I shook my head, “I left after she died, and didn’t stick around to find out what they did with her.”
“Why’d you leave?”
I felt cold, unfocused. Thinking about it sent me reeling. It was like I was no longer in my body, disconnected from my mind. I struggled to attach myself, to keep myself from sinking into emotion. If I let it, it would drown me. “She had been out on a run with Eli.”
“Jackson’s beta?”
“Yeah, he’s her mate. They were the first ones to find a wendigo, and it had bitten her. No one believed her at first, until it was found, dying alone in the woods. My father said Gabby would turn into one of them, and the pack would quickly be wiped out.” I took a moment before continuing. “He decided she had to die. She knew it was coming, picking her outfit and everything. They had to chain Eli and I down to do it, but they managed. He made us watch, and when it was over, I took off.”
“His own daughter,” He muttered. “That must’ve been a hard decision to make.”
I scoffed, “He killed my mother, too.”
He looked surprised, “What?”
“She didn’t want to leave him, so he let Tate have her killed. Just like Gabby.”
He sat still, lost in thought. I couldn’t make out his emotions, but something seemed to be bothering him. His face turned to sadness. “How long did it take him to make the decision to kill his daughter?”
“A few days.” That was odd. It didn’t take that long to turn into a wendigo.
“You had to watch her change into a monster? I’m so sorry, Selene.”
“No, I didn’t…” I jumped up. “She never turned. Goddess, what if it doesn’t affect lycans?” I thought back to them cowering from me during the fight. They had only been fighting back, never attacking me first. He was standing, watching as I paced back and forth.
“We have to tell the council.”
CHAPTER 34
With knowledge of the wendigos not affecting lycans, I had expected someone to question why we should continue to help. No one did. Lucian had advocated for us leaving tonight. Gone was the man who didn’t want peace, replaced with a renewed hope. I was glad to have him on our side. I might have had a strange feeling from him, but he was Sebastian’s family and that made him mine.
It raised other questions about what else we didn’t know. If we had an immunity to their bite, we’d have to find proof of it somehow. It would also be a good idea to find out what else the lycans had an advantage with, but we didn’t know how. We intended to bring that information up when we got back.
We had decided to take the same group that had gone to Old Moon the first time. It would be easier to pick up where we left off that way. I spent the meeting waiting to hear attitude, or some sort of protesting from Nomi, but she stayed silent and avoided my eyes. It was volunteer only, so those who didn’t feel comfortable returning didn’t have to.
Leith came over at the end, hand out toward Sebastian. “No hard feelings, Alpha?”
Sebastian smirked at him, “Only if you promise to dance next festival.”
Leith shook his head, rolling his eyes. He turned to me, “Congratulations on last night. You two deserve all the happiness the goddess can give you.”
I reached out and hugged him, “Thanks for everything. Will you be returning with us?”
“If you’d like me to, it would be an honor, My Lady.” I scrunched up my nose at the title and he laughed, assuring me it had been a joke.
I limped out of the meeting, the damage on my leg making sure I struggled, when Nomi stopped me. I raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what on earth she planned to say. I was trying to be the bigger person, but I could only take so much.
“Congratulations to the both of you. I wish you nothing but success together.”
My eyes narrowed, “Do you actually?”
She bowed her head, “I’m sorry for last night. What we did was wrong. I care about Sebastian, and I needed to be certain you were worthy. We went about it the wrong way, I recognize that.”
I stared at her, waiting for her head to lift. “I care about him, too.” I smiled. “And I’m glad to hear he has people who have his back like you do. But if you ever try something like that again, I will make sure it’s the last thing you do.”
A smile slowly spread across her face, and she laughed. “I would never. Last night was the only chance I had to test you; I couldn’t resist. You will be a powerful queen.” She nudged Sebastian in the shoulder. “You’ve got yourself an alpha, Seb.”
