"I'm just glad you made it out"
"He knew?" Connor asked surprised, "What was he waiting for then?"
Selena shook her head, "He had his suspicions, but he wasn't sure."
"So what happened next?" Ryan asked, leaning in slightly.
____|~.~|____
Selena stilled, she pulled back from him and stared at him with anger. Her brown eyes were now silver with a tint of purple in them, "What?" She sounded calm and yet anyone could see how angry she actually was. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would it make sense to say I didn't want to worry you?" he said and she sighed.
"Dad, these are the things that I am supposed to be worried about if I want to lead this pack," she said and he nodded his head, "So, why do you there is a traitor?"
"The patrol smelt gunpowder in the pack territory three miles from the border and with our patrol schedule they wouldn't have been able to get in if anyone from within the pack is not involved."
"So how does the coronation at this time help?"
"Not in any other particular way. I am growing old, sweetheart. This pack needs a young leader now. Two years might be too late. I know you want to wait for Connor but..." he looked almost defeated, like he had thought about it a lot, and Selena smiled looking at him.
"Hey, dad? The pack comes first for us, right?"
"Right," he said giving her a sad smile.
"Right then, I am going to meet Sammy and mom before I have to go for the ceremony."
Robert was going to say something when he stopped in his tracks. The way his hand curled was enough clue for Selena to know that something was wrong. Robert barely ever got angry and when he did, it never ended well for the other guy.
He turned to look at Selena before he spoke, "The hunters launched an attack against the pack," he said and left the room with Selena following close behind him now looking dangerous.
As soon as they got out of their house, it was like all hell broke loose. They got separated as Robert jumped straight into attack mode against the hunter closest to him while Selena paused to assess the situation.
She had stopped in the main lobby to see everyone fighting the guys with the guns. The weapons looked very modern. Being the strongest pack was not an advantage for them here, not when they had such advanced weaponry. Teeth were not really a strong weapon when compared with bullets.
The wolves were losing.
They were overpowered and outnumbered and Selena didn't know what to do. She ran out the main door to see what was going on outside and took the long way into the backyard to find Noah fighting a man with a knife. She could tell that he sensed her but he didn't stop the fight.
She looked around hoping to find his son and her best friend and her soon to be beta Jayce, but there was no sign of him anywhere.
A loud bang came from the left and she tore her eyes away from the fighting pack members to that direction only to see a woman standing with a smug expression on her face and a rifle in her hand.
With horror she looked back at Noah to see him lying in a pool of his own blood, his eyes unfocused.
Selena attacked a few and killed three hunters as she tried advancing towards the front gate. On reaching her destination, she saw her father recklessly fighting against three humans. His movements were sluggish and he was almost fighting like...
Her eyes fell to the heap of bodies right next to where her father was trying to fight the sorry excuse of humans. It was easy for her to recognize her mother's lifeless body there along with her siblings. It was only then Selena realized that the connection with all of them was gone. They were all dead.
The tears sprang to her eyes instantly and she fell to her knees. Her eyes returned to the once ruthless alpha who seemed to be on the verge of losing his mind. He didn't seem to notice that they were just playing with him. Her father was way more observant and smart a fighter than that.
Robert was driven by anger, the anger and madness of losing his mate.
She was about to run towards them but then a sound in her mind stopped her. It was her father reaching out to her through the telepathic link, 'Run, Selena. This is a war we cannot win today. Do not stop. Do not look back. It's not a request it's your alpha's order. Run!'
There was nothing she could do now. Selena was still a member, Robert was still the leader and it was a direct order that she couldn't deny, her wolf wouldn't allow it.
She tried hard to walk towards them, to fight, but her wolf won't allow it. her wolf Isadora, or Izzy as she liked to call her, was in immense pain from losing all her family and the pack bonds, but her foremost instinct at that point was to keep her human safe.
She almost flew past the trees and didn't stop until she heard three gunshots. She stilled and felt the final connection strip away. There was no pack now. Her father, the alpha is dead. She is now pack-less, a lone alpha with no pack, no family. She whimpered before she let out a gut-wrenching, loud howl as she lost consciousness and fell there. Since the wolf was in control, she had blocked Selena off as she was fighting to go back.
When Selena regained consciousness, she was lying on the concrete floor and had only a rag covering her. She trembled from the cold and recalled all the memories before she started to freak out. Her parents, her siblings, her pack, all of them were dead.
For a second, she was glad that Connor was not there tonight, when she tried to link any of her pack members, she couldn't find anything. Either all of them were dead, or they were far enough to not be contacted through the mind link.
Selena started looking around and didn't make a single sound. She was in a cage. The room was too dark, making it almost impossible for her to see. But then, she heard someone breathing.
