Chapter 289: Old ways and prophecy...
Selene POV
The room was suffocating with tension. My heart pounded so loudly in my chest that it drowned out the baby’s soft cries and the murmur of the wind outside the nursery window. Noah and Kragen stood like two wolves ready to rip each other apart, both fueled by their own reasons, their own justifications. And I was in the middle, torn between loyalty and confusion, love and duty.
"Kragen," I started, my voice steady, though my heart was anything but. "Whatever it is, it can wait."
He didn’t even flinch. His eyes, stormy and urgent, were locked on mine, and for a brief moment, I could feel the depth of his emotions. He was scared — something was terribly wrong, and I could sense it. But I couldn’t ignore Noah’s palpable anger, the way his hands flexed into fists at his sides, or the low growl building in his throat. They were both alphas in their own right, and the air between them buzzed with unspoken challenges.
"No," Kragen’s voice cut through the room like a blade. "It can’t wait, Selene."
My breath caught in my throat. He was rarely this forceful, and that alone set off alarms in my mind. What could be so urgent that he’d risk challenging Noah in our home, in front of our newborn son?
I swallowed hard, looking between the two men. I needed to defuse this, to find a way to calm them both before things escalated any further. "Noah," I whispered, reaching out to him, my fingers brushing his arm. "Let me hear him out."
Noah’s dark eyes flicked down to where I touched him, and for a moment, I saw the hurt there — not just anger, but betrayal, too. The unspoken question lingered between us: Why are you defending him?
I could feel the bond between us strain, like a thread stretched too thin, on the verge of snapping. I didn’t want to choose between them. I shouldn’t have to. But Noah’s distrust of Kragen, his jealousy, was poisoning our bond. I could feel it creeping in, making him suspicious, turning him against the man who had been a constant presence in my life long before Noah was.
"I’ll stay right here," Noah said, his voice rough but controlled. His stance remained tense, but he stepped back slightly, giving me space. "Whatever he has to say, I’ll hear it too."
I glanced at Kragen, whose jaw clenched at Noah’s refusal to leave, but he nodded, accepting the compromise.