Tasmin came over, throwing her arm over Nomi’s shoulders. She kissed her cheek. “Told you she’s got spirit. I was right, wasn’t I?” They both were grinning. “We’re very glad Sebastian has someone as strong as you.” How had they managed to hide it, I wondered? Seeing them like this made it obvious that they were mated. Must’ve been part of their plan to test me.
Sebastian led me away from them. He passed through unfamiliar hallways, and I was getting annoyed. I didn’t enjoy limping around. “Where are we going?” He didn’t answer, focused on reaching his destination. His feet were quick and quiet, my struggling breaths filling the space between us. I was in pain. Her bite had done more damage than it had seemed last night.
He stopped in front of a door, and I slumped against him. “I’m sorry, I forgot about your leg. We can get you to a healer before we leave. Right now, this is more urgent.” We entered a library. The walls were lined with filled bookshelves. I sat in the closest chair I could find, while he walked around, scanning the shelves for what he wanted. Several books were grabbed, and he brought them to my table. The silence was filled as he feverishly flipped through them, and I wondered what it was he was looking for. I watched curiously as his eyes scanned the pages, before moving on to another book.
He stopped after a while. “What was your mother’s name?”
“Eliza Stele, why? What are you looking for?”
He nodded as he slowed his flipping. A page was found, and he held it out to me. “I have records of all of my people from after the war. If they were killed or returned home, there’s a trace. The only way you disappeared was if you stayed hidden, and even some of them were found since then. There is no record of your mom dying. She was supposed to have been one of the lycans to return from your pack.”
I felt sick. Could she be alive and here? Had she been here the whole time? Why would they lie? I looked at the page to see he was right. It had been recorded that she was supposed to return. “You don’t know where she is, do you?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Knowing she was alive changed everything for me. My life would’ve been so different. Gabby would be alive. She never would’ve been bitten or wrongfully killed. I would’ve grown up here on the island. I would’ve had a wonderful life. I looked at Sebastian, sadness clouding my eyes. All of that was true, but I never would’ve understood his life. The pain he experienced would be foreign to me. We wouldn’t fit together as nicely as we do now. I sighed heavily, decades of pain behind it. “When we come back will you help me find her?”
“You don’t want to look today?”
I shook my head, “I want to enjoy this last day on the island with you. Then, I want to go home and finish this. She was gone my whole life; I can wait a little longer before I meet her.”
CHAPTER 35
I had said my goodbyes to some lycans on the island, excited to go back and finish this so I could return. The feeling I got from the island was incredible. I’d gotten to be a part of more than one pack; both of which had felt like a home to me. Neither of them even touched the feeling I got from the island. It felt like I belonged here; I felt like these were my people. I didn’t know what we’d be returning to, but I had a pleasant feeling about it.
It was a quick trip back, our group reunited on the ship. We passed the time with stories of our adventures at the festival. Many of them enjoyed teasing Sebastian about his dance. I got the idea he didn’t dance for them very often, but
they enjoyed seeing it. He enjoyed it as well, so the only conclusion I drew was that he had a hard time allowing himself to relax. I hoped that would change.
We traveled, landed, and arrived as quickly as possible. Some of them had made friends here and planned to go see them. I was excited to see people again, too. The mate bond restored pieces of myself I had lost. I wanted to continue fixing things. My relationship with Jackson needed to be mended and built back up. And I had questions for my father about my mother. He hadn’t let her get killed; his wolf was probably driven mad. Maybe I misjudged him?
Jackson’s face ruined my mood. It was hard and serious, causing my blood to turn to ice. Could I not enjoy anything? For the first time in my life, I was excited about something, and I knew it was going to be destroyed. So much for my pleasant feeling.
“Who died?”
“Selene…”
“Who died, Jackson?”
“Eli was bitten, they found him this morning.”
I let the tears come, the world fading into the background. Air seemed unreachable, and I was shaking all over. Somehow, I had failed Gabby again. We left, and her mate died because of it. Was this why she hadn’t been in my dreams the past few nights? I failed her over and over; I’d never be good enough.
