"Mum, Dad?" I whisper and they both nod their ghostly heads. Their bodies seem to move with the slightest breeze and you can see right through them.
"What are you doing here?" I whisper again as Axel and Callum look at each other, confused.
"Celina, sweetheart, who are you talking to?" I can faintly hear Axel asking me, but I focus solely on my parents.
I unconsciously lift myself up and out of Axel's arms and walk towards my parents. This is the second time I've seen them, and I just love them even more.
"You should tell them," my mother's gentle voice advises me, but I just shake my head.
"I can't. They'll hurt them," I argue back. She smiles softly at me. My mother places her transparent hand on my cheek and I lean into her cool touch.
"Your mother's right, princess. Your mate and guardians should know about your past, present, and future. It's what's best for not only you, but for the world," my father states wisely and I stare into his shining, golden eyes. He nods his head at me and I know that the time for arguing is over.
"I don't know if I'm ready," I whisper with shame as my head drops. My mother once again cups my face in her hands and brings it up capturing my eyes with hers. Her beautiful hair flows around her like a waterfall and her eyes shine with love for the daughter she never got to raise.
"You are," is all she whispers as she kisses my forehead before they disappear into thin air. Their bodies travel with the wind and leave me with a sort of emptiness.
I stay standing there, just listening to the wind and the animals in the forest.
"Celina?" Axel timidly begins to ask and I turn around to look into his beautiful, greyish, silver eyes.
"Are you ok?" Callum finishes his question and I look into his worried brown eyes. I guess I have to tell them...
19
AXEL
Celina seems frozen to the spot as she stares into nothing. She finishes talking to herself and I'm a bit worried that she's losing her mind. Still, I don't think that's the case though. She just seems... shocked or stunned, I guess.
"Celina, sweetheart. Come on, snap out of it," I calmly say as I place my large hands on her slim shoulders. She jumps slightly and whirls around to look at me. Her golden eyes lock with my silver ones as they fill with worry.
She gently places her hand on my cheek and rubs it soothingly.
"You might want to take a seat," she tells me after taking a deep breath and backing away from my touch.
She gives Callum a look to do the same, so both he and I take a seat and lean against some trees while I watch Celina's face fill with uncertainty and worry.
"Um, how do I start this..." she asks herself as she trails off. Callum and I look at each other. We both shrug our shoulders.
"The beginning," Callum tells her and she looks at him for a moment. It seems to be going through her mind, but she seems torn.
"I don't know where the beginning is..." she trails off again as she takes a seat on the green grass and crosses her legs, genie style. She takes a deep breath as she stares into the distance. "How about we start when you first told me about this pack," she tells us, still not making eye contact. "This pack, The Moonlight Pack, is my old pack."
An immediate growl comes from my lips, but Callum looks a bit confused. So this is the pack that broke her? She doesn't pay us any mind as she continues.
"When I ran away, I stumbled upon your pack, the Nightfall Pack. You took me in and I couldn't have been happier, but what guided me to you wasn't the happiest thing," she mumbles as her eyes go distant.
She stops again as she looks at my pissed off face and Callum's still confused one. He never really found out anything about Celina's old pack. I'm just happy she felt the need to tell me at the time, otherwise this will be a very difficult situation for us.
"When I was seven, my parents died. Not my real parents but my fake parents. They loved me though and I loved them. Before they died, I was happy. I had a family and I was surrounded by people who I thought loved me. How I was so wrong..."
"I was told by my ruthless alpha that my parents died. I cried for days and when I came out of the comfort of my room, I was instantly turned into a pack maid and punching bag."
“The people who I thought loved me beat me regularly and made me do everything from cleaning to the cooking. I was never treated fairly and they even went as far as to take me out of school after my parents died. I was heartbroken," she says as she chokes on a sob.
I want to wrap her in my arms and tell her everything's going to be ok, but I stay where I am and give her the space she needs and wants. Although I've already heard this, it's still hard to hear how her pack treated her. This is more for Callum's benefit anyway.
