A little note:
Uh, it might be too far into the story but better late than never right? Thanks to all of you who actually took your time to read this story. We are almost halfway through.
Now, I wanna say that even though I try my best to check the whole chapter for mistakes before uploading, sometimes I do miss out on one or two. Please don't let it deter it from continuing the story. I will correct those eventually.
Once again, I appreciate you all taking your time with this story, happy reading! <3
Back to the story now...
____|~.~|____
"...I'm gonna do it my way."
Selena had had a good night's sleep that night. Sharing the memories with the people whom she considered her family now was like lifting a weight off her chest.
When she sat up that morning, for a second she allowed her mind to wonder about Xavier...
What is taking him so long?
When will he return?
Is everything okay there?
Selena scoffed when she realized how obsessive she was behaving. With a shake of her head, she went to take a shower. But somehow her thoughts had taken over her brain and she found herself using her phone to dial Aiden.
"Hello?" He picked up after three rings.
"Hey, how's it going there?" Selena asked, trying to seem casual.
"It's going well actually, but a rogue attack in this pack held us back," Aiden sighed, "I don't know how long it will be before we can be back."
"That's okay. You are all doing well though right?"
If they could see each other's faces, Selena would have seen the slight smile on Aiden's face. After the whole de-ranking incident, anytime Selena showed her care and concern for him or the family gave him some relief, a little hope, and colossal respect for the girl.
"We are all fine. Evelyn is spending most of her time with the trackers. I think she might be interested in becoming a pack tracker." Aiden stopped a second, "Now that I think about it, she talks to mom a lot about what it is like to be a tracker."
"That's nice."
"Yeah, I am going around helping the patrolling teams with a good schedule and Xavier is busy with Alpha Parker."
"Right."
"Do you wanna talk to him?"
"No," Selena replied instantly, "I have to go for breakfast, just wanted to see how things were going." Aiden was going to speak again but Selena spoke up, "Take care, Aiden. We'll talk later."
Selena took a deep breath and headed towards the dining room. She joined Ileana and as soon as she settled down, Ryan came in and joined them.
"Hello, mate!" he chirped and kissed Ileana's cheeks. Selena rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the smiling spreading across her face.
She looked at them lightheartedly as they interacted when her memories from last night came rushing back.
These people love their alpha a lot. Damien had played a huge role, along with Xavier, to make this pack the strongest in the world. It is obvious that most of these people, if not all, would lay their lives for this family.
Even among all these thoughts, Selena couldn't ignore the bubbling nervousness at the thought of seeing Xavier again. The last time they talked, he was furious, and now with Damien's plan, she could only assume that it'll be bad.
He was angry, really angry and she was the reason. Maybe she should stop it now, she thought, this has been going on for quite some time now.
Izzy growled and Selena sighed.
Breakfast was over soon and just as they headed towards the training room when there was a rather loud ringing noise all throughout the packhouse as well as the territory.
Her eyes widened, they were under attack.
The first thing Selena did was run towards the safe house along with four other warriors. She knew the orders were first to go to the frontline to check the conditions, but this was a surprise attack, she had no idea if the weaker members of the pack were safe.
After she had made sure that everyone was already there and safe, Selena ran out of the packhouse. As soon as she crossed the door, she landed on all four and transformed into her wolf.
The metallic smell of blood hit her nose as soon as she hit the floor. For a second, Selena just stood there. The scene was way too similar to the last time she was in her packhouse.
She stood there and watched the scene until a wolf came up barging at her. He definitely wasn't a warrior. It was way too easy for her to kill him.
From the signs of it, she realised that this was a group of rogues.
She fought a few rogue wolves and while doing so, she also noticed that the pack had it pretty much under control.
Her eyes fell on Connor who was fighting well with nearly six to seven dead wolves lying around him, Ileana had her own share of dead rogues around her. Roy was also holding up great on his own but Ryan, Selena couldn't find him anywhere.
A strange chillness spread through her chest as she kept looking around her trying to spot the beta.
When she couldn't find him in the front, she went to the backyard.
Her eyes fell on Ryan immediately, surrounded by six wolves. He had wounds all over his body but his eyes didn't hold fear, only courage.
Selena growled and let her wolf take control.