“You’ve killed him already?” Sebastian asked, his hand resting on my back. I moved away. I had left with him instead of being here. The island had brought nothing but joy to me. I’d been selfishly enjoying myself and hadn’t given a second thought as to how things were going here. I felt nauseous.
“We have him locked up, but he’s alive.”
“For now.” My father finished for him. “We thought maybe you’d want to see him first.”
Was I supposed to be grateful? I couldn’t decide how to feel. I’d have felt betrayed had I found out they killed him the same day I arrived without letting me see him. On the other hand, I wasn’t excited to have a hand in killing him. There was no perfect ending here. “Thanks.”
“Take us to him.” Sebastian watched me the entire way, his mind reaching out to mine. He wanted me to talk to him, but I wasn’t in the mood. Gabby, Clyde, now Eli? I should've never come here.
✽✽✽
He was sedated, laying on the ground, not moving. I shook, overcome by everything. I felt like my emotions would kill me. Eli was gone, replaced with a monster. His skin was grey and peeling, claws yellow. I couldn’t take it, pushing my way out of the room. I barely made it to the grass before I emptied my stomach. My throat constricted, chest heaving, tears clouding my vision. Was this some sort of punishment for being happy?
Someone was holding my hair, rubbing circles on my back in an attempt to soothe me. I knew it was him; it would always be him. “Stop.” I cried, moving away. I could hardly look at him. This wasn’t his fault, but I was angry, and wanted to drown in it.
“Hey!” He tugged me in front of him, his face stern. “You do not get to fall apart. Not yet. We can use this, Selene.”
I stopped struggling to get away from him. “Use what?”
“We had questions, didn’t we? Maybe we can test something.”
I stared, convinced I hadn’t heard him right. “You want to use Eli?” My voice came out as a whisper, all of my strength gone. My pain was being held behind a very weak dam, waiting to be broken to crash out.
“He’s not Eli, anymore, Selene.”
My movements were mechanic as I nodded. There was no going back or fixing this. It would be in everyone’s best interest if we learned all we could from this. I thought about all we knew. They were intelligent. They’d hid and organized an attack. Somehow, they were aware they couldn’t affect a lycan. Could a lycan affect them? What if they were more like werewolves than we thought? “I’m going to bite him.”
I went back quickly to avoid his response, an idea filling my head. If they were anything like wolves, a blood exchange would bind them to you, bringing them into your pack. If that could work, maybe an alpha command would, too. I moved before they could stop me, biting his wrist to accept his wolf into my mind. Nothing happened. “Come back,” I whispered, brushing away some of his hair. “Come back, Eli.” I willed some of my power to come out, desperate for this to work. “Please.” He didn’t move.
I whimpered, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. “I’m so sorry, Eli.”
Eyes were on me, as I stood. I looked at Jackson, “Do not kill him. Tomorrow we will have a meeting and will share some things we have theories on.” I turned to my dad. “If you kill him, I promise you there is not a single thing on Earth that will stop me from destroying you.”
I stumbled my way to the door, dizzy. “Selene,” Sebastian called out. I ignored him, needing to get as far away as I could. I shifted, sprinting into the forest so no one could follow me.
✽✽✽
I was at the moon pool again; teenage Gabby was in festival clothes waiting for me. Her feet were in the water as she relaxed. “I’ve missed you the past few nights.” She spoke, not looking at me. The sun was shining on her face, lighting her up. “You found out about Mom. And Eli.”
I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want her here. This was just a reminder of all my failures. “Why are you here?”
She turned to me, hurt. “I already told you; I’m here to help you. You need me.”
“For what? What are you helping me with?”
“Whatever you need help with.” She looked so innocent, as if she didn’t realize how frustrating she was being. I didn’t know what she could help with. She was dead. How could she help with anything?
