Pregnant and Rejected by My Alpha Mate

Chapter 172 – Selene Finds… #Chapter 172 – Salene Finds Her Confidence

Selene

“Selene they’re almost on us!” Helene whispers urgently.

Staring at my mate, it’s easier to summon the shadows than ever. While he watches, still looking

deeply confused as Arabella begs him to reject me, I wrap the darkness around the mouth of the alley. I

can hear the sentries on the other side of the dark veil, but they cannot see us through the

impenetrable fog.

“Who goes there?” One shouts, hesitantly reaching into the darkness. I extend the shadows toward him

in reply, inky tendrils reaching out for his body like a predator. Both men leap back with little yelps.

“What the hell is this?”

‘It’s got to be some kind of magic.” The other replies, “call it in.”

“We need to get out of here.” Helene urges me, tugging at my arm as I continue to wait for Bastien to

decide whether or not to reject me. Luna won’t let me move until we know our fate, even if the outcome

is too painful to contemplate.

Arabella, staring at the shimmering void I’ve conjured in abject horror, seems to feel the opposite.

Losing her patience, she grabs Bastien and pulls him towards the opposite end of the alley,

disappearing around the corner a moment later.

Their sudden departure jolts me out of my reverie, and I run after them, however by the time I reach the

end of the narrow corridor and exit onto the street, Bastien and Arabella are long gone. Helene appears

at my elbow a moment later, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the guards are still held captive

by the shadows.

“How will we find him again?” I murmur, scanning the deserted block for the dozenth time, just in case I

somehow missed

them.

“The same way you did tonight.” She replies, guiding me away

When we get back to our hotel, the staff hurried us inside with hushed voices, “What are you doing?

Don’t you know the law? You can’t be out after nine o’clock. If the night guards catch you, you’ll be

arrested!”

“I’m so sorry.” I say, wide eyed. “We didn’t know.” “I don’t understand.” Helene frowns, “why is there a

curfew?” “Because the alpha decrees it.” The concierge answers simply.

Helene gives me a little nudge, and I reflexively jolt, looking down at her in bafflement. She tilts her

head towards the man and darts her eyes in his direction, clearly encouraging me to press harder.

Realizing she must want me to use my power to try and get more information out of him, I adopt the

zen headspace I’ve been practicing my hypnosis with. Staring deep into his eyes, 1 ask, “I don’t

understand, does that mean the people here can never shift beneath the moon?”

The man seems unaffected by my attempt, and I realize Helene’s drops must have stolen this particular

ability when they changed the color of my eyes – after all Odette’s book described it as hypnotizing

people with my eyes, not some innate power. That’s right.” He says shortly.

Coming to the same conclusion I did, Helene nods and thanks the man, before leading the way to our

room. Once inside, she grumbles, “there’s something seriously wrong with this place. Can you imagine

never going on another night run?”

“Yes, but then I never shifter until I was twenty four.” I remind her. Still, I know what she means. We can

shift at any time of course, but it’s different when you can feel the Goddess’s light shining over you. The

magic we all possess feels stronger, and the darkness frees us to let our animal side truly take over. “I

wonder…” I mutter dragging my hand through the long tresses of my hair, “do you think it makes

wolves weaker? If they’re away from the moonlight for a very long time?”

“That’s entirely possible.” Helene agrees, “But it could just as easily be about control for the sake of

control. Blaise might not have a real reason for doing it other than to restrict people’s lives further.”

“I swear the more I learn about that man, the more I want to kill him.” I growl, surprising myself. I don’t

think of myself as a violent person and I can’t ever remember wanting to physically harm anyone –

other than in self defense. But tonight my desire to

attack Arabella was so strong it nearly won over, and I could happily attack the Calypso Alpha now.

“That’s your wolf talking sweetheart.” Helene smiles, “When she came back she didn’t just wake your

powers, but your predatory instincts too.”

“I don’t feel like much of a predator.” I confess with a sigh, sitting on the edge of my bed. “I can’t

imagine actually harming someone.”

