Chapter 155: Optimism

Selene’s POV

I couldn’t drive down to Winterwood, so I called for Ms. Ashlyn instead. I sent a car to bring her to me ... the best comfort money could arrange ... and besides, she wouldn’t refuse. It was me asking.

I knew the moment my driver pulled up to her door and told her who was waiting, she would drop whatever she was doing and come. She loved me that much.

The driver called to let me know they were on the road with her.

I waited as patiently as I could, though patience wasn’t coming easily. Not with the things I had been experiencing. I hated seeing something ... witnessing something ... and being completely handicapped, unable to do a single thing about it.

She arrived. The embrace was tight. Of course it was. It was our first time seeing each other since my wedding.

"Queen Selene, how are you?" She took a bow. I pulled her back up.

"Stop, please." We both said it at the same time and burst out laughing.

Ms. Ashlyn was so hilarious. She had always been. She immediately started pressing at my belly, checking for a pup.

"When are you expecting?" she asked.

I laughed out loud. Like, what?

"I’m not expecting," I said flatly.

"Okay, CEO," she shot back, which made me laugh even harder.

We went inside and I hosted her in the dining room. Food was brought out and she ate, and for a moment everything felt normal again.

"There’s a reason I brought you here," I said once the plates were cleared.

"Of course there has to be." She folded her hands on the table. "What is it?"

"I’ve been having encounters," I said. "I’ve been seeing strange things. Things I can’t explain at all."

"Speak no further." She raised a hand. "Pups dying. Wolves dying. Destruction. Total ruin."

I stared at her.

How did she know that? She had described every single thing accurately.

"How did you..."

"Because I’ve been having the exact same dream," she said.

"For real?" I exclaimed.

I was completely shocked. How could she be seeing the same things I was seeing? What did that even mean? It was a new development, but if anyone had answers, it would be her.

"What do you think is the cause? And the solution?" I asked.

"I don’t know the answers yet." She sighed. "We’ll have to stay quiet and patient and hope the goddess gives us direction."

"How is that supposed to comfort me, Ms. Ashlyn? I’m disturbed. I’m destabilised. I can’t keep seeing these things and just sit still."

"I know." She leaned forward. "I don’t know how to stop it. But what I do know is this ... if the goddess is showing the same vision to two different people at the same time, it means it’s truth. It will happen. We may even be able to stop it, or at least reduce the damage. We just need to be aware and prepare. Unless the goddess changes her mind."

That settled something inside me. I wasn’t enlightened, but I was less alone in my confusion.

"Then we need a contingency plan," I said.

"What kind? Anything we can do."

"We need to make sure that information doesn’t get lost. Ever." I sat straighter. "I need the history books about Morvaine. All the volumes. Every author who ever wrote about this district and its people ... in chronological order. How do we get them?"

"That’s not a hard or impossible thing," she said simply.

That was exactly what I needed to hear.

"I’ll ship everything down to you when I get back to Winterwood," she added.

I felt genuine relief for the first time in days.

Stories were meant to outlive the wolves who lived them ... meant to exist for the next generation, to serve as warnings or guides. They weren’t meant to be destroyed. I didn’t fully understand why preserving them was my first instinct, but I wasn’t going to question it. I was acting on it.

I just hoped that before whatever I saw came to pass, the goddess would send a solution with it. What I saw in that vision would wipe out the entire district. Even the neighbouring districts wouldn’t survive what was coming.

"How is Winterwood?" I asked, needing something lighter.

"Winterwood is fine," she said warmly. "Thanks to you."

I smiled. "How is... uh..."

"Lucian is fine." She said it before I could finish. "He’s moving on. It’s not easy ... nearly impossible, if I’m honest ... but he’s pushing through."

I was glad to hear it. Truly glad.

He had gotten my message through Valerie. I had known he would. What I hoped to hear someday was that he had found someone ... that he was getting married, happy, rebuilding. He deserved that.

Some said you couldn’t question the goddess. That whatever she placed in your life was a sentence you had to carry.

And here I was ... married to a wolf I didn’t love, with no flexible way out. I hadn’t fucked him yet, but the day was coming and I knew it. It wasn’t a matter of choice. It never had been.

"Thank you so much for your time, Ms. Ashlyn." I stood. "I won’t keep you longer ... I know Winterwood needs you."

"You are my duty and my responsibility, Selene." She took my hand. "I will always come when you need me."

That warmed something deep in my chest.

We embraced again ... tighter this time. She was the only woman who had ever loved me like a daughter, and I loved her back exactly like that.

"This is not the end," she murmured while her arms were still around me. "We’ll see each other again. And everything is going to be alright."

She climbed into the car. I stood at the door watching, and I already knew she was going to have something to say about the ride.

"I could sleep in this car and wake up next week," she called out, pressing her hand to the seat. "So comfy."

I laughed. "Glad you love it."

I watched until the car disappeared down the road toward Winterwood, then turned and went back inside.

William was home.

I was ready.

"The doctor wouldn’t believe me," I said when I found him, "but you will."

"What is it?"

"The dreams." I sat across from him. "I’ve had more than one. More than two. This isn’t something I can brush off anymore ... I’m seeing total ruins, William. Complete destruction. And it’s no joke." I told him everything. Every detail I had witnessed across every encounter, and then I told him that Ms. Ashlyn had seen the same things.

"I’m telling you because you’re the Alpha," I said. "You’re the custodian of this territory. You needed to know."

He was quiet for a moment, then he looked at me steadily.

"I believe you, Selene. And I hope a solution comes before it has to come to that ... because there have already been signs of attempted breaches into this district. Our security is tight, but this tells me we need to be tighter." He exhaled. "We’ll go through this together and come out on the other side in one piece."

The optimism in his voice was something I hadn’t expected.

I held onto it.