Selena

NIX'S brows pressed together in annoyance. 

"Why not? What is she to you? Why are you so keen on keeping her? Why are you being selfish?" 

"I DON'T KNOW!" Valeric shouted, turning and punching a hole into the wall. "I don't understand it myself, but I can't do it. I'll never be able to let her go. It's been this way ever since I accidentally felt that tiny spark the day I crossed parts with her. I told you and-" 

"They are just hallucinations. Snap out of it! You are incapable of having a mate, you are not capable of feeling a spark, not from anyone and not from her. You are desperate for that feeling, and you are going to lose your mind if you keep drowning yourself in something that isn't real," Nix yelled at him, frustrated. 

He walked over to him, saying, "It's been thirty years, and you've never for once felt-" 

"I don't care." Valeric looked at him. "She is what I want."

"Is this desire?" the man asked. "If this is desire, then it doesn't have to be her." 

"You don't get it!" All that was left was a freezing chill. "It isn't desire, Nix." 

"Then what is it? Why do you need her?" 

"That is the problem. I don't know yet." His subconsciously stretched nails burned into his palms through the silk glove, drawing blood. "I don't know what it is that I want from her, but I can't let her go. I need her, and I'll protect her. I'll do whatever it takes, and I will never let anyone pull even a single hair out of her head, not even that bastard." 

Nix shook his head, helpless. "She is going to be the death of you, Valeric. You are going too far for her, and she shouldn't mean this much to you for any reason whatsoever. You can't even comprehend what the hell it is you feel. You are just being impulsive." 

"You don't know anything."

"I don't?" He gave a short laugh. "You know what? It's fine. Keep her very hidden, as I'm sure he doesn't know yet. As long as I don't say a word or tell the old man, you-"

A sharp and cold look pierced into the side of his head, and his face blanked completely. 

"Tell him, Nix, and you'll regret it." 

"Hey, hey, hey, it's not me you should be worried about. It's Selena!" Nix frowned. "I definitely won't tell, you're my best—well, you're my brother. But what about her? What will happen when she finds out that you-" 

"Find out what?" The door of the office crashed wide open. 

Nix began to coldly sweat immediately. He'd almost spill things right there. He couldn't even seem to turn and look at the person. 

But Valeric's golden eyes rose to glance at the intruder.

The woman stood, elegant in all forms and perfection itself. She was dressed in a blue, finely made suit that complimented her pale skin tone, Its pants all the way and stopped a bit past her ankle. Her blonde hair stopped high above her bottom, its edges perfectly trimmed. 

Bright gray eyes moved from Valeric to Nix and then back to Valeric. Her red-painted lips were slightly parted. "What is going on here?" 

"What are you doing here?" Valeric questioned. 

The woman ground her teeth and held her breath as much as she could in order not to lose her temper. She was an omega but rather a pure one, unlike Stella. 

Nix glanced between the two of them and stepped forward. "Selena, now is not a good time to-" 

"I wasn't talking to you," the woman, Selena, fired at him and moved closer to Valeric, her head stopping barely at his shoulder. She had to lift her head high to meet his gaze. "I was talking to him." 

Valeric raised a brow. 

"What are you doing here?" 

Selena scrunched her fists hard, her fingers digging into her palm. "How long has it been? We haven't spoken, you don't say a word to me, you are cold to me, and you wouldn't do as much as hold my hand, Valeric. And you are meant to marry me?" 

"Marry you?" His hand inched into his pocket for his phone. "Whoever is feeding you that absurdity should stop. What makes you think I would ever marry you?" 

"Hah!" Selena laughed in dry amusement, her eyes shifting over the room and outside. "I don't know how many times we have to go through this over and over again, but you very well know that you will marry me whether you like it or not. It has already been decided." 

Valeric walked past her to leave the office, but she grabbed his gloved hand, stopping him. "Why are you fighting it? Do you think there is any omega out there that would ever compare to me? I was chosen for you, and I am chosen for you after so many selections. You don't have a choice, and you can't-"

"Shut up!" He snapped under his breath, his eyes coldly running over to her. "I couldn't care less for you and you can talk for all I care." He tilted his head and looked at her properly, his eyes searching her face fiercely. "I will never marry you, even if you were to fall to my feet begging. I don't care if you're what the old man chose, it is none of my business but his very own game. Now, the next time you barge into my office without prior notice, you'll regret it. Get out."

"Why? Why Valeric?" 

"Not that it is the reason." He ripped his hand off her grip. "But I have my wif-" 

"Ahhhh!" Nix rushed in between the two, separating them. "What he means to say is that he's got somewhere to be. We…have somewhere to be." 

"Right, Valeric?" He looked at him with a smile and made a cut-throat signal to him.