Page 26 of Forever My Siren Luna

Cherum, the pack’s Delta, is eyeing me warily. “Do you really go both ways, lass?”

“Go both ways?” I eyed him, knowing what he meant but wanting to give him a hard time.

“You know,” his thick neck and freckled cheeks painted over with embarrassment, making me smirk. “I, uh, mean, do you like the ladies as well as the men?”

“Depends on your definition of like. You will have to elaborate a bit more, Delta.”

“Flipping tails, you’re a frustrating one,” he groans. “You good and well know what I mean, lass. Do you get your fancies tickled by both sexes? Do I need to worry about warding you off my Luna as well as your Captain over there?” He nodded towards Jack.

“Are you worried about my Captain over there?” I turned the question around to him.

“Well, after the man declared his intentions to my Alpha concerning Ela, I am.”

“Shouldn’t your Alpha be worried about her and not you, then?” I wasn’t sure how Delta's duties or their bonds with their Lunas worked, since I was merely a lowly warrior’s mate, never allowed to mingle or leave the house, but I thought it was simply helping to keep Luna safe and calm her when need be. Ela and her mate are not mated and marked, so I didn’t expect this level of protectiveness from all the men in her pack, including the Delta.

“I expect the man is worried about it, but he also won’t interfere. He won’t try to impose his will on her, no matter if it hurts him.”

“Then why do you care?” I raised my eyebrows, taking a sip from the new glass the bartender had just set before me.

“She’s my Luna. Of course, I want what is best for her, and I don’t think it is that man drowning himself in liquor with the commander of our scout platoon.”

I eyed the hulking gentleman sitting beside Jack, blending into the background like he was just there for decoration. He hadn’t touched a drink the entire night, and it seemed as if Jack was working hard to pretend he wasn’t there.

“I wouldn’t say he is drowning himself with your stiff as a board commander. He’s drowning himself in front of him. Your commander isn’t participating.”

“He can’t. He’s on escort duty. Alpha’s orders.”

“Alpha’s orders? He ordered us to be escorted now? Does your Alpha not trust us, Delta?”

“Trust is earned, lass. The last time we had outsiders roaming the pack freely thinking we could trust them to show our members respect, a woman was tied down with silver and wolfsbane and brutally raped in this very establishment. My Alpha protects our members before protecting our visitors' pride now.”

“How noble,” I stared back at him after taking another big swig of my drink. “Tell me, what did your alpha do to those men who brutally raped a woman in the brothel? I bet she was just a whore. Most of them here are just humans too. Did he avenge her, or is that just an excuse to be watchful over us and babysit your own Luna so she doesn’t run away again?”

Cherum stared at me with disapproval, not liking my accusations, but it was the woman behind the bar that answered me, not him.

“Our Alpha had Yasmin’s own mate kill the men who raped her,” she glared at me. “He then had Yasmin execute the one who set her up. He is a fair and just Alpha, and severely protective of all his pack, not just Luna. We may be human whores to you, but to him and her,” she nodded at Ela, “We have always felt just as important as the warriors and elites. No one will take well to you questioning our Alpha’s integrity or intentions.”

A loud snort, followed by an order shouted for more rum could be heard from Jack. He must have heard our conversation. His interaction with the Alpha must not have gone well for him to be this upset. I haven’t seen him this way since before Ela came.

His heart is going to be completely broken if she doesn’t choose him. He is going to go on a downward spiral.

That thought upset both me and my wolf. Greatly.

The woman sighed, reaching for another bottle. Before she could move around the counter to take it to him, I reached out to stop her.

“I’ll take that for you,” I grinned, slipping the bottle from her hands, “as an apology for speaking ill of such an honorable Alpha.”

I moved across the room to his table, waving at him with the bottle in my hands. “Mind if I join you for a glass, Captain?”

“Of course not!” he slurs with too much enthusiasm. “Move,” he glares at the commander. “You’re in her seat.”

The man sighed, but moved to sit by Cherum in the spot I had just left, leaving Jack and me alone.

“I’m sorry, lass. I’ve got only one glass,” Jack lifts it to show me.

“Why don’t we share it then?” I bat my eyelashes, flirting in my usual way, though he’s too tipsy to care much.

“A pirate never shares what’s his,” he leans in to whisper, “he takes what he wants, then never lets it go.”