chapter 9
Selene looked up from her computer to listen to her project team gathered around her kitchen table. Remnants of pizza and cokes were scattered between books and computers. It was mid-November and the five of them – Selene, Josh, Elayne, Cindy, and Gordon - were working on the simulation project that would comprise the bulk of their grade for the class. In the simulation for the assignment, they were the owners of a car company and had to compete against the other groups in the class in having a more successful car company simulation.
Selene was thoroughly enjoying herself. Not only did she like the class and think the material was very interesting, but she’d really come to like her group. They were the first people in her entire life to treat her normally. Even before Gideon, the Vyusher had treated her as a princess, held apart to be cossetted and petted.
But beyond that the people in her group were very nice people and could also be hilarious. They got their work done and made smart observations, but they did so while still keeping things on the light and funny side.
“I disagree,” Josh was saying.
“You would!” Elayne joked as she reached for another slice of pizza.
“Yeah,” Josh insisted. “There’s no way we’re going to dig our way out of this mountain of debt. We should do what we can to maintain our market share lead without looking like we gave up on revenue. I think we do that by launching another car now. It’ll be too late after this.”
A collective groan arose from the group. They’d been arguing this point for the last hour or so and were no further along.
“Do you need me to explain again the concept of making money?” Gordon, the finance whiz of the team, asked.
“Okay, okay!” Josh threw both his hands in the air. “No new car. But I’m telling you now that if we still don’t end up cash positive this round, it’s all on you.”
“Finally he gives in!” Cindy cheered.
“On that note… ” Selene stood up and started gathering up trash to throw away. “Anyone want to take home some pizza?”
“You paid, so you keep it,” Elayne said, looking at the slices of pepperoni with longing in her eyes.
Selene knew that they were all the typical broke college kids, which meant food was low on the priority list for bills. “I don’t like reheated pizza. So it’s just going in the trash if I keep it. Seriously, someone take it off my hands.”
“In that case, I’ll take some,” Josh said. The other four quickly followed his lead. Selene pulled some foil out of the pantry and wrapped up their slices while they all shut down their computers and packed up their bags.
She walked her friends out. “See you in class tomorrow, guys.” She waved goodbye and went back inside.
Smiling to herself, she went to close the blinds and happened to see a falcon in the pine trees. Without hesitation she snapped the blinds shut and then started pacing the confines of her living room. She was so angry she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. That golden-colored falcon had a glow inside him.
“Griffin,” she muttered. He was keeping tabs on her. Deep inside, her wolf gave an irritated growl.
If she’d been thinking rationally, she’d have realized that she shouldn’t be surprised by Griffin’s stalkerish behavior and that he might even be entitled to keep an eye on her. She wasn’t even sure she was safe to leave by herself. Maybe someone needed to stop her. But she wasn’t thinking rationally at the moment.
Maybe she should just turn off his power and watch him fall out of that damn tree. She held in a giggle at the mental image. Or maybe she should drop her mental blocks and tell him to go away.
Eventually, Selene decided to do neither of those things. She calmed down and finished cleaning up the apartment. Then she got ready for bed. It was only several hours later, as she still lay in bed wide awake, tossing and turning, that something occurred to her.
If Griffin was watching, and she ended up dream walking in her wolf form, then he’d see, follow, and maybe even stop her. If the dreams were real and she really was the one killing those people...
Suddenly, strangely, knowing that Griffin was keeping an eye on her brought her a modicum of peace.
And that finally allowed her to fall asleep.
*****
Selene was back on her bench a few days later, despite the unseasonable chill in the air. She was studying for an upcoming econ exam when Ellie plopped down beside her.
“Hi, Selene.” Ellie gave her an impish grin.
Selene shook her head. “Griffin is going to be so mad at you.”
“So what?” Ellie shrugged nonchalantly and pulled a protein bar from her backpack. “We’re staging a rebellion.”
“We?”
“Yeah, we,” said another female voice behind them. Selene turned and was stunned to see Lila and Adelaide standing there. Other than her brief exchange with Lila when she’d first arrived, she’d had no contact with the two girls. Now that she saw them together, she realized how alike they looked. The girls got their coloring from their mother, also a honey blond. Adelaide kept hers shorter than Lila’s though. A pair of green eyes twinkled at her.
Selene narrowed her eyes. “Okay. What’s going on here?”
“Well, we’ve discussed it,” Ellie began. “Lila knows you’re being truthful, and Adelaide, well, she never shares what she can see, but she does say it’s not bad. And you led me to Alex and to my new family. You helped us.”
Selene just shrugged. “Okay?”
“So we’re staging a minor rebellion,” Adelaide said. “We’re going to be friends.”
“Huh…” Selene ignored the small spark of hope those words inspired. She glanced at Ellie. “And what does Alex say to this plan?”
Ellie gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. “The boys are staying out of it. But they side with us in spirit.”
