UNCLAIMED MATE

CHAPTER 8 –PIECES OF SELENE

••Kael••

I could feel her heart beating wildly against my chest, a frantic rhythm that mirrored the panic in my own veins. The rough floor of the storage hut dug into my knees as the heavy crunch of boots grew closer. Every muscle in my body froze. I didn't dare breathe.

The thin leaf walls offered no real protection. Outside, the night air was thick with the scent of pack guards, men who served the powerful Alpha currently sweeping through our forest. If they opened that door, everything we had built would vanish.

My brothers, Nana, and I had lived miles away from the main village for as long as I could remember. We were ghosts in our own territory, hidden in the deep ridges of the valley. Our only bridge to the outside world was Uncle Fin. He stayed in the village, working as a guard, but he secretly trekked out to bring us supplies. He was my father’s younger brother—the only surviving piece of our past.

Our parents had died in a horrific bloodbath when I was just a pup. My father was a proud Alpha, but his own Beta betrayed him, staging a violent coup to take over the pack. The elders turned against my father because his chosen mate,my mother, came from a family they didn't accept. But she was his true mate, and he refused to reject the bond. He made them accept her, but they plotted against him in the dark anyway.

He was killed by his Beta, and my mother was murdered right beside him. Nana always cried when she told the story, explaining that she only escaped with three newborns because Uncle Fin helped smuggle us out. The new Alpha would have killed us on sight. As the true-born sons of the fallen Alpha, any of us could grow up to challenge his reign.

So, we stayed miles away. Nana made it easier by growing a massive garden where she planted everything we needed, spending her days tending the earth to ignore her grief. It wasn't a bad life because we had each other, but eventually, we got tired of seeing the same trees. We wanted to see the outskirts.

I remember the day we sneaked away. We lied to Nana, telling her we were going hunting. It took a lot of talking before Xael finally agreed to follow us without telling her. We managed to reach the town on a busy market day, and the plaza was crowded with people. We tried to mix in, but we stood out immediately.

Tyrel, distracted by the environment, bumped into a short, haggard old lady with wild hair. She was a well-known troublemaker, and Tyrel walked straight into her trap. She started screaming, demanding we pay her money for an 'invisible ring' she claimed fell off her finger when he bumped her.

A crowd gathered around us, and people started questioning our identity. We didn't have any money because we never needed it. Just as the townspeople grew suspicious, Uncle Fin appeared out of nowhere and saved the day. After getting a tearful earful from Nana later that night, we swore never to go to the outskirts again.

Now, that danger was back. It would be a massive problem if I got caught with a human fugitive here. This hut was our secret storehouse. If they discovered it, they would know people were staying around here, and they would find out about Nana, my brothers, and me.

The heavy scent of the wolves grew stronger, and their voices got louder. Realizing the door was about to open, I quietly pulled out the hunting knife from my pouch.

"It's this place," a male voice said outside.

Slowly, the handle began to turn. One... two... three...

"Stop."

The sharp command sliced through the air, freezing the handle mid-turn. Holy s**t. The voice commanded absolute authority, making my inner wolf want to drop to its knees.

Whoever was out there let go of the door handle immediately. "Why are you going in there?" the masculine voice asked.

"We heard something inside, Alpha," a guard answered.

"It's fine, the search is over. Let's leave now," the Alpha commanded. The guards didn't argue. Within seconds, the heavy sound of their footsteps faded away as they left the clearing. Thank goodness.

Only then did I realize I was still holding Diane tightly against my body. She cleared her throat, and we quickly untangled ourselves, stepping back in the dim light.

"Uh, sorry," I muttered.

"Are they gone?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Who were they?" she inquired further.

"I don't know either," I said.

I cleared my throat, bracing myself. "I only came to look for you so I could help you find your way back. If you want my help, say it now, or I leave!"

"Please help me," she said quickly, reaching out to hold my left wrist.

I gently wriggled my hand out of her grip. "Okay, let's set out before they notice I'm not around."

••Diane••

We walked for a great deal of time. Everything looked exactly the same, but somehow he seamlessly found his way. He must have lived here for a very long time to know his way around this much.

A heavy silence stretched between us for hours. He only held my hand to help me up when we needed to climb, but the rest of the journey he kept completely mute, and so did I.

Suddenly, Kael stopped and started sniffing the air. I looked at him, wondering what was wrong. I couldn't smell anything besides fresh leaves and wood.

"Blood," he said.

"What blood?" I asked, a knot forming in my chest.

"I can smell blood around here," he explained.

And just like that, it felt like something ignited deep inside my mind. My own sense of smell suddenly got incredibly strong. A sharp, copper scent flooded my nose, and I began to smell the blood, too. We searched through the thick brush together.

"Here," he called out.

I walked to where he stood, and my heart dropped. A torn piece of cloth lay on the grass, stained heavily with dried red patches. It looked like it had been there for a few days.

I took a sharp breath as I stared at it. "This is Selene's. This is her cloth... this is exactly what she was wearing."

"Selene?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, Selene! My friend, the one I asked about when I woke up at your place," I cried, the tears finally spilling over. "We ran into the woods together. A massive wolf attacked us, and I fell and rolled down the hill. Did the wolf...?"

I couldn't finish the thought.

Kael picked up the cloth, inhaling the scent to try and figure out which direction she might have gone.

"Does this mean she's dead?" I sobbed, my voice breaking completely. "It's all because of me. No, Selene can't be dead."

But as I stumbled backward, my eyes caught a horrific sight. Thick drops of dark blood trailed down across the leaves, cutting a path deeper into the forest.

"The wolf killed her," I cried hysterically, running down the trail of blood as Kael shouted for me to wait.