“My baby girl,” she brushed some hair away from my face as we sat next to each other. “I want to know everything there is to know about you, but you aren’t here for a reunion, are you?”
She was right. I had come here to get my questions answered, but they were gone the minute I had laid eyes on her. Now, I wanted everything I’d missed out on. Her love was coming off her in thick waves, picking me up and carrying me toward warmth. It hurt that these were the circumstances we were meeting under.
“I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine.” Even her voice was warm and friendly. Everything about her seemed magical and bright.
I nodded, breaking myself out of the spell. “Why did you leave without us?” It came out before I could think about it. It hadn’t been what I intended to ask, but I wanted the answer, nonetheless. Being here with her made me miss her more than I had when I thought they had killed her.
Sadness shined through her eyes, “I wanted you girls to grow up without a life of exile. I knew the island would take years to return to a livable environment, and I didn’t want that to be the life you knew. I left, thinking I might be able to communicate with you girls as you grew up, but your father said it was too dangerous.”
I shook my head, “Too dangerous?”
“He didn’t want anyone thinking he had ties with the lycans. It was a different time then.”
I rolled my eyes, “How can you defend him?”
Her eyes widened, “I’m not defending him, I’m just explaining why I believed him. I didn’t know how he felt about me. I never realized he hated my existence. The mate bond must’ve been strong enough for him to ignore his genuine feelings until I was gone. I never had a reason to not trust him.”
I felt bad for her. I knew how it felt to be betrayed by him. “So, you reached out to him, thinking he’d want to reunite. You went all these years working to create a future for the two of you.” I couldn’t keep the pity from my voice. All she’d wanted was to be with her mate. I’d probably do anything to stay with Sebastian, ignoring the consequences.
“I thought he loved me. I should’ve known when I saw you and Sebastian dancing at the festival. Your father never looked at me like that.” My wolf whimpered for her. I couldn’t imagine what that felt like. The man the moon goddess had destined was hers forever didn’t love her.
“Do you know who Jess is? Or Jackson?”
“I met Jackson when we arrived. He seems like a great brother. Jess is his mother?” Her voice shook as she spoke, and I watched her blink back tears. All this time, she’d been trying to be with my dad, and he’d lied to her. He had moved on and she never even knew.
I nodded, trying to find something else to talk about. “Did he tell you about Gabby?” For the first time in my life, I didn’t have the will to be angry about Gabby. This woman had suffered plenty; she didn’t need my blame.
She looked away, and I heard her shaky breathing. “He told me when it happened. I never thought it would affect her. I thought her lycan side would be enough to save her. I had been wrong. I’m so sorry that I cost you your sister. I truly believed she would be immune to the bite.”
My father got worse the more I heard about him. “The bite didn’t affect her. He lied to you… Gabby never turned, but he killed her, anyway.” This realization put together pieces I’d been ignoring. Dad knew she never would’ve turned but still killed her. Gabby begged him to let her live, and he had convinced her she would turn into a wendigo and hurt people.
Her head whipped around to look at me, “What?”
I nodded, picking up her hand. “Her death wasn’t your fault.”
“She died for nothing?” She choked on a sob. “He just killed her?” Head in her hands, she cried violently. I wanted to help her; to ease the pain some. I knew exactly how she felt. Gabby’s death was something I would never recover from, either. I reached a hand out to rub her back, but stopped myself. I didn’t know her or how to bring her comfort. I didn’t even know if I wanted to give her any. She had left me alone. I didn’t know this woman. I’d gone my entire life thinking she was dead, and here she was. I looked away instead, anger sitting in my stomach like an anchor.
Eventually she stopped. “He’s a monster. I never should’ve let you girls stay.”
I stayed quiet in silent agreement. She didn’t do it on purpose, but that didn’t erase the past. It had been her choice to leave us with him, and it had cost us dearly. The anger I felt wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. If she had made a different choice, my life would have been completely different. I thought I had wanted to speak to her, but I couldn’t. Looking at her and being around her was difficult. All I could think of was being abandoned and deceived.
“A deal is a deal. You answered my questions; what are yours?”
Her hand reached up for my face, before dropping back to her side. “You’ve grown into a very strong wolf, and I’m very proud of you. Does Sebastian make you happy?”
“That’s what you want to know?” It confused me. I expected questions about who I was or maybe even about my father, not about Sebastian. I couldn’t help the smile coming over my face thinking about him. “He makes me very happy.”
She returned my smile. “Then I didn’t fail you, at least. Despite my terrible choices, you’ve still found happiness. Did Gabriella find her mate?”
“Have you met Eli?”
“He was the wendigo?” I nodded, and she sighed. “At least she got to experience happiness, as well. That’s all I wished for you girls. I’m sorry for all I put you through.”
“Is that all you want to know?” As much as I yearned to know her, I got everything I had come for and didn’t have an excuse to stay. It felt uncomfortable being around her, putting me on edge. Sadness joined my anger.
“Well, I’d like to know everything about you, but that’s not going to happen in a day. Do you think it’s possible we could get to know one another in the future?”
