Chapter 11 #2
The water gleams silver under the moonlight, perfectly still, reflecting the stars like a mirror. Selene walks right to the edge, her bare feet sinking into the soft mud at the shore.
And she keeps going.
Water splashes around her ankles, then her calves, then her knees. The shirt I gave her floats up around her thighs as she wades deeper.
“Selene,” I call out, my voice low but urgent.
She doesn’t respond. Just keeps walking, the water rising to her waist now.
I follow her in, the cold shocking against my skin. My muscles tense, ready to grab her the moment she goes too deep. The lake bottom slopes gradually—I can still feel the mud beneath my feet, but it won’t last much longer.
The water reaches her chest.
My hand hovers near her shoulder, ready to yank her back.
Then, she stops. Just…stops. Standing perfectly still in the middle of the lake, water lapping at her collarbones, her face tilted slightly upward like she’s listening to something I can’t hear.
I stop, too, a few feet behind her, my senses on high alert. My wolf paces anxiously beneath my skin, scanning the darkness, the trees, the water around us.
Nothing.
Minutes pass. The forest is silent except for the gentle lap of water against our bodies, the distant call of night birds. The moon hangs above us in the sky.
Still nothing.
Suddenly, my wolf goes rigid.
Magic.
The sensation crawls across my skin like spider legs, making every hair on my body stand on end. It’s wrong—twisted, unnatural, making my wolf snarl with instinctive revulsion.
And then, I see it.
A red mist, barely visible at first, seeping between the trees like blood diffusing through water. It moves with purpose, flowing down toward the lake, toward us, growing thicker with each passing second.
My wolf recognizes it immediately as dangerous. Deadly.
“Selene!” I grab her shoulders, spinning her to face me. “Wake up! Now!”
Her eyes remain glazed, unfocused, staring through me as if I don’t exist.
I shake her harder. “Selene, snap out of it!”
Nothing. Not even a flicker of recognition.
The red mist creeps closer, rolling down the slope toward the water’s edge. My wolf howls with urgency, desperate for me to get her out of here.
I wrap my arm around her waist and try to drag her toward the shore. She resists immediately, her body going rigid, fighting against my grip with surprising strength. Her feet dig into the muddy lake bottom, refusing to move.
“Damn it, Selene!” I pull harder, but she wrenches against me, twisting in my arms, trying to stay exactly where she is. It’s like trying to move a statue—her whole body is locked in place, committed to remaining in this exact spot.
The mist is almost at the water’s edge now, spreading along the shore, and I can feel the wrongness of it intensifying even from here. My skin crawls just sensing its proximity.
Panic claws up my throat. I can’t carry her out by force; she’s fighting too hard, and every second I waste struggling with her is a second closer to that mist reaching us.
“Come on, come on,” I mutter desperately, cupping her face, forcing her to look at me even though I know she can’t see me. “Wake up, Selene. Please wake up.”
Her expression remains blank, empty, lost.
The red mist touches the water.
The moment it makes contact, tendrils begin spreading across the surface like oil, reaching toward us with deliberate intent.
All of a sudden, I remember how I snapped her out of it the first time. No time to second-guess.
I press my mouth to hers hard, and the mate bond explodes between us—fierce, blazing, undeniable. I can feel it roaring to life, searing through whatever fog has been clouding it on her end, burning away the trance that holds her.
Selene gasps against my lips, her body jerking in my arms. Awareness floods back into her eyes.
She pulls back, confusion and alarm crossing her features as she looks around wildly. “What—where—”
The red mist surges forward across the water’s surface, tendrils reaching for us like grasping claws.
“You’re fine,” I say quickly, gripping her shoulders, keeping my voice steady. “I’ve got you. Nothing will happen to you.”
Her breathing comes faster, harder, her chest heaving as panic takes hold. Her eyes are too wide, her pupils dilated with fear. “Seth, what’s happening? How did I—”
“Listen to me,” I say urgently, watching the mist getting closer. “When we shift, hold your breath. Don’t breathe until the mist is gone. Run and don’t stop. Understand?”
She stares at me, terror clear in her eyes, but she nods.
“Good. Now, shift. Shift right now!”
The transformation ripples through her—fur replacing skin, bones restructuring, her body changing into that of a wolf. Her auburn coat gleams wet in the moonlight, her head barely above the surface now, her blue eyes bright with residual fear.
I shift immediately after her, and then, we run.
