Chapter 1 - Family is everything

"We will dethrone her tonight!" the older man whispered to the teen next to him.

"You think this is a good thing, father?" the young teenager asked.

"Women should not be in charge. Not even a goddess."

"But you tried before, father, and you lost..." the teenager was worried about the outcome of a second failure.

"My son," he whispered, "Before she had no weakness. Now she has a daughter. There is no greater weakness for a mother than her child. And there is exactly where I will hit!"

The teenager looked at him frighted, seeing all the evilness in his eyes. He was his father's son, but he could never have that kind of evil look. He loved the little minx, but his father could not know that because he would have made him disappear too. He left his head bowed in enormous respect, but the truth was that he was frighted by his father. 

" My son." his father said again. " I will give you great honor." the teen started to feel cold shivers on his back. These words could not bring anything good. His father continued like he wasn't seeing the struggle of his son. The boy was holding it too well. He had years of practice.

" You will dispose of the girl." he looked at his son with a look that could turn in ice the entire hell. "You kill her, my son. We don't want her in your way."

The boy looked at his father just to be sure he heard well. He nodded and left his side. After making a few steps he heard his voice, calculated and terrible...

" I accept no mistakes son. You know I can be very vindictive if I have a good reason..."

A knock at the door woke Selene from her sleep. The feeling was so unreal. It was like she was with those two people that were talking and then she wasn't anymore. She was sleeping so deep that first, she had the impression that someone in her dream was knocking. Finally, her 'nightmare' stopped. Or what that could be called. The same dream, all over again, for years now. Each time she believed she was closer to breaking through and finding out whose voices she was hearing, but every time she was left with a big hole. The feeling that she was so close... Sometimes she has the impression that she sees the person talking. Sometimes, she is not sure. But she can never see their faces. The only familiar feeling makes her think through.  She is covered in the mist and they are talking somewhere next to her, see And like now, she wakes up all sweaty. She grabbed her pillow and placed it on her ears to recover a bit, but she could still hear her mother. All her senses were waking up also, realizing it was morning. And smelled beautifully like coffee! A second knock at the door, a more insistent one, as the voice followed,

"Are you woken up, Selene? I don't want to come and drag you from the bed!"

"Have mercy!" Selene whispered, but she was sure her mom already knew that her daughter in a blink of an eye, only for the coffee smell. Her mother seemed like she had developed a 7th sense involving hearing. The woman was like a little witch when it came to her small family and their needs,

"No mercy, Selene! It is a big day, we need to prepare ourselves. I don't want to be late!" following with a softer voice, " Coffee and waffles with honey await you." and she left because Selene was hearing her steps fading. She threw the bait and waited for her daughter to catch it. And her daughter, like a hungry fish, almost flew downstairs after washing her face and teeth. She stopped just a few moments in front of the bathroom mirror to check if the bad dream had any effect on her, but she was ok. No dark circles under her eyes. She was quite used to them. But it seemed the air back home was making miracles on her.

Her father was already at the table drinking his coffee and chewing his waffle. The morning sun was lightning in the small kitchen, making the place look idyllic. The kitchen was the warmest place in the house since she was a little child. She stopped just a few moments in the door, remembering how she was preparing cookies for Santa when she was a child, or how they would make the big turkey for Independence day, or the birthday cakes. Her heart shrieked. She missed her home so much. And she didn't even realize it. Her father asked her with a grumpy voice when he saw her approaching,

"Did your mother wake you up with a bait?"

Selene smiled at him with the waffle that was almost too hot to keep in her mouth, and only nodded. While she was bringing coffee in front of Selene, her mother smiled at both of them and poured herself a coup too, sitting with them at the table.

"Don't complain so much Kevin, tomorrow is a special day and we have to honor it," she said with a soft voice.

Her father rolled his eyes at his wife before answering,

"Yes, we already discussed that, but Selene is not a part of the Blue Sapphire Pack, Tabitha. You gave her the bite for nothing. Maybe she doesn't even want to come with us." Selena’s father replayed.

Tabitha looked at her adopted daughter with so much love in her eyes,

" She is not a member of our pack, but she is a member of our family and we live in the community, so she had promised me that she would come with us."

Kevin looked at Selene with apparent sadness,

"You don't know why you agreed to my daughter. It would be pure torture there."

Selene smiled at her father with a glimpse in her eyes. The man could bring the sun into a cold day, with just a few words. She always made her feel good and take little trouble with amusment. He was serious when he had to be, but usually, he was amusing and saying all kind of funny things.

Her mother stopped him.

"Yes, torture to dance and eat well and shake hands. Yeah, such torture. Since when have you become such a drama queen Kevin?"