Izzy snarled as she rushed towards them. She tore apart the one that attacked him in the very next second. She tackled the other two when Ileana and Connor came into the scene.
Connor rushed to the last of the rogues preparing to attack Selena, killing them, as Ileana cradled Ryan's head in her lap. She started crying as she brushed his hair, all the while Ryan laid unconscious on her lap.
"I'm gonna go get Dr. Stevens," Connor whispered and ran into the packhouse instead of using the telepathic link, knowing that he might be in the middle of treating someone else and prodding at his mind during such a time can be harmful.
Selena looked at Ileana whose gaze was steady on Ryan. She shifted back into her human and just stood there, giving the couple their privacy.
"Come on, baby. You can't leave me right now," She whimpered.
She walked up to her before kneeling down beside her and hugged her from the side.
"He can't leave me, Selena. I need him more than ever right now."
"He won't, Ileana, Ryan loves you too much to let you be alone. And I don't think he'll like to get his ass kicked by both me and Xavier. We are gonna drag him back from the afterlife by his ears if he dares to leave you," Selena said.
She smiled a little at her answer but it didn't last long.
"Come on baby, fight it for us. Our babies need their father. Come on, Ryan."
Dr. Stevens rushed in with a nurse right at that moment and rolled Ryan away as they followed him.
The family had been roaming on the corridor in front of the hospital room where the doctors were working on Ryan, waiting to know more about the situation.
Selena, during that time, thought about how the attack had happened. Only a few of the attackers were actually strong. It was a group of rogue wolves. Her mind was working rapidly at this point.
"Rogues don't work in packs," she said out loud.
Connor, who was sitting right beside her whispered back, "You think the hunters?"
"How would they control the rogues? They are feral," Selena frowned.
Connor shrugged, "Who knows what they can do with a witch on their side."
Ileana was pacing the corridor until she came to sit on the seat beside Connor. The siblings looked at her, looked like she was on the verge of having a breakdown.
"He'll be fine, girls. He is a strong man," Connor said. Ileana nodded and Selena let out a sigh, her thoughts now going back to the injured beta.
The whole pack was so concerned to solve the hunter problems that they didn't pay enough attention to the presence of the rogues near their borders until they infiltrated.
Ryan was severely hurt. He cannot die. What was she gonna say to Xavier? Even in her mind, Selena felt responsible for anything that happened to the pack in his absence. She might have said all those things to anger Xavier, but she couldn't deny him as her mate, neither could she deny her responsibilities to the pack as the future Luna.
How would she tell him that she couldn't protect the beta?
How would she explain the several other injuries?
She thanked the Moon Goddess that no one had died. That would have been a whole different deal.
She wondered how Ileana was feeling after all this; her words were so chilling...
Her heart stopped for a second and her face suddenly turned white as a sheet as she recalled what Ileana had said.
Babies...
She had said babies, as in plural.
"Oh my God!" She whispered as Connor and Ileana both looked at her. Connor's eyes were confused whereas Ileana's held fear thinking it was something regarding Ryan.
Selena stood up and turned around completely to face her.
"Babies, Ileana?" Connor's eyes widened as he looked at her and Ileana's eyes started filling to the brim with fresh tears now. She broke down crying and hugged Selena hard. Selena didn't waste a minute in hugging her back. "How do you know? I cannot even hear the heartbeats yet."
"My wolf has a feeling it's twins."
"Twins Ileana! That's great news," Connor said, his voice filled with excitement as he embraced both of the girls.
Ileana chuckled weakly she shook her head, "Yeah," she whispered making Selena laughed.
"Oh Goddess, at least one good news in midst of all this drama," Selena whispered.
"Except, it is really not the best time to bring a kid into the picture with the war brewing."
"Trust me nothing will happen to you or that baby, I will die before I let that happen." Selena's voice was hard yet sensitive, both connor and Ileana knew she wasn't kidding, she would give her life if it came down to it.
"The boys are gonna be very excited with the news," he chuckled ignoring the tug on his heart on his sister's words. "The arrival of the next generation has begun. We're gonna have a lot of babies around this house now." Connor said raising his head and gave Selena a side glance.
Selena rolled her eyes but didn't say anything as Dr. Stevens entered the room at the same time.