My larger wolf form leads the way, splashing into the shallows. The red mist is spreading rapidly across the water now, but it seems thinner here, weaker than it was on land. Still dangerous, but not as concentrated.
Our paws churn through the lake, sending up great sprays as we barrel toward the shore.
The moment we hit land, we’re sprinting full speed through the forest, the red mist billowing around our legs like living smoke.
It tries to cling to us, tries to creep up our bodies, but our movement keeps it from getting a solid grip.
Selene’s smaller wolf struggles to keep pace with my longer stride, so I stay close, ready to grab her by the scruff if she falters. Her lungs must be burning—mine certainly are—but she doesn’t slow down, doesn’t stop, doesn’t take a breath.
The trees blur past us in streaks of shadow and moonlight. Branches fly across our fur, and roots threaten to trip us, but we keep running.
Finally—finally—the red mist begins to thin. The unnatural sensation of magic fades, leaving only clean forest air and the familiar scents of pine and earth.
I risk a glance back. The mist has stopped following us, pooling in the area around the lake as if it’s confined there somehow.
We burst out of the tree line into the palace gardens, and only then do we stop. Selene collapses immediately, her sides heaving as she gasps for air, her entire body trembling with exhaustion and fear.
I shift back to human form and kneel beside her wolf. My hand strokes her head through her damp fur. “It’s okay. We’re safe. You’re safe.”
She shifts back a moment later, curling into a ball on the cold ground, half naked and shaking. Her breath comes out in ragged sobs, tears streaming down her face.
I don’t hesitate. I gather her in my arms, pulling her against my chest, wrapping myself around her. She clings to me, her fingers digging into my skin like I’m the only solid thing in a world that’s tilted sideways.
“I’ve got you,” I murmur into her hair, over and over. “I’ve got you, little wolf. You’re safe now. I’m here.”
And as I hold my trembling mate in the moonlit gardens, one thing is clear.
There is something in that forest, something that is hunting my mate.
I carry Selene back to her quarters, her body still trembling against mine. She’s quiet the entire way, her face buried in my shoulder, her breathing uneven. The mate bond thrums with her fear, her confusion, her fatigue.
When we reach her door, I push it open with my foot and carry her straight to the bathroom. She stiffens slightly in my arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting you cleaned up.” I set her down gently on the closed toilet lid. “You’re covered in mud and lake water.”
She wraps her arms around herself, suddenly self-conscious. “I can do it myself.”
“You can,” I say as I turn on the shower, adjusting the temperature until steam starts to rise. “But you’re shaking so hard, you can barely sit up straight. Let me do this for you.”
Her jaw tightens. “Seth—”
“I’m just trying to help, Selene.” I crouch in front of her, meeting her eyes. “That’s all. Nothing else. I promise.”
She looks away, her cheeks flushing. “I can handle it.”
“I know you can.” I reach out, tilting her chin gently until she meets my eyes again. “But you have me now. You don’t have to handle everything alone anymore.”
“That’s not—”
“And before you get shy on me,” I say, my voice steady and matter of fact, “remember, I’ve seen every inch of you. Kissed every inch of you. Tasted every inch of you.” Her flush deepens, but I hold her gaze. “You don’t need to be shy around me, little wolf.”
She bites her lip, still hesitant, and I lean forward, pressing a sweet, gentle kiss to her mouth. Not demanding, not possessive—just tender.
When I pull back, her eyes are calmer, some of the wariness fading.
“Let me take care of you,” I murmur softly. “Please.”
She is quiet for a long moment, then nods slowly. “Okay.”
I help her to her feet, steadying her when she sways. My hands move to the hem of my damp shirt—the one that was dry when I put it on her earlier—and I pause, giving her a chance to object.
She doesn’t. Just lifts her arms slightly, allowing me to pull it over her head.
“Come on.” I guide her into the shower, following her in without thinking twice about my own state of undress.
The hot water hits us both, and she lets out a soft sound of relief as the warmth seeps into her skin.
Reaching for her shampoo, I say, “Tilt your head back.”
She does, closing her eyes as I work my fingers through her hair. The tangles give way slowly; I’m patient, working through each one without pulling.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers suddenly.
I still. “For what?”
“For being so much trouble.”
The words make my heart twist painfully. “You’re no trouble, Selene. None of this is your fault.”
She’s quiet for a moment, then leans slightly into my touch as I continue washing her hair. It’s such a small gesture of trust, but it feels monumental.