Selene shook her head. “I won’t be the cause of conflict in your family. I refuse to play a part in causing any family pain ever again.”
Lila rested a comforting hand on Selene’s shoulder, and a feeling of peace slowly started to wash through her. Surprised, Selene could see a small glow coming from Lila slowly fading as Selene’s mental anguish faded. She studied the glow as it went out.
“You can heal emotions? That’s new.” She met Lila’s gaze.
Lila gave a small grin. “I’ve only just started figuring it out. I can only do it if I can touch the person. But Ellie says eventually I’ll be able to do it without touching. And I don’t always sense the emotion. It uh…” Lila seemed a tad unsure of how to word it. “…it has to be a very, mmmm, intense emotion for me to see it. Apparently, I’ll get better at that as well.”
“Well, that’s one I haven’t seen before,” Selene muttered. “And thank you for the help. But my answer is still no.”
“The thing is… if anything… I think you would actually help bring our family closer together,” Adelaide said.
Lila and Ellie glanced at each other. Adelaide rarely shared what she saw. Her gift was the ability to see relationships between people - past, present, and future. But she usually kept her visions a secret so as not to unnaturally influence anyone.
Selene shook her head, unconvinced. “That sounds really nice. But even for that, I can’t risk it.”
“Well, the thing is, sweetie,” Ellie reached out and pulled Selene to her feet, “you don’t have a choice in the matter.”
“I don’t?” Selene could feel herself giving in. Friendship was such an elusive desire. Something she didn’t deserve. And a small spark of hope now burst through the barriers of both her natural reserve and of her fear of putting more lives in danger.
“Nope,” Ellie continued. “I’ve decided that we’re going to be friends. And that, as they say, is the end of it. We’re treating you to a girls’ night out. No dancing. I know I suggested that last time, but I was probably a little ahead of myself with that idea.” She waved her hand as though shooing that idea out of way. “We’ll start small, ease Griffin into it, so to speak. We’re going to take you out to dinner tonight.”
*****
“You did what?” Griffin’s voice was deceptively calm as he confronted his twin and her mischievous cohorts.
“We took Selene out to dinner,” Ellie repeated.
“That was nice of you, girls,” Lucy said. She was sitting in the armchair working on some intricate embroidery on Ellie’s wedding dress. Thanks to the Svatura’s slowed aging, she still looked fairly young, with her lovely blond hair and green eyes like those of her daughters.
Ellie smiled triumphantly at Griffin. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and pressed his lips into a thin line.
“No, Lucy, it was not nice of them,” he insisted. “It was dangerous.”
“You’ve got to let it go, Griff,” Ellie muttered.
“Her pack killed our family, Ellie,” Griffin said, as if she needed reminding.
Lucy glanced up. “That poor girl has been through heaven knows what, under the thumb of her insane twin brother. If Lila says she is telling the truth, that she did her best to help you and us, then we owe her our lives.”
Griffin shook his head. “Hugh? Alex?” He tried for male solidarity. “You see where I’m coming from, right?”
Alex and Hugh were on the couch watching a Broncos game and trying their darndest to stay out of it.
They glanced at each other. “Ah-hem…” Hugh coughed. “You see, Griffin, it’s…”
Griffin held up his hands. “No, I can see you don’t. So don’t even bother trying.” He grabbed his jacket and stormed to the door. “I’m going out.”
Adelaide laid a small hand on his arm, making him pause. “You have to figure out how to forgive Selene,” she whispered to him.
He jerked away from her touch and felt a momentary pang of regret as rejection darkened the young girl’s eyes. After years growing up with Ellie, he was still getting used to Adelaide’s gentler and more sensitive nature.
“Sorry,” he muttered and turned to the others. “And if you insist on being friends with Selene, I don’t want to hear about it.” With that he banged out of the house.
Everyone was quiet for a few moments.
“Ugh!” Ellie finally exclaimed, throwing up her arms. “Stubborn. Idiotic. Obstinate… Grrrrr… Darn brother!”
Lucy paused in her stitching. She reached over and patted Ellie’s hand soothingly. “Just give him time, sweetheart.”
“He has to get to know her to change his mind.” Ellie angrily hopped up from the couch and started pacing. “Time won’t help that if he’s avoiding her.”
“Don’t force him yet,” Adelaide said.
Alex got up and wrapped his arms around Ellie, pulling her close. His embrace calmed her in a way she so desperately needed right then.
“Listen to Adelaide,” Alex whispered in her ear.
With a big sigh, Ellie nodded her acquiescence. “Okay… I’ll try. He’s just so dang stubborn I could scream.”
“Come on, love…” Alex linked their fingers together and gave her hand a squeeze. “Let’s go home. Give Griffin some time to cool off.”
Ellie smiled up into Alex’s twinkling silver-blue eyes. “Okay… okay. ‘Night everyone.”
They received a chorus of goodnights as they headed out the door.