Selene's POV
The ring rolled to Lucian's feet. However, he sneered and stepped on it, crushing both my dignity and love beneath his heel and harshly said,
“Do you really think by acting like this and playing victim I'm going to rule what you did right? I will pretend this didn't happen at all. Because like I said, Mira needs to rest. So go to the guest room and reflect on yourself, and maybe when you get some sense you can come back to this room.”
I stared at him, stunned. He looked so sure of himself, so convinced that he was right, that I was the problem. He turned toward Mira again, adjusting the blanket over her like she was something breakable.
“I won’t be going to the guest room.” I said quietly.
That made him pause. He turned, eyes narrowing at me. “What did you say?”
I looked at him. Really looked at him. The man who used to pull me into his chest on stormy nights. The Alpha who once swore on the stars that I was his home. The mate who used to trace promises on my skin with kisses and call them truths. Gone.
“I said,” I whispered, “I won’t go to the guest room. Neither will I stay anywhere in this house tonight.”
I moved toward the door. Lucian stood upright. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Didn't you say Mira needs her rest?” I said resolutely, “I’m letting you have the bed. The room. The house.” But I won’t let him have me like this. Not anymore.
I didn't wait for him to respond as I turned, ready to walk out the door, Then suddenly, the front door swung open with a bang. Kellan, one of Lucian’s betas, burst in. He looked breathless, his shirt slightly wrinkled, like he’d run all the way here.
“Luna,” he panted, “have you seen Alpha Blackwell?”
“What’s wrong Kellan?” he asked, already walking closer. Kellan took a deep breath.
“The pack’s under attack.” An attack? My heart screeched to an abrupt stop for a moment considering the facts that we haven't been attacked for the past half a decade. “How bad is it?”
“One of the food storage was just hit. Surveillance picked up a group of unidentified men in black setting the warehouse on fire, there are even more of them near the other two emergency stockpiles.”
Lucian’s entire posture changed in an instant. Whatever tension had been in the room a moment ago vanished, replaced by sharp focus. “How many of them?” he asked.
“We’ve counted at least twenty eight, but there could be more. And… their identity is unknown because there were no signs of shifting. But they're fast and well-coordinated.”
Lucian muttered under his breath. “Humans?”
“We sincerely can't tell yet.”
Lucian turned slightly toward me. “Selene. Stay inside. Don’t go anywhere.” He turned back to Kellan. “Call Gamma Roslyn. Have her secure the south gate. Double patrols near the ridge and tell the scouts to scan past the west side. If these people know about our warehouses, they’ve done their homework.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Kellan gave a quick nod, already reaching for his earpiece. Lucian stepped toward the door, but just as he got there, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder toward the hallway.
“Send two guards here. Have them protect Mira. Make sure they don’t leave this house,” Lucian added. “She’s not safe alone.”
Kellan nodded again. I stared at Lucian.
“What about me?” He didn’t answer. So I stepped closer.
“Lucian.”
“You'll stay in here and make sure everyone's safe, Selene.”
I felt heat rise in my chest. “You know you're going to need me out there.”
His expression barely changed. “Mira’s injured. And unlike you, she’s not trained. So I'm going to need you to stay in here with the other two guards for everyone's safety.”
Everyone safety? Or hers? That hurt more than it should have but I'm not about to let whatever I'm feeling right then cloud my reasoning.
All I knew was my pack needs me and I'm not going to stay in here like a coward. “You've already assigned two guards to her,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Yet you're telling me to stay put, when the people I swore to protect are in danger?”
Even he knows if we don't stop them as quickly as we could.. It's either they get to us, or hunger does. Exactly why our food storage is being hit first.
“Selene! Do you think now is the appropriate time to be all jealous and envious!?”
I let out a small laugh, bitter and quiet. “Right.”
He looked away again. “We can argue about this later.” Then he gestured to Kellan, “Come on, let's get moving.”
I thought back to something I hadn’t thought about in the past years. Just a few months into our relationship, I’d brought him lunch at the office as a surprise. I waited outside while he chatted with his Alpha friends.
One of them had asked him, “Why a she wolf like her?”
He’d laughed. “The Alpha is stronger with his fated mate by his side.”
At the time, I pretended I hadn’t heard. I told myself it didn’t matter. After all, I loved him that much. And I believed he felt the same. But now, watching him leave with Kellan, making me a watchdog for his old flame, I felt sick at how naïve I was. I’d made so many mistakes.
But the biggest one was staying when I should have walked away years ago, maybe, just maybe I wouldn't have completely ruined my position back at home.
Does that even matter anymore? But it's now very clear that I’m going to lose myself if I don't let go now whether he accepts my rejection or not.
So I walked to the closet and started to pack my things, after I was done, I called Melanie. My best friend. She’d moved to one of the biggest packs in North America last year.
She didn’t answer, so I rang again. On the fourth try, she finally picked up. “What?” she said sleepily.
“Mel…” I cried... “I was wrong. I should never have given up my career for him. I regret it. I want to come find you. Please.”
She sighed. “You bloody fool.” Then she hung up. I sat on the edge of the bed, completely still. Not even hurt. I'm empty.
Flashes of all the times she had tried to talk sense into me came to mind and I remembered the look of disappointment on her face when she left.
As the tears started falling, a new message popped up on my phone. [Flight booked. Tomorrow. 2pm. Don’t be late.]