Chapter 4

Selena rapped upon the door of the bedroom she and Clara shared since childhood– mostly Clara's now. Selena barely stayed there anymore. Not since she and Callum had practically become a pair of clasped hands. Already, she was more or less his Luna in waiting. All that was left was the Moon's approbation and blessings before their bond could be consummated. What could possibly go wrong? Well, this was the notion she had of it all beforehand. Now...now she stood, a target in the fate of life's bow and arrow. Things were about to take a radical turn for the worse. Red, yellow, blue, or black. What was it going to be?

Clara hadn't opened up so she shouldered the door in. It swung open with a judder on its hinges. She paused at the doorway to survey the room. It was like a palette of the colour purple, dim from the day's dusking hue. Clothes were strewn about the carpet floor. There was a bowl with bone fragments of chicken residue. Some model big sister she was. A catastrophic one. Clara had done a complete rehaul of the place. The beds were rearranged, the shelves were moved, the shoes were somewhere else… wait, where was the–

No. That’s not why she came.

Her eyes finally flickered to Clara who was almost difficult to fish out if not for the solemn rise and fall of her body underneath the thick purple duvet.

She flopped into the bed with a bounce and whipped the covers back. "Clara" she jostled her almost violently. Clara remained as calm as still waters. "Clara!"

"*Whaaattt*" Clara crooned over her sleeping pads, rolling the other way.

"Get up, I have something to tell you"

"Later, Selena," she mumbled into her pillow tightening their embrace.

"I think I found my mate"

"Callum? You don't say"

"No." Selena exhaled. "Just get up, please"

Clara let out a dramatic groan and forced up the pads she had over her eyes. "What are you doing here"

"I think I've found my mate," she said again. "And it's not Callum."

Clara squinted her eyes at her. "What do you mean"

Selena hesitated, eyes flickering to the window. “My wolf…” she began, voice low. “She gets… really worked up around Lucian."

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

“Have you hit your head recently? Because this…” She pointed between them. “This is a crisis.”

Selena groaned.

“You don’t think I know that? My wolf nearly breaks out of my skin every time he’s in the room.”

Clara blinked.

“Well, that’s awkward. And mildly illegal.”

Selena buried her face in her hands. "What am I going to *do*" She raised her head. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

Clara got out of the bed, throwing the duvet off her body. "They're out"

"Well I can see that"

She had her back to Selena, stretching hard and long with her arms up like she was going to tear her tendons and ligaments. "The moon temple. Interceding for us all"

She yawned and her eyes watered, clearing the fog that had sat in them, and just enough for her to see Selena turning over a page of a little brown book. She rubbed her eyes.

"Hey!" She swiped it away from her sister's hands. "What do you think you're doing with that" She said and staggered to her dressing table. She placed it in a drawer and thrust it back in.

"What's that, a diary?" Amusement played on Selena's lips.

"What's it to you"

Selena's countenance fell. “You're right.” Her dilemma resurfaced again and the amusement in her eyes died. “I should be more worried about myself” She rose starting towards the door. “Dinner’s at seven if you feel like rescuing me from my own thoughts.”

"Wait. Where are you going?"

"Back"

"Right now?"

Selena turned. She crossed her arms. "Yeah, why?"

Clara pulled her hoodie cap over head and jumped into the bed again with a satisfied sigh. She ripped the chip wrapper in her hand. "I don't know" she said mid-crunch. “I just think you need a break from all that. It must be exhausting”

“Uncle Bane says he has something to tell me tomorrow morning”

"Hmm" Clara raised a brow. "Did he?" "All right then. Go be with your lover boy, but just in case you need to cool off, there's a party next Tuesday. Moonlight, music. No drama"

"What party" she asked though she was pretty certain she wouldn't come.

"It's a birthday party. This kid named Brad"

Selena managed a tight smile. "K. I'll keep it in mind"

Outside, there were scattered about, big net eyes on small bodices. Dragonflies. Their light wings slapped violently against each other and shone a light green in the moonlight. Selena felt her innards colden with disgust. She walked down the path with her head low. She made a mental note of bringing her cape with her next time. Dragonflies were seasonal insects amongst the Lycans. She wondered what season it was that brought them here. It was a still night, so her dark hair fell perfectly at the sides of her face. A meagre effort, she knew, but anything to keep those things away from her periphery and her ear's consciousness, because while they didn't make so much sound, she had the urge to slap her ears once in a while from the imaginary buzzing sounds her ears would make.

She caught a bird coming forth from the safety of darkness the foliage in the trees created, sizable and jet-black. She watched it glide over her. With her eyes squint, she thought it looked familiar. Like...like that bird from the castle. What was its name?