"The last time I saw them was when I was accused of liking the new alpha, the son of the alpha who told me my parents died. Alpha Damon is his name, a name that will always be engraved in my mind." Her voice becomes softer as she says that part and my heart breaks as I feel all her emotions rush through the mate bond. She's so hurt...
"That same night, I left. I ran and never looked back. Well, now I'm returning to the place that I thought would kill me. Now I'm returning to the place where I vowed I would never go again. Now I'm returning to the place that needs help because of my little act of running away. Now I'm returning... because of me," she tells us, but it sounds like she's talking to herself.
This time, I take her in my arms and stroke her hair as she bursts out crying. I can't believe that an alpha would actually treat one of his pack members like that. It's just... There's not even a word for it.
Callum looks torn and just doesn't seem to know what to do. He looks like he has failed and can't ever win back the honor. I wonder how Comrade would feel at this moment, probably the same.
"Shh, sweetheart. It's ok, you have me now. You have Callum and Comrade, too. No one's gonna hurt you," I tell her softly and she sniffles.
"Really?" she asks softly as she buries her head further into my chest. I smile softly down at her.
"Really," I tell her. My wolf howls in my head at the hurt and anguish that my delicate little mate has gone through. All the anger I don't even know I have comes rushing to the surface and my body goes rigid.
"Callum, take Celina. Now!" I growl at him when he doesn't move. He scurries to his feet and takes Celina in his arms. I give him a stiff nod and he returns it.
As soon as they're out of sight, I growl loudly and punch the nearest tree. It splits and goes crashing to the ground. My nails elongate, my eyes turn pitch black, my chest heaves up and down with heavy breaths and fur starts to sprout out of my body.
I can't shift though. Celina will not want that. If she's come all this way and makes the decision to still help her old pack, then I won't go barging in there in wolf form and tear them all to shreds.
Instead, I lash out at the tree. I scratch, kick, scream, and growl at it as I let out all of my pent up anger. When I deem myself acceptable enough to be in another’s presence, I slowly make my way back towards where the cars are.
I angrily walk to my car and pull the door open with more force than necessary. I slam it shut with a growl and start the car.
As I speed down the road, I thought of how I absolutely love to kill Celina's old pack seep through, but I restrain myself from doing so. A small hand rests on my shoulder and it seems to instantly calm me, pushing my anger to the side.
"Calm down, Axel. I've made my choice and now you need to make yours." Celina's soft, yet stern voice filters through my ears.
I glance at her and my black eyes go back to their sterling silver.
"They hurt you, Celina, stripped you of your will. They deserve it," I mutter through clenched teeth.
"I know, each one of them deserves what's running through your head right now, but I won't let you. They're all living, breathing people and, even though they've done something bad, they deserve to live. A few beatings aren't the same as a hundred deaths." Her voice of reason seems to calm
me even more, but I'm still pissed off at them.
"Always the voice of reason, aren't you?" I mutter and she giggles. The sound is music to my ears.
"Always the one for action, aren't you?" she mocks me and I let a grin slip onto my face.
"Tsk, mates," Callum mutters under his breath, but I just chuckle at him.
'Just you wait, Callum. One day you'll find her,' I taunt and he growls at me in his head. I chuckle again and focus back on driving to where Celina once called home, also known as her own personal hell.
About an hour later and we pull up in front of the pack house. Celina's shaking slightly, but she takes deep breaths to calm her racing heartbeat.
"You can still turn them down, Celina." I tell her. She glances at me. "I would love to have the honors of killing every wolf here."
She rolls her eyes at me as she gently swats my arm.
"Yeah, yeah," she mutters as I jump out and come around to her side of the car. I help her out and wrap a possessive arm around her waist.
We walk to the front of our group and we're met by the former Alpha and Luna and the current alpha, Damon. I restrain the growl that wants to rip through my throat and tighten my arm around Celina's waste while clenching my jaw.
Damon plasters an obvious fake smile on his face when he sees us. How can he smile when he knows what he's done to an innocent girl?
