"You look like you saw a ghost,"
A bright light pierced through Selena's closed eyelids as she tried to shut them tighter. But the light didn't last too long. Her surroundings suddenly went a little dimmer which increased her curiosity. She slowly opened her eyes and took a look at the surroundings.
As her eyes took in where she was, she realized she wasn't in her own room. Her hands touched fresh grass instead of the familiar soft bed. She sat up and instantly was on alert, trying to figure out where she was. It looked familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Slowly, she stood up and looked around again.
Faint voices of laughter reached her ears as she turned towards the direction from which it came. The voices held so much peace and happiness that she was caught off-guard for a second; and then as the familiarity set in, Selena could almost feel her heart stop beating.
Selena slowly started walking in the direction of the voice, it was coming from far deeper inside the forest. Walking deeper into it wasn't really a smart decision but something from within her whispered that she won't regret it. Her heart was beating so loud she almost couldn't hear herself think. After walking for a few minutes, a huge mansion came into her view.
She stared at the mansion with her eyes and mouth wide open. It was the Lunar Eclipse packhouse. In the far left corner of the mansion, where there were a few tables, sat Robert and Marcella Wilson, along with Leah and Sam. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at them.
She blinked, trying to make the tears go away, but a feeble whisper coming from the back of her mind asked her to embrace it. She closed her eyes. Letting out a broken, shallow breath she finally looked at her family, and this time they were looking back at her.
They stood up with huge, bright smiles on their faces as she rushed towards them. The first thing she did was giving her dad a hug. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her back, whispering about how she always was a daddy's girl, and her mom laughed and hugged them both.
"Hey, sweetheart," Robert chuckled but Selena heard the slight tone of sadness.
She let him go and for the first time in a long while, looked at them from head to toe. Tears were streaming down her face. She didn't even have a picture of them left after the attack. The hunters had made sure to burn down everything.
Robert was the first one to sense her sadness and gave her a side-hug, saying, "Let's take a walk, c'mon."
Marcella smiled at the both of them and she grinned back at her as they started walking towards the forest from where she came, but they didn't go far
"I'm so, so sorry, sweetheart, I couldn't protect you," he said, the guilt seeping through his words.
"No, dad, don't say that. You did as much as you could. I am sorry I couldn't stand up to your expectations. I couldn't support my own pack. I couldn't lead them when they needed me to."
"Nobody could have foreseen the attack, Selena. Lila... nobody even thought it could be her."
"Of course, who would imagine the beta's mate to be a traitor? She took complete advantage of that," she growled.
"Lila wasn't the beta's mate. Aiden, however, is a nice kid," Robert said with a smile, "All of Damien's kids are, in fact."
"Yeah," she whispered.
"So is Xavier, even though I would have whooped his ass for not using his brain a bit before."
"I would have loved to see that," she chuckled, "but I think Connor did that pretty well."
"Yeah well, Connor handled the situation more maturely than I would have," Robert grumbled, making Selena smile wider, "Nobody walks away after hurting my daughter."
"It's okay, dad." She smiled gently, "He hurt me but he repents it. We have moved past it."
"I know you have," Robert smirked, and Selena rolled her eyes ignoring the look on her father's face. "He would have me haunting his ass if he didn't."
"Selena?!"
Selena stopped mid laughter and turned only in time as her little brother's body crashed onto hers, making them both fall down and break out in loud laughter.
"Hey, buddy!" She exclaimed and kissed his forehead. She looked up from her brother's face to see that Leah was right behind him.
Leah jumped on them and joined in the siblings' hug, making Sam squeal and Selena groan from the weight, but all three of them ending up laughing.
They stood up after a while and saw their parents looking at them with a smile.
Marcella looked at her with pride in her eyes, "There are things you don't know, Sel."
"What things, Mom?" Selena asked confused.
"Connor only knows a bit of it, and Lorcan," she smiled with a bit of nostalgia in her face, "He will tell you everything."
"You know Lorcan?" she asked taken back.
"You are special, darling. Don't hate us for not telling you. We were waiting for the right time."
Selena looked at them with sadness and confusion but before she could say anything, their figures started becoming faint.
"We love you, darling, and we are so proud of both you and Connor. Take care of each other."
"Mom, dad?" she whispered with a frown as her eyes became teary again.
Her family smiled at her.
"You need to wake up now, sweets. It's time," Marcella said softly.