‘We‘re all capable of harm, Selene. My mentor declares, “it just takes more of a push for some people

than others.”

Clearly it doesn’t take anything for Arabella.” I grouse. “I can’t believe what she’s done to him.” I reflect,

replaving the night events in my mind. “I mean, I knew she’d stolen his memory, but part of me thought

he’d come out of it when he saw me, but I might as well have been a stranger to him, he didn’t

remember me at all”

I can’t bring myself to voice how deeply this cut me. I know it isn’t his fault and that Arabella has done

this to him, but it hurts to think he could forget me, no matter her schemes. Logically I understand it’s

silly to expect such a thing, after all, Bastien is just a man – albeit a very formidable one. He’s not a

superhero and he’s not immune to magic, but my heart doesn’t understand logic. The idea that my

mate could ever turn against me makes it want to split in two.

‘She’s clearly got a powerful hold on him.” Helene concurs, “some sort of spell or potion.”

“How am I ever going to get through to him?” I inquire hopelessly. “She was right, he has at least

twenty years of memories bonding him to her, and the only thing he knows of me is what she’s told

him.”

“And what his wolf senses.” Helene adds, “That is what you have to focus on. I’ll try to break whatever

enchantment she’s put him under, but you have something neither of us do – and that’s a mating bond.

There is no more powerful magic. You have to target his wolf.”

“I don’t want to manipulate him.” I caution, that’s exactly what she’s doing.”

“Sometimes you‘ve got to fight fire with fire, darling.” Helene reasons. “Don’t think of it as manipulation,

this of it as using your wiles to remind him of the truth.”

“So what, I should seduce him?” I clarify.

“That’s one way to do it.” She chuckles, but not the only one. My point is really that you should rely less

on words and more on feelings: when you’re together position yourself so he can smell you strongly,

wear clothing that exposes his mark and keep your hair up, tailor your movements to his, make sure he

can sense your own response to him.”

“That makes sense.” I agree, but the hard part is going to be getting him away from Arabella. From the

looks of it she’s not letting him out of her sight.”

“You’re right. We have to find a way to separate them.” She muses. “Or at the very least, we need to

locate them so we can figure out when they aren’t together.”

“There’s something else.” I realize, still going over our quick but tense encounter in my head. “She’s

clearly been hiding the news from him – if we can find a way to get the true coverage in front of him, he

might start to question her more.”

“And we have to do all of this without letting her know what we’re up to.” Helene contributes, “If she

gets spooked there’s no telling what she might do.”

“That could work in our favor – the more desperate she is, the more mistakes she’s bound to make.” I

suggest.

“Or the more drastic lengths she might go to in order to succeed.” Helene says, shaking her head, “A

cornered animal is a very dangerous thing, Selene – and Arabella’s already more dangerous than

most.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” I exhale, pursing my lips. But I refuse to stand by and watch them get married. So

help me, if he still hasn’t come out of this – this trance, by their wedding day, I don’t care how

dangerous she is, I will drag her away from that alter kicking and screaming.” Seething, I rise from the

bed and stride to the mirror. Staring at my reflection, I try to remember how I must have looked the last

time Arabella saw me – the terrified, crying girl she locked in a closet.

“Arabella has no idea who she’s dealing with.” remark coldly. “I’m not the weak little halfling she used to

bully.” Gripping the edge of the dresser, I consider Helene’s words about my wolf bringing out the

predator in me. “She’s not the only one who’s dangerous now – and we don’t even know everything I’m

capable of yet.”

When I glance at Helene, she’s smiling widely. “There you are. She purrs, full of praise. “I’ve been

waiting for you.” “What?” I wonder aloud.

‘This is the she-wolf I saw waiting in your destiny the first time we met – the one you could be if you

found your confidence.” Helene explains, coming forward to cup my cheek in her hand. “She’s finally

here. You‘re ready now to truly begin training

Furrowing my brow, I begin to worry the old woman’s mind is slipping. “What do you mean? We’ve

been training “No darling up until this point we’ve been working with kid gloves on.” She grins, “Now the

real fun begins