Finding Selene

Chapter One: 13 Years Prior To Present Day

“Mama, do we have to go?” Five-year-old Selene was waiting by the car as her mother put their bags in the trunk and her father, Beta Daniel, was inside the Silver Crescent pack house informing Alpha Joshua and his family that Beta’s family was ready to leave for their vacation.

“Yes, baby, it’ll be fun! We’re going to see so many new sights. And we will be back before you even know it. It’s only a week away. It’ll be fun, I promise. Let’s get in the car.”

“No, mama, not until Apollo is here. I have to at least say bye to him!” Selene crossed her arms in front of herself and looked stubbornly at her mother. Her mother chuckled thinking about how much that face looked like the one Selene’s father used when he was dead set against something happening, or not happening.

“Okay, baby, Alpha Joshua’s family should be out-“ She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before Apollo, a tall nine-year-old with tears running down his face and brown curls bouncing against his head, came running down the steps of the pack house headed straight to Selene. Seeing him Selene took off running and he scooped her up in a hug. Being four years older, and almost a foot and a half taller, it wasn’t hard for him to do.

Apollo and Selene had been inseparable ever since Selene had been born. The families were so close that Alpha Joshua and his family were the first ones to visit once she was born and Apollo told her, knowing she was an infant and wouldn’t understand, that he would always be there for and protect her. For five years, his vow made at four years old was kept strictly. Apollo made sure no one ever had a mean word to say towards Selene, he would keep her from falling at the pack park, and if she was frustrated about her coloring not going like she planned he made sure to tell her that it was beautiful, and even if the colors weren’t exactly how she wanted they were colors and colors are beautiful. Of course, that was after he would chuckle and make a joking comment about the “troubles of a five-year-old”. Being the first-born son of the alpha, Apollo was trained from the time he could walk and talk in the duties of leading, and the art of battle. But even with that being the case, he never allowed it to make him hard toward Selene and always made sure she had time with him every day. They were both so young but the whole pack grew up with and passed down stores of mate bonds. Thiers, their parents, and others that they heard. A mate bond is undeniable and forms once both mates reach 16 and even at nine years old, Apollo was sure Selene was his. Their bond was too strong, too tangible, for the two not to be mate bonded.

Sniffling Apollo patted Selene’s head as he stepped back from her. “Tell me all about your adventures Selene, it’ll be okay- you’ll see. You’ll be back in one week and I’ll be standing here waiting for you. Make sure you remember everything; I want all the details. Take pictures too, not just what your mom takes. I want pictures of what you find special and they things you love.”

Selene stiffened her shoulders and nodded, “O-o-okay Apollo. I can do that.” Selene’s little voice broke as she stepped back and let her mom pick her up and put her in the car. After she was buckled into her booster seat, she looked out at her best friend through the glass of the back seat window with her face pressed against it.

Apollo stood staring at her, trying to give her a small reassuring smile that was meant for himself as much Selene. Behind him the four parents said goodbye to each other. Alpha Joshua gave Beta Daniel a firm handshake and clasped each other’s shoulders. I would be the first time they had been apart for longer than a night in over ten years. Much like Apollo and Selene, both fathers and both mothers were best friends and had grown up together. Luna Christine and Selene’s mother- Eliana- gave each other long hugs and a kiss on the cheek before waving at each other’s husbands. Mated females did their best to avoid contact with nonfamily males because the wolves inside their mates didn’t much care for the contact and would get territorial.

“Make sure you remember to take lots of pictures and check in as often as you remember! Most importantly be safe and have fun! We’ll see you three in a week.” Christine called after Eliana and Daniel, smiling fondly after them and tearing up herself as she watched them give a little wave and climb into their sedan and start the drive away. Little Selene still had her face pressed against the glass, watching her home and best friend get smaller and smaller the further away she got. It was almost as if she was trying to cement the memory of her home one last time.

“Mom?” Apollo looked up at his mother as he slipped his hand into hers, “Promise me that I’ll see Selene again, please. I have a really bad knot in my belly.”

Christine looked at her husband, who was looking back at her before looking at their son, “Of course you’ll see her again. We will see them all again.” But Apollo could hear the prayer in her words as her voice broke at the end of her statement. She had the same knot but didn’t want to stand in the way of her best friend’s first family vacation that she had been so excited about.

“We WILL see them again,” Joshua stated as he positioned himself between his wife and his son, putting his arm around his wife’s waist and ruffing his son’s hair before resting his hand on Apollos shoulder. “After all, Son, you are convinced Selene is your mate and mates always find each other.” Joshua sounded so convincing you might believe that he believed the words coming from his mouth but what he’d never admit is that he and Daniel had spoken at length the night before about the pits they both shared when thinking about the impending vacation. However, both men wrote it off as being anxious` about being apart. They would realize too late that they should have listened to their intuition. The image of the little girl with her face pressed into the glass and the small wave her parents gave before driving away would be burned in the Alphas family’s minds as their biggest regret and the last time they ever saw Selene’s family alive.