Both Robert and she kissed her forehead and started taking steps back from her.
"Oh, and happy birthday, baby," they said together and just like that, they disappeared.
The next thing that Selena felt was the sensation of having a free fall.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SELENA!"
Selena sat up straight with the sudden scream and looked around alarmed at the smiling faces of the whole family here.
She looked confused for a second as she had just woken up but then a small smile graced her face as she looked around at the faces of everyone.
"Wake up, sleeping beauty," Connor smirked as he gave her a bear hug. She chuckled and hugged him back and he stood back up.
Ryan, Ileana, Aiden, Evelyn, Jayce, and finally Connor... she frowned and looked around at the room, the question in her mind was, where was Xavier? But then, Connor spoke up before she could ask.
"He was waiting with us but he had to urgently go to the town."
"Is everything okay?" Selena asked worried now.
"Yeah, yeah," Evelyn waved it off, "There are some complications in a business owned by a pack member there so Xavier had to go to solve it. But no worries, sister! So what if your mate had to go? We are gonna give you an amazing birthday."
"I am sure you will," Selena smiled, but all of them could see the slight sadness in her eyes.
"Okay, yes, your birthday begins with you training the pack today," Connor announced and pulled her up. Selena scoffed but didn't resist.
Selena showered as the rest of them sat and chatted there, and as she came out all clothed, Connor and her head to the training grounds.
The whole day for Selena consisted of doing things around the pack and spending time with Xavier's family, and the man himself was nowhere to be seen.
Finally tired of looking everywhere hoping to get a glimpse of her mate, Selena found herself sitting on the cliff again, trying to soothe herself with the gushing sounds of the waterfall.
She sighed when she sniffed Ryan's scent. The beta came and sat down by her within the next few seconds.
"You are doing quite well now," she muttered. She was happy about Ryan, but still grumpy about not having seen Xavier all day.
"Yes," Ryan nodded and scoffed, "I can finally walk without a stick and run occasionally."
Selena rolled her eyes, "It was a serious attack, at least you have some battle wounds to show off. Chicks dig it," she smirked.
"Yeah, and my chick can dig a grave for those chicks."
Selena snorted and both she and Ryan laughed out loudly.
"I missed spending time with you, dude."
"Hey! Don't replace me with the new Beta."
Ryan rolled his eyes and Selena chuckled as Jayce came and sat on her other side.
"Why do I feel like there is too much testosterone in the pack right now?"
Ryan and Jayce both looked at each other and grinned childishly, however, Selena could see the pain in Jayce's eyes.
Ryan also knew about the whole deal between Jayce and Aiden and made up an excuse so that he could go somewhere leaving the two alone.
"What's going on?" Selena asked Jayce brushing his shoulder.
"Nothing... I am just stupid."
"Jayce..." she whispered with a frown.
Jayce sighed, "It is your birthday, Sel, don't worry about me."
Selena looked away, "If it is about you and your mate, please solve it fast. Nic is a little boy and he needs both his parents."
"I..." Jayce choked on his own voice.
Selena looked at him and her eyes stilled on the man's face, "Tell me you are not the one pushing him away."
"Male wolves are possessive, more than females, what if he..."
"Do not finish that sentence," Selena said angrily and stood up, "Aiden is a good man. And he would never hurt you or your son, not intentionally at least."
Jayce shook his head, "It doesn't matter, I don't deserve him anyway. He doesn't want me."
"What the fuck are you going on about? He was crazily waiting for his mate to come!"
Jayce scoffed and shook his head, "He didn't expect to get someone who couldn't even recognize his own mate."
"Did he say that?" Selena asked with a frown.
"He was right."
Jayce stood up and was just about to walk away but he didn't get the chance to.
The sound of ruffling leaves came was heard and Selena spotted a small figure walking towards them.
In the background, the humming of the happy birthday song reached the ears of the three wolves just as the figure of Nic became clear to Selena.
Relaxing her stance, she closed her eyes and chuckled as Xavier and Aiden came walking in behind little Nic, with birthday hats on top of their heads and a cake that was in Nic's hand.
She chuckled and lowered her head as a blush spread through her face.
'Aren't we too old for birthday surprises?' Izzy asked but Selena could hear the amusement in her voice.
'Just shut up and enjoy it.'
'Yeah, it might very well be our last birthday.'
Selena sighed, leave it to Izzy to be painfully straightforward even to her own self.
