last one for the night. I have at least 3 more for tomorrow. I usually get started working at around noon California time, so start checking around then.
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
Elelira POVThe three of us wandered down to the beach, since it seemed like the natural place to speak together. Everyone else stayed with Nilo to start discussing the upcoming attack from the North, and the new threat that my uncle now posed to the pack now that everyone knew of his involvement. Jack had information going back years on my uncle’s dealings, and how he would take over other packs. I felt guilty for taking Lachlan away from a meeting with new vital information, but he insisted that he wanted to be with me. I tried not to let it show how much I really wanted him here with me and my father. I tried not to let it show how much it meant to me that he chose to support me and left the meeting to Nilo. That is something he never would have done before. Is it knowing that I am his mate that is causing him to act this way, or does he genuinely love me, even without the bond?That is my biggest hang up. That is what is causing me to not be able to move past this. I understand
“Because I’m going to kill him,” I muttered venomously. Even Lachlan squeezing my hand doesn’t rid me of the rage I feel whenever I think of what my Uncle has put so many people through. I was not the only woman that suffered such a fate. I will be the one to avenge all the others as I avenge myself. I will be the one to instill the same fear in him that he drove endlessly into countless victims. “Death will not come quickly for him,” Val purrs wickedly. “Slow and horrifying,” I agree. “For him and for every last one of his men.” We have imagined my uncle’s death countless times, and quickly could never describe one of those fantasies. “Your story doesn’t explain how the necklace came to be mine and why I do not remember my mother having it,” I said, redirecting my thoughts before they got out of hand and Val gets worked up. He sighs. “This was not my second, but my third attempt to save you from death, Elelira. The first time, I used your mate’s sacrifice of your uncle to try