It was what I wanted, too, but I couldn’t make any promises. “That’ll depend on how your sentencing ends.”
✽✽✽
The group was made up of Sebastian’s council, Jackson, Brett, Tate, Eli and me. We would come together and discuss the situation. The fate of Lucian, Eliza, and my father would all be separate. As such, they were interviewed separately. Each one of us in the group had the opportunity to do our own interviews. We would then bring our information to the group. We wanted to get as much information as possible. Through multiple questionings, we were allowing each of us to form opinions to bring to the table.
My questioning with Lucian had been short. He was okay with whatever happened to him. His goal had come true. I didn’t really have any questions for him. I understood his motive and while I disagreed with it; I felt he was just looking out for his people.
Sebastian only had to speak with my father. It was a short meeting, as Sebastian had to be dragged out.
“What the hell was that about?” I questioned when we were alone. Cain had heard the fighting from outside the room and went in to separate them.
He shrugged casually. “I didn’t like what he said.”
“You didn’t like what he said. What did he say?”
“He said a lot, actually. I was questioning him, and he just went on and on about how awful we are as a species; untrustworthy, despicable. Drakov was brought up. He called me The Deserter, claiming I hated my people, too. Somehow, he decided I was like him. I continued asking questions until he told me what he did to you. The way he talked about it…” He shrugged again. “I don’t know. I attacked him. You can’t tell me he didn’t deserve it.”
I laughed. “Okay, fine. He probably deserved it. That doesn’t make it okay. You were supposed to question him so you could contribute intelligently at the meeting.”
“I can contribute to the meeting just fine. The man is a monster and needs to be stopped. I dare someone to disagree with me.” He smirked at me, aware he was right.
I laug
hed again. “That’s not the point, dude.”
He frowned, “Dude?”
I rolled my eyes, “Don’t like pet names?”
“That’s not a pet name.” He pouted. “It makes me sound like I’m just someone random.”
“What would you rather I call you, then? My king?” I smirked at him. “My love? Perhaps baby… sweetie, honey, muffin, pumpkin?” He took a step toward me with every name I threw at him, until he lifted me in his arms, growling playfully at me. He moved me to the bed and set me down as I giggled, struggling away from him. His hands found the sides of my stomach as he tickled me, watching me squirm. I squealed, flopping around to try to make him stop.
“Anything is better than dude.” He grinned, ceasing his assault on my stomach.
“Honey bunny it is!” I declared, grinning at him.
He shook his head, “Fine. But until you give that up, I’ll be referring to you as ‘my precious’.”
I gasped, laughing at him. “I didn’t even think you knew what a movie was!”
He fell on the bed next to me. “You’re hilarious.”
“I think so, too. Glad you agree, sweet pea.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“I might as well accept that my people will never look at me the same way ever again. You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Aww, it’s not so bad. You know you love me.”
Sebastian nodded, “You’re right, I do.”
My heart skipped, my stomach doing somersaults. I had felt it, of course, but we’d never said it. “I love you, too.” I winked, “Dude.”
He moved over me, hands coming to my side to tickle me again, my laughs joining his.
CHAPTER 43
I hugged Leith the minute he came into the meeting room. He had avoided me since I had woken up, and I was never able to find him. On the rare occasion we were in the same room, he would leave before I could get to him. There was no escaping this time.
“Stop avoiding me. You didn’t fail anyone. I meant what I said, best beta ever.”
He glanced around the room. Sebastian and I were the first to arrive. He relaxed. “Thanks, Selene. Sorry for avoiding you; I felt guilty for what happened.”
“Are you kidding me?” I grinned, punching his arm. “It made me stronger, dude! Now you stand no chance.”
He smiled, shaking his head and making his way to one of the chairs in the room. “Cain will love that.”
From his own chair at the table, Sebastian frowned. “That’s why I don’t want to be called dude!” I laughed, shaking my head that he was still going on about that.
Nomi and Tasmin entered with Cain behind them. The three of them couldn’t keep their eyes off me. The girls came over while Cain nodded at me and took a seat.
Nomi pulled me into a hug. “We know a little about how it feels to be tortured,” She whispered. “I’m so sorry you went through that.” She pulled back.
“Thank you.”
Tasmin hugged me next. “I can’t imagine it happening at the hands of your father.” They glanced at Sebastian for a few seconds, then back at me. “I guess you understand him more than anyone else, huh?”
I looked at him for a few seconds before turning back to her, “I’m not sure it’s the same thing, but yeah, I guess so.”
“Let’s make sure your father gets what he deserves.” They took their seats.
Sebastian had requested his council meet a few minutes early, so we were here before anyone else. “After this meeting, we need to discuss the problem with the wendigos. I don’t want to kill them, but I don’t know what to do. If they die, the wolfsbane will kill any wolf or lycan near it. This means they can’t be released. Killing them isn’t right. These aren’t mindless beasts; they’re smart and capable of life. However, their ability to be sired to a lycan makes them dangerous. It’s not likely the werewolf community would want them alive under our city like some hidden army. I’m open to any suggestions you can come up with. If something comes to mind during the meeting, remember it.”
