Not Yet Time

Chapter Four — Not Yet Time

Selene's POV

I didn't sleep. Not really. I closed my eyes, but my heart didn't slow down.

Kael's voice. Mira's laughter. the door slamming shut on me—all of them echoed in my head like a curse.

I didn't fit. Not here. Not in this cabin. Not in Ronan's world. Not even in my pack anymore.

I pulled the blanket down and slowly got out of the bed. I was trembling in my legs, but I didn't mind. I had to leave.

I had to face him. I didn't mind if I killed myself.

He had taken everything.

My father's home.

My title.

My heart.

Even my pride.

I tied the thin shawl around me and caught hold of the door.

The cold wind hit me the moment I stepped outside, and it was nice. The trees stood still, the moon bright and watchful. Maybe my father was watching too. I wished he were. I wished he knew how broken I was.

I didn't get very far

Three steps in the snow and my knees gave way.

I fell hard—face first onto the cold ground.

I did not scream. I did not move. I just remained there, fingers pressed deep into the snow as if

it would take the pain.

Footsteps.

Then warmth.

Then arms.

Strong arms.

Ronan.

He lifted me up as if I were light, held me against his chest, and he brought me back inside. I did not raise my eyelids, but I could sense his heart racing beneath his shirt. Fast. Anxious.

He sat me down gently on the bed and started checking my legs, my pulse, my head.

"You've lost too much strength, Selene," he said gently, wrapping a warm cloth around my ankle.

"You're still recovering. "

I slowly opened my eyes and looked at him.

His face was stern, his eyes kind… but I could feel the tempest lurking behind them.

"I must go," I whispered.

His hands stopped moving.

"Go where?"

I pressed my lip with my teeth.

"Home."

"That's not home for you anymore, for now " he growled, meaner than I had expected.

"I know," I whispered again.

"But I have to go see him. I have to tell him what he did to me.”

"You have to live, " Ronan interrupted me quietly.

"Not walk yourself to death."

I welled up at him, eyes stinging with unshed tears.

"He took it all, " I whispered.

"He humiliated me. He struck me. He—he believed her rather than me. After everything I did for him.

"I know," Ronan said softly.

"I know what you did for him. I know everything."

I was stunned.

I gazed at him.

"Why? How?"

He smiled weakly.

"Because I was watching. Always. Because your dad instructed me to. He said, 'If anything happens to her, Ronan… watch out for her. '

I felt something within me break apart all over again, when I heard my father's name. Another grief-filled storm swept through my chest. My lips trembled as I panted,

"I miss him so much. "

Ronan sat beside me, placing a comforting hand on top of mine. His touch was soothing.

"I do too, " he breathed.

"Your father was a good man. A good Alpha. And he knew what Kael was, even if he never said it”

I'm so pathetic," I gulped.

"I couldn't defend his name, his house, his people…"

"Selene," Ronan said gently, his tone stronger now,

"This is not the end. This is the start. "

I shook my head.

"I don't want to wait. I want to fight now. I want him to pay. I want her to feel the pain that I endure every second."

He stroked my face—softly, as if I were delicate glass.

"I know," he said to me.

"But revenge is best served if the enemy has no idea it is on its way. He believes he's won now. Let him believe it. Let him go high—so that when he falls, he falls hard and never gets up again. "

His words struck me to the marrow.

He was right.

Kael thought he had won. He thought that he could take my legacy, my father's throne, and myshattered heart and use it as a platform in which he could build a kingdom from.

But in case I was reincarnated.

If I trained.

If I became powerful

He'd regret every second.

"You'll help me?" I gasped, my voice small.

Ronan's eyes locked with mine, something unreadable on his face.said to me.

"Not only for your father, but for you. With everything I am,”

No words between us. I didn't turn away from him. I felt this strange fluttering in my chest. Not love—not exactly—but something soft. Safe.

"I will emerge," I breathed.

He smiled gently.

"And I'll be waiting right at your side when you do. "