Chapter 5: Selene

I sat on the ground while Phoenix paced around, I was in shock of everything that just happened. My parents...they’re dead. I held myself, but I felt something running on my hands, I looked down, blood. My mothers’ blood. “Hey,” Phoenix said softly, taking my hands in his, “it’s okay. I swear to you, that woman will pay for what she’s done.” I nodded my head, “Now then, if you’re ready, I’m going to warp us to the house with the others, okay?” I nodded; Phoenix pulled me up and we warped to the meeting place. 

We walked up the stairs, but Phoenix stopped, “I’m going to place a protection charm around the house, I’ll be a few minutes. Go on in and I’ll be right there.” I nodded and went inside the house. I looked around the old house, the floors creaking with every step. 

“Amber?” I whispered, “Chris?” 

“Selene?” I turned the corner to see Amber standing there; I pulled her in close for a hug, hugging her tightly, then my cousins started popping out of their hiding places. Phoenix came in, 

“Is everyone here?” He asked, but silence fell amongst them, 

“We lost your father, Phoenix, and my mothers.” Amber answered, the grim look that fell on his face concerned me but he hid it and nodded, 

“We’ll rest here and start moving in the morning; we need to put as much distance between that bitch and us.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Selene, come on, we’ll take the master bedroom.” I nodded and followed him upstairs,

“I’ll come check on you in a little bit.” Amber called to me,

“Okay.” I told her, 

“Chris, I’ll need to meet with you and the others here in a little while.” Phoenix told him,

“Of course.”

 We continued our way to the room, this was our first time alone in a bedroom together; I was scared. Phoenix led me to the bed and sat me down, “I’m going to start a shower for you, okay?” I nodded; he went to the bathroom, I heard the water being turned on, but I just sat there in shock. Phoenix came back, “Do you need help?” He asked, 

“Yes, with the laces.” I said; Phoenix helped me stand up and I turned around for him to undo the laces. I could feel the dress loosen from my body, it soon fell to the ground. I turned around and saw him look me up and down; I think he noticed how tense I was, and curressed my face softly, 

“Selene, I’m not going to touch you like that until you’re ready, I promise you that.” I nodded and headed to the bathroom, “Let me know if you need anything.” He told me,

“Okay.” I stripped out of my remaining clothes then stepped into the shower, watching as the blood rushed off my hands down the drain, my mothers’ blood...I couldn’t hold it back any longer, I burst into tears. How could that evil woman do that? To her children? To her family? I didn’t understand why any of this was happening. Phoenix walked into the room but didn’t mess with the curtain,

“I’m going downstairs to speak to Chris and the others.” He told me, “I’ll send Amber up soon. Do you need anything?” I just shook my head, 

“No, nothing.” 

“Okay, I’ll be back soon.” He then left the room; I heard the stairs creak as he went down.

When I finally managed to get myself out of the shower, I went to the room and laid down on the bed in just a towel. Amber came in, “Hey,” she said, I raised up, keeping my towel tight on my body, “I brought you some clothes.” She handed me a set of folded clothes,

“Thank you.” I said, taking the clothes from her and got up to put them on; it was just leggings and a t-shirt and thankfully, some clean underwear. I got dressed quickly and sat back on the bed; Amber sat down and held me, we both started crying, “I can’t believe they’re gone.” I cried, 

“I know, why did she do this?” Amber asked, I shook my head,

“I don’t know...mom and dad never spoke of her until I was older and then told me everything.” There was a light knock on the door, then it opened slowly; my cousin, Sam peered around the door, 

“Chris and Phoenix are asking for the two of you.” I nodded, 

“Thanks, Sam, we’ll be right there.” I told him, he nodded then closed the door back. I whipped my eyes from the tears and tried to put on a brave face, 

“What do you think the guys need?” Amber asked me, I shrugged, 

“Probably going to talk about what we’re going to do next.” She nodded in agreement as we started to head downstairs.

