– Chapter 173

Bastien

“Arabella what was all that?” I demand as soon as the apartment door is closed behind us.

The blonde stares at me in innocent confusion. “What do you mean?”

“All those things Selene said, about Frederic being exiled and her being hospitalized – about me still having my memory after the assassination attempt?” I’ve been replaying the conversation over and over in my head, every confusing detail sticking in my mind, and new baffling details reappearing every minute.

Why didn’t Selene hide the fact that she had powers? Why did she have a teacher with her and talk about them like she was just beginning to learn? Why was she asking me to come home when my absence could only help her scheme? More striking than anything else, was how sincere she’d seemed, from the way she clung to me when we first saw each other, to the moment we parted. If it truly was an act, she was the best actress in the world.

“Bastien, this is what she does!” Arabella groans, “I can already see you doubting yourself. She’s the most talented gaslighter I’ve ever met. She twists facts and bends the truth and is so convincing that she can convince people they’re wrong about what they know in their hearts. You can’t be fooled by her sweet, innocent act.” She insists, frowning. “I don’t know what news she was talking about, but if Frederic has been exiled, I guarantee you it was Selene’s doing – so that she wouldn’t have to share her power with him. Now that she’s gotten a taste she probably wants to run the pack on her own.”

“A female Alpha?” I question. It’s not unheard of, but if she accomplished such a thing she’d been the first in generations.

“She’s certainly powerful enough.” Arabella shrugs.

My head aches trying to unravel this logic. Selene couldn’t both pretend to be innocent and harmless, and claim to be powerful anough to lead a pack like the Novas.

Selene’s last question rang in my head like a relentless warning bell, is the person trying to deceive you the one asking you to face reality head on, or is it the one who wants you to stay here with your head in the sand? “Why are you so determined that we don’t return to Elysium yet?” I ask

“Because of her!” Arabella bursts out, her voice thick with emotion. “I was afraid this would happen, I was afraid that if we went back everything would go back to the way it was before. That you’d fall for her tricks and go back to hating me. That’s why I wanted to get married first, so that at least then I’d have a little bit of security.” She sniffles, her eyes shining with tears, “I can’t lost you again, Bastien!”

She throws herself into my arms, and I catch her reflexively, rubbing her back and trying to calm her down. Yet even as I comfort Arabella, doubt writhes in my chest. She is behaving so differently from how I’ve ever seen her act in the past, and Selene seemed exactly like the woman from my dreams – older, stronger and much healthier, but every bit as sweet. She felt so right in my arms and everything she said made so much sense. I’ve never lost a fight in my life, I haven’t gotten sick since I was a child, and I can’t imagine leaving my pack at such a stressful time.

After a moment, she pulls back and wipes her tears away. “I’m sorry,” She whimpers, “I’m being such a baby. Why don’t I make us some tea? It’s been such a terrible evening.”

“Okay.” I mutter, not really processing her words.

I pace as Arabella clatters around the kitchen, trying to sort out the tangled information in my brain. A moment later she reappears and offers me a cup, still steaming and blissfully aromatic. I take a few sips and feel the tension seep out of me almost instantly.

As I relax, I seem to even forget why I was so worried in the first place. In fact, now that I think about it, what was I thinking about a moment ago? Why was I so agitated when everything seems fine? Arabella and I are at home in her apartment, safe and sound.

Axel, do you remember? I ask my wolf.

It takes a moment, but then his familiar voice sounds in my ear. Selene. He rumbles simply.

Of course. Why else would I be so anxious but for the woman who is currently destroying my reputation and my pack? Shaking off my unease, I remind myself that Arabella and I will be home soon enough. I’ll deal with Selene once and for all – and then Arabella and I can finally begin our life together.

___________________

Selene

“Helene, this is not fun!” I shout, struggling to maintain my focus.

It’s our second night in Tartarus, and we’ve returned to the park to practice my moonlight magic once more, but tonight feels very different from yesterday. Instead of the gradual harnessing I achieved to lead me towards Bastien – and apparently call him to me – today the power floods over me like a tidal wave. At first I merely noticed a soft glow at my fingertips, but before long my entire body was lit up like some strange new species of bioluminescent wolf, and my feet left the ground. Now I hang in the air, white light pouring out of me as I struggle to regain control.

“Just focus.” Helene calls from below me. “If you don’t get yourself down from there you’re going to call every guard for a mile around, and then where will we be?”

“Is that your way of encouraging me?” I demand hotly, waving my arms uselessly around me.

“No more kid gloves little mother.” She grins, “nothing motivates like a healthy dose of fear.”

“I’d like to give you a healthy dose of your own damned medicine.” I mutter under my breath.

“I heard that!” Helene chuckles, not sounding the least bit bothered.

Okay, I think, shaking off my nerves. Just focus. Use the power to get your feet back on the ground. If your feet are on the ground, you can find Bastien. You can’t find him if you’re floating here like a canine balloon.

Slowly, I feel the air shift around me, and the harder I concentrate, the softer the breeze becomes. Before long I feel my feet reconnecting with the ground, and triumph rushes through my veins.

“Good Selene,” Helene praises. “Very good, now turn off the glowing, firefly.”

I imagine pulling all the light emanating from my body within, again reminding myself that the sooner all this is sorted out, the sooner I can find my mate. Every muscle in my body goes taut with the effort, but when I peek my eyes open nothing has changed. I’m still lit up like a marquee and the radiance doesn’t even seem to be softer than it was a moment ago.

“It isn’t working.” I tell Helene.

She shakes her head with a wry smile, “Such a pup. No patience whatsoever.”

“Hey!” I object, glaring at her. In the pearly light she looks years younger, and I realize what a beautiful woman she must have been in her prime. Still, her words grate at my temper. “I’m a grown woman and a mother – forgive me if my family and my pack being on the line makes me a bit anxious.”

“And a moody pup too.” She teases, patting my pregnant belly. “Just keep trying, don’t let failure bog you down.”

At the word “failure” I feel something burst inside my chest, and all at once the light is sucked inside my body. I almost imagine that I hear a pop, and when I look down, I see only a gentle white luminance on my skin. Despite my pleasure at succeeding, I level my mentor with a glower. “You know I really don’t like you sometimes.”

“Tut tut.” She brushed off my words as I knew she would, “no one likes being pushed, but look where it gets you.” She lectures, gesturing at me. “Truly – if you could bottle that you’d make a million on the beauty market. As if you weren’t pretty enough already.”

“But what can I do with it?” I ask, studying the moon-kissed skin of my arms.

“Find your mate.” Helene instrusts. “But this time don’t draw yourself a map or pull him to you, just locate him. Reach out with your mind and let the moon guide you.”

Closing my eyes and thinking hard, I try to envision the strange city where we’ve landed and fill my senses with all that is Bastien: his scent, his handsome features, the feeling of his body against mine. Little by little my mind closes in on my target, and before long I’m lighting up – not with the moon, but a smile.

“I know where he is.”