Selene
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to people recognizing me on the street, as if I’m some sort of celebrity rather than a girl who spent 8 years alone in a basement with no one for company but my trapped wolf. Now it’s impossible for me to go anywhere without being recognized.
Even now, as rain falls in sheets around me and I’m bundled up against the crisp chill of the autumn air, walking down the street is a veritable minefield. Half of the people who stop me merely wish to offer me congratulations on the new baby, but the other half pepper me with questions about Bastien’s whereabouts.
I’ve almost reached the hospital when a reporter catches me, running forward with a microphone and camera crew in tow. “Selene, I’m Katrina Davies from the Evening Standard, do you have a moment to speak with us?”
“I can spare a moment,” I agree, unsure of whether this is
FredericWell this is interesting. I didn’t think Selene had it in her to stand up for herself, clearly the betas and Drake have been a worse influence on her than I realized. On the other hand, she is here, and that gives as an opportunity to help her see the error of her ways.“What do you mean?” I ask, spreading my hands in front of me and inviting her to continue.“Don’t give me that.” Selene snaps, “You just publicly challenged my husband.”Goodness, she can be feisty when she wants to. My wolf growls. Just another bad habit to train out of her. I think back. There were always bound to be a few. And look, she looks much better, she must have figured out about the pills. My wolf points out, sounding even more irritated than before.I too have to admit that’s a problem. I had been hoping she’d miscarry without the right dru
SeleneThere haven’t been many times in my life that I’ve felt like a genius, but I certainly do now. After my success with the reporters outside, I was prepared to take on Dr. Kane, but I never expected to catch him out like this. As alarming and disturbing as his behavior has been throughout our conversation, I’m on the verge of making him admit he was working with Arabella, and that’s only a few steps short of making him admit he’s not Dr. Kane at all, but Frederic.This man I once trusted, is looking at me as if he’s never seen me before. I’m afraid he’ll try to touch me again or profess his love, but I’m also afraid he might attack. It honestly seems like it could go either way. “I learned what Arabella was planning.” He admits hoarsely, seemingly unable to think of a lie in the moment. “Because you were working with her.” I suggest. “Because you were help
SeleneShadows surround me, downing me in darkness so impenetrable even my supernatural eye site cannot stand against it. Moments ago I could have sworn Helene was standing next to me, talking me through yet another training exercise, but now when I reach for her she’s nowhere to be found. I cannot hear her anymore, and I cannot find even the tiniest sliver of light to help me find my way out of this place. I’m alone, completely lost in the artificial night I created with my own hands, and a stab of fear slices into me as I realize I’m truly stuck. The obsidian cloud pulses with energy I can feel but not see, and I will the shadows to part, to take shape rather than blinding me. They don’t budge, instead smothering me in pitch blackness, choking me with it until I’m gasping for air. Panicking, I send out an energy burst, hoping my power will shatter the darkness and return the shadows back to the fringes and holl
Selene“Mommy, are you wake?” A little voice speaks in my ear. Slowly I return to the waking world, blinking open my tired eyes and registering the warm little body snuggling up against me. “Hello little bean.” I murmur, wrapping my arms around Lila and pulling the covers more tightly around us. Lila hasn’t slept through the night in her own room since Bastien left. Instead she’s taken to crawling into my bed somewhere between the hours of midnight and dawn, which both warms my heart and makes handling my morning sickness more difficult. Today the sun is just beginning to rise, and Helene’s soothing draughts have actually managed to ease the worst of my symptoms, so I’m happy to simply lie here and cuddle with my daughter until we’re ready to get up. “Mommy, I had a dream ‘bout Daddy.” Her morning puppy breath is terrible, so I tuck her head beneath my chin,
SeleneWithin moments, I have five fully grown wolves hovering over my shoulder, reading the strange letter with sounds of confusion and disbelief. The tension in the room is palpable, but within moments it explodes into chaos. “What on earth?” Odette murmurs.“This is madness.” Drake agrees.Aiden is doing nothing but curse, while Donovan has taken to pacing and reading the annulment papers. Sophie is the only one who hasn’t said a word, but she seems stunned into silence. “This doesn’t make any sense, is it in code?” Aiden finally exclaims, apparently running out of four letter words. “I don’t think so.” Donovan frowns, “we’ll look into it, but there aren’t any patterns jumping out at first glance.”“Selene,” Sophie asks gently, “Are you okay?”“I think I&rs
SeleneEvery mouth in the room is gaping wide open in shock. From the looks on their faces, you would have thought I’d announced I was planning a ritual human sacrifice, rather than proposing a trip across the continent. When they finally regain their senses everyone begins speaking at once, half shouting objections and already trying to talk me out of it. In truth I can’t really decipher one person’s words from another’s, but I certainly hear Aiden when he thunders: “Are you out of your mind?” “No, I’m very much in my mind, thank you.” I retort, trying to stay calm amidst all the upset. The last thing I need is to have an anxiety attack from so many people yelling. That would hardly convince them I’m up for the journey. “Selene, you can’t go to Tartarus.” Drake insists in a much more reasonable tone than either of Bastien’s Betas. “Blaise is hunting Volanas. One look at you and you’ll be done for.”“We can disguise her eyes.” Helene announces, though I have no idea how we’d accompl
SeleneAfter two full days of arguing about my plans to go to Tartarus – most of which were devoted to convincing the Betas it was the right thing to do even though we’d already reached that agreement with Helene – Aiden, Donovan and I have finally reached something close to a detente. The Betas have accepted that I’m going to Tartarus whether they like it or not, and now Helene and I are well under way planning out trip. After reviewing the quickest route to Tartarus over and over again, we finally moved on to figuring out how we’re going to disguise me, what precautions I’ll take to avoid Blaise, and how to convince Bastien to believe me over Arabella. I’ve continued training with her day and night, moving on from bending shadows to working on hypnosis, harnessing moonlight and putting people to sleep. I’m not very good at the latter two, but I’ve made surprising progress
FredericSelene is smarter than I gave her credit for - and more stubborn. Her impromptu interview with the press outside the hospital was masterful - if it hadn’t caused such problems for me I’d even be impressed. However ever since she told the pack to start looking into my background, I’ve been doing nothing but putting out fires.Every five minutes a different reporter is calling for my comment, while a bevy of others dig into my past. Of course, Thomas Kane only has records dating back to college - when my mother invented him. Before then everything I did was tainted by my father’s so-called “crimes”. The media has already figure out my current identity is a fraud, how much longer can I last before they learn the truth? Even the medical board has been calling me, threatening to revoke my license. Part of me regrets throwing my mother into the basement, I’d really love to have som