Page 52 of Forever My Siren Luna (The Hidden Cove #2)

You could see evidence of war in many of the towns, but even the destruction that once had been was now overcome by the nature around it if it hadn’t been repaired.

Vines crawling up the walls of lone chimneys, the houses that once held them burned to the ground.

The crumbled walls of ruined wells were covered in moss, now giving life to the crawling creatures of the ground.

The men were well received in every town we had been to. Beta Nilo was loved and adored by all. I noticed that in each town, there were at least one or two ladies pining after him, stealing sultry glances and whispering conversation if they could manage to get him alone.

Good for him. He is single and unmated. The women seemed to only want to bed the man.

He works so hard at the packhouse, it’s good to see he knows how to work his pecker enough to let off steam when he needs to.

I was scared the Beta would only ever get a hard on if his alpha ordered it of him.

The man lived and breathed for his Alpha.

For his pack. He deserved some pleasure too.

The men were great company. There was a lot of teasing about my lack of underwear, but nothing wildly inappropriate like I expected.

They didn’t leave me out of conversation either for being a woman.

Many would. It almost feels like a crime at times to be a woman.

You get made to feel guilty about the strangest of things.

These men held comradery, even with me, and the fact I was a woman was only brought up when Nilo tried to claim he was the prettiest one out of the bunch.

It was a different sort of comradery than what I always experienced on the ship with the rest of the pirates.

Though it was still well and good, I found myself missing the smell of the ocean, and little things like Little Joe’s persistent questioning, and Lucky’s whistling out of tune the same song over and over again.

I also found that riding a horse for long hours on end was not an easy feat.

My pussy was snarling at me, sore from the unpleasant pounding.

It wasn’t the worst pounding it had ever received, so I inwardly told it to shut the hell up and not to embarrass me by walking bow-legged every time I dismounted.

It was a hard thing to do, as my thighs and calves were equally as sore.

Even my back began to hurt, no matter how much my beast healed me.

I would much rather be riding some other beast for hours on end, but that beast had pissed me off greatly before I left.

Even so….

I missed Jack above all. Yes, he drives me mad, but there is a need inside me now to see his face at random times. I even missed his slurring of words, and the woodsy scent he had mixed with the smell of rum.

I was lost in thought, gnawing on a hard piece of meat, thinking of that blasted coin he always had on hand when it happened.

The most terrible smell I had ever smelled in my life reached my nose at the same time as the horrid cackling, like hyenas picking apart a felled buffalo, started ringing through the night.

Nilo, who had gone off to scout the surrounding area with another man, came racing back on his horse, signaling for everyone to prepare for battle.

I didn’t know what we were about to face, but I did as he said, getting my mount ready and grabbing the weapons available to me to meet the fight head on until the right moment to shift.

Beta Nilo, the fool, tried to order me away. I took great offense, and tried to go against him, and that’s when he gave the command.

It had been years since anyone commanded me to do anything. The pain of my will being stripped away made my eyes water as I grit my teeth. I had no choice but to do what he said, retreating with the other warrior who was fleeing to the packhouse for reinforcements.

That should have been my first warning that we were in something deep. Beta Nilo was merely preparing to hold the line long enough for me and the warrior to get away. The look in his face was set in stone, full of resolve and finality. He believed it was the end of the rest of them.

As I was racing after the warrior, my horse following his, that’s when I saw the first of the creatures.

A massive humanoid being, with horns growing out of its head, with his entire body looking to be ablaze with black flames.

Only its eyes were of any color. Brilliant glowing red.

Its razor teeth were even black and it's flaming breath smelled of sulfur and death.

It cut me off from following the warrior, and with one swoop of its taloned claw my horse was ripped out from under me and I was thrown to the ground.

I had never felt fear like that before. My focus was so consumed with that creature, I didn’t notice the other behind me until it was too late.

I tried to shift the moment I felt icy hands like the touch of a ghost wrap around my throat, but then a piece of metal was thrust around my neck and I was unable to connect with my beast any longer.

“The master will want this one,” the bird-like creature who caught me hissed. “The master will like this one greatly,” it cackled as I kicked my legs out to try and land a blow to its deformed, bulbous chest. It seemed amused by my efforts, not threatened in the least.

Why would it be? I was caught and disarmed in every way. I was at their mercy, and mercy was something I knew I would not be receiving.

The tang of blood polluting the air made me sick, knowing it was the blood of those I had spent the entire day with. The men that had taken me in as one of them, who didn't let me stay alone in the stable to wallow in self-pity, which is what I would have done if not for the Beta’s invite.

Beta Nilo’s growls and snarls were the only indication I was not yet alone with the demonic creatures who had me in their grasp.

The bird-like demon carried me by the back of my neck to the place where the snarls were coming. As I suspected, all were dead but the Beta, who was fighting in his beast’s form against 2 demons that were just toying with him while a horde of other demons watched with frenzied excitement.

Tears burned my eyes watching Nilo not giving up the hopeless battle. He was never going to give up. Not until his dying breath.

A scorching hot, sandpaper tongue with the thick stench of sulfuric acid ran up the length of my body, causing me to scream.

My scream was all it took for Nilo to become distracted enough to receive a blow to the back of the head from behind.

His beast’s body crumpled to the ground.

I didn’t know whether to pray for him to be alive, or for him to be dead already, because a swift death was not in the cards for him if he wasn’t.

The menacing cackles of laughter as the demons mocked his naked form when he shifted back to human was terrifying.

“Is he alive?” the bird-creature screeched, claws still gripping around my neck.

One of the beings touched Nilo with its foot. Nilo groaned loudly, confirming he was still alive.

I closed my eyes in relief, but also mortification. What would they want him alive for? Was it for the same reason I sense they wanted me?

“Collar him. Bring him alive. The master wanted one alive.” The demon then turned its red-beady eyes towards me. “The girl may soon lose the ability to speak.”