Finding Selene

Chapter Four: 13 Years Prior To Present Day

The rest of the family vacation flew by with something different and fun planned every day. Every night they stayed at a different hotel, three of the hotels had swimming pools and two had full water parks on the inside. The water fun was like having an extra cherry on top of your favorite Sunday. This was particularly true for Selene, who loved cherries.

Day two of vacation was spent at the Nashville Zoo and the Grand Ole Opry. The Zoo had so many amazing animals like elephants, alpacas, bears, and even porcupines. Most of the animals were weary of Selene’s parents from the predatorial way they carried themselves and the smell of wolves that lingered around all werewolves that were over 16 and had shifted. However, this didn’t stop Selene from having one-sided conversations with every animal she saw telling them how beautiful they are and how much she wished she could free them from their cages.

Aside from seeing the animals, while they were at the zoo Selene’s family stopped at a vendor cart for a treat of shaved ice. Selene was so enchanted by all the flavors she could get that she ended up with rainbow ice. Grape, lemon-lime, cherry, blue raspberry, and green apple flavored her shaved ice, and she ecstatically liked each small section before using the included spoon to take small bites quick bites. Midway through the treat Selene thrust her cup at her mother and put her hand to her forehead grimacing. Her curls fell forward over her shoulders as she lowered her head not understanding where the sudden cold-sharp pain that permeated her head came from. Tears danced through her eyes as the pain finally was gone as quickly as it had come; even though the whole ordeal lasted a couple minutes it felt like much longer. Looking up at her parents she saw both concern and understanding in their faces and after making sure she was okay her mother handed her the shaved ice back to which Selene now looked at it with apprehension.

Selene’s mother chuckled and told her that she had what is called a “brain freeze” and continued on to explain that it was just a result of her head suddenly expanding its blood vessels for added warmth due to the sudden extreme cold felt in her mouth. Her father added that she just needs to take small slow bites to avoid it happening again. Hesitantly Selene took a bite of her ice and waited expectantly but when a second brain freeze did not hit, she grinned and took another bite of ice. Continuing to eat her ice Selene made sure to take time in between each bite and warm up her mouth. The rest of their zoo trip was without any issue and at the end a visit was paid to the gift shop. Selene and her mother bought matching jade wolf hair clips that were exquisitely made and stood out beautifully in their dark hair while complimenting their eyes. The clips were medium in size and just managed to subdue Selene’s wild curls. Selene also asked her father for a gray-blue stuffed elephant, and he obliged, gladly. The elephant was as large as her torso and made Selene giggle as she wrapped her arms around it. The last item she found from the gift shop she saw as she was walking through the doors to leave, she stopped so suddenly her father had to pick her up off the ground and into his arms so that he would trip over her and take them both to the ground.

“What is it baby girl?” Daniel asked Selene, following her gaze to the top of the shop. Upon seeing the item that caught his daughter’s eye suddenly he passed Selene to her mother who looked up where Daniel was pointing and smiled. “I’ll be back momentarily, my loves, go ahead and wait for me in the car.”

Daniel walked up to the counter as Selene’s mother carried her to the waiting car. Elianna started the car and turned the air conditioner on full blast before placing a very tired Selene into her seat and buckling her up. Moments later Daniel opened the car door opposite Selene and placed a large silver-eyed stuffed wolf next to her. The wolf, with chocolate brown and silver fur, was so big it almost laid across the available back seats- even with its head in Selene’s lap. Selene ran her hand delicately across the soft fur as her father slid into the driver’s seat and surprised her mother with a dainty white gold chain that supported an opal heart shaped pendant. Elianna grinned ear to ear as she pulled out a small keychain nobody had seen her buy and handed it to Daniel. On one side it had a picture of the zoo with animals across the front and on the other side it read, “#1 Husband”. Daniel chuckled and leaned across the seat to kiss his wife- a kiss that she gladly returned. Daniel looked back to ask if Selene was ready to continue their adventure, but the words stopped on the tip of his tongue when he saw Selene, asleep with her little arms wrapped around the neck of the wolf and her head resting against its own.

Day three and day five were spent at the water park hotels, and while the family had a blast, nothing of significance happened. Selene called Apollo every night as promised and sent hundreds of pictures that were accompanied by a couple dozen videos. Every day Selene wore her jade hair clip in one way or another and when she wasn’t actively doing something you could find her cuddling with her stuffed wolf that she had named Pillow. Day four was spent at the Kentucky Mammoth Caves, it was literally a breath of fresh air to be surrounded by so much unabashed nature. So much beauty was found both under and above ground.

By day six the whole family was worn out, and even though they had made cherished memories they were more than ready to go home. It was around 5 p.m. that evening, as the sky started to turn orange, when Elianna, Daniel, and Selene sent their much welcomed message to home that they were on their way and with all their souvenirs, new trinkets, and gifts for back home the family was loaded in their car and started the drive home. They estimated it would take them two days to reach pack lands since they planned to stop and sleep at the halfway point and wanted to account for food stops, restroom breaks, and stops to stretch their legs and trade off driving. As anxious as the three were to get home, and as excited as the pack was to have them home, everyone’s number one goal was for Selene and her family to be safe; after all more pack members had come to Alpha Joshua with a knot much like the one he, Daniel, and Apollo shared.