Arms were thrown around me and Brett’s voice was loud in my ear, “Selene, I missed you!” I winced, pulling away from him.
“I missed you too, Brett.”
The others joined us in the room, taking their seats around the table. Many of us had brought notebooks with our thoughts written out so we wouldn’t forget. I was nervous to get this going. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be deciding my father’s fate.
Eliza was up first. We all agreed that she held the least responsibility to people, as she was neither an alpha nor a prince. This felt like the right person to start with.
We had chosen one person to present their material for each person. Leith had gotten my mother, as he was the one most removed from her. We trusted him to be the most impartial. The rest of them had been involved in finding her on the island or had a relation to her. Leith’s information would be shared, and the rest of us were free to add to or dispute the things he said.
He read from a notebook. “Eliza began her testing over a decade ago. She came to the castle to request entrance to the crypts. Seb hadn’t been there during her visit, probably dealing with one of the many riots in the kingdom, and she’d spoken with Lucian instead. Eliza wanted to experiment on the wendigos, convinced she could mutate them into intelligent beings. The original goal was to create a threat to draw lycans and wolves together. Lucian agreed, as did Eliza’s mate. They worked together and were successful in creating their threat. The wendigos were supposed to wipe out the older alphas to let the newer generation, who would be more open to peace, take over. Because they created them, they knew lycans would be strong enough to kill them. She also knew she had built in a self-destruct method, so wasn’t worried that the threat would become uncontrollable. When Lucian changed the plan, she ordered the wendigos to return. Eliza told her mate of the change, telling him peace had been reached, anyway, and they could be together. She returned home without him, believing he would join her someday. The moment Sebastian questioned her, she came clean about everything, and helped as best she could.” Leith hadn’t looked up from his notebook the entire time, reading from the paper word for word. He read so slowly it felt like he’d never seen the words or heard the story before. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who spent the entire time wishing he’d be done already.
He finally looked up from his paper and glanced around at the rest of us. “Can I just say that was dreadful?” He opened his water bottle and downed the entire thing. “This is the part where you guys say something.”
Eli spoke up, “I have three things to add. First, she obviously created a breed of wendigos that are intelligent and able to live out a normal life. I am proof that we are almost no different from you guys, aside from appearance.” He didn’t smell, as he was now taking care of himself. That didn’t mean he was easy to look at. His skin was gray, and his nails, teeth and eyes were still yellow. Wendigos were an ugly hybrid between human and beast. “Second, my mate Gabby, her daughter, was killed as a result of these experiments. That’s pretty bad.” Someone gasped, unaware of that detail. “Third, um… It definitely kind of sucks being a wendigo. She ruined my life.”
Sebastian was taking notes on everything that was being said so we had a cohesive document with all our thoughts.
“All the failed experiments were killed.” Jackson added. “Many wendigos died here, too. They were sacrificed for her plan. Innocent lives were lost. And her self-destruction plan is kind of disturbing. The wendigos meant nothing to her.” Sebastian nodded, writing those down, too.
Sebastian turned to Leith. “What do you think is an adequate punishment from what you learned?”
“I mean, before all of what they said? I would’ve said 25 years of imprisonment.”
Sebastian looked at the group, “Anyone wish to throw out a different punishment?”
I stayed quiet for her sentencing. I didn’t blame her for Gabby, but I had a lot of anger over being left behind. Despite that
, a part of me yearned to know her. My feelings had no place here, so I would agree with whatever the majority ruled.
“25 years of an immortal life? I vote 100.” Jackson disagreed with Leith. Eli was his best friend, and he was angry for what happened to him.
I frowned, deciding to speak up. “She just wanted to be with her mate. She lost her daughter and her mate by doing this. Eliza isn’t escaping without suffering already, I think we should keep that in mind. My father used and lied to her.”
“What about 75?” Eli announced. “That will make me feel better about the fate of Gabby and myself. And would be more lenient than 100.” He gave me a small smile.
No one disagreed. She had no people in the room in her corner, and she had done a lot wrong. Hers had been a simple choice.
Lucian was next.
Tate had been picked to collect the story. He had nothing written down.
“Lucian was approached by Eliza with a plan for peace. He let her have complete control over the experiment, as he knew nothing of science and mutations. He became more involved as the wendigos were unleashed into the mainland. It had been his plan to organize in the mountain and hide until they were able to attack the alphas. Taking out the alphas had been his idea. He didn’t trust the werewolves until he met Selene. He felt hope for the first time and believed she would bring peace. He saw the error of his ways and decided to call off the attack. He didn’t come clean until after he’d been caught.”
“Why couldn’t your summary have been shorter like that?” Brett shot at Leith with a smirk. Leith made a face at him.
“I was locked up for several weeks while he refused to tell the truth.” Nomi spoke, ending their playing. “He risked Sebastian’s relationship with me to protect his secret.”
“He was also okay with the self-destruction of wendigos.” Eli added. “Along with the same 3 points I made for Eliza.”
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