Page 21 of Forever My Siren Luna
I rethink going into town, since I have plenty of what I'm craving on board my ship, but I know Beretta, and she will be encouraging Ela to go drinking when they are done. Beretta's escape is the bottle all too often too. I'd like to be nearby when Ela needs a shoulder to cry on after Beretta gets tipsy and starts being the life of the party, living it up like she was never allowed to do in her pack with her ex-mate.
As the stiff commander and I walk towards the town in awkward silence, I try to amuse myself and keep my thoughts off my own depression by studying the landscape. The packhouse is quite literally a castle, heavily fortified and a safe distance from the town. Most packhouses are in the middle of their biggest settlement, but this one isn’t. It’s like the packhouse is too easily accessible. If I were to invade this land, I wouldn’t need to strategize how to get through the town at all. I could head straight to the heart of the pack. I could attack the packhouse first.
Maybe that’s why it’s like this. Maybe it’s to keep the people out of harm’s way. The town is still fortified, and there are uniform houses surrounding the outskirts.
“Why do all those houses look the same?” I asked, my curiosity getting to be too much. It was like the same man, or a team of men built all of them.
The commander looks over to the direction I am pointing. “It’s the retired warrior’s housing.”
“Retired warriors get specific housing?” Does the Alpha here keep his warriors on that tight of a leash?
“If they want it, and most do. Even in retirement, most want to still seem useful to the pack. War changes a man, and if he loses something to fight for, he often loses his purpose for living. The Alpha provides housing and a hefty retirement pay for those who want it and the retired warriors are the first line of defense to the town if we ever need it. The retirees also volunteer at the schools and orphanages. Since those houses were built and the program was started, suicides from depression and trauma have gone down drastically.”
“Hmm.” Not something I can disagree with, which annoys me. “What do they do for the orphanages and schools?”
The commander is silent for a few seconds, then says, “Our pack has been warring with the North for a long time. We have many growing up without fathers. The children, especially the boys, need a father figure to look up to. Someone to help them feel safe. We all gladly serve our widows and orphans when we can, but the retired generation acts as a consistent male figure in many children’s lives. Even one of my own men, still fairly young, recently adopted an orphan, though he has yet to find his mate. He said if his mate was against him having the boy, then it wasn’t meant to be.”
To choose a child over your own mate is something unheard of.
“Your alpha must be quite the delegator to have all this arranged for his pack members.”
“Delegate, my ass. He participates as much as anyone. Even before Luna came, he was at the orphanage quite often, helping with the older boys. Luna liked to go and play with the younger ones. The pack has always come first to our Alpha. When I heard of what had happened between him and Luna, and this nonsense with her father, we were not surprised by any of the alpha’s actions. His parents and so many others died for this pack. Hearing the reason for him not accepting Luna before knowing she was his mate made sense to us. He wasn’t going to put his own desires before thousands of others. He wasn’t going to risk all of us.
“We would gladly risk our own lives for him and for her, though. He is trying to do right by us, but mostly, do whatever he can to do right by her. If she was uncaring or selfish, or even a bit vindictive, our pack would have been doomed because he probably would still put her first. Thank the goddess that she seems to value the pack as much as he does. That’s why she is here, right?”
That is why she is here. That’s why she insisted on coming back. To save this pack and stop her uncle.
“If you are trying to convince me to concede to your Alpha, it won’t work. He may be a great Alpha, but that doesn't take away her pain. If she will have someone else after rejecting him, I plan on being there on that day.”
The man sighs. “You and the Alpha are going to work so well together, I see.”
“Hopefully, I will only be working with my little Ela,” I grinned. “It doesn’t appear she wants to work close to him at all.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” the commander smirks. “The mate bond is a powerful thing.”
My smile falters, knowing that is the truth.
I need a drink. Or maybe twenty.
~
Sunlight was heating my face, making it uncomfortable. I turned in bed, trying to hide my eyes from the irritating feeling.
I drank far too much last night. My mind is too groggy and sluggish to wake up yet.
That disappears, though, when I realize I’m not in bed alone.
I feel a bare, feminine leg brush against mine. A little moan made my eyes fly open. I’m stark naked in my bed back on the ship, and the body beside mine is too.
“Beretta?” I hissed, making her startle in her sleep, but she thankfully didn't wake.
How did this happen? She’s Ela’s best friend on board. How did I end up in bed with the woman I love best friend?
Eight
12 HOURS EARLIER….
Elelira