Selene’s POV
Call it intuition or instinct, call it prophecy or clairvoyance, but the moment I see Arabella on the other side of the door, I know this night will be my last.
I’ve felt this way once before, the day I tried to provoke Garrick into killing me. However then I had nothing to live for, and nothing to lose. Now things are very different. I may not have much, and my life might not be worth fighting for, but my baby’s certainly is.
I pull the door open, surveying the she-wolf waiting on the other side. Arabella looks as perfect as always: her voluptuous curves swathed in expensive fabrics tailored to highlight her considerable assets. Her makeup is flawless, but her lovely features are twisted into a sneer.
“Can’t you ever do what you’re supposed to?” She says by way of greeting.
“Excuse me?” I retort, blocking the entrance.
Arabella pushes past me into the cabin. “I had everything planned out so perfectly!” She exclaims, “The crime scene, the threat, your blood.” She throws her hands up in exasperation, “But you’re like a cat with nine lives. No matter how many times I knock you down, you keep getting back up.”
Alarm bells blare in my mind. She wouldn’t admit all this if she planned on letting me walk away. “I don’t think I’m as resilient as you believe.” I grumble. “They want to arrest me.”
“And yet here you are.” She snipes, “Safe in the family cabin. My family, not yours.”
“I have every right to be here.” I whisper, “Until the rejection at least.”
“The rejection.” Arabella mocks, “And when will that be?”
“It might have already happened if you hadn’t been so impatient.” I skirt around her, painfully aware of how vulnerable I am. If she shifts, it’s all over for me. “He Doesn’t. Want. Me.” I remind her thickly. “So why do you feel so threatened?”
“He married you, despite not wanting you. He put his true love aside, in the name of obligation. That’s who he is.” Arabella hisses, “Surely I don’t need to tell you why I feel threatened now, when the mother of all obligations grows in your belly.”
Scrambling for distractions and praying I can stall long enough for Odette to return, I ask, “how did you get my blood anyway?”
“You can thank the hospital for that.” Arabella snorts, “The hematology lab’s security isn’t exactly state of the art.”
The hospital? “Just how long have you been planning this?” I blurt incredulously.
Arabella shoots me a pitying look. “Oh you poor, simple girl.” She scoffs. “I’ve been planning this since the day you stole him.” She bares her pearly white teeth, “which means I have three years more preparation than you do . So why don’t you do us both a favor, and give up now.”
____________________
Bastien’s POV
Another dead end.
Bricks shatter as I throw my fist, full force, into the wall; sending stone and dust flying.
“Take it easy, brother.” Aiden encourages, warily patting my shoulder. “The more possibilities we cross off, the closer we get.”
“Narrowing options only works when there’s a finite number.” I snarl, flexing my bruised and bleeding knuckles. “We’re looking at an endless list of permutations, and we don’t have time to work through them! Arabella is missing, Selene is being set up to take the fall, my mother is barely hanging on by a thread, the pack is on the verge of overthrowing me, and my father’s killer is out there, freely roaming my city.” Axel is writhing and snarling in my chest, fighting to be free of my human form.
Aiden appraises me for one long moment, no doubt reading my every thought. After a moment he makes a single, decisive nod. “Let’s go for a run.”
I don’t need to be asked twice. Within seconds our clothes are in a pile on the ground, and our bodies are no more than streaks of fur darting through the dense woods. My heart pounds, racing faster and faster as my legs stretch out beneath me, pumping adrenaline through my veins with intoxicating fervor.
I run until my legs feel disconnected from my body, until all my limbs feel like jelly and my lungs are gasping for air. I run until every horrible stressor weighing on my shoulder is forgotten, and the only things that remain are Axel and the night sky.
Aiden fell behind after the first few miles, but when I finally collapse at the edge of a cliff overlooking the lake, he eventually catches up. Slumping down next to me, we lay in breathless silence until the moon is high overhead.
