The Choice

Selena

I spent all day in my room. I didn’t want to see anyone. I ate all my meals here… I just felt like being alone today… Luckily my room had a balcony so I wasn’t cooped up all day, but I just didn’t want to see anyone. It really hurt hearing about Georgie. It sounded like Caroline wanted this Georgie girl to be Kieran’s mate instead of me… I already felt like I was unwanted by my old family. I didn’t want that with my new one… I contemplated running away, but that’d hurt both Kieran and myself. Now that I found love I didn’t want to throw it away.

I heard knocking on my door from pretty much everyone. Kieran, Raven, Mia, Connor, Conrad, which surprised me since Conrad and I didn’t talk much. Even his parents tried to talk to me… I shut them all out… I debated jumping out of my window to go for a run in the woods but since my window was on the third floor, I decided not to. I still shifted, and it was still painful but she just howled a sad howl… it felt like I was unwanted again… and Carolina felt it too. Everyone heard me howl and tried knocking again this time harder.

“Carolina, it’s Mia! Please let me in! I know you’re hurt but please let me at least give you a checkup…” Mia was a good doctor… she cared for her patients and technically I was one. Unwillingly, Carolina propped up on her hind legs and let Mia and only Mia in… “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright!” She cups my face and looks me in the eye. “You are worthy of this family, You are worthy of love! I know you haven’t been shown a lot of love in your young life, but you have us now!” Mia cried… no one had ever cried because of me before… I heard the door knock again in a desperate kind of way and figured it was Kieran. I nod my head for Mia to open the door.

“Carolina!” Kieran pushed Mia aside and ran to us. “I’m so sorry about the meeting! I have no idea what possessed mom to tell you about Georgie!” He hugs me and holds me tightly.

“Maybe she wishes Georgie was your mate and not me…” I let out another sad howl… and I ran out of the room. I heard a stampede of footsteps following me. I snarl at them to leave me alone, and I run off into the woods close to the territory. I howl again letting out my hurt… I go to the stream where we had our first date and just lay there… I take a drink to calm myself and lay back down on the cool grass… I stayed here for what felt like hours listening to the stream and it lulled me to sleep. I feel the rain on my face and head back to the packhouse where the others are waiting for me on the front porch.

“Carolina…” Kieran tries to step forward but I growl at him. “I know you’re hurt just listen to us! Don’t shut us out! We want to help!” I shifted back to myself and I didn’t care that I was naked.

“If you wanted to help me, then maybe you should just reject me and be with the girl you want to! If this Georgie girl was so great then be with her!” I pushed them all away and headed back to my room to put my comfiest clothes on and just cried harder till I fell asleep again. I didn’t hear anymore knocking for the rest of the day and if they did, I was sleeping so hard. When I woke up, I wrote everything I felt down in my journal. I hear another brief knock on the door.

“Go away! I’ve had enough talking for the day!” I scream at the door.

“It’s Gwen…” I think about it and open the door a little to make sure someone wasn’t pulling a fast one on me. “I’ve heard you had a rough day… you ok?” She asks innocently.

“Do I sound like I’ve had a good day?” I say angrily at her.

“What’s wrong Lena?” She sits down on the bed and I join her.

“Caroline kept on bragging about this girl Georgie and how she thought Georgie was going to be Kieran’s mate. It made me feel like crap! She sounded disappointed that I was Kieran’s mate and not her!” I laid down on her lap. She rubs my back, and it calms me.

“Let it out sis… I know you’ve felt unwanted by mom and dad, but you still have us siblings who love you. Don’t let them mess with your head!”

“But they’re the ones that are supposed to love me! Why don’t my parents love me!? They freakin banished me!” I cry again on Gwen’s lap just wondering why I’m so unworthy of their love… I must’ve fallen asleep on her lap since I felt her putting me to bed, and shutting the door as she left.

Kieran

How could my mom be so silly to mention Georgie! There was no love connection between us! Just a pure friendship! And now my mate is on the verge of rejecting me because of this! I sent Gwen in wearing a wire so we can figure out the root of the problem…

“It’s Gwen…” I heard silence, but the door opened a little. “I’ve heard you had a rough day… you ok?” She asks innocently.

“Do I sound like I’ve had a good day?” I hear her say angrily at her. I’ve never heard her so angry before.

“What’s wrong Lena?” We are all on pins and needles hoping this plan works.

