Selene

Kyran graciously carried me downstairs and into the vacant kitchen, his home silent in the early morning hours. After placing me gently on a stool at the large island, he got to work preparing breakfast. I had asked a few times to help, which he stubbornly refused, insisting on doing everything himself. He even mockingly said that a queen should never worry herself with such menial tasks, and I promptly stuck my finger in the pancake batter to smear it over his face in response.

Sitting at the island now, I smirk at the dried remnants of batter stuck in his stubble along his jaw as I stuff a fluffy bite of pancake smothered in chopped strawberries and whipped cream into my mouth. “Mmph, thith ith delithith,” I groan over my mouthful, rolling my eyes to the ceiling.

Kyran chokes on a laugh, swallowing his bite and his warm eyes crinkle with amusement. “I’m glad you like it,” he grins widely, “Trey isn’t the only one who knows how to cook. Where do you think he learned it from?”

“Definitely from Mom,” his brother’s voice drifts from down the hall a moment before he shuffles into the kitchen.

I smile around another bite and wave a hello at him as he perks up at the sight of all the food Kyran had made, scurrying over to fix his breakfast. Treyvar looks a bit disheveled this morning, as if he crawled into bed at some point during the night and didn’t bother to change before coming downstairs. His sandy blonde hair sticks up at odd angles and he has a red line creasing his cheek from an impression of his bedding while sleeping. Kyran huffs a laugh at his brother and continues eating his food.

“Yeah, well, she taught me first,” he taunts, waving his fork at Trey as he takes the seat beside his brother. “You look like you had a good night?”

“Tch, not as good as you,” he mutters under his breath, taking a long drink of water.

My cheeks flame with his implication and I roll my lips between my teeth as Kyran grasps my bare knee in his hand, rubbing his thumb soothingly over my skin. I can’t help the smile that pulls at my mouth and I lean over to speak to Treyvar, “We’re fully bonded, I got my wolf back,” I announce and his jaw parts in shock, a little rivulet of water leaking out at the corner.

A sharp squeal pierces the air and I’m almost out of my seat in alarm when Kyran’s hand holds me in place. I quickly glance at him with concern, but he just rolls his eyes with an easy smile and nods toward the grand staircase. I turn in my seat at his gesture and find a tall, pretty blonde woman hurrying into the kitchen, her bright green eyes squinting from her huge toothy smile. I immediately recognize her to be Treyvar’s twin sister, remembering her name to be Kyrre. She rushes over to me and throws her arms around my neck, squeezing tightly as she rocks side to side with another shriek of excitement escaping her.

“Ohmigosh,” she breathes as she grasps my bare shoulders and pushes back to look into my eyes. “Oh, my— fuck, you’re gorgeous! No wonder why Kyran’s been such a mess,” she grins widely as Trey huffs a laugh and Kyran scoffs.

“Hi,” I chuckle, “I’m Selene. It’s nice to finally meet you,” I smile warmly, immediately taking a liking to Kyran’s younger sister.

“When your sister sent me a message this morning, I just could not believe what I was reading! Then Eir manifested in my room, confirming everything and I couldn’t be more excited! I’m so, so happy for you both! I’ve already got people working on it, so you don’t have to worry about a thing, sweetie, I’ve got it all taken care of. Oh! Speaking of which, I’ve gotta run to town for a few things, I’ll be back in a couple hours! Let me know if there’s anything you both need!” she gushes as she flits around the kitchen and disappears out the side door as quickly as she arrived.

I sit there baffled for a moment, blinking a few times before I slowly turn to look at Kyran and he laughs at the expression on my face. Trey seems entirely unbothered as he chews on a piece of bacon, just shrugging his shoulder when our gazes meet. I shake my head with a slight laugh and pick up my fork, nudging Kyran’s knee with mine.

“Looks like our only responsibility is to show up, I presume?” I tease and he smiles with a nod.

“Yeah, it seems that way. I think our sisters are going to divide and conquer this entire ceremony,” he jokes, and I laugh as I finish my breakfast.

“Ceremony?” Trey asks, leaning onto his elbows and raising an eyebrow at us both.

“Oi! We’re havin’ ‘nother fuckin’ ceremony?” I hear a gruff voice bellow from the stairs, and I peer over my shoulder to see who it belongs to.

A large, heavyset man with unruly black hair and a matching beard tromps his way into the kitchen, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of me. My spine automatically stiffens, his alpha presence stirring Luna’s attention, and I narrow my gaze slightly. I don’t recall ever meeting him in the past, nor do his features look familiar enough for me to place him from long ago, either. Seeing how I cannot properly greet him, I wait in silence for him to speak first.

“Selene, this is Alpha Felagi of the Northeast Region Pack, and my oldest friend,” Kyran speaks lightly beside me, “please excuse his lack of manners. He doesn’t get out much,” he quips with a smirk and I stifle a chuckle.

Alpha Felagi glares narrowly at Kyran in response before meeting my gaze once more and Kyran continues our introduction. “Felagi, please meet Selene, my mate,” I watch as his eyebrows pull in and upward at the revelation as he glances at Kyran. He clears his throat before continuing, “Be mindful of your respects, for not only is she my mate, but she is our Queen,” his voice drops lower at the additional information and Felagi whips his gaze back to mine with rounded eyes.

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Trey spits out his drink and coughs harshly, shoving his stool back loudly and it scrapes across the floor as he stands before us. “What?” he rasps, swiping the back of his hand across his mouth before running it through his hair. “Did you just say what I think you said?” his green gaze is wild as it searches Kyran’s.