She didn't even get enough time to contemplate who it was when the lights turned on and she saw three people sitting a little distance from the cage and all looking at her with a smirk.
She pulled her rag closer to her but didn't show any sign of vulnerability.
One of the men stood up abruptly. He walked closer to the cage and kneeled to look at her, "Do not even mistakenly think that you can escape bitch. We know you are an alpha. There are guards here all the time and there is no way for you to fool us. You'll be a good toy for Master Leon. He always wanted to have a werewolf bitch anyway," the guy sneered.
The other guys all laughed as they slowly left the room.
It would be wrong to say that she was scared. Selena knew what the guys meant. She knew she had to escape as soon as she can, for these guys would not show even a sliver of mercy on her. She knew the chances were low.
Selena tried to feel her wolf, but Izzy was not there.
It was like she was all alone.
This was the first time she felt this and it was a horrible feeling which she didn't want to feel ever again. She was all on her own and without her wolf, it was more terrifying than ever. However, she knew she had to be ready for every little opportunity that she got and she would be too. Her father didn't teach her to give up.
She was an Alpha and she will break out of this, no matter what it took.
____|~.~|____
They all remained silent as Selena finished her story. She had her head down, not wanting to see the pity in their eyes. She didn't want any sympathy.
"I'm just glad you made it out," Damien said, his face had a soft look in them but there was a fire in his eyes.
"You saw them?" Connor muttered, "Leah and Sam, mom, dad... you saw them?"
Selena nodded softly, "I... I saw their bodies, Leah, Sammy, and Mom, but I felt the connection getting lost with dad. I didn't see him. But I heard the gunshots."
Connor nodded. He sat beside his sister this time, "I am glad you got out too." He gave her a pained smile.
Ileana and Adriana then took up the responsibility to make the conversation more light.
Adriana brought back the childhood memories of her children and little by little, Selena too shared the stories of her brothers and sister, and at times, when Connor thought he could expose Selena's embarrassing moments, he did exactly that.
Later, when it was time to sleep, Damien waited in the room for everyone to leave.
Selena turned to look at him. She could see the thoughts turning in his head, knowing how her father didn't like to be disturbed while thinking, Selena waited until Damien's eyes focused on her.
She smiled and raised an eyebrow, "Talking to your wolf?"
Damien nodded, "We have an idea. But I am not sure how much you all will like it."
Selena raised an eyebrow, "Okay...?"
Damien sighed, "Adriana is the best tracker in our pack." Selena nodded. "So if there is any chance that the hunters or their witch left behind evidence, the only one who can sniff it out will be Adriana. We know they won't leave behind easy evidence."
"Okay, so why did you say that we won't like it?" She asked confused.
Damien stared at her, as if trying to gauge her reaction which still hasn't occurred, "I need you to pretend to exile us from the pack."
Selena didn't give any reaction, she just stared at him, "Ryan is the one in charge right now. You should talk to him about this."
"Ryan won't do it."
"And you think I will? I don't even have the authority to do that!"
Selena saw his expressions turn even more serious. But Damien didn't say a word.
"Xavier will kill me this time. Moreover, I won't be responsible for ruining your reputation."
"Selena, you cannot banish Stacy. You need her in the pack to keep an eye on her. If Adriana and I leave daily, she will inform the hunters and we don't know what tricks she has up her sleeve to get in touch with them."
"So you want us to banish you, the both of you?"
"It's werewolf hunters we are dealing with, with the help of the witches. I am not letting her go alone." Selena sighed and Damien spoke again, "Sleep on the idea. We can talk about this tomorrow too."
Connor peaked in the room at that moment, "Can I talk to you, Sel?"
She looked at Damien who smiled, "I was just leaving."
When the siblings had the room to themselves, Selena sat on the bed and leaned her head on her brother's shoulder.
Connor leaned back against the headrest and sighed.
"I am sorry you had to go through all of that alone," Selena raised her head to look at him, "I shouldn't have left, I should have been there with you."
"Bullshit, they ambushed us. We were unprepared and they had the advantage. I and glad you weren't there. I cannot even imagine losing you too."
Connor wrapped an arm around her shoulder and took a deep breath, "Do you know who the traitor was?"
Selena's lips sat in a tight line as she tensed up. "Dad had ordered Lila to call the nearest packs for help."
"You didn't mention that in the story."
"He didn't close the other links in his hurry. Dad linked Lila but Damien told me after I was here that they received only one call and that was from Jayce."
"So you think it's Lila?"
"She was always a bit weird."
Connor nodded. After a bit of silence, the two siblings spoke about their parents and siblings before they retired to bed. A weight lifted off both of them, Selena was glad to finally share it with someone who understands not only the fear of losing a pack but actually losing one, and Connor just felt blessed to know a little bit about the last moments of his family's life that he had missed.