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
Selena POV:Weighing the alternatives in my head, about ordering a banishment and letting her stay here, I needed to know more of the reality of the situation. If Ruth was thrown out, where would she go, exactly? How would she support herself? Could she support herself?“Does she have any family living outside pack land?” I asked. “Yes. She has an older brother. He lives with his mate in her pack. Once a wolf is asked to leave, it is usually a permanent situation. You are not allowed to contact that person. She would be considered a threat to another pack and would not be welcome. A wolf is on their own in that case,” he explained. “I see,” I said, going into my thoughts. I remembered what it was like to be alone in the wilderness, knowing that I had no one to protect me. To be cut off from everything that I knew. The security that a family brings or the pack had in a twisted way was taken away. I had gotten lucky fin
Selena POV:“For purposely using your knowledge against a member of your pack and for refusing to give your oath to the Alpha female. The suggested punishment is banishment,” Neo stated formally. Ruth flinched at the word, as did her mother, who stood next to her husband not far behind their daughter. “Alpha Selena, your decision, please,” Neo prompted me. “Ruth,” I began, feeling my voice weaken lightly. I steeled myself to not show my anxiety to the room. “It has been decided that you will not be banished,” I said, making sure that my voice was clear to all the people in the room. Her head jerked up in surprise as her eyes widened in shock. Her mother burst into happy tears and came forward to hug her daughter. She looked up at me and thanked me. Her father looked relieved, losing the pinched look he had been wearing throughout the meeting. “Good job, Duncan. I knew you could talk he
Selena POV:Duncan and I must have been extremely tired, as we woke in the same position as we fell asleep the night before. I tried to untangle myself from Duncan’s sleeping body but inadvertently woken him the moment our fingers unclasped. Half-asleep, Duncan jerked his head up from the pillow as I felt a wave of distress come from him. He grabbed my hand back in some inherent gesture of reassurance as his eyes took a moment to focus on me. “Selena?” his morning voice croaked. His emotions calmed to an even level as he saw I was still next to him. Glancing over at the clock, I could see it was ten. “We slept late, there is a lot to do today. I need to go talk to Meredith,” I told him slowly, pulling away and off the bed to stand beside it. He watched me for a few seconds. “Do you want me to go with you?” he asked softly.I knew he wasn’t offering out of politeness, he wanted to support me.
Selena POV:“But you don’t know that for certain. Why not just tell me?”He spread his hands out in front of him in a gesture of defeat. I was shaking and tried to stop it by clenching my teeth and twisting the material of my shirt in my fist. This was not what I hoped to hear. I didn’t know if I could trust them after this. The lack of answers between us was not helping me feel like I could turn to them for anything going forward.Ever since the mating, so much had changed that I wasn’t sure how to fix this situation.“How am I supposed to trust you?” I asked, my throat clenching with tears. “Don’t say that.” He stood up and placed his hands on my shoulder. “Please don’t think either of us did this to harm you. We just made the wrong decisions.”He was pleading with me to understand his side in this, but I couldn’t. I was just too confused.
Selena POV:Arriving at the house, I took a moment to wash my face and comb my hair. I heard the phone ring but didn’t make a move to answer it. Duncan came into the bathroom a minute later, stopping just inside the door frame to lean against it, and watched me comb my hair. The connection between us was calm and relaxed after the conversation we had on the way back from Meredith’s house. “That was the Sentinels. They want to know if we would like to join them for lunch,” he said. “Who’s going to be there?” I asked cautiously. “Neo, Caleb, Sylvie, Quill… and my distant relatives… the ones from last night,” he hesitated a little at the end. His emotions swirled to include uneasiness at the mention of these family members of his. I too felt it within me, but I knew that staying here might look bad like we were hiding. If members of his family and all of his sentinels were there, th
Selena POV:I was saved from the stand-off with Duncan’s uncle later by Neo who wished that everyone enjoy the meal. I turned my attention to helping to pass the dishes around the table and fell into a conversation about my training with Caleb. The rest of the meal remained civil as everyone paired off with the person next to them for more intimate conversations. I peeked over at Duncan occasionally to find him attentive to whoever he was holding a conversation with. He would catch my eye every so often and give me a reassuring smile that I felt was both for me and himself. As soon as the meal was over, I turned to Lamont, who nodded at me, saying that he was ready to talk to me. I glanced back at Duncan as the two of us excused ourselves from the table and walked out of the house and into the thin vegetation.My nerves returned to the fore as my thoughts centered on what happened this morning with Meredith and Argon. Or should I say… what didn&rsq
Selena POV:We were at a stalemate and neither of us seemed to know what to say to clear it up. Work and time would be the only method that I would be able to build trust with everyone involved.Lamont saw me as a tool that needed to survive for the better of his coven, but I was hesitant. “Now, if I may, I need to go back to the lunch. It is rude for a guest to be missing for so long,” he said, moving towards the living quarters. I was not completely satisfied with the answers he gave me. Between Meredith, Argon, and him, it was becoming clear that I may not get all the information that I sought. But that didn’t mean that I would stop asking questions. What I did know was that I was here at the Blue Moon Pack to stay. If this area was in danger, I would need to focus my attention on my magic studies. I needed to add to the protection present here. A slight chill ran through me as I thought of the people I liked and the
Selena POV:Icy cold winds surrounded me as I ran along a dark path. It was lined with tall, skeletal trees on both sides. Branches that looked like long, pale, spindly arms with clawed hands reached forward with the intent of capturing me as I tried to escape their grasp. I yelled for help, but my voice came out as a strangled, warbling noise that was quickly drowned out by the howling voices of the trees. All I could do was run. I thought that if I stayed on the path and did not allow the branches to touch me, I would make it to safety. Up ahead, along the path, a saw a tall figure with its back to me. It stood perfectly still as the trees thrashed in the wind, waving their arms around it, not even acknowledging the figure standing stoically. The light was so dim that it took me a moment to realize that it was Duncan.A glimmer of hope moved through me as I knew that if I reached him, I would be safe. “Duncan!” I attempted