Chapter 3

Selena's POV 

Six months later

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, a groan spilling from my lips as I straightened up and stretched. I could hear the crackles the different joints in my body made as I moved.

“The sun is too high up, come in and have a lemonade.” Ellen, the old woman who had taken me in, yelled from the porch.

I glanced over my shoulder, a smile tugging at my lips. “I’m not melting, Ellen. I’m making sure your roses survive this heat.”

She waved her hand dramatically. “They’ve survived longer than you’ve been alive, child. You’re the one who looks like you're about to turn into a lobster. Come on, put that down and rest those tired bones.”

“Five more minutes!” I called back, bending low again to pull at a stubborn weed.

Ellen snorted, folding her arms. “You said that twenty minutes ago, I don't believe you. I’m about to drag you in myself!”

I rolled my eyes and climbed the steps to the porch, setting the gardening tools aside. “You sound just like my mother,” I muttered.

Her expression softened instantly. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I smiled bitterly, “I don't think you should.”

“Then I’ll take it anyway,” Ellen said simply, pressing a cold glass into my hand. “You could use a little mothering.”

I sipped the lemonade and grimaced. “Still too sour.”Her warm tinkling laughter rang out into the quiet afternoon. For a while, we stood there in silence, the hum of bees and rustle of leaves as the wind blew through the trees, filling the air between us.

“It’s been six months, hasn’t it?” she said quietly, patting my back.

I smiled, “You’ve been counting?”

“Someone has to.” She shoved me playfully with her shoulder.

It had been six months since I was forced to sign my life and home away by my mate and his father. They had shipped me off that very evening, only giving me enough time to pack what very few things I had.

My father had dropped me off at Crescent Moon Pack, a not-so-near pack, only handing me a small envelope of money and leaving with a warning not to return till my mate called me back. Part of me wondered what reason for transfer they gave the alpha of that pack.

The money had finished within the first week, spent on accommodation and food, after which I had spent the nights inside an old shed and the day rummaging through trash cans for what to eat.

That was how I met Ellen, she caught me rummaging through her trash one rainy evening. She took one look at my trembling form and insisted I come inside before I caught my ‘death’.

She offered me a room at her house without asking me for anything in return, all because I reminded her of her daughter, Vanessa, who was mated and living in another pack. Her warm embrace and kind eyes brought me to tears as I relished in the first kind gesture I had received in a while.

She attempted to get me to socialise with the other pack members but I didn't want to, choosing to stay within the house and, by extension, the garden. Fortunately, her house was on the outskirts of the pack lands so we rarely got visitors.

I didn't know where I would be without this woman who had taken over the maternal role in my life and I didn't want to think about it.

Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she watched me walk towards her and I barely stifled a groan. I recognised the twinkle in her eyes as the one she usually had in her attempts to persuade me to attend a social event or another.

A sharp gasp tore out of me as searing agony coursed through my veins, spreading from my heart outwards, making me stumble on the last stairs and collapse on the floor.

In my increasingly blurred vision, I felt Ellen’s hands roam all over me, calling out my name in panic. I wanted to reassure her that I was fine but my jaw was clenched and every muscle in my body locked with the pain leaving me stiff and rigid.

Tears streamed from my eyes as the pain seemed to pulse like a heartbeat. Please, let this be over soon, please, I begged silently to whoever was listening. 

Slowly, the pain receded leaving me gasping for air. My body was sore and it hurt to even lift one finger, but still I attempted to sit up.

Ellen’s hands gently guided me to my sitting position, her fingers weaving through my hair, “This has to stop.” She scowled, the lines of her eyes tightening in anger.

I chuckled bitterly, “There's nothing I can do about this, I'm forever fated to feel the pain of my mate having sex with her.” The pain had started the day I got to the pack. 

In the darkness of the night and the coolness of the soiled sheet clenched between my fingers, I knew what it was. My wolf didn't stop howling throughout the night and she never spoke since then, going silent like dying embers.

It tore me apart to see my wolf go through the pain, since animals don't care about beauty standards she didn't understand why our mate rejected us.

Ellen’s warm hands covered my own, “My child, that fool would get what is coming to him, the goddess doesn't take kindly to her gifts being mocked.”

I gave a tired smile, not mentioning the fact that I might be dead from the pain by the time that happens.

Sensing my desperate need for a change in subject, her eyes brightened, “I have the perfect event to take your mind off this.” I leaned my head against the wall, my heart slowing down as I listened to her ramblings.

Later that night….

I poured water into a cup and gulped it greedily, I had woken up thirsty and in desperate need of water so I had gone to the kitchen. My feet treading softly as the full moon gave me no need for a flashlight.

Being careful not to wake the slumbering old woman, I carefully put my glass in the sink. A faint thud sounded from her bedroom, guess she was awake after all, I mused.

“Ellen, I'm sorry, did I wake you up?” I called out, but there was no response. 

“Ellen?” I called out again, this time unsure. My wolf quiet for months began snarling softly, picking up on something I couldn't yet sense.

Ellen staggered out of the hallway, pale and clutching her neck with her hand. I knew something was wrong even before I saw the blood spill out of her fingers. Her other hand left a bloody handprint on the wall with every step she took.

“Run.” She mouthed and slumped to the floor, body twitching, one, twice then going still. I opened my mouth to let out a scream but nothing came out, I choked on air, wheezing so hard, my lungs felt like they would give out.

Chills ran down my spine, every hair stood on end as I watched the figure cloaked in black step out from behind Ellen but not before giving her three quick stabs to the neck, chest, and stomach. His actions are clean, precise, and methodical.

The moonlight caught on the silver crest embroidered on his cloak, a familiar snarling three-headed wolf, I had seen that crest a lot of times, on banners, my father’s clothes, Roland's ring…… the crest of my old pack.