Chapter 30
Selene’s pov
Ira hesitated again, running her fingers through her hair. “The prophecy… it’s complicated,” she finally said. “Like I said, I don’t know the full details. But what I do know is that you are tied to this pack, to Lucian, in a way that none of us fully understand.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’d really like to read this prophecy myself and see what it says.”
Ira chuckled. “I doubt that would be possible. Even Raven doesn’t know the full meaning yet. We’re all acting on what we can decipher.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t read it, though, does it?” I asked.
“I doubt you’d be allowed to read it. You barely even know what your place here is,” she said, frowning slightly.
“How am I supposed to know if I don’t know what it says about me? Wouldn’t it make sense for me to read it myself?” I pressed.
“In some way, it does,” she admitted, shrugging. “And perhaps I could suggest it, but… don’t get your hopes up.”
“This isn’t good enough,” I said, my frustration bubbling just below the surface. “I need the full truth. I need to know everything. Lucian dragged me out of my normal life and tangled me in this mess—I need to know what it’s about.”
“Sometimes…” Ira whispered, her voice barely audible. “It’s better for us to not know the full truth. It’s hard to accept, you know? Sometimes it’s better to leave some things alone.”
I turned to her, another thought popping into my mind. “Some things like Lucian’s past, right?”
Ira’s head snapped up. She stiffened. “What do you know about Lucian’s past?”
“Not enough,” I admitted. “But today, during training…” I paused, remembering his haunted expression while he thought I wasn’t paying attention. I thought of the fear he was emitting and shivered slightly. “He acted as though he was in pain, like he was being haunted by something. It’s not hard to guess it has to do with his past.”
Ira’s expression softened, though the guardedness in her eyes didn’t waver. “If you want to know more about Lucian’s past, you’ll have to confront him yourself. I can’t tell you anything about that.”
She hesitated before adding, “But trust me… sometimes it’s better to just leave things be.”
I clenched my jaw. I definitely wasn’t going to let anything be. But I also doubted that Lucian would open up to me if I asked.
Instead of just making assumptions, I thought, how about I actually act on my thoughts and get the answers myself? At least then I could say I tried before sneaking around for details. It sounded like a good plan. Hopefully, I’d be able to carry it out.
The next time I spoke to Lucian, I’d have a deeper conversation with him and see just how much he was willing to share.
“It’s going to be hard,” I murmured.
“It definitely will be,” Ira replied, her tone gentle. “But you have to stop running from things that scare you. I’m sure when you were in the wild, you braved any challenge no matter how scary, right?”
She was right about that. I nodded. “Very well, then.”
I glanced back at the shelves. “Do you know how to get access to certain books in here?”
“Don’t tell me you’re looking for books about the prophecy,” Ira said, raising an eyebrow.
“What else do you think I’m doing here?” I asked. “There should be a catalog of some sort that arranges them for easy reference.”
“Even if there was, I doubt you’d find it,” Ira replied. “I’ve been coming here for a very long time, and my searches have not proven very successful.”
“Were you searching particularly for snippets of the prophecy?” I asked.
“That and more. You know, being an Elder involves me staying well-informed. I want to know the whole thing too, just like you.”
“Well, that makes two of us.” I smiled. “It’s nice to have a kindred spirit here with me.”
“I just wish you hadn’t come at a time when there’s a disturbance in the pack.”
My head snapped in her direction. “A disturbance? What do you mean?”
“Alpha Graystone, leader of the Graystone pack, seems to think this territory should be taken over by him,” she informed me.
I didn’t know much about pack politics, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t allowed—technically. I mean, Lucian wasn’t just going to hand his pack over.
“So, what’s going on? Is he attacking us?”
“Not yet,” Ira said. “But he’s sending scouts around and keeping tabs on us. I think he might also be sending spies.”
Ira pulled a piece of paper from her front pocket and looked through it briefly. Then she beckoned for me to follow her as she navigated her way through the shelves.
“The people are getting worried,” she continued. “They think Alpha Lucian is distracted and delaying action.”
“Is he, though?” I asked skeptically.
“I don’t think so,” Ira replied. “I think he’s trying to avoid a war.”
That description of Lucian didn’t reconcile with the one I knew. Lucian, avoiding a war? Pfft. He’d take it head-on and defeat everyone in his path.
But Ira didn’t look like she was joking, so I guessed she was telling the truth. Still, it was hard to believe.
She let out a small laugh, stopping before a shelf labeled Journals. “Did you expect Lucian to make the first attack?”
“Basically,” I replied with a shrug.
“He’s not as bad as you think, you know,” she said.
“He hasn’t done anything to redeem his impression on me, so I’m guessing he’s exactly as bad as I think,” I retorted.
She shook her head. “Once you get to know him, though, he’s much different.”
“Don’t give me that ‘get to know him’ bullshit. I have no intention of doing that.”
Ira turned to me with a worried expression. “Why not?”
“Just because I’m told I’m his mate doesn’t mean I have to act like that, right? He’s not exactly making himself appealing to get to know. Doesn’t make it easy.”
“Please, Selene,” Ira said, her voice soft. “Don’t make extra effort to be a pain in his ass. When I heard about you, my first thought was that you’d be the one to bring out the light in him.”
I turned away from her. “How can I be a light to someone who’s too comfortable in his darkness?” I asked. It already sounded like Mission Impossible.