I flick my gaze back to Alpha Felagi, watching the way his eyes dart from Kyran’s gaze and back to mine, narrowing a fraction as he really looks at me. His head imperceptibly shakes as his bushy eyebrows lower when he whispers, “No, no. It can’t be…can it?” he stares at me for a moment longer before looking at Kyran once more.

He just nods his head once, his expression completely serious. Treyvar still stands there with his hands gripping his hair and I let out a small sigh. The noise causes Alpha Felagi to focus on me again and he immediately drops to his knee, bowing his head. “Milady, m-my queen. My—your majesty,” he stammers, and I wince, glancing at Kyran.

Treyvar bounces his eyes between me and Alpha Felagi before he drops to his knee as well. I let out a groan and pinch the bridge of my nose with exasperation. “Guys, please, it’s not,” I sigh heavily, “it’s not like that. I’m not like that, please get off the floor,” I request quietly, their actions making me slightly uncomfortable.

I am, and they better damned well know it, Luna’s haughty voice rings loudly and the two men inhale sharply at the sound of her voice, lifting their heads to look at me and Kyran with disbelief. I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment and let out a measured breath. Leaning forward, I place both of my hands on their shoulders to get their attention before saying quietly, “Get off of the floor, please, this is not necessary,” as I look intently at each of them.

Treyvar glances out the corner of his eye at Alpha Felagi, waiting until he begins to rise to move on his own. Once the both of them are standing, I push off my stool to stand with them and crane my neck back a bit to look up at the big guy’s face. “I do not see myself as being above others, I only hold my power to serve the werewolf race as a leader, through guidance and protection. And before you ask, please just call me Selene, my wolf is Luna, though she will most likely make you feel as if you need to treat her as royalty. Please don’t, her ego is big enough as it is,” I smirk as I feel her indignation roll through me and Alpha Felagi cracks a grin at my words.

He glances at Kyran and claps him on the shoulder, his tension slowly leaving his body as his rough voice announces, “I like her, boy. Ya’ did good. Now, tell me, where the fuck did ya’ find our goddess-damned Queen?” his belly laugh bursts out of him and infects all of us, our chuckles easing the air.

“The grocery store, of all places. Can you even imagine that?” Trey’s voice displays his incredulity as he takes his seat again, shaking his head. “The fucking Queen of werewolves, at the damned grocery store. How long have you been here, of all places on earth?” he asks, scrunching half of his face at me in disbelief and I let out another laugh.

“It’s a long story,” I wave my hand nonchalantly but am surprised when they both shake their heads, insisting that I tell them everything. Kyran suggests we take this to the couches, and the four of us sit together for a while as I tell them about my stasis and the reasons for being put in it in the first place. I explain my connection to Caedes’ and the vampires’ actions, answer their endless questions about my creation, the Guardians, Luna, my powers, and basically anything and everything they thought was made up stories with our heritage.

Through it all, Kyran sat beside me and basked in my words almost as much as they did, though he knew mostly all of it from speaking with Hekate and Asteria. His loving gaze hardly ever leaves me, and I lean against him comfortably, relaxing into the openness of talking about these things while getting to know two of the closest people to him. I agree when Felagi asks me if he could share the news with his pack, informing him that we’d be holding a bonding ceremony tonight and that we’d love to have anyone attend who desires to. He excuses himself after our long conversation and Trey rubs a hand over his face, claiming he needs to sort all of this out, leaving Kyran and me alone.

“I’m excited for tonight,” he murmurs against my hair, and I look up at him with a warm smile.

“Me too, I’m excited for every night from here on out,” I say softly before I nip at his earlobe.

He grins toothily with a small growl and moves to seek revenge when a sharp knock comes from the front door. Kyran sighs before giving me a quick kiss and bounds across the floor, pulling the door open. A muscular man stands there with his arms crossed as he greets Kyran quickly before lowering his voice to speak quietly in his ear. I watch as Kyran nods once and the man turns quickly, shifting into a tree bark colored wolf and bounding away. Curious, I raise an eyebrow at Kyran as he walks back over to me with a slanted half-smile. I push to my feet when he reaches the couch and wait for him to tell me what is going on.

“That was Jeger, my new head warrior. He’s also the best tracker in my pack and he let me know he caught trails of vampires outside of town near pack borders. I want to go follow them with him and see if anything comes of it,” he scrunches his nose as he looks at me and I can tell there’s more he wants to say but is deciding not to.

Filling in the blanks, I nod my head with understanding. “I know, you don’t want me to be at risk by coming with you. It’s alright, I don’t mind staying here. I’ve got something I want to do anyway,” I say with a small grin, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Not that I can’t hold my own or anything,” I mumble sarcastically and laugh when he groans in protest.

“No, that’s not, I didn’t mean—ugh,” he sighs exasperated. “I don’t intend on being out long. I’ll be back in an hour, maybe an hour and a half at most,” he kisses my forehead, “I do look forward to testing out your capabilities, though,” he says with a wolfish grin as he takes a step away.

I scoff before replying, “Yeah, I will definitely make you eat those words,” and scrunch my nose at him. “I’ll be up in our rooms, so whenever you’re back, just let me know where you want me to meet you and I’ll come to you,” I smile warmly at him as he grins with a nod.

“Sounds good,” he turns to open the door and glances back at me over his shoulder, murmuring, “I love you, sweetheart, I’ll be back soon.”

I love you too, Ky, I mindlink him with a wink and turn toward the stairs once he closes the door behind him. My smile stays rooted on my face as I make my way back up into the bedroom and I cross the floor, coming to stop before the boarded-up archway at the back of the room. Drawing on my power, I summon my shadow magic and carefully twine it throughout the wooden planks nailed to the walls. With a focused intent, the wood splinters and floats into a neat pile on the floor, the metal nails clinking as they fall and I push them aside as I step into the art studio.