They all rushed to stand in front of him as he looked at them with a defeated expression. Ileana paled on seeing his face as Connor's breathing got faster.
Damien and Adriana, who had just arrived, stood behind the group.
"Dr. Stevens?" Ileana asked warily.
"We tried our best. But he had already lost a lot of blood and his injuries were fatal and..."
"Just get to the point, doctor. He is gonna be okay, right?" Selena couldn't help but cut him off, her patience was running thin.
"He's in partial paralysis."
Gasps were heard from all of them. Damien hugged Ileana as Selena stared at the doctor wide-eyed, waiting for him to continue.
"A rogue got him deep and that affected a nerve. Us werewolves heal faster but nerve damages still require more time to heal than normal flesh wounds. It would take a few days, maybe more too, but he will be okay."
Selena let out a sigh of relief.
"Can we see him?" Ileana asked.
Mason nodded leading to all of the family rushing in. However, nobody made any noise. Ryan was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling with a defeated expression on his face.
Ileana went ahead and hugged him without warning as he groaned a little then chuckled lightly.
"You're okay, you're okay," she kept on repeating as Ryan tried to hold her in his arms.
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere. What kind of a father will I be if I'm not here for my baby?" Ryan whispered.
That might have been why they were both so cheery this morning, Selena thought.
"You won't really be a good father if you're here for only one of them," Ileana said biting her lips.
Selena and Connor looked at Ryan as his eyes became wide. We stayed quiet as he focused on hearing the heartbeats. Ileana had figured it out by hearing the sound of their heartbeats as they hadn't had the chance to go to the doctor about it.
Ryan gasped as his eyes filled with tears, "Twins... We're having twins?" He asked Ileana as the tears started flowing down the side of his face.
Ileana nodded and hugged him again as he pressed his face in the crook of her neck. Both of them started crying.
"I knew it!" They heard Damien's cheer and Adriana's amused chuckle, "I knew she smelt different. Finally, a grandbaby! Wohoo!"
The whole room chuckled except for Ryan and Ileana who were still lost in their own bubble.
"You don't know how badly I want to wrap my arms around you right now." The beta's voice cracked.
"The doctor said physical therapy can help you move your muscles again. We'll start after you get out of here. It will start in about a week."
Ryan looked at Selena and nodded before speaking up again, "I'm sorry, Luna."
Selena didn't bother correcting him as her focus was on the other words.
"What?" She asked confused, all the eyes were on Ryan and Selena.
"I should have been able to fight them off. I should have been stronger, I..."
Selena shushed him.
Putting her hand on his free arm, Selena spoke softly, "Don't you dare say that. You laid your life down because of your pack and now you're saying you're not strong? You, Ryan, are one of the strongest wolves I have ever known. There were six wolves surrounding you and you didn't back out. You fought them courageously. That's all that matters."
Everyone closed their eyes as Ryan tried not to picture the last memory he had before he had blacked out.
"Ryan, I promise you, we will take them down. The pack is furious that their beta is injured. We will find out who these wolves were and we will kill them."
Ryan nodded but furrowed his eyebrows, "The pack needs a leader."
"Connor will take care of it," she answered without missing a beat.
Ryan shook his head, "Sel, you were trained for it, Connor wasn't. You have to do it."\
"He's right," Connor whispered softly.
"Ryan you know I won't. I doubt they'll even accept me leading this pack."
"Xavier is out Selena, and so are Evelyn and Aiden. Even if we don't consider all the others, you were trained to be an alpha. You're our only option, Luna. Please, the pack needs you."
"Damien?" He was her last shot at avoiding this.
"I retired Selena, I am getting old, the pack will listen to me no doubt, but they need a young mind to lead them," Damien countered her reasoning.
"I don't think we should drag dad into this. He had spent the majority of his life protecting this pack. He needs the time out." Ileana too added softly.
Selena sighed, it's true, all of what he said, if she didn't step up now, the pack is gonna go down and she can't let that happen.
The fall of one pack on her conscience is enough, she didn't need another.
"I'll have my own rules and regulations to lead this pack. If I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it my way."
Ryan smirked, "Whatever you want, Sel. It's your pack now."