Page 13 of Losing My Siren Luna
I took the familiar path around the stone walls of the castle, past the main docks, leading to the private dock only for Lachlan’s use. His boat was docked to the side, which is why I liked coming here. It hid me from view as I sat on the dock’s end, letting my feet hang off the edge, skimming the water’s surface.
Feeling the water between my toes brings back the longing to feel the water all around me. I love the ocean, and the freedom it brings. I’ve never known anything but sorrow and confinement on land. I want to be free in the sea again.
I’m staring down at the water under my feet, marveling at the foaming waves as they crash against the structure beneath me. I feel like I’m being watched suddenly, and sigh deeply, thinking it’s going to be Mimi or one of the guards asking me to return to the party. I looked up, took a big swig of wine, then froze, bringing the bottle back down as I’m startled.
Out in the distance is a figure, very human-like, floating above the water. I can’t see his face, or anything other than a manly profile thanks to the angle and reflection of the sun, but I know somehow that he is watching me.
I slowly stand, trying to get a better view so I can see his face when the figure dives below the surface, and a magnificent tail catching the sunset in its scales flicks against the surface.
A siren. In all my life, I’ve never seen another. Not even when the representatives come to shore every several years to discuss diplomacy with the packs. I was always told to stay out of sight, in my room, even by my mother.
Seeing one now brings tears to my eyes. I want to be in the sea. I wanted to dive in, swimming out to where I saw him go under, searching for him and pleading for him to take me. Take me back to your lair, to your kingdom.
“Can we call out to him? Is there a way to signal him to come here?”Val asks, as eager as I am to find a way to escape into the sea. She is just recovering from what being near her mate did to her. The agony of knowing you are so close to a mate that doesn’t want you and can’t feel you kills her, but she knows he is hopeless. A lost cause. He will start hurting us by tonight, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. Not without making ourselves vulnerable, which I will not do.
“I don’t think he wanted us to see him. He dove under right when we noticed him.”
“What if he is just swimming to us? He could be coming this way now.”
“No. This distance is nothing in the water. He would already be here.”
I’m tip toeing on the edge of the dock, considering diving in when I hear that damned nickname again. Val whimpers in my head, not ready for another encounter with him. Maybe I should dive in. I can make it pretty far by swimming even without my fins. I can make it to the other side of the castle, then sneak away to my room, hiding for the rest of the night.
“LIRA!” he yelled, and I knew he caught sight of me. I groaned, throwing the sea one last longing glance before turning to face my insufferablehusbandonce again.
“Retreat, Val. Just tune him out and wait for this moment to pass. It will always pass with him. Close yourself off and I’ll let you know when he’s gone.”
She whimpers, but is quick to listen, hiding herself deep in my mind, closing herself off to all my senses so she won’t have to feel her mate being near.
Chapter 5
Earlier.....
Lachlan POV
“What the hell was with that speech?” I growled at my Beta. “Two years?! Did you have to put a time limit on us in front of everyone?!”
Nilo stares at me in confusion, trying to loosen my grip on the collar of his shirt. “Alpha, I showed you my speech beforehand. Just yesterday you said it was okay. You even said to make sure the pack knows that this is only temporary. That you will find your true Luna once this bullshit with Alpha Wayne is over.”
Shit. I did say that. I remember now. I even held a special meeting between my most trusted subordinates and ranked Lycans, telling them to keep their eyes on Elelira, to be wary of her and that she was not to be trusted. I truly thought Wayne was using her to trap me in some way.
I release Nilo’s collar, pushing away from him, cursing under my breath while I pace, running my hand through my hair.
“Alpha?” Nilo watched me carefully. He probably thinks I’ve gone crazy. Maybe I have. I just know I can’t let things continue the way they are. I will never earn her trust if history repeats itself.
“She’s my Luna, Nilo. She’s my….” my throat burns, the blood promise preventing me from saying it; saying she’s my mate. I can’t reveal that myself until the day of her 20th birthday.
Her birthday…..
Shit. That’s today. Today is her 18th birthday. That’s why her uncle chose this day to begin with. I had forgotten.
“She’s your what?” Nilo disrupts my distressing thoughts of forgetting something as important as her birthday. “Are you saying she’s your mate?”
I swallow, anticipating pain, but luckily, when I nod my head in answer, I don’t feel anything indicating I’m breaking the terms of the contract. I can’t tell him, but he can guess. Good. That’s good to know. It should be the same for Lira then. I can get her to guess that I know we are mates....if I can ever get that close to her to have those kinds of conversations.
“Holy cow. She’s your mate? Is that why you were so nervous during the ceremony? I thought you both were acting weird. You must have been uncomfortable because of the bond and not being able to just mate her in front of all those people. How are you holding yourself back from taking her now?”
Killian growled at the crassness of his question. We don’t yet feel the bond. That’s how we are able to hold ourselves back, but I can’t say that to him now. My throat burns with the mere thought of telling him.
