Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
“You keep calling them other things, but I know what you mean. I heard you scream.”
“Some asshole grabbed my butt. But I put him in his place. Nobody else really noticed. I didn’t think I screamed. Maybe I shouted a little, but the music was so loud…” Selena’s voice once again trailed to silence. She coughed into her fist. “Okay, this is freaky.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to be freaky.”
For a moment, I thought she was going to give me another sarcastic comment, but my aunt only nodded. “I get it. You can’t really help it, though. Can you.”
“I guess not.”
“Is that why you changed how you look?”
It was my turn to nod.
My aunt sighed and let her head fall against the back of the chair. She stared at the ceiling. “I used to think I wanted guys fighting over me, you know? I wanted to be so pretty, so special, so…whatever.
“Oh, gosh. You are so pretty!” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them, not that I wanted to. My aunt was beautiful. “If anything, I wish I looked more like you.”
“None of those men want me, actually me. They aren’t even attracted to me because of how I look or dress, or the sound of my voice, or my sense of humor. None of that shit matters to them, because the only reason they’re panting after me like they’re the ones in heat is because my ancestors aren’t all wolf shifters.” She let out a harsh chuckle that sounded like it hurt her throat.
“I know that. I’m sorry.”
This time, she didn’t tell me to fuck off. She rolled her head to look at me. “You say you can help me, though?”
“I did last night.”
She let her face tip toward the ceiling again. “Is that why they all of a sudden started leaving me alone?”
“Yes. I felt your distress, and I couldn’t watch it anymore. It felt like they were getting ready to hurt you. At least some of them wanted to.”
Selena sat up, her body shaking with a shiver of revulsion. “That’s so fucking gross.”
“I don’t know if any of them would have, but they were thinking about it.”
“I know. I could feel them, too. But you made them back off?”
I nodded. “It was just a little pulse. A tiny push. I didn’t want to get in their heads too much, so I didn’t do anything they’d be able to really feel. I just kind of shielded you from them. Made you…”“Not invisible,” she said. “I’d have noticed if you’d done something that intense.
“No. But a little transparent, maybe?” I chewed the inside of my cheek, trying to remember exactly what I’d done. “I just kind of nudged them into wanting something else. Another beer. A dance with a different partner. It won’t last, I mean, they might start feeling like they want to pursue you again.”
“But you could nudge them again, right?”
“I think so.” I took a few seconds to scan my internal library, calculating different ways I could keep her safe from the toads. Or the sharks. Whatever it was she wanted to call them. When I focused on her again, my aunt was sitting up with an odd expression.
“It really is kind of like watching a computer work through a program,” she said. “I don’t mean for that to hurt your feelings, Stella. It’s just that you get this distant look in your eyes. Then you come back.”
“I’ll work on that. You can help me. It’ll be part of the fitting in.”
Selena sighed. “I don’t know, kid. I don’t think your parents will be cool with you going to bars with me. I mean, they can’t be down with you using your Celestial powers to change yourself so you can go out partying.”
“My Abba…it was his idea.”
Selena’s eyebrows shot up. “Get out of here right now.”
Confused, I stood but she waved me to sit again.
“No. I mean, I’m just surprised that Mason would do that.”“He feels out of place, too. He wanted to help. And even though I bungled it on my own, if you help me, I think it could work.”
“Does my sister know about it?” When I hesitated, Selena laughed. “That’s a no. Well, that’s fine with me.”
“You could forgive her,” I said.
She shrugged. “I could. We’ll see.”
“So…you’ll help me? And let me help you?”
“Yes,” she said, then leaned forward with a wicked grin. “But not here in town. I’ll have to take you someplace else.”
Stella–
No matter how much I asked, Selena refused to tell me about this club.
She shook her head and waved a hand at me. Some color had come back into her cheeks. She thought it was the vodka, but I’d been subtly sending out some healing energies to her. Nothing overt, just tiny touches to her liver and stomach. I knew she’d be mad if she thought I was manipulating her body…and that was something I’d need to ask the Moon Goddess for guidance about.
Wasn’t it okay to use my talents for good use, even if the other person didn’t know and might not want it?
“Quit grumping about it,” Selena’s voice broke into my thoughts. “I just don’t want you spilling the beans to my sister or your dads. They’d never let us go where I’m planning to take you.”
“Why not?” I thought I was being clever, trying to get her to reveal more to me, but Selena just laughed and wagged a finger at me.