Selene burst into a laugh as, until then, she was looking back and forth from her mother and father and back. She missed them so much while she was away at the university. She felt a small urge to cry because she missed so much time from home. Four years! She was debating inside her, how on earth was she able to stay so long away from this place. The only home she could feel comfortable in. Her home.

She raised her hands in surrender,

"Guys is ok. Mom, I said I will come, so I will. I am keeping my word, as always. Robert will be there too, so it won't be that bad." she finished with a convincing smile. But only she knew the storm inside her.

She leaned on the back of the chair to enjoy her coffee and looked at her parents as they took back their conversation as if nothing happened.

They weren't their real parents. She didn't even know who they were. She was found on the side of the road in a wooded area. But those two people in front of her wanted a child and she was lucky enough to be available. She was eight months old when she was adopted. Or at least the doctors rounded her age at eight months. But they had raised and loved her like she was from their flesh. She was a human, they have been werewolves but they have lost their inner wolfs and their powers around the time she appeared. That is why they considered her a blessing. They have lost something, all the werewolves in the world did. But they embraced her and offered her a home that not many kids have the chance to have and she will be eternally grateful for that. That is why she felt miserable when she left after graduating high school for a university on the other side of the country, in Los Angeles from Florida. She broke their hearts but she needed to go. She didn't feel like she belonged to the Blue Sapphire Pack community, and the fact that she was bullied for almost the entire four years of high school made her take the decision lightly.

All the werewolves have lost their inner wolves and the ability to transform. It was like a part of them was ripped. This happened many years ago, but because a part of them has been taken away, they became very protective of their own and cruel to outsiders. And she was an outsider in their eyes. This was a thing she wasn't able to share with her parents. They did not know what was happening to her at school. She would have created a break between the community and her parents and she did not want that. Her parents were very faithful to their community. Even the ranks remained the same, like Alpha, Luna, and all the others they did not exist with those powers. She was lucky with Robert that he got close to her, but it was because he was an outsider. And with a secret of his own. He was desperately in love with Luna, Raphael’s mate, which could be easily tagged as an impossible love. The only thing that remained was the mating and the mating season. In their eyes he was perfect, but in his eyes, he was an anomaly. They approached and he was feeling very sorry for Selene on how she was treated so they decided to pass as girlfriend boyfriend and try to see if Selene was left alone. And like magic, it worked. But she decided to leave for university in another state, so he followed. They both studied astronomy and got a degree in it. She had been left for four years but she felt like she hadn't been gone, not even a single day. She needed now to go to the engagement ball of her worst and major bullies, Future Alpha Raphael and his high school sweetheart, Luna. She was sure they deserved each other. Wealthy, beautiful, and from the most two respected families in the community. Of course, that was for the people to see, because she was remembering quite well how Luna's Poisson tongue would mock her, any aspect she could find, while Raphael watched and the rest of their friends were laughing.

She felt her mother's hand on hers,

"Sweety are you still here with us?" she asked in a worried voice.

Selene nobbled her head, placing her hand on her mother's hand,

" It is nothing ma. I was just thinking if they had changed a bit after we had graduated."

"Oh yes, my dear, you were of the same generation as them. Then it will be like a high school reunion because it will be all your former colleagues!"

Selene's jar dropped,

"All of them?" she asked softly.

"My dear. Their future Alpha and his Luna get engaged. It is only normal that they come and be next to them on the big day."

"Just wonderful," she whispered, upset.

She did not see her father looking at her. The moment was saved when Selen's phone rang. She looked at the screen and her heart melted. It was her dear friend from kindergarten, Tamy. She raised from the chair, excused herself from her parents, and answered the phone in the living room.

"Tamy!" she said so happily.

"Girl! I thought we would see each other if you come home. Don't tell me the Los Angeles air made you forget me!" 

Her unmistakable voice made Selene almost cry with joy.

"Of course, I want to see you! But I need to go shopping for a dress for the big ball..."

For a few moments, it was so quiet on the other end that Selene thought she lost connection.

" Tamy? Are you still there?"

Tamy answered almost whispering.

" You are going there?"

Selene answered a bit worried,

" I shouldn't?"

" Not before I give you the last updates for the last gossip."

"Meaning?" Selene asked intrigued.

" I will come to your house and tell you. But for that, I will need something to drink. And of course, I need to see the dress you will wear. I will not let you go like a lamb at the wolfs."

Selene smiled at Tamy's idea. She always had a special way to say things.

" I will wait for you!" and stopped the call. Now she was sure she will not be able to focus on the things she had to do until she spoke with Tamy. She was sure it was something juicy. Tamy would not gossip something less.