"Welcome, alpha Axel. We're so glad that you made it here safely," he announces formally.
"Likewise," I say gruffly and that's when all eyes land on Celina. Gasps are heard from the Alphas and Luna and the crowd that came out when they heard the cars.
"Celina?" Damon asks. Celina holds her head up with confidence and power oozes off her. I grin down at her. That's my little mate.
Damon's face grows angry as he looks at her. My guard immediately goes up and everyone around us, fighters and all, get into defense position. No one will hurt their Luna, and as I sift through their minds, they certainly agree.
"What the hell are you doing under an alpha's arm? Asking for protection like the weakling you are? You're nothing to him," he snarls and I snarl right back. Celina, however, keeps a blank face.
"It's nice to see you again, Damon. You too, Mr. and Mrs. Holler," Celina addresses formally and they all stare at her in shock.
"Don't play that game with us, you little, worthless, excuse of a wolf!" Greg, Damon's dad, booms at her. I growl at him and step in front of Celina protectively.
A soft hand pushes me away though, Celina's hand. She smiles reassuringly at me before strutting with the confidence of a Luna right up to Greg.
"Actually, Greg-" She spits his name. "-I'm a much stronger wolf than you'll ever be and you can't do anything about it. You call me worthless when you, your wife, and your flipping son over there are the worthless ones!" Her voice rises as she continues and I feel my pride swell in me as power radiates off her, royal power. I never knew my mate could yell so loudly either.
"So, don't you dare go telling me that I'm worthless because that will be the last thing you ever do." Her voice lowers to a deathly silent one, and fear crosses Greg and his Luna's faces. Damon, on the other hand, doesn't get the message.
"How dare you speak to your former alpha that way?! He demands respect, and so do I. And we will get it! You can't even shift!" he yells at her as his face fills with fury.
I growl at him, as does everyone, but no one interferes out of fear of what their Luna will do. She's a force to reckon with at the moment. All thoughts of helping her old pack are probably being thrown out the window.
Celina slowly turns to him and takes menacing steps towards him. She gets right up in his face, even though she's a heap smaller and thinner.
"Neither you, nor your parents, deserve any respect. Axel, my pack, and I are the ones that deserve respect. You are nothing but weaklings compared to us, and you don't even know the extent of what I can do," she states in a calm voice.
She turns her back on Damon and walks calmly back to me. Just as I'm about to take her in my arms, the shredding of clothing fills my ears and the next thing I know, Celina is being tackled to the ground by a dark brown wolf.
Everyone seems to be frozen in shock, but before anyone can react, Celina shifts into her snow white wolf, throwing Damon's wolf off her without hesitation. Damon's wolf freezes, Greg and his Luna freeze and the crowd that we've drawn from inside the house freezes. Everyone just freezes and stares at Celina's wolf. Her snow white color, her shining gold eyes, the sheer size of her and the way she radiates royal power… She's a true princess.
"That's impossible..." Greg's astonished voice trails off. Celina's wolf doesn't even glance at him as she leaps at Damon and gets a firm hold on his neck just like that.
His wolf whimpers and shows his submission. I can see in Celina's eyes though that she doesn't want to let go, she looks like she wants to clamp down harder. As much as I love to have the person who probably tortured her the most, killed, I won't let her because she'll regret it for the rest of her life.
"Celina, as much as I would love to see you rip Damon's head off, I know you'll regret it. Please, come back to me," I say softly as I cautiously approach her wolf. Her wolf gained control when Damon pounced. He brought it upon himself. I'm just helping her gain her control back, even though I really don't want to.
I stroke her beautiful white fur and look her in the eye.
"Come back to me, Celina," I whisper and just like that, her shining gold eyes turn back to their normal gold color.
She whines as she releases Damon's neck and gently nudges me with her head. I smile down at her and pet her large wolf head. That's my girl.
'Um, Axel,' Celina's voice suddenly fills my mind and I smile at how perfect it sounds.
'Yes, sweetheart?' I answer.
