The Choice

Selena

In the weeks since the twins have been born we’ve gotten into a nice routine but it doesn’t help my exhaustion of the night feedings. Once I mustered up the energy and could stay awake long enough, I called a family meeting.

“Selena, what’s going on?” Caroline asked me worriedly. I waited until everyone came into my office.

“Lena?” Kieran also looked worried. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” He smiles at me and kisses the top of my head. Soon the door opened again with the rest of the family.

“Alright, now that everyone is here I want to do something dramatic… I’m going to officially cut off my family. I thought about going to war but I don’t want our warriors to go out there again when they’re still recovering and taking them away from their families.” Kieran smiles again and looks at me with pride.

“So what do you propose, luna?” Conrad asks me with a smirk, clearly liking this idea. He hardly ever calls me luna unless it’s official stuff.

“Well, I don’t want to go in this alone, and by alone I mean just us. So I want to write or call my brothers. See what they think about this idea.”

“Very diplomatic of you, luna.” Jacob smirks at me… now I know where the boys get it from.

“You know… I just thought of something. As much as my family doesn’t want to admit it. I’m still technically a princess and Kieran is technically a prince… do we have the power to do this?” I ask the group worriedly.

“To anyone else, yes, but who knows what your family will do.” Mia smiles at us. “If you’re going to… visit.. I’ll watch your kids.”

“Great thanks, I just pumped some… fresh milk not long before you got here. It’s in the twins’ mini fridge in their room.” I blush when I talk about nursing in front of the family, even though two are doctors and Caroline probably already lived it, it makes me blush and get all flustered. “Anyway, Kieran you stay, the rest of you can go for now. That’s all I wanted to discuss. I want to see if I can recruit my brothers into helping.” I got sent a laptop for Christmas from Liam with a note saying, use this for whenever you’re ready to talk. I’ll be waiting. Kieran shows me how to use it and to set up the Webcam program. Liam’s username was on the back of the note and I just pressed the video button from there.

“Lena! Glad you got my present! Now we don’t have to hide anymore!” He seemed so happy to see me and it felt so good to be still wanted by someone in my family.

“Good to see you too, Liam. I’m going to officially cut off our family. I don’t want to send my warriors again since they just rescued me from Gwen and her dear mate’s family and they also poisoned me and our unborn pups!”

“Pups?! Congratulations!” He smiles so big at that.

“Thanks but that’s beside the point. Gwen and her mate, Damian, gave me Oleander poisoning!”

“Well, mom was always the one who liked to be dramatic… guess it rubbed off on Gwen..” He rubbed the back of his neck with his memories of the family.

“Yeah that they do… throwing a whole ceremony just for someone to get banished is… dramatic I guess…” I rub my neck too remembering how I got here in the first place.

“By the way, you never told me who your mate was! Who is she?! I want to meet my new sister!” I ask him with excitement! I see him smile and he pulls a young lady close to his age. Brunette hair and blueish gray eyes. I squeal with excitement again as I see her. “Why am I just meeting her?! She’s so beautiful!” They laugh at my compliment.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Selena. I’m Ayla. She smiles at me. I also see her trying to hide her blush.

“Oh, call me Lena. We’re family!” I smile back at her and she relaxes.

“Lena… I was nervous about meeting you considering how the rest of the family didn’t accept me despite being a princess…” Her smile fades into sadness and I know just how she feels.

“Oh… I’m sorry… yeah I know that our family isn’t the most loving or warm but you got a good one in Liam! He and I are the black sheep of the family… we wanted love instead of a contract… so we got banished...” Kieran gently grabs my hand and smiles at me. “But for me, what was meant as a punishment, was the best night of my life… I met my mate that night.” I look into his eyes lovingly and I hear them go ‘aww’ over the computer. We all laugh trying to lift up the seriousness of the mood in the room.

“Glad you got your happy ending.” Liam smiled at me. “So… do I have a niece or nephew?” We laughed as he mimicked me.

“Actually… you have a niece and nephew. It was twins!” They looked at me in shock, but smiled.

“Congratulations! I can’t wait for this mess to blow over so I can meet them!”

“So what are we going to do with mom and dad and Gwen?” I hate to break the cheerful mood, and I obviously did as smiles faded.

