chapter 14
Selene hadn’t realize she was shaking until she felt Griffin’s hand tighten on hers, giving a little tug. She opened her eyes and found his gaze trained on her. For once, hostility had been replaced by a gentler, kinder emotion.
“If you need a break, we can stop for a little bit,” he whispered.
Selene searched his eyes for a moment, waiting for the antagonism to return. But he just watched her calmly.
She took a deep breath and shook her head. “No, I’d rather just get this over with,” she replied in a soft voice. “There’s not much more.”
Closing her eyes again, she heard Griffin mutter, “I don’t think I can take much more.”
Selene concentrated on telling the rest of her story and ran through the next scenes quickly. This part she’d already shared with Ellie. She showed them Gideon’s ensuing obsession with bringing Ellie into the pack and how she’d hidden them from Sheila’s searching. She briefly covered how she’d tried to reach them through Griffin’s dreams and eventually was able to through Ellie’s. Then she showed them the final battle when they’d freed her forever from her brother’s terrible reign.
Finally, she showed them the past year…the memories slowly returning to her people… their despair over what they’d been a part of… and their determination to rebuild and start over.
Selene paused. When she opened her eyes, she was amazed to see tears on most of the faces around her. She’d done her best to shield them from her emotions, but it hadn’t been enough apparently.
“Before I go on,” Selene broke the heavy silence, “Do you have any questions so far?”
“My heaven,” Lucy was the first to speak. “Ellie had told us, but I didn’t understand until now. You poor child.”
“I didn’t know all of that,” Ellie commented, her voice trembling. “How did you find the strength, all those years, to keep fighting him? And all on your own?”
“I focused on helping as many people as I could, like you and Griffin. And I held on to the hope that someone would eventually defeat him.”
“How did you make it through all that without becoming twisted yourself?” Ramsey asked. Having balanced on the razor-edge of bitterness and rage himself, he was impressed. As a firestarter, he was in constant danger from volatile emotions. Most firestarters didn’t live very long. It had taken a degree of strength to keep the power within him under control while Selene had shared her story with them, and he’d really only managed to do so with Lila’s help.
Selene gave him a funny little smile. “How do you know I didn’t?”
They were all surprised by this, and Nate gave a sharp laugh.
“I’m not trying to be flippant,” Selene explained. “I’m not even sure that something didn’t warp inside me. I got really good at completely turning off my emotions. Like a robot. It’s a thought that scares the hell outta me.”
Sliding a glance at Griffin, who was regarding her steadily but had yet to say anything, Selene gathered her courage. Her shoulders rose and fell with her deep breath. “In fact, I can’t say for certain that the wolf attack last night wasn’t me,” she admitted.
Griffin tensed, and Selene felt something inside her chest clench.
“What do you mean?” Hugh asked, concern clouding his kind brown eyes.
Selene grimaced. “I left the Vyusher not just to go to college—that was just a welcome excuse. I left because I’d been having these dreams. Nightmares really…”
“About wolf attacks?” Dexter guessed.
“Yes. In my dreams it’s always a white wolf.”
“But you control dreams, right?” Nate asked, his deep brown eyes openly curious.
“Not necessarily. I can visit people, but they’re still in control, mostly. And they have to let me in. Also, I’ve never had my own dreams before. What if…” Selene couldn’t finish the thought.
“What if you’re responsible for the murders?” Ellie completed.
Selene bit her lip and nodded. “I can show you last night’s dream.”
She closed her eyes again and replayed the night’s events… of waking up in a terrified panic, yet with no blood on her or any evidence whatsoever that she’d been anywhere but her bed. And then later of learning about the wolf attack from Ellie.
Selene opened her eyes. “I know I have no right to ask, but I don’t know what to do. Can you help me?” she pleaded.
Griffin abruptly stood and let go of her hand, his expression unreadable. Then he turned on his heel and left the room.
“Let him go,” Ellie told Alex as he made a move to follow. “He just needs time to think through everything.” She turned to Selene with a wry smile. “You’ve given him a lot to deal with.”
“I have an idea,” Charlotte piped up, drawing everyone’s attention. “What if Selene stayed here, and we each took turns keeping an eye on her at all times? Then if there’s another wolf attack, we’ll know whether it’s her or not.”
Everyone nodded, agreeing with her idea.
“But what if it is me?” Selene fretted. “What if I attack one of you?”
“We’ll do this in pairs.” Dexter stood and offered his hand to Charlotte. “There’s safety in numbers.” He nodded to Selene. “You taught us that.”
Selene shook her head. “But to put yourselves in danger for me… I can’t ask you to do that.”
“I can make sure that I’m with you,” Ellie offered. “If I touch you, I can control your powers.”
Selene continued to shake her head. “I can still turn you off…. I could do it permanently, if I concentrated hard enough. It’s that powerful. You saw.”
Nate pulled his tall, lanky form off the floor and stood beside Ramsey. “Are you sure? You didn’t turn them off when we were fighting your pack.”
“Gideon rarely had me do it. It took all of my concentration in one place for too long to be strategically worth it.”
“Well, after what you just showed us and the risks you took to save my future wife, there’s no way we would let you deal with this alone.” Alex smiled at Selene and glanced around the room. Everyone else nodded their agreement.
Selene was touched by this show of support, but frowned. “If it’s not me,” she began, “then it’s likely someone from my pack. Either way, I can’t go back to them with this yet. Not until I know more. So I guess we do what we can together. Thank you.”
She stole a quick glance over her shoulder, hoping to catch sight of Griffin. No such luck. Selene briefly closed her eyes and said a silent wish, praying with all her heart that the decision would prove to be a good one… and that maybe, just maybe, Griffin would learn to trust her someday.
Or at least not hate her as much as he did now.