Shaking her head, she looked up again, as Xavier, Lorcan, Nic, Ileana, Aiden, Connor and Evelyn walked in, with Seth and the rest of the pack behind them.
Nic had started singing happy birthday and then the whole pack had joined in, including her mate.
She covered her face with her hands in embarrassment, "Guys, stop!"
Connor, Xavier and Aiden merely chuckled as the other laughed louder. Whereas everyone called her Luna, Jayce had stuck to calling her alpha, and neither Selena nor Xavier had a problem with that.
Nic stopped as Aiden took the cake from his hand when he got impatient and everyone stopped behind them, except for Xavier who kept walking towards her.
With a black shirt, fitting him perfectly in just the right places, he stood in front of her, close enough for Selena to feel the warmth of his body. She stilled and looked at his face as he peered down at hers. Even in that cone-shaped birthday hat, contrary to what Selena had thought, Xavier looked absolutely stunning, funny, but stunning.
The pack members there looked away as they felt how much in their own bubble the couple was.
"Happy birthday, my love," Xavier whispered as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
Selena closed her eyes momentarily and took a deep breath before she looked back at him. And right then, there was so much love and so much adoration in her eyes, that Xavier couldn't help but pull her in for a lot more than just a kiss on her cheek.
Their lips locked and Selena's hands found themselves in Xavier's hair and around his neck as he pulled her by her waist.
The kiss lasted for a few seconds as they both put every emotion that they felt for each other in the kiss. When their lips parted to catch their breath, their foreheads still rested against each other.
"Goddess, I missed you all day," Xavier muttered.
"Where were you?" she asked, her eyes still closed.
Xavier scoffed, "I was baking."
Selena abruptly pulled back and looked at him with amusement.
"Don't. Don't say a word," Xavier said with fake anger as Selena barely held in her laughter, "Turns out training a bunch of full-grown, hot-headed werewolves is easier than baking a freaking cake."
Selena chuckled finally, "Thank you."
Xavier smiled on hearing her laughter and pecked her lips, this time catching her by surprise, "I love you. Now let's go cut that cake, and it better taste amazing."
Xavier grumbled the last part as he went to some of his pack members to set up the small table where she was going to cut the cake, but Selena stood still on the spot.
Connor and Evelyn came up to her, as well as Ryan and Ileana, and all of them had wide smiles on their faces.
"You look like you saw a ghost," Connor snickered.
Evelyn spoke next, "I have no idea why you look so surprised. I have known it for months now."
"Selena?" Ileana asked, waiting for her to reply.
"C'mon guys, stop teasing her."
"Hey, you ready? The cake is all set."
Ignoring the four, Selena's eyes focused on Aiden. She nodded and went where Xavier had set the table. He smiled and ushered her in the spot.
Cutting the cake went by a blur. Selena sure told Xavier that the cake tasted amazing, which it did in fact, but in her mind, it was like a cyclone was going on.
Mates felt this pull to protect their other half. Sexual attraction was definitely there, but love? That didn't depend on the bond but on the werewolves. Yes, for most of them, it turned into love. But with everything that they went through, Selena wasn't sure if she would get to experience the magical loving relationship that she had seen between her parents.
So when Xavier threw the words in like he just exclaimed how comfortable the weather was, she was shocked. She hadn't even considered that Xavier might be in love with her.
Xavier fed her a piece of the cake himself and then Ileana, along with a few of the pack members distributed the whole cake among the others and a few of the other pack members started bringing in the food they had made.
When the pack had gone back, the whole family, along with Lorcan, sat circled around as Jayce tried to make a fire. However, the weird thing that happened was, as Selena sat looking where the woods were assembled, a sudden spark was seen and a fire started.
"What the hell?" Aiden mumbled as had seen the thing happening since his eyes were on Jayce.
Selena blinked, and looked at Lorcan, only to see he was looking right back at her. "Did you do that?" She asked.
Lorcan shook his head, "You did."
Selena scoffed, "Yeah right."
Lorcan's eyes were bright with curiosity as well as amazement and most of the werewolves didn't miss it. The warlock sighed, "Come here, guys, it's time we discuss a few things."
Selena looked at Connor thinking this to be some kind of a prank, but Connor had a dead serious look on his face which actually made her think that something might be seriously wrong.
Asthe whole family, now including Jayce and little Nic, sat around the fire, itwas Connor who began to speak.
____|~.~|____
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