“Caroline kept on bragging about this girl Georgie and how she thought Georgie was going to be Kieran’s mate. It made me feel like crap! She sounded disappointed that I was Kieran’s mate and not her!” She rubs her back, and it all makes sense now.

“Let it out sis… I know you’ve felt unwanted by mom and dad, but you still have us siblings who love you. Don’t let them mess with your head!”

“But they’re the ones that are supposed to love me! Why don’t my parents love me!? They freakin banished me!” I cry as I realize the root of her problem is her parents. We hear her close the door to leave and she heads back to my office with the recording of their conversation.

“You know she probably won’t like that you used me to spy for you.” Gwen crosses her arms at us.

“I know but we were getting nowhere. We needed to help her somehow.” Mia with tears in her eyes. She probably felt just as useless as I did.

“Yeah, I know…” She hands us the recording and leaves with a sad look on her face.

“Should we let her sleep? She hasn’t eaten much today.” Connor and Mia look at each other worriedly.

“I think we should make her some comfort food. Something that could cheer her up a little.” Raven offers.

“That’s a good idea! Let’s all go to the kitchen!” I’d do anything to make Selena smile again. I don’t want to ruin my chances with her before I even get a chance to. We all pitch in throwing out ideas on what food to make. Grilled cheese with tomato soup, mac and cheese, chili.

“Wait… chili… we had that on our date and she loved it! Let’s go with that!” I remembered our date where she was practically drooling over the food. We all knew mom’s recipe by heart since we’ve eaten it all the time and helped her make it. I know it’s getting late but I wouldn’t get any sleep knowing that she’s hungry. Once it was done, I made a nice try with a rose in a vase, a note, the chili, and a slice of pumpkin roll.

“Selena? Are you hungry?” No response, she’s probably asleep or ignoring me. I gently open the door and her back is to the door. I put the food on the side table and lay down on a couch near her balcony window to give her some space.

Selena

I woke up to the smell of chili that reminded me of our date. I see a tray of food, a rose, and a note. How did this get here? My stomach growls, reminding me I didn’t eat much. I take the tray and nibble on the food.

Dear Selena,

I know you’re hurt, but we all pitched in to make you something to eat. I’d feel awful knowing that you’re hungry and I did nothing about it. We love you; we want to have a life with you. Georgie may have been a friend but you’re my mate. Nothing is going to change that. We all pitched in to help make this… it’s made with love. Don’t let what my mom said get to you. You’re our family now and nobody is taking you away from us.

love,

Kieran

I couldn’t believe he did this for me… the rose was pretty, the note was sweet and the food was delicious! Just as amazing as on our date. So sweet that he remembered. I finished eating, and I went to find him only to see him lying on the couch. I kiss his cheek to gently wake him up.

“Thanks for the food… It was delicious.”

“You’re delicious.” He says with a smirk on his face. “Seriously though, are you ok?”

“I’m feeling better… you’ve all been nothing but kind and worrying about me. Nobody has ever done that for me…” He wraps me in a hug and pulls me into his lap.

“Cause that’s what being a part of a family is about. Sure, Georgie and I have a nice friendship, yeah, but nothing was going to come from it. I think it was just parents’ wishful thinking. Parents like to play matchmaker.” He chuckles a little, and I look down at the floor. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s exactly what my dad wanted… he was shoving pictures of guys in my face so he could have a powerful alliance because of me. That’s all I was to him... a political pawn he can use for his own game. I turned them all down because I wanted my true mate… you.”

“I’m so sorry… but his pushiness led to you coming to us. We may have met strangely, but we did and it’s our story.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” I wrap my arms around his waist and let him comfort me.

“So… are we going to be ok?” I take a deep breath and breathe in his scent.

“Yeah… we’re going to be ok. It hurt a lot knowing that they had someone else in mind for you, but I’m glad they accept me now. I want to plan our mating ceremony. I’m sure you’ll look so handsome in a suit or tux.” I blush at the thought, and I’m sure Liam would be happy to walk me down the aisle.

“You haven’t seen anything yet…” He growls playfully at me and puts me back to bed.

“Kieran! What are you doing!?” I scream playfully at him!

“Giving you a taste for romance after the ceremony…” He nibbles my neck and I couldn’t help but moan at his touch. Gosh if just a slight gesture sets me off what’s the mating going to do?! “And that’s all I’m going to give you for now…”

“Tease!” Ugh, I wanted more!

“Soon my bride… soon…” He kisses my cheek and goes to bed in his room. Ugh, such a tease...