Selene’s POV
From the first moment I learned about the mating mark, I’ve always felt defective. Nevermind that the information came from a flock of bitter she-wolves, their words always rang true in my heart. If Bastien truly wanted me, he would have marked me from the beginning.
When I found out that we were truly mates, the wound deepened, like a knife driving in to the hilt with the realization that the loss of Luna had also cost me my fate. If I wasn’t so broken, Bastien would have marked me whether he loved me or not; there is no other way with Alpha’s, they mark what they see as theirs on principle.
There are no words to describe how worthless something would have to be for such possessive creatures to give up their stake. So that’s what I was – exactly what Garrick always said: worthless.
It never mattered to me that Luna was gone. I still wanted his mark.
I still needed it.
I just didn’t understand it. I couldn’t understand until Luna returned, and I realized there was still an empty pocket in my heart, one neither my daughter nor my wolf could fill. I thought I simply missed my husband, then Bastien came to Asphodel and I knew what I’d been missing all this time.
Now I’m finally on the verge of filling that void, of fulfilling the destiny the Goddess penned in my name, and it can’t come fast enough. Part of me hates Bastien for failing to see my value when we were married. I want to kick, and scream that I’m the same person I’ve always been. But the other, stronger, part of me needs this like oxygen.
No matter how much fury I still harbor for this man, I cannot undo the threads of fate. My entire existence has been building to this point, and feeling Bastien’s fangs on my flesh is enough to push me over the edge, sending me into rapture before he can pierce my skin.
One second more and it would have been done, but then a blaring alarm shatters the heated moment, a deafening screech that pulls Bastien back from my neck even as I quiver and shake in the throws of ecstacy.
His head goes on a swivel; eyes, ears, and nose all on high alert for a threat. When I finally come down from my high, the fear takes me, slowly eroding my bliss and replacing it with gut-wrenching memories of smoke-filled closets. “Fire.” I gasp, shock rocketing through my body with paralyzing effect.
Lila! I think desperately, but then Bastien is shushing me gently, “It’s not a fire, little wolf.”
“Lila.” I croak, finding my voice.
“I know,” He assures me, turning off the water and pulling me from the stall. “Get dressed, I’ll get her.”
I immediately begin tugging on my hastily discarded clothes, not bothering to dry myself first. I follow him down the hall, dressing as I go, “What’s happening?”
“I think it’s a perimeter alarm.” Bastien replies, pushing into the bedroom where my pup now sits up in bed, rubbing her eyes and looking close to tears. He gathers her up and eases her into my arms, “We need to get out of here.”
I follow again as he pulls on his own clothes, bouncing Lila gently on my hip. “Mommy, t’s too loud.” She cries, burying her face in my neck.
“I know angel,” I croon, kissing her hair, “We’re going to make it better, just hold on.”
Bastien’s men are already running up the drive when we exit the house, frustration clear on their faces. “We don’t know what set it off, it might just be a malfunction.”
“No.” He growls, standing protectively over me while I buckle Lila into her car seat. “I don’t trust any of this.”
“Do you want one of us to stay behind to investigate?” Aiden asks.
“No.” Bastien answers without hesitation, “I want every guard we have on Selene and the pup. Whatever this is, it’s about them, not us.”
“Yes sir.” Aiden confirms, his formal words and tone hammering home the gravity of our situation.
We’re on the road in minutes, my head turned all the way around to monitor the back seat as we drive, and Bastien’s hand clasped firmly around mine on the center console. “You’re going to make yourself sick, sweetheart.” He murmurs, brushing his thumb over my knuckles and eyeing Lila in the rearview mirror.
“It’s all okay now,” He promises the toddler, and I realize my agitation is probably upsetting her. Pups are so sensitive to the emotions of adults, my panic can only make things worse. I turn back to face the front, gulping in heavy drafts of air.
“That’s right.” I lie shakily, “there’s nothing to worry about.”
I can feel Bastiens eyes on me, and his warm hand leaves mine. Just as I’m about to complain, the massive paw closes around my nape. “We’re safe, Selene.” He says in a low whisper, applying gentle pressure. “You’re safe, Lila is safe.”
My body relaxes slightly, surrendering to the dominant hold out of muscle memory. Bastien trained the response into me from our very first days together, using it to steady me when I spiral and defer to his strength when I feel like I have none left.
I don’t need to explain what’s happening to him, the way I might to Drake or another wolf. He knows what I need without asking, and I couldn’t be more relieved to be with him now.
In some ways the flashbacks of the fire are worse than those of Garrick: I always associate them with losing Lila. She wasn’t born yet, but she was there. She was there and she was dying with me. I clamp my eyes shut, trying to steady my pounding heart and keep the welling tears from leaving my lashes. My breaths sound more like hiccups the more I think about the fire.
Only after the pressure on the back of my neck grows borderline painful, does the suffocating heat which engulfs me fade back into the past where it belongs. “That’s it,” The tension seeps out of me bit by bit, my mate’s touch anchoring me to the present.
Silver eyes glow at me from the passenger seat, swirling with rage, though I know it isn’t directed at me. “Are you back with me?” He asks gently.
I nod, sniffling slightly and turning to the back seat again. “I’m sorry Lila bean, Mommy’s just being silly.”
“S’okay mommy.” She advises sagely, “maybe you need a nap.”
I break into a watery smile, and Bastien’s chuckle fills the confined space with warmth. “Well said, pup.”
The same fingers which had been driving me to the edge of sanity ten minutes ago, massage small circles at the base of my skull, “Sleep baby, and when you wake up, we need to talk about whoever called in that tip.”
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Third POV
The bastard almost marked her.
Lucky for me, they never saw the cameras planted around the cabin. I was able to trigger the alarm just in time, and I guarantee mating will be the last thing on their minds for a while.
Some would call it pathological to install cameras in every room, including the bathrooms, but I’m of the opinion that you can never be too safe in a safehouse. That over-precaution paid off today, and my wolf is currently full of smug pride at our foresight.
Still, that was all much too close for comfort. If Bastien’s Betas hadn’t set out on a new patrol when things started to get hot and heavy in the house – setting off my real perimeter alarms again – I would have been too late. When I last checked, Bastien was playing with the pup and Selene was stewing in the background. I don’t know how things escalated so rapidly, but clearly their connection is stronger than I thought.
I’ve got to get Selene away from him, for good. At the moment the only thing standing between my success and the complete implosion of my plans is a quickie. As frustrated as I was when Bastien first learned Selene was alive, I’ve come to see the wisdom of letting her smash his heart to pieces rather than simply making him mourn her.
I learned the hard way that grief can motivate change just as powerfully as it can inflict pain, but if Selene rejects and demoralizes Bastien so completely that he loses the will to go on? Well that’s another thing entirely.
I’d call on Arabella for help, but the last I heard she fled the Nova territory for parts unknown. Besides, I’ve never truly trusted her since the fire. She wants to destroy Bastien as badly as I do, but I don’t believe she’s as committed to our alliance as I once thought. The more time that passes, the more I think her hunger is as much for power as it is for revenge, which makes her loyalty to the highest bidder, not the most righteous.
With a heavy exhale, I turn away from the video monitors. I need to act fast, and at this point I think there is only one thing that can drive a large enough wedge between the Alpha and his mate to force them apart permanently: Lila.