“Nope. You’ll find out when we get there. We’ll leave later tonight, oh, like around nine. That’ll get us there by…” She paused and grinned. “Not telling you, in case you decide to use some of those freaky tracking talents or whatever you’ve got going on to map out all the possibilities within travel distance.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re just being ridiculous now.”
“Are you telling me that if my sister gets a whiff of our plans and confronts you to your face, you’re not going to tell her everything?” Selena sounded gruff, but I could also tell that she was curious. I squirmed a little. “I don’t want to lie to my parents.”
Her eyebrows rose, and her smile tipped up the corners of her lips. “But you will, huh?”
“I…” I could feel my expression twist as I tried to keep it looking neutral. I’d never talked much about this to anyone. “I did basically lie to them from birth until just a short time ago.”
“About being a Celestial,” she said.
I nodded. My heart was heavy, but I also couldn’t deny it. “I was born knowing and aware, and guided by the Moon Goddess to only reveal my true self over time. If I’d done it right away, my parents wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Everything has to happen at the right time.”
“I don’t believe in the Moon Goddess,” Selena said. Her eyes flashed.
“How can you not believe-“
“I mean, I believe that maybe once upon a time, there was some kind of thing or whatever, but is she still around? No. Does she answer prayers? Hell, no.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to answer this without making her angrier. “It’s not her job to answer prayers. We have to make our own choices and be responsible for them. The Moon Goddess is there to guide us, but in the end, we all do what we do on our own.”
“So why bother with her, then?” Selena demanded. She got up from her chair and went to one of the shelves, to run her fingertips down the row of books before turning back around to face me again. “If we can’t count on her, why should any ofus ever ask her for help?”
“I…” Once again, I started to speak but couldn’t find the words.
Selena gave me a triumphant look. She stabbed her finger at me in the air. “Ha! See! You don’t know, either. And if a Celestial can’t figure it out, I sure as hell can’t be expected to.”
She had so much anger inside her, and I thought could understand a lot of it. I wished there was a way I could help her through it, or take it away…but that would mean actively shifting her emotions. I’d just told her all about how we have to make our own choices and be responsible for them. Helping an upset stomach was one thing, but it would’ve been hypocritical of me to manipulate her into letting go of her angst.
That was something my aunt was going to have to work through on her own.
The door to the library opened to reveal my mom.
Selena shot me a look. “I thought you locked it.”
I could only shrug.
“There you are,” my mom said, worry clear in her voice. “I went to your room to make sure you were okay, and when you weren’t there…” “I’m fine, Mama.”
My mom’s gaze shot to her younger sister, and her expression softened. “Hey, Selena. I’m so glad you’re here. Maybe we can grab some tea?”
“Why don’t you go on ahead and get it,” Selena said. “I’ll meet you in the dining room.”
My mom’s expression was a mixture of happiness and uncertainty, but she nodded and quietly let herself out of the door. She closed it behind her. As soon as it was shut, my aunt turned to me. “See?” she hissed. “It doesn’t matter how tall you get. She’s never going to let you grow up.”
Stella–
I couldn’t shake what my aunt had said. Obviously, my parents were all still trying to adjust to how fast I’d grown up, but I’d thought they were all taking it in stride. At least as much as they could have, anyway. And I couldn’t blame my mom for being protective of me. Not after all we’d been through. What mother wouldn’t worry for the daughter she’d seen destroy an army?
But I couldn’t live my entire life being watched over by my parents. First of all, now that my body was finally aligned with my mind, I knew that sooner rather than later, the Moon Goddess would tell me of my final purpose. Second, my Abba’s advice was sticking with me. I couldn’t know how long I had here in this world, and I wanted to experience as much life as I could…while I could. And, finally, I wanted my mom to have the same chance.
At eighteen, she’d been mated to the Constantine Alpha and his Beta. Shortly after that, she’d gotten pregnant with me…then her memory had been stripped from her. For her protection, sure, but even so, it had left some psychic scars on her that might never be totally healed, even if she didn’t know that. She’d met my Abba. Fallen in love with him. The Moon Goddess had given all four of my parents her greatest blessing, but I knew more than anyone how being unique and special wasn’t always the blessing it had been meant to be.
It was a lot of work. It caused stress, being different. Even the good parts could feel like they were too much, overwhelming.
My mom was manifesting her worry for me by being overprotective. Understanding it didn’t make it easier for me to handle, but I was trying not to flip out on her.
“You never had your teenage years,” she said now from behind me.
I’d been staring out the window of my bedroom, out across the tops of the trees. Toward the unknown. The sound of her voice made me jump a little.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?