gloom, foreshadowing what was about to befall us. “Everyone, get into position!” Argon shouted. The noise from the forest was loud enough that normal conversation was impossible to hear. As I looked at the others taking their position, for a brief moment Duncan’s face floated into my head. My own fear changed into warmth. His face—his person—everything, had become something
Selena POV:Duncan’s cellphone rang just as we acknowledged what was happening. He answered it quickly, practically yelling into the receiver over the noise being created by the wind and water outside. The humans were terrified. “Yes. I know. We think so too,” he said, his eyes boring into mine. There was chaotic fear and absolute certainty. The lights above us flickered a few times and then went dead. The emergency lights flashed on almost immediately as we emerged out to the main area. A waiter was crying to calm a crying girl afraid of storms when she noticed us. “I am sure the lights will be back on momentarily,” she said quickly, but I could see she was physically shaking. Duncan was trying trying to move us out the doors, but I stalled him to take a good look at the humans. Absolute fear. These people would be caught in between powers they didn’t know about. What would help them?
Selena POV:Following the success of the new ritual, practice continued daily for the next week. The tension I had thought was snuffed out returned in another form. Instead of flaring emotions, it was restlessness that gripped me. The unspoken question of when the magic eater would come hovered over everyone. There was no certainty about when the magic eater would arrive, but we were expected to carry on with our lives as if it were business as usual. It was starting to become too much to handle and we were feeling the drain outside of normal ritual work. I found myself nodding off a few times during wolf training. Duncan was exhausted too. Each time I practiced, the ritual chipped away at me, but Duncan bore the brunt of the emotions. His heart felt heavy as he couldn’t shoulder the load with me or offer anything that my stubborn pride would allow. On top of that, we were both frustrated that there never seemed to be a time when we were truly al
Selena POV:I walked out of the bathroom after my hot bath and found Duncan fully dressed and looking at the journal next to him. Lamont had handed him the book before we left with a request to bring it with us to tomorrow’s practice. He was dozing off and when I approached him, he started awake. “Sorry,” he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing a hand across his eyes.I laughed at how boyish he looked and perched on the edge of the bed next to him to rub his neck. “With you running around all day and emotionally supporting me, you are more tired than me. I am surprised you are still awake.”He smiled sleepily and leaned towards me to rest his chin on my shoulder. I reached my other hand and massaged the top of his head, enjoying the feel of his soft hair and the gentle waves of contentment radiating from him, relaxing me in return. “Nice,” he sighed, setting more against me, drifting back to sleep. I g
Selena POV:The home phone rang as I was cleaning the dishes. Knowing that it was most likely Duncan trying to contact me, I hastily wiped my wet hands on a dishtowel and managed to answer it by the fourth ring. “Hello?”“Selena, Lamont needs us to head over to the greenhouse to go over the new ritual. Should I come to pick you up now?” Duncan asked, getting straight to the point. “Sure, that’s fine,” I told him, feelings tingles of stress and strangely enough, eagerness when he said the word ‘ritual.’“Great. I will be home shortly,” he said before quickly disconnecting the call. Did that mean we could use this new ritual? I had transcribed the segment and felt unsure about it. But it was still worth a try. .The greenhouse was alive with activity when Duncan and I walked through the back door. My eyes landed on Argon, who was helping Lamont lift a large pot
Duncan POV:As soon as we were back from wolf training, I practically dove in to get the witch notes out. I placed the package on the table and carefully unwrapped it to find an old, beat-up, leather-bound book nestled within it. A frayed red ribbon was stuck between the pages and I gently opened it to the section marked. A crude ink drawing of a circle took up one side while scribbles of what looked like notes were on the other. The only thing that I could read with ease was the top note in larger scrip that said: “Negating dark energy.”“What did you find?” Selena asked quietly, taking a seat beside me and leaning over for a better look at the contents. I pushed the books towards her so that we could share, hoping she might be able to decipher some of the faded writing on the pages. We were both quiet for a few minutes as we studied the content. Selena broke the quiet with a sharp intake of breath and sat back. Her emotions had changed
Selena POV:“Duncan, I know that you have more experience in being the leader of the pack, but I am not dumb. And I am not without knowledge of being a witch. My instincts have helped me a lot and I haven’t been wrong when I listened to them. I trust your instincts as the alpha and want to approach Meredith for help. I know you thought it was the right thing to do, but please trust me,” I whispered. He stopped the movement of his hands and remained quiet for another second. His emotions revolved around us, but none of them were anger. “I know you are not dumb. You are a talented witch and alpha female. I just forget sometimes that you are capable of so much more. All I want to do is protect you…” he said sincerely and then spoke softer. “…because you are mine.”He pulled me along him so that we were lying chest to chest, my face above his. A wave of sweetness rolled inside me, seeping into my pores as that