I know it’s a lot. Aiden finally acknowledges, ignoring my derisive grunt. But anything would seem overwhelming taken all together. You have to tackle your problems one at a time. Start by finding Arabella, then focus on Selene, and so on. If you try to do it all, you will fail. It’s about baby steps.
Alphas and baby steps don’t go together. I bite, I don’t have time to tackle our problems in stages. The world is falling apart around us, and it’s happening now. If we wait, it will be too late.
Then stop trying to do it all alone. Aiden snaps, You have friends for a reason, stop being so damn prideful and use us.
Flynn’s face appears in my mind. The last time I leaned on a friend it didn’t turn out so well.
Don’t even start about Flynn. Aiden objects immediately. That was his choice, and acting like it wasn’t only dishonors his memory.
Goddess, when did you get so bossy? I joke.
About the same time you decided to lose your mind over a woman. He jibes back.
I did, I admit. But you can’t deny she was worth it.
_________________
Selene’s POV
“Why are you doing this?”
Arabella is stalking me into a corner, a lethal glint behind her wolfish expression. “You know why, Selene.” She attests icily. ‘I warned you what would happen if you didn’t leave.’
“I was going to leave!” I insist. “It’s not like I planned this – Gabriel was murdered.” As if she could forget. “Bastien needed support. It was his choice to cancel the ceremony, not mine.”
Arabella rolls her eyes, the rich brown irises hard as stone. “Men don’t know what they want. You have to tell them.” She declares, “And you took advantage of his vulnerability.”
“I didn’t.” I growl, taken aback by my own strength. “I love him, I only want what’s best for him.”
“Goddess above,” the blonde jeers, “What do you know about love? You’re not even a whole person.” Her claws extend, and she studies them ominously. “Honestly you should thank me for putting you out of your misery now. It would be a tragedy if you actually had that baby.” She smirks, “After all, what could a halfling possibly offer a child? It’s better off dead than it would be having you for a mother.”
“You’re wrong.” I retaliate. “I may not have a wolf, but at least I still have a heart – which is more than you can say.”
“I don’t need a heart, Selene.” Arabella taunts, “I have beauty and brains, assets that are going to be in your husband’s bed every night as soon as you and your brat are in the ground.”
My heart drops below my navel as her words hit home. I have to find a way out of here, but it’s not possible for me to outrun or overpower her.
“You should hear the way Bastien talks about the future, how excited he is to be rid of you.” Arabella presses on, “granted he may not know how he’s going to be rid of you, but the end result is the same.”
“If he finds out you killed me, he’ll never forgive you.” I argue, “he considers protecting me his responsibility.”
“That was before you kidnapped and tried to murder the love of his life.” Arabella cackles cruelly.
“You see, I could just slit your worthless throat. But I have to make this look like an accident. As justified as I would be to kill my kidnapper, I don’t want Bastien to think me capable of the same sort of heartless violence you inflicted on me.” She feigns an exaggerated pout. “I suppose you learned it all from your stepfather. It just goes to show that no one ever really survives that sort of thing with their sanity intact.”
Her nasal voice goes hoarse as she slides Odette’s phone off the counter, slipping it into her pocket. “I’ll try not to judge you. After all, it wasn’t really your fault – you were a victim too. But I’m afraid the wounds just run too deep.”
I keep my back steadfastly against the wall, realizing Arabella must think Odette’s cell is mine; she cannot see my own phone tucked snuggly in my back pocket. “What are you going to do?” I question shakily.
A savage leer transforms her beautiful features into something truly horrible as she stalks me into the linen closet. My shoulder blades collide with shelves of sheets and towels, and Arabella draws a box of matches from her purse. “I’m going to give the Durands a chance to renovate this disgusting cabin.”
Before I can say another word, the door slams in my face, followed by a loud click as the lock turns. I smell sulfur as Arabella lights the first match. As orange and red light begins to dance through the crack in the door, and smoke fills the air, Arabella’s parting words float back to me. “Say hello to Gabriel for me.”