“Well, I had heard what Gwen did to you and I can’t believe she did that. I never would’ve guessed that she’d stoop so low like that… We can spare some warriors since I’m sure yours are worn out from your rescue.” I nodded my head to agree with him and look up to Kieran to smile. “Also, since I’m sure mom and dad don’t recognize you as princess and prince when you go there, but when you come here. You’ll not only be recognized as my sister, but princess so you’ll get the respect you rightfully deserve.” I couldn’t help but cry. I had never been recognized as being part of the family, just hidden away for all my life.

“Thank you… what about Jude?” I asked him worriedly.

“Jude is 50/50, but with his coronation coming up soon it can go either way.” My head snapped up at that.

“His coronation is coming soon!? Nobody told me!”

“We got notified because of Ayla’s parents. They’re a part of the Pinecrown Kingdom.” I glance at a map near me just to get my bearings.

“That’s not far from here… you could’ve visited and haven’t?!” Now I was starting to get angry with him.

“I have no idea if mom and dad or Gwen have spies in the woods or not! I want to see you so badly!” It warmed my heart knowing that at least one sibling cared.

“Alright… but at least we can at least see each other without being caught. I can’t wait to see you and we will take down mom, dad and Gwen. They will pay for their crimes! Also, you have the support of the Pinecrown kingdom.” Ayla smiled and nodded .

“Thank you…” I smile at them and squeeze Kieran’s hand lovingly. Ayla whispers something to Liam and has a smile that looks like it would split his face in half.

“Ayla just gave me the most brilliant idea. Once the smoke clears from this mess. We want to make you our beta. Technically Pinecrown has more power over Oak or Cedar, making it the original kingdom, and Capitol. We hadn’t found our beta yet, and I just realized that you two would be perfect!” I look at Kieran who’s looking at me just as shocked.

“What would that mean for us?” Kieran asks concerned. Took the question right out of my mouth.

“Not only would you be a royal beta, but you’d still be alpha and luna over your pack of course, but you’ll have your princess and princess titles reinstated.” I look at Liam who’s just smirking, in shock. I’ve never had this happen before! This is unbelievable.

“Are you sure about this?? Maybe you should talk with the royal family.” I stammered through my question still in shock.

“No need to talk to them, we already did. All they need is a yes or no from you.” He smirks again, crossing his arms across his chest like he planned this.

“Uh… I’ll talk to Kieran about that, but thank you so much.” I turn to Kieran and walk away from the computer.

“So? What do we do? This is huge!” My legs are shaking.

“I mean, you’re right, this is huge. Plus, with at least one sibling on our side is amazing, but this came out of nowhere! I’m flattered.” I had never seen Kieran blush this hard before. I hug him so I don’t collapse from shock.

“Plus, I’d get the recognition that I never got from my parents… should we talk about this with your family or at least your parents?”

“I think that’d be wise, my luna.” He smiles at me gently and kisses my cheek. His eyes glaze over as he calls his parents over. He tells them what’s going on and they look at us in shock.

“Glad I’m not the only one still in shock. What do we do!? I don’t want to just act. I want to think this through as clearly as I can. Even if that’s a little hard right now.” Caroline smiles at me and rubs my back.

“Which is why, as your mom and as your mentor, is why I think you’re perfect for this. You started with nothing, and look at how much you’ve blossomed in a few months. I’ve taught you as much as I could. Now it’s time to show the world what you got. Also should you have Gwen and Damian face their trial here for their crime, we’ll be ready.” I hug her tightly, and I look at Jacob waiting for approval.

“I couldn’t agree with her more. Both of you are running this pack amazingly, and you my dear, have more poise, grace and strength of a luna in just your hand than most do in their whole body. I think you two should go to the capitol. Go see your brother and his mate. We can hold down the fort while you’re on your trip.” I started to get teary-eyed as he talked to me. I hugged both of them and just couldn’t believe the support.

“Thank you…” I go back to the computer and realize I forgot to mute it… they heard everything!

“We’ll see you in a few days. Also, talking it over with your in-laws proves my point on why I think you’d be a perfect beta/beta female. You don’t run into things, you think it over, and then charge. I’m so proud of how far you’ve come, Lena.” Liam smirks at me and I probably turn the brightest shade of red. I used to love my nickname, but ever since what Gwen did I hated it, but now I guess it’s growing on me again?

“I guess so. I can’t wait to see you.” I smile at them and blow him a kiss.

“Bye guys.” Kieran waves as the video ends. I slump in my chair as I let out a deep breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

“Guess we should go pack.” I chuckle at him. My first trip as luna… and it’s to the capitol! I grab Kieran’s hand and head to our room to pack.