Page 50 of Losing My Siren Luna
I know how it feels to suffer alone. I never wish that on anyone else.
"You did the right thing,"Val tells me. "Don't doubt that, Ela. If you didn't stick up for her, no one else would have."
"I know."That's another thing that scares me about leaving this pack.
With Cherum, I feel like I have the strength and backing I need to protect women like Yasmin. Women that others would just cast aside and label a whore. In my short two years here, if I can help just one other woman with the new power I have as Luna in this life, it will make all the suffering I endure under Lachlan worth it.
"I like Killian, still,"Val whimpers.
"There is no way to have one without the other," I told her solemnly.
"I know,"she sighed heavily.
Cherum opens my door for me once I have myself together. Inside, Percy is sitting at my table with a book I was gifted among the wedding presents, while maids are moving about organizing clothes and belongings that are clearly not mine in the closets and in the adjoining rooms.
“What is all this?” I asked, momentarily surprised at the disorganization.
It was slightly messy after I opened and unpacked everything earlier, but not to this extent. This is far, far more than what I was given by my brute of a husband. Because of the dark colors and the more masculine designs, I have a sick feeling that I know what is happening.
“The Alpha ordered us to move his belongings into this room, Luna,” Ingrid, one of the maids, tells me. “He is giving his room to Niomi so she can be closer to you, and ordered his things to be brought over here for now.”
“Oh, good goddess,” Cherum huffs, exasperated. He said what I'm feeling.
Great. I can’t even argue or decline the intrusion if it is for Mimi’s sake. Maybe I can sneak off to my old bedroom in the cold tower at night. I truly do not want to share a room fully with Lachlan after what just happened. I don’t know why he would want to share a room with an unwanted wife he thinks is a whore anyway.
I sighed, “Where is my guest I sent ahead of me?” I asked Ingrid, but it was Percy who answered.
“Changing in the bathroom, Luna. Niomi and Gemma are in there, just like you requested.”
I smiled fondly at the warrior. “Thank you, Percy. And thank you for helping her back here to clean up.”
“You are welcome, my Luna. Are you alright, though?”
My smile falters, but I try to quickly compose myself as I nod. “Of course. Thank you.”
Mimi and Gemma emerged from the bathroom a few moments later, Yasmin following behind in one of my cousin’s old dresses my uncle had sent with me when he brought me here.
“You could have given her one of my new dresses. That one is quite old, though, it does look far better on you than it does on me.” She is the right size and height to fit in the dress, unlike me. I should give her the rest of the dresses from my cousin too.
Yasmin’s face turns red, making her freckles stand out as she brushes her hands down the skirt. “I am grateful, Luna. I will wash it and bring it back later tonight.”
“No. You keep it, Yasmin. You will need it, as you will be staying here to serve me.”
Her eyes look stunned as they moved back up to mine. “But…the alpha….”
“I will deal with him, lass,” Cherum says behind me, “If my Luna wants you here, here is where you belong.”
Her eyes start to glisten and a sob escapes her. “I don’t have to go back?” she asks in a weak voice.
I smiled sadly, then walked towards her, resting my hands on her shoulders. “We will go together to get your belongings later today,” I looked to Cherum for reassurance that it was okay, and when he nodded, I continued, “but after that, you will never have to go back. No one can ever make you do anything you don’t want to do again.”
Her tears spill over, and she throws herself in my arms, crying on my shoulder while I rub her back and comb my fingers through her hair.
“Thank you. Thank you, Luna. I thought I would die there after last night, but had nowhere else to go. Thank you, so, so much.”
My heart aches for her, and I can feel her relief, because it is my own. That moment of relief when I finally decided to die, when I decided to free myself from all the pain and agony; if her relief is anything like that, then it fills me with pride knowing I helped her to not face the same fate.
“Yasmin. Would you mind taking a walk with me along the beach? I have a story I wish to share with you, and once I’m done, I hope you can tell me your story too.