'I need clothes,' she mumbles, embarrassed. It takes a moment for her words to process in my mind, but when they do, a protective growl passes through my lips.
Without thinking, I strip off my shirt and hand it to her. She takes it in her mouth, after admiring my bare chest, and walks off into the forest, coming out a minute later with my black shirt covering her body to just above her knees.
I push her behind me when she reaches me, keeping peering eyes away from her long, tanned, luscious legs.
Greg clears his throat awkwardly.
"Well, why don't we all head inside?" he offers. My company glances at me and at a very pissed off, bright red Celina, before looking back at me again.
I shake my head and all of them head back to the cars without even a single glance at Greg and the others.
"We will continue this inside," I say gruffly as Greg eyes all the retreating fighters. He nods his head and his Luna, who I still don't know the name of, and Damon himself all head inside without even leading us in. I growl lowly at the lack of respect.
"Welcome to my life," Celina mutters into my back. I shake my head with a small chuckle. Even in the worst of times, Celina always seems to lighten the mood even if she doesn't know it.
I lead her to the porch when small, dainty hands land on my chest and pull me away from Celina.
"What the..." I mutter when a blonde haired bimbo suddenly comes into my line of sight. She honestly looks like a desperate, dyed-blonde, big-boobed, bitchy wannabe.
"Why, hello there," she says seductively, but it sounds more like a penguin call. A very unattractive one...
Before I can answer, a growl is heard behind me. I smirk when Celina comes stomping up and roughly removes the bimbo's hand from my chest.
"Hands off, Tina! He's not one of your little bangs. He's mine." Celina growls at her but Tina just smirks.
"Please, everyone leaves you, Celina, everyone. I mean, your parents left you and now that hunk of a muscle over there is going to leave you, too." Her voice is like nails scratching down a chalk board.
"Take it back," Celina snarls through clenched teeth.
"No," Tina bites back and the next thing she knows, she's
being punched straight in the face. Her head jerks back as a scream escapes her lips. Celina draws her fist back as Tina's followers run to her aid.
"Like I said, Tina, he's mine," Celina all but growls. She then turns to me, grabs my shoulders and brings me down for a rough kiss.
She pushes back and smirks at me. I like this feisty Celina. She's so confident and in control. I smirk back at her.
"Let's go inside," she tells me as she drags me through the door, ignoring the death glare from Tina.
We take a seat on the couch and that's when we get down to business.
"Right, alpha Damon, what's your proposal?" I ask in my business voice. Damon glances at Celina then at me, then back to Celina.
"Well, actually, all our problems will be solved if you just give Celina back to us, where she belongs. Deal done," Damon states as he makes a move to grab Celina. Over my dead body.
I growl loudly at him and push Celina behind me while I stand up into a defensive position.
"Over my dead body," I repeat my thought with a snarl.
Damon smirks when he glances at his mother and father. "That can be arranged."
I growl loudly again at his smug voice, but this time it's joined with Celina's as well.
"Unless you want a war, I would suggest that you take back what you just said," I snarl at him, but the smirk stays.
"Now, why would I do that? I'm not gonna start a war over that pathetic piece of shit. Just hand it over and this will all be resolved," Damon calmly states, reaching his hand out for Celina to take.
"First of all, she is not a pathetic piece of shit, you are. Second, Celina is not an 'it.' Celina is a living human being and she's a better human being than you'll ever be," I snarl at him, barely keeping my anger together.
Damon scoffs while saying, "Please, you'll leave her once you discover just how worthless she really is. She isn't worth your time and she's certainly not worth fussing over."
I start to shake with anger at his words. Worthless? Not worth fussing over? I know for a fact that Celina is not worthless, but a true gem. She has a heart of gold. She couldn't even sentence her own pack to death. She's perfect and I'll fuss over her all I like. I'll fuss over her to the ends of the earth because she's mine. She’s special and unique and she's all mine.
Unique, Different, Found: Werewolf Paranormal Romance (Nightfall Book 1) Page 15