“You can help with the wendigos?”
Her lips turned up into a smile, and she shrugged. “Do you need help with them?”
“Are you not allowed to tell me what you can help me with?” Her shoulders shrugged again, that smile staying on her face. Okay… That had to be it. Maybe she was only allowed to help if I asked for help? “Can I help Eli?”
“There’s nothing else you can do.”
My heart sunk, but I wasn’t surprised. “How do we stop them? Are they gathered like we thought they were?”
She pulled me into the water with her. “They are gathered, but not like you thought.”
“Are they organized? They’re smart enough? Why are they afraid of lycans? Do lycans even affect them?” The questions came pouring out of my mouth, afraid I’d wake up before I got the answers.
Gabby laughed. “Organized, not smart enough… alone.” So, they were working with someone? She continued before I could ask it. “They aren’t afraid, they’re submitting.”
Submitting? “They don’t stand a chance against lycans, do they?” She shook her head. “Gabby… You never would’ve turned, would you?”
Her smile was sad as she looked at me knowingly. I hadn’t come to that realization fully until now. She had truly been murdered. There had been no reason for it. Her death had saved no one. “You need to relax, Selene. Stand in the sun with me.” Her face was turned back to the light, eyes closed again. The sun’s warmth did nothing to stop the cold I was feeling.
“Selene.” I was awoken from my dream, as usual, before I got everything I wanted. Sebastian was in front of me. “Eli is asking for you.”
CHAPTER 36
Nothing made sense, things happening at rapid speed. First, I had been taken to Eli. He was awake and coherent; able to talk and form sentences. Everyone was surprised. His body was no different, but his mind seemed to be back. Eli knew what had happened, telling us how it all went down. My father has suggested they check the mountain for any remaining wendigos. Eli volunteered to go but had gotten caught. Apparently, he’d seen them talking, just like he was.
While he talked, he explained that when he’d been bitten, his mind stopped belonging to him. He didn’t recognize who had been in charge of him, but he felt like he had a new alpha. That was when he had turned to me. “You changed that. My wolf recognized yours, he feels bound to you.”
My theory had be
en right. They were more like wolves than we gave them credit for. I had managed to make him a member of my pack. I wasn’t the only one drawing conclusions. Wendigos were being controlled, and it looked like the lycans were the ones responsible. Even I didn’t know what to make of that.
Sebastian had walked the entire way with me to Eli, but he didn’t leave with me. Sometime during Eli’s recount of what happened, Sebastian’s voice had filled my head.
Selene, this isn’t good. I have to go now, or they’ll never let me.
Go? I responded incredulous.
This won’t get solved here; someone on the island is behind this.
I looked around for him, but he was no longer in the room.
You’re just leaving? Not even a goodbye?
I was met with silence for a long while and I thought he wasn’t going to respond before his voice came back filled with pain. I wasn’t sure you wanted a goodbye. I willed him to see everything I’d been feeling the past day. He needed to understand it wasn’t him I was angry at, but myself. I’ll come back for you Selene; I promise.
Be safe, Sebastian. You don’t know if someone wants you hurt.
I had turned back to Eli before anyone could notice something had distracted me. Sebastian would never have anything to do with this. He had risked so much already to bring peace to his people; he never would’ve done something that could ever backfire against them.
✽✽✽
I never had a meeting with Jackson. No one wanted to hear what we found out with this news out in the open. I wouldn’t have wanted to, either. The lycans were getting a treaty because of this threat. No one knew how, but it looked like the lycans were responsible.
It felt like a witch hunt had started, my father and Tate organizing to have the lycans locked up while this was sorted. Jackson couldn’t find the words to disagree, betrayal clear on his face. He’d been so optimistic about a treaty, and now he felt like they had played him. No one found them. By the end of the day, the ship had left, and it seemed Leith and I were the only two left behind. I wondered if he had volunteered or been ordered to stay with me.
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