Page 104 of Losing My Siren Luna
“That's an improvement, I guess, but why are you worried about what others will think?” If he’s worried about that, he shouldn’t make it so obvious that they are mates. It also sounds a little unfair to Cedric. I don’t like the fishboy, but I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with him or associated with him. Maybe it’s because Cedric is so much prettier than Meldec? Maybe he feels insecure about himself?
“He’s a siren, Alpha,” Meldec states, as if it’s obvious.
“So?” I lift my brow, mounting my horse in a fluid motion. “Why does that matter?”
Meldec pulls his brows together, looking confused by my response. “What if he gets troubled because of being my mate? Our pack isn’t friendly to outside races.”
I growled at that assumption that a siren might be unsafe in my pack. My wife is part siren, after all. “That’s a bigoted opinion on your behalf, Mel. He is more than capable of handling himself. If our pack has prejudices, then you should be an example by treating your mate with the respect he deserves. Be the change, not part of the problem.”
I learned that lesson the hard way in my first life with Lira. I don’t want my friend to make similar mistakes. He has the benefit of knowing they are mates. He should be treasuring that, not tarnishing it. He is hurting his bond.
Meldec is quiet on the first part of the trek to town. I use the quiet as a chance to mind link Cherum and let him know our suspicions about Lira and her companions escaping to town on their own. He is far angrier than me. I’m concerned for her safety, but I trust the fishman to keep her safe. Cherum threatens to filet him before cutting off the link to prepare a team to find her.
“Do you think I should offer to let him mark me first?” Meldec asked once the subject had finally left my mind. I was thinking up places to search for my wife and Killian was thinking up ways to get her to pay for worrying us, most of which involve showering her with presents and kisses while we take her away on a date in town, hoping we would find her before anyone else. I was so consumed with thoughts about my mate, I forgot about his.
“Huh?” I looked at him in confusion.
“Cedric. Do you think I should let him mark me first? Would that pacify him and get him to accept me? Assuming I can actually get him to have a conversation with me for once. He’s been refusing to listen to a word I have to say.”
“I would too,”Killian huffs, irritated that Mel broke us from our daydreams about dates with Lira.
“I think you should start with an apology and a conversation. You accused him of being untrustworthy, thereby breaking his trust in you. You might have to earn that back.”
“Buy him clothes and flowers,” Percy offers. “Yasmin loves it when I buy her shoes and flowers.”
“He’s a man, idiot,” I scoffed at him.
“So? Yasmin and Luna are close with him and he likes many of the same things they do. He said just the other day his favorite flowers are hibiscus flowers that bloom in the warmer climates near the sea. He also likes sweets. Cherum accidentally brought the sugar cookies the Luna dislikes because they have far too much icing, but Cedric said they were his favorite and ate them all up.”
“Really?” Meldec scratches his chin as he takes mental notes, while I’m busy grinning, imagining my wife’s face when she bit into one of those cookies to discover it was too sweet for her. She makes the cutest faces. Even her disgusted face is adorable. “What else does he like?” Meldec asked.
Percy spends the rest of our ride to town telling Meldec everything he can about Cedric, and I’m able to slip back into my daydreams about my wife.
Chapter 34
Elelira POV
When we got to the brothel, Lady Vera was not only willing to talk to me, she invited all of us in for a drink. She grabbed a couple of pints of beer, even though it was barely after lunch, and sat the two of us down at a table in the corner while Cedric and Yasmin remained at the bar, talking with her friends.
“I barely recognized you with that wig on, Luna,” Lady Vera commented. “It’s one of Yasmin’s, isn’t it? I remember sending it out to be cleaned not long before she quit.”
Oh good. At least now I know it’s been cleaned after use. I was trying not to let it bug me, but it was.
“I would have smelled scents on it if it was dirty like that,”Val tried to tell me, rolling her eyes.
“It’s just the fact it was on her head while someone was doing that to her. It’s just a minor phobia.”With my past life, can you really blame me? Thinking of any man doing those acts grosses me out and makes my throat swell. My anxieties begin to rise and I feel like I’m about to slip into a fit. I lift my hand to my necklace and let its magic calm me, the thought about other men right now making my panic rise and my stomach churn.
“You don’t get like that when we think about our mate in that way,”Val teases me.
“He’s our mate. The bond won’t let me feel disgusted or fear him now that our bond with him is strengthening.” I feel the opposite of all that with Lachlan. I feel giddy when he is near and I miss his touches after he leaves my side to go do his work as Alpha. When I see him coming my way, my heart races in a good way, and after his training, when he comes back to our room, most of the time shirtless and dripping in sweat, Val likes to plant dirty thoughts in my mind, making me blush.
The mate bond, when it’s not damaged and no one is fighting it, can be a very powerful thing.
“So why are you here today, Luna? What made you want to come and talk to an old sinner like me? I’m guessing by the wig that you had to sneak out, the Alpha not wanting you to come to an establishment like this.”
I smiled apologetically. “He can be a bit overprotective.”
“Oh, everyone knows. He sends an army out with you when you go anywhere. This visit is a surprise in many ways. I didn’t think our new Luna was a rule breaker,” she smirks, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “What can I do for you, Luna? I wouldn’t want your troubles to go to waste.”
