Part two- Chapter 16
“The worst pain in the world goes
beyond the physical. Even further
beyond any other emotional pain
one can feel. It is the betrayal of a
friend.”
― Heather Brewer , Ninth Grade Slays
DUNCAN P.O.V
Her brother? Seline had a brother?
Orion?
And he was killed by those rogues?
I stared at Sel who was growling continuously. Her golden eyes met mine before she took off running in the opposite direction.
“Sel” I called her but she didn’t sojourn, so I followed her.
All the while I kept a good distance because I knew she needed this run, to control her wolf. Around fifteen minutes later she stopped running. She stood on a rock and craning her neck up she howled. Her howl was filled with pain and my wolf whined slowly inside because he could connect with her.
Lowering her head she looked at me slowly. I closed the distance between us and slowly ran my fingers on her soft fur. It felt good to run my fingers on her beige color fur. Live electric current spread all over my body when I did that. “Are you okay?” I asked her and she whined.
“Come on” I told her and she followed me while we made our way back towards the lake.
“Sel” I called her. She had shifted back and gone behind a tree to change. She was right; the extra dress does come in handy. “Sel” I called again but there was no reply. I could hear her breathing and so I walked towards the tree.
Sel was leaning against the tree, with her hands behind her back. She closed her eyes shut and then the tears rolled down her pink cheeks. I pulled her towards me and hugged her. Soothing her hair, I whispered to her that I love her.
“He was eleven at the time” she spoke breaking the silence, her voice muffled.
Pulling away she looked at me. “My brother Orion” she said smiling sadly. I looked at her eyes that had a faraway look in them.
“When was he-?” I asked but I stopped mid-sentence.
“A year after Remy’s death” she said. “We never found his body” she said and broke down crying again.
After some time she stopped and then rubbed her cheeks with the back of her hand. “We all grew up together. Me, Twin bros, Orion, and Tito” she said and I furrowed my brows.
“Who is Tito?” I asked her.
“Twin bro’s younger brother.”
“They have a younger brother?” I asked in surprise.
“And a sister too. Her name is Kasey; she is just seven years old.” She said.
“Oh” I said in surprise. I didn’t know Tyson had younger siblings.
“Tito was also killed by those rogues” she spat. “Then two months later they killed my brother. We found Tito’s body but we never found Orion’s.” she said and looked away.
“I can’t tolerate them. I hate them. I hate rogues” she snarled at me. “They made our life hell” she said but instead of sadness, there was anger in her eyes and tone. She had held the skirt of her lemon yellow dress in a fist. “Just because their wolf was different, they killed them” she said.
“Different?” I asked her.
She looked me in the eye and then spoke. “Orion and Tito shifted when they were eleven” she said and my eyes widened.
“They were like Remy?” I asked stunned to hear it.
“Yes.”
“Were they gifted?”
“Yes. Orion used to control fire and Tito used to control air” she said smiling. “They were young and they were just learning how to use their special gifts. But everything came to an end.” She said and lowered her head.
After few minutes of silence Sel looked up, “Orion used to always call sun as an orange ball of fire” Sel said blinking. I recalled that those were the exact words she used that morning when we watched the sunrise. “He used to tell one day he would touch the sun” she said smiling. Anyone could see the love Sel had for her brother. “We thought he was kidnapped for ransom but there was no call or anything. No prayers nothing helped us bring him back. Orion was gone. Within a day of him being kidnapped our link with him was broken” she said crying loudly.
My wolf was pacing inside me because he could feel all her pain. I hugged her and she nestled her nose against my chest. “Ma and Pa were depressed for days. I did everything I could so that they wouldn’t feel the loss. I tried to be good, listen to everything they say to make them happy but it was of no use. Orion was gone. No one could fill his place” she said gripping my shirt. I rested my chin on the top of her head while Sel sobbed against my chest. I let her cry and take it out all at once.
Her crying was painful to bear but she had to let it all out.
I don’t know how long we stayed like this when I pulled away Sel’s eyes were red from all the crying. I wiped her tears with my thumb finger and kissed her temple. She sighed slowly.
“I have not spoken about Orion for a long time” she said sadly. “When you brought the topic yesterday, it came back all again” she said sniffing.
“What about Tito?” I asked her.
“He was found in the woods. His body…. His body was ripped” she said and looked away. “Those rogues are behind all of this” she said growling. “I hate them” she said repeatedly. “They had destroyed a pack and then they killed Orion and others like him” she said.
“I don’t want you associating with them Duncan” Sel said and shook her head. “I don’t want you going there ever. I hate them” she said and I nodded.
I despised rogues but hearing after what Sel had to say, I despised them a lot more. If only I had known about Sel’s brother before I would have killed Leo then and there.
Bastard.
“I need to go back” Sel said and I nodded.
Parking my Mercedes in the school parking lot, I turned to look at Sel who was silent during the entire ride. Her head was leaned against the window and she had her eyes closed. Hearing her soft breaths, I knew that she was asleep. She looked at peace when she was sleeping. She looked beautiful.
Now I understood what her mother meant when she said Sel changed. Her brother’s death had been difficult for her. From what she said it must have been three years ago that Orion and Tito were killed.
I wondered does Aunt Isa knew about Orion and Tito who were also killed like Remy.
This means three such wolves were killed and only two more were left now. One was the she-wolf who was with Cortez then who was the other?
From what Sel and Aunt Isa had said those rogues kill them brutally. So we have to save them before anything such happens.
Where was this other gifted wolf?
Most importantly how was Cortez involved with them? Did he work for those rogues?
No, that wasn’t possible. The rogue himself told me that he wanted O dead which means that O was totally different. He wasn’t a rogue. He was a pack wolf and Cortez himself might be O. But I still didn’t get why was he killing other Alpha’s and what was the gifted she-wolf doing with him?
There were so many questions and the answers to all of this were unknown.
I decided that I needed to talk with Granel about this and find out if he knew anything. I even needed to speak to Raven.
The school bell rang and Sel stirred. She woke up and blinked repeatedly. “How long was I sleeping for?” she asked rubbing her eyes.
“Twenty minutes” I said tucking a strand of her hair behind her ears. “Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I am fine” she said and smiled. Cortez topic was long forgotten between us after Sel heard about the rogues. She didn’t even speak a word about Cortez and I doubt she even recalls it.
“I can drop you at home” I told her. Seline sighed and stared out of the window. “Seline?” I called her and she turned to look at me. “Do you want me to drop you home?” I asked her.
“Yeah” she said. “I don’t think I will able to teach anything now” she said rubbing her temples.
“Okay” I said.
‘Nick’ I called him through the link after I dropped Sel to her apartment.