Chapter 12

SELENE WOLFE

"Selene, are you okay?" I heard and turned around.

His voice was hesitant, cautious.

I turned to face Xavier, and saw the way his eyes flickered over my face, taking in the tears that I was trying so hard to hold back. "I'm fine, When did you get here?" I said, my voice cold and detached. I didn't want his concern, didn't want his pity.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Just now, I'm sorry, Selene. We haven't been there for you, and I know we should have. It's just...it's been hard for us too, you know? Losing Mom and Dad, we've been struggling, and I know we haven't been the best siblings. But we've been trying, we really have."

I felt the anger rising inside me, the resentment that had been building up for years. "Trying? Is that what you call it? You and Xander have been nothing but cruel to me since the day our parents died. You've treated me like a burden, like I'm nothing but an inconvenience to you both. Like I'm a murderer. And now you want to make excuses f