Chapter 3

Selene was texting vigorously on her phone with Michael. It had been two days since they were forbidden from seeing each other, and it was all her fault. If only she didn’t want to go to that stupid club, she’d be with Michael right now doing something fun.

Selene [12:04 pm]: ‘Should I sneak out?’

She bit her lip as she sent the text. She already knew it was a stupid idea, but she was tired of being locked in this house. She wasn’t even allowed to leave the house to train with the pack. Every wolf in the pack was mandated to start training as soon as they turned fourteen. This was to help them train their bodies and become strong enough for when they finally shifted.

All wolves shifted at eighteen, although some shifted earlier. It was believed that there was a time in the past when werewolves got their wolves at the early age of twelve, and the next Alpha could inherit the pack once they turned eighteen. At that time, wars broke out because the human part was barely developed before they got their wolves, and this led them to be more wolves than humans. There was no balance.

The moon goddess must have noticed, as werewolves stopped getting their wolves early. The Council created a law that every werewolf was expected to start honing their human body and mind by training, and an Alpha can only take over a pack once they are above the age of twenty-one.

Selene was pulled out of her thoughts as her phone pinged. She had a reply from Michael.

Michael [12:11 pm]: ‘That’ll be a bad idea, lol. Just hang on a little. A month will be over before you know it. Then we can make up for lost time. I’ll even spar with you, and you can try kicking my ass.’

Selene couldn’t help the smile as she read the last part. She was one of the strongest in her pack and could beat everyone during pack training but Michael. No matter how hard she trained, she could never beat him, and that annoyed the part of her that loved winning.

She made it her mission to beat him at least once in her life before she died. Michael loved teasing her about her incompetence. He said it wasn’t incompetence and she just needed to train more, but she didn’t agree. It was incompetence.

Someone knocked on her door, and she could tell it was her little brother from his scent.

“Come in, Jay.”

The door opened, and a mop of brown curly hair was the first thing she saw as Jayson poked his head into her room with a smile that looked too much like her father’s. She saw her brother every day for the past twelve years, but his resemblance with their father always shocked her.

The man might as well have cloned himself. He got their father’s brown hair and hazel eyes, although Jayson’s hair was lighter than their father’s and seemed to have blonde highlights when under the sun.

“Hey, sis. How are you enjoying being grounded?” Jayson poked his sister as he collapsed on her bed. He could never understand why her bed always seemed softer and more comfortable than his. He couldn’t wait for her to get mated so he could have her bed. The thought of finally owning it made him sigh blissfully.

“Are you that happy to see me in pain?” Selene scoffed at her brother in disbelief. He was there smiling and sighing like a Cheshire cat while she was cooped up in her room.

Jayson placed his head in his hands as he lay down on his stomach facing his sister. “Of course I am. I don’t get to see your ugly face too much.” He smiled at her.

She pushed him off her bed, and he landed hard on his ass.

“Ugh,” he groaned, rubbing his ass. “What was that for?”

“Why are you in my room if you don’t want to see my ugly face?”

“Mama asked me to let you know she wants to speak to you in her room.” He winced as he stood up. “You know I don’t have a thick ass, Sel. You could have pushed me away gently.”

She waved him off. “Please leave my room. Else I’m going to start thinking you love spending time with me.”

He made a gagging sound and hightailed out of her room, but not before she saw the small smile on his face.

Selene knew Jayson came to the room to check up on her since she refused to leave her room since she got grounded. She planned to let her parents know just how upset she was by avoiding them. He could have texted her like he usually does to tell her about her mom, but he chose to come to her room instead.

She remembered being almost five when her parents came home with a baby in their arms. She told them she didn’t need a new brother as Michael was already her brother. She didn’t see the need for someone else.

She hated Jayson right away. Maybe hate wasn’t the right word, but at the age of five, she believed she did. He took her parents away from her, and he was always crying so loud she couldn’t sleep. He also made the house smell. Her parents tried to make her spend time with her little brother, but she refused. To her, he was an outsider, and he needed to leave their house.

One day, when her parents were asleep, she snuck into the nursery. Jayson was only a month old at the time. She had a plan to take the intruder out of their house and leave him in the woods.

The next day was her birthday, and her parents seemed to have forgotten about it. Her mother didn’t ask her what cake she wanted that year, and she didn’t see her father making any special birthday hat for her like he usually did. She believed they had forgotten about her, and it was all because of the tiny intruder. He took her parents from her, so she was going to throw him out.

The bed he was placed in was too high, and no matter how high she jumped, she couldn’t reach him. Her mother came in at that moment and asked her what she was doing. She told her she wanted the intruder out of her house.

“Pumpkin, he is your brother,” her mother cooed to her as she dropped to her knees in front of her.

“No, he is not,” Selene screamed. She started crying, and no matter how hard her mom hugged her, she couldn’t stop. Her father came in and crouched to hold her, too.

She broke away from their hug and looked at them in anger. “Since he came, you both have forgotten about me.” She felt betrayed and hurt.

Her mother covered her mouth with her hands as she shook her head in denial. Tears formed in her eyes.

“No, we didn’t, Pumpkin. We can never forget you.” She tried to hold Selene again, but she backed away.

“Yes, you did! You even forgot about my birthday.” Selene was full-out sobbing at that point, and her little body seemed to be having trouble handling the onslaught of emotions. Her body was shaking from how hard she was crying. “You’ve not asked me what cake I want, and Papa hasn’t even made my birthday hat. You don’t love me anymore. You just love him.” She pointed an accusing finger at the baby in the crib.

She ran from the nursery and locked herself in her room that day. She thought of going to Michael. He was the only one who still seemed to love her, but Michael would also say the intruder was her baby brother, and she didn’t want to get angry at Michael. She didn’t want him to stop loving her too.

That night was the first time she had the dream on her birthday. She woke up scared. She thought the voice was a monster who wanted to take her away from her parents.

To this day, she never knew why the nursery was the first place she went to. All she knew was she was scared, and she found herself beside her baby brother, looking at him through the spaces of the wooden crib. He was awake and was also looking at her. Then he smiled.

She remembered suddenly feeling calm and safe. Tentatively, she reached one small hand towards him, and he grabbed it with his tiny hands, smiling at her. That night, she was able to get into his bed using a chair, and she slept cuddled up to him.

Selene shook her head in amusement as she thought back to that night. Her parents were shocked when they found her. Since then, she has loved her baby brother and would do anything for him.

Her mood got ruined as she remembered what Jayson said. She wondered what her mother wanted to talk to her about. Maybe she was going to release her from being grounded. Selene could only hope.