Page 43 of Reclaiming His Lost Mate
“You’re making the biggest mistake of your life, Alexis! You’ll regret this!” she snarled.
Done with her vile threats, I shifted my focus to my soldiers. “Ensure she’s escorted off our lands.”
With Marissa’s presence finally banished, I returned to the routines of leading my pack. Yet, even amidst work, my thoughts slipped backto Selina and Mia, their absence an ache that pulsed in rhythm with my responsibilities. The magic of the upcoming new moon ceremony beckoned, and I kept imagining them here with me. I pictured Mia running around with the other pups and Selina chatting with the other herbalists, knowing she’d share in their excitement about the coming harvest. Everything seemed like a reminder of the life I dreamed of building with them here.
But for now, I buried myself in my duties, holding onto the hope that time apart would lead Selina to embrace the future we were meant to share. Each task performed was like a brick laid toward a life I envisioned—a life where my family and pack intertwined seamlessly, united under the strength of our bonds.
Chapter 20
Selina
As I sipped my coffee, I let my gaze wander around the boutique, each corner filled with the vibrant hues of handpicked herbs and enchanted tinctures. It was only three days since Alexis had returned to the Shadow Moon Pack, yet it felt like he’d been gone for weeks. I’d told him I’d miss him, but this hollow in my chest was deeper than I thought it would be.
Mia, too, who had already missed him while he’d been up the mountains, kept asking when he’d be back. Yesterday, when I’d picked her up from school, I’d watched her scan the parents waiting outside the school door, only for her eyes to land on me, her little shoulders drooping and chest deflating; it was hard to see her miss Alexis so much as it only made what was constantly on my mind harder to debate.
Alexis’s words played through my head, as they had since he’d left, “I want to take you and Mia back to the Shadow Moon Pack.”
The stomach tightened now just as it had then. I’d told him my reservations—I didn’t want to give up my shop, the thriving business that I’d built from the ground up, with Lyvia, who meant the world to me. Did I want to uproot me and Mia from the life I loved here? Iknew I should talk things through with Lyv. I’d only told her Alexis had had to go away on pack business for a bit. I felt restless, a nervous kind of energy thrumming through me.
I played with the necklace around my neck; I wore my Aventurine stone that signified the essence, knowing I needed Igaluk’s guidance in the big decision weighing on me.
Once again, I was letting the matter take up too much of my time, idly staring around at the shelves of herbs, glowing in the soft morning light, and feeling that ache as I thought about packing them away and leaving here.
I sighed, suddenly yearning for a double shot, not just for the caffeine but for the raw energy it would give me to face the day. I really needed to get myself together. Tomorrow was the new moon; the day before a new moon was always a busy sales day—morning and afternoon—with witches and a few shifters wanting to harness Igaluk’s new moon for its potency. I went over to my most central display, the new formula of frostvine tincture that I’d been working on for a while in pride of place.
The frostvine leaves were rare, and I had high hopes both my tinctures and the leaves themselves would catch the eyes of the discerning witches and shifters shopping today, ready to harness the energy of the herb in their spells and self-care. With that in mind, I opened the tester pots and the tubs of the frostvine leaves, ensuring the delicate scent would be on display.
No doubt, too, the agglikkuk would be in high demand still. Many of Matsuna’s residents and those belonging to local towns had visited the last few days once word had spread that I’d restocked it.
As if I’d manifested a customer with my thoughts, the bell above the door dinged. But, as I turned to greet them, my stomach bottomed out. I knew that gait all too well.
Marissa.
She sauntered in, dark hair twisted into a perfect bun, the epitome of polished poise. A smile danced on her perfectly-lined lips, though the sparkle in her dark eyes was far from genuine. “Selina, so this is where you’ve been,” she said. “Well, isn’t this cute?" Her nose scrunched slightly in disdain.
My eyes narrowed, my instincts kicking into high alert. Marissa hadn’t bothered to reach out to me ever since I’d left the Nightwing Pack. The fact that she’d found her way to my door now couldn’t mean anything good. But one thing was for sure: I wasn’t going to play the cat-and-mouse game she’d engaged me in back in the Nightwing Pack. I wasn’t the same person I had been then. It may not mean anything to Marissa, but I loved my boutique and had worked damn hard for it. Matsuna was my home, too. Besides, I was a mother now, and the sight of my callous sister set off all my protective instincts. I thanked Igaluk for Mia being safe at school. With any luck, she would never meet Marissa.
With that thought in mind, I gritted out, "What do you want, Marissa?"
Marissa stopped short in the center of the room by my display of frostvine products. “Imagine my surprise when I heard from a friend that my Alexis had seen you while he was here."
Her Alexis? Bullshit.
I knew Marissa all too well not to catch the desperation in her eye despite her feigned confidence as she stared me down. The mention of a friend didn’t track either; Marissa didn’t have friends, only followers.
She plowed on, “Believe me, I take no pleasure in coming to this backwater place, but I thought I’d warn you to stay away from Alexis. Our father sanctioned our union, and apparently, you still need telling not to sniff around what doesn’t belong to you.”
I noticed, for all her feigned composure, Marissa’s hands were fisted at her side as if she couldn’t conceal the anger roiling off of her. She seemed to realize it, too and drew her hands behind her back.
A surge of old hurt slammed into me, but I stood resolute. I recalled Alexis’s struggle to break free from the dark magic Marissa had bound him with—every effort he made to distance himself from her grasp. The last thing Alexis wanted was Marissa. Besides, I knew from Leah and Kyle, the Luna and Alpha of the Moonlight Pack, that Marissa and Alexis’s relationship, as well as his alliance with my father, Lucien, had been dissolved years ago.
My eyes flashed with anger, possessiveness suffusing my voice. “You can’t play games with me, Marissa. Alexis fought to be free of you.” Myvoice trembled slightly with a mix of anger and protectiveness. “What’s between him and me is none of your business. But you won't succeed in manipulating him or me again.”
Anger seared through me that once again, she dared to walk into my town and my shop and talk down to me. I came out from behind the counter and, with purposeful steps, strode toward her. “Get out of my shop.”
My words seemed to hit home as her dark eyes became like black ice. The air thickened, chilling me to the bone, and my heart hammered as I drew myself up. I was determined to do whatever I had to, even if it meant fighting Marissa.
Her lips twisted into a smirk, and she stepped back. “Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. Besides, it’s not like there’s anything worth hanging around here for,” she added, her gaze sweeping over me and my boutique as if it were all so beneath her.