Everyone was gathered in the living-room, Amber and I were about to sit on the couch but Chris stopped me, “Selene, this is going to be pretty serious, do you feel up to it?” He asked, I pulled my arm away and stared him in the face, 

“My parents didn’t raise me to be weak.” I told him; Chris was about to protest but Amber placed a hand on his and shook her head. Chris nodded then turned to everyone else,

“As far as we know, we’re all that’s left, all that escaped.” Chris started; Phoenix took my hand, trying to calm my nerves, “The deaths we know of, Alpha Jackson Alcmene, his luna, Addison Alcmene,” the list went on, listing all of my uncles and their mates, two of my cousins, Ambers’ moms, Phoenixs’ dad, “And lastly, the late king and queen, Nicholas and Aiday Serkan.” Chris turned to Phoenix and nodded,

“Tonight, we will mourn our losses. It is likely that Mara will be searching for us, more specifically, Selene.” I felt horrible that I am endangering everyone in this room, “Since the late Alpha has passed, Chris Alcmene is now the Alpha of the Silvermoon pack and once he and Amber marry, she will be his luna.” Phoenix turned to me, “Selene, you are now queen of the vampires, soon to be queen of the witches and wizards as well.” 

“You are also the queen of the werewolves.” Chris chimed in. I turned and stared at him for a moment, everyone bowed their heads to me,

“For your safety and for everyone else’s safety, we’re all going to Scotland.” Phoenix said, 

“Why Scotland?” I asked, he rubbed the back of his neck,

“It’s because of something Mara said.” I replied, which had me curious and confused; he sighed and cupped the side of my face, “She said you had purple eyes when you had your hand around her throat.” 

“So?” I asked, he didn’t stop there,

“When you found out about the contract, your eyes were red; I don’t mean crying red, I mean the color of your eyes went from the blue color they normally are to a dark red.” I nodded; seeing that it wasn’t clicking with me, he looked to Chris for help,

“Don’t look at me, dude, this is all you.” Phoenix glared at him,

“You know your family tree better than anyone in your family, including the extended family. Tell her what you found, because the eyes are what's convincing me that what you found is the truth.” Chris sighed and nodded,

“Okay,” He turned to me, “Okay, so, I’ve been studying our family for years, and I’ve been able to track the Alcmene family over two hundred years, then there’s your family,” I crossed my arms, turning to face him completely, “I was able to track the Serkan family over a thousand years.” Amber and I looked at each other then back at Chris, “There was a young woman, Victoria Elizabeth Aysun, she was born on May 15th of 1761, she was a witch. She was the mate of Alpha Ayberk James Alcmene, our grandfather of ten generations.” I nodded, “Well, your grandmother around the same time was a part of a coven, her name was Maryanne Claire Nilima, she was chosen by the king of the vampires at that time, Alexander Michael Serkan to be his bride.” The more he pieced these together, the more I realized what he was saying, “None of their children showed any signs of witchcraft and so they went on with their lives.” I felt faint,

“So, you’re telling me that I am…” 

“You are a hybrid vampire, werewolf, and a witch.” Chris said, those were the last words I heard; the room started spinning then everything went black.

I woke up in a bed; I looked over to see Phoenix sitting in a chair, half out of it, “Phoenix,” I said, my voice was raspy, but he heard me all the same,

“Selene! Oh my gosh, I was so worried.” He said as he came over to the bed, taking my hand in his, 

“I need some water.” I said, he nodded and got me a glass. Bringing it to me, he helped me sit up and I drank the glass completely. Then I thought back to what happened before I blacked out, “I’m a witch…” I muttered to myself; Phoenix stayed quiet while I let the new information sink in. 

“We’re leaving for Scotland soon.” He told me, I nodded, “Rest, you’ll need your strength. I’ll come and get you when we’re leaving.” I smiled,

“Okay,” He kissed my head, 

“I love you, Selene.” He told me, 

“I love you too.” Phoenix kissed my lips lightly before heading downstairs. I had hoped that this was all a big, horrible nightmare but it wasn’t. I laid back down and closed my eyes, thinking about everything.