I wrote the next several chapters of this backward. I'm trying to work forward now to connect them, so there may be a lot of updates over the next 24 hours. I had this epic dialogue come through my head and had to work backward from that.
I bite my lip, fighting back the heat building behind my eyes. Val got most of our aggression out while fighting Beretta, leaving us with mostly sorrow and despair from everything that has happened and was said earlier. If it was anyone else but Cherum that followed us out, I wouldn’t like feeling this vulnerable. I’d probably lash out and let Val take over, like I did with Lachlan earlier. I can’t lash out at Cherum that easily, though. He is still my Delta. My ultimate protector. I feel safe with him, even now. I know I can physically handle myself, but I also know emotionally I can still be a mess, and I trust Cherum to help me through that mess right now. “There is too much damage there,” I whisper, welcoming some of the calm he is trying to pour into me. “When I thought he was someone different, it was easy to consider that kind of life with him. I didn’t know he was the same man as before. Now….” I shook my head.“Ela,” Cherum took my hands. “He is not the same man as before. I
Beretta POV What an informative and insightful evening. So, so insightful. I thought that maybe Ela was ignorant of the Captain’s feelings because she was so young, and she was just jaded from her mate. It happens often. I didn’t want to even think about men after what my mate put me through either. Hearing that she truly just thought of Jack as a brother and nothing more was almost as much of a shock as seeing her confess to still loving her mate. She said she didn't want to, but that was as much of a confession she loved him as if she outright said it. I thought she had gone through what I once had, suffering from betrayal as well as being abused by the one fated to love you. Even though after hearing all she went through, I was sure she went through worse than even me, I was also sure she had no desire for our captain. More important than me being sure, so was my Lycan, Bella. Bella and I always cared for Jack. Deeply. He was our savior. What started as admiration and trust
Lachlan POV “Alpha!” Cherum’s voice echoed in my head through the mind link. “Alpha. Help!” I was instantly on alert. “What’s wrong with Lira,” I asked, knowing that was the only thing that he would be needing this late at night. He was with her at the brothel. I was sitting in the parlor in our old bedchamber after meeting with her father, staring at the rowdy ships in my harbor and waiting for news she was somewhere safe for the night, praying it wouldn’t be in that grimy pirate’s presence. “The lass is drunk as a skunk, and Val is making this harder than it needs to be.” Drunk? Lira doesn’t get drunk. “Where are you?!” It’s Killian’s voice snarling at Cherum now, not just mine. “Meet me at the packhouse gates. She’s flailing like a flippin’ fish. Gah!” The mink link cuts out, and I race towards the entrance to the packhouse. Why would Val take over for Lira? Why the hell did Cherum let her get drunk in the first place? When I saw Cherum start stumbling up the path towards
Elelira POVLast night was a blur. I never get drunk, but Cherum fed me a few of his special coffees before we headed to town, and then Lady Vera insisted on giving me free drinks all night to celebrate my coming back. I wonder how I got back to bed? Cherum was there, and Val was on alert, so I'm sure everything was fine.Stretching in bed, feeling well-rested, despite my hazy night, I stop when my hand lands on something hard and warm, and sparks shoot up my arm. My eyes fly open, and there he is. Lachlan. Sleeping bare-chested in the bed we used to share.He’s bare-chested, because I’m in the bastard’s shirt. Just his shirt. The scent of him is so overwhelming it makes my entire body buzz. “What the hell?” I muttered, backing away from him as far as I could, taking the sheet with me. He still has on his pants, thank heavens, but his chest is completely bare. Val stirs awake in my head, and when she sees our mate through my eyes, she growls furiously, not just in my head but out
Lachlan POV “That was brutal,” Killian mumbled. “That’s better than I expected her to be.” At least she didn’t slit my throat. I think if she tried to physically hurt me it might hurt less than seeing how badly my mistreatment of her in our first lives affected her. She was never open about it before. There were signs, but she never told me. Now that everything's out in the open, she doesn’t have to hide her pain. I lean against the wall across from our room for a few minutes, gathering my thoughts and settling my heart before I go and knock on Niomi’s door. “Mimi?” I yelled to her after knocking, not hearing her moving around. All of us have taken to calling her Mimi when addressing her, since it was the nickname she loves given to her by my wife. She asked us to do it herself. I knock again, but there is still no answer. I’m about to mind link her, but then I hear her voice along with Cherum’s drifting down the hall. When I looked up, they were rounding the corner, Cherum c
Elelira POV“Are you sure you’re ready for this, lass?” Cherum asked me, leaving a hand on my back as he guided me to the great hall. Am I ready to meet my father? “I am,” Val hisses in my head. “I’d like to tear the gills right off his body.”“We can’t go in there ready for a fight,” I tell her, even though I’m a little ticked off as well with the man we have never met. If he didn’t prevent Lachlan from doing so, Lachlan could have told me freely about how I got this second chance at life and I might not feel so betrayed right now. Or, I could fully blame Lachlan for not telling me instead of feeling conflicted like I do. Either way, all my doubts stem from this man and the contract he entered with my mate. I think I have the right to feel a bit disgruntled. “I’m as ready as I can be,” I murmured back to Cherum, letting him use his soothing energy to relieve some of my anxieties. When we got to the great doors leading to the hall, I was surprised to see Jack there waiting. His
Just then, the door to the great hall opened, and there stood Nilo with a solemn expression. Cherum must have mind linked him or Lachlan to let them know we were here. This is my first time seeing him since I left, and as he looks at me, I can tell he is wary of how I will react. He knows now, about my first life. It seems everyone does. He is Lachlan’s Beta, and his best friend. I wonder if he knows even more than Cherum and the others. The apologetic expression on his face, like he feels so guilty it hurts him, causes me to take pity on the man. I smiled warmly. “Hello again, Beta Nilo.” His lips quiver a bit, but then he bites them, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Luna,” he nods his head respectfully. “Welcome home.” His voice as he says ‘welcome home’ is so full of hope that I hide the conflicting thoughts the sentiment brings. Is this still my home? I’m not sure. I don’t even know how welcome I should feel. “Thank you,” I bowed my head back, not voicing my inner conflict a
I narrowed my eyes at the man, a number of snide remarks coming to mind. “Maybe it would have been best if you had come to meet me instead of sending Cedric then?” Cedic makes a little sound in the back of his throat, making me look over at him and see his lips pout slightly and his brows pulled down at the corners in a sorrowful expression. He wants to speak up. I can tell. It may have been months since we’ve spent any real time together, since I wouldn’t count the nerve-racking moments on the dock, but I know Cedric isn’t one to keep his opinions to himself. The others from the siren kingdom that are here with my father have a similar expression, like they want to speak up but know it is not their place.“I regret not coming to see you myself back then,” King Brennus states, his voice full of guilt. “I am deeply sorry, Elelira.”“Sorry doesn't change what has already happened. We can only move forward from here,” I sighed, pulling on Val to support me through this. I have always w