Page 66 of Losing My Siren Luna
“Luna, I must insist you let him go and come with me,” Cherum tries to pull my arm to get me away, while Maurice goes to grip my other arm.
Cedric, with lightening speed, slams his fist down on Cherum's wrist, forcing him to let go of me, then his arms snake around my waist, and he twists our bodies around, turning with me so I’m out of their reach, which just angers my guards further.
Cherum growls, and Maurice reaches for the blade strapped to his waist.
“I believe my princess does not want to go with you,” Cedric purrs in a composed, elegant voice, full of certain authority. “I can’t say I blame her. Witnessing just a bit of your barbaric behavior towards her, it seems I came just in time.”
Cherum takes a threatening step forward, a fierce snarl filling the space between us. The hair on his exposed skin is thickening as his claws extend, and I can see the challenge on his face. He’s about to force Cedric to step away from me. I can’t let that happen.
“Cherum, stop,” I pleaded with him, “Please. He’s….he’s not here to hurt me. Right?” I looked at the unfamiliar man for reassurance. I don’t know what else to say or how else to argue my point that I want to stay to talk with him. This is the first time that I have met the man and I’m unsure of the reasons why he is here. He may be here to hurt me, but that is a risk I am willing to take to get some answers about where my paternal bloodline comes from. He is a siren. He must have some clue or be able to give me some hint as to who my real father might be.
“I would never hurt you, princess. I would obliterate any who tried.” Cedric’s voice rings with conviction, and I know somehow that he is telling me the truth. I looked at Cherum, my eyes wide and begging.
Cherum sighs, “Lass, you…..you know what he is, right? You know he’s a siren. He could be using his abilities to entice you to go with him. I can’t risk that.”
“He can’t use those abilities on me,” I confessed, “I know what he is, and I know that I am safe from that magic. Please, Cherum, just trust me.”
Please, please, please don’t make me confess more than that. Please don’t make me admit that I am a hybrid; a siren too.
“You might be able to trust him. I don’t think he would do anything or treat you differently,”Val tells me.
“He may not, but I can’t have him and the others here keep that secret from their Alpha. It’s not them I don’t trust. It’s him.”
“Hmm,”Val groans, unable to argue with me. She retreats back to watching everything through my eyes, worried just as much as I am about letting Cedric go.
Cherum is scowling while staring at the man who is trying to block me from my delta's view with his naked body. I can see Cherum's mind is racing, trying to decide what to do.
“How do you know his magic won’t work on you?” Cherum then asks, “How amIto know that? How do I know that this man isn’t here to kidnap the new luna? He could have been sent here by the tribes of the north or the covens hidden in the hills bordering our lands? How-”
“Her necklace,” Cedric cut him off, “It holds protective magic. That’s what called me to her. Let me ask you this,Delta,” he said the title mockingly, “Was the princess in danger early this morning? Was there something that happened to her that put her in a frantic, panicked state? Anything that tried to harm her in any way?”
Cherum’s scowl deepens. “I was with her. She will never be in danger with me around.”
Cedric laughed dryly, “If that were true, I wouldn’t be here.” He shook his head, then turned to pull me beside him. His hand went to the back of my neck, startling me for a moment, and making Cherum and the other two guards growl, but then he found the necklace chain and pulled it, starting from the back, and working his way to the front, freeing it from my dress so it rested on the outside of it, in full view. “This necklace is like a beacon, infused with magic that calls to our kind when she is in trouble. It called for help this morning, loud and clear. Hence my being here. If you did not want a siren warrior sent to protect the princess, you should have done a better job protecting her," he stopped and shook his head, "One day. It took your kind just one day to prove your incapability to keep her safe.”
Cherum growls deep in his chest, “So you would have me believe thatyou, pretty boy, were sent because she is wearing some siren charm that called for you after the Alpha’s little outburst this morning?” he scoffs, shaking his head.
“The alpha?” Cedric looks taken back for a moment, then fiery outrage flashes on his face. “The Alpha? As in, herhusbandwas the one to endanger my princess this morning?”
Cherum and Maurice exchange a quick, worried glance as the menacing aura emanates from the siren next to me. His indignation was rolling off of him in waves.
I don’t understand why he is getting this upset over an event that had nothing to do with him, just like I don’t understand why he keeps calling me princess. Maybe because I was technically an alpha descendant from my uncle’s pack, though I was never treated like one? Maybe this necklace is like a magic item that calls for help when it feels its owner is distressed, and Cedric is the outcome of that? Whatever the reason, all I know is I need to diffuse this situation. Now.
“It was a misunderstanding,” I said, trying to calm Cedric’s discontent, “He did not harm me, but I hit him out of anger. Of course, his temper flared for a moment, but it was all just a misunderstanding.”
Cedric blinks a few times, then turns his stare down at me, looking less menacing as he does, his eyes softening into a pained expression. “What would cause you to hit the man that is your husband and the Alpha Lycan of this pack, though? It must have been something serious.”
I bit my lip, staring up into his luminescent, deep blue eyes. What do I tell him that won’t make his temper flare again?
“That was my fault,” Yasmin calls out from Percy’s arms. “I was asked not to approach the Luna, but I did anyway and the Alpha was just trying to discipline me for disobeying. The Luna slapped him to stop him, sir. It all started with my mistake.”
Oh, Yasmin. I want to correct her, tell her that it wasn’t her mistake at all coming to the packhouse to seek help and a safe haven. I hope she truly doesn’t believe that, because no matter what Lachlan, Cherum, or anyone else may have told her, she shouldn’t have been told to stay away from me. Not when her safety was on the line. If he is ashamed of his past, it’s not her mistake.
“And why were you told to stay away from her?” Cedric asked.
“That is not any of your business,” I snapped before Yasmin said anything more. “I didn’t agree with the order so I reacted badly. That’s all you need to know.”
Cedric studies my face for a few seconds longer, probably trying to tell if I’m being honest or if he should leave the topic about Yasmin alone. I’m glad he is studying my face and not the others, because they look slightly uncomfortable at me taking the blame for my idiot husband’s misdeeds. I'm used to holding back my true feelings. I have no worries about him seeing my inner thoughts on my face.
