Page 72 of Forever My Siren Luna (The Hidden Cove #2)

Elelira

Tonight was the night. It was finally the night I would turn twenty. Just a few more minutes, and the full extent of my power will be released inside me once again.

“You look lovely,” Gemma gushed, standing beside me in front of the mirror.

“She looks like she’s getting ready for something other than taking a swim,” Beretta muttered to Yasmin, who was feeding her and Percy's daughter. “Maybe a private swim in the hidden pools near the stream.”

Yasmin snickered. “They do that plenty. Percy overheard the Alpha ordering the sharp stones be smoothed down so as not to hurt his Luna’s back.”

“Will you both stop it,” I snapped, scowling at them in the reflection. “It’s just a robe.”

“And what are you wearing underneath?” Beretta wiggled her brows.

“You’re annoying. Don’t you have a pack to run?” I huffed.

“Eh, it’s running itself right now.” She appointed one of the women who escaped the North with her, who was also originally from my Uncle's pack, to be her Gamma, and Lucky was appointed as her Beta after he found his mate among the women there.

They are running the pack while she and Jack are visiting here.

I ran my hand over my hair nervously. I then gripped the pendant of my necklace in my hand, the weight familiar and comforting, a reminder of my father and all we went through and overcame because of him.

“Luna!” Cherum knocked on the door. “Alpha is nervous enough. Will you hurry your fanny and get out here. You have five minutes until it is time.”

“Coming!” I called as Gemma helped me into my shoes.

“She will be later,” Yasmin snickered. Even Gemma pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

Everyone is laughing at my expense, but I’m so nervous. This heavy sense of deja vu has been haunting me as I walked these halls all day, remembering what my twentieth birthday was like before.

It’s been two years since the day of our second life's marriage. Two years since the start of our second life. The circumstances have changed, and even the walk to the great room where I am meeting Lachlan is different. I am no longer alone. I am surrounded by my friends and loved ones. That doesn’t take away the anxiety I felt inside.

When I walked into the great room, just before 7:00, all of that went away the moment Lachlan’s eyes connected to mine.

It was his nervousness I was feeling. His anxiety.

The last twentieth birthday I had didn’t turn out well for him.

He has told me so many times how that day haunted him until the day he brought me back. He was rejected and I left.

Now, there is no chance of that ever happening. The love I feel for that man is indescribable. Uncontainable. He is my mate, my husband, my Alpha, and the reason I am so blessed when I open my eyes each day.

“MA!” Our baby, Brennus, screamed from Cedric’s arms. Meldec and Westley are beside him, laughing with the rest of the crowd as Brennus yells again for me to get him. He knows one word, and he uses it often.

“Lira,” Lachlan whispered, coming to stand before me. He took my hands in his and kissed them softly.

My heart was beating rapidly from the love reflected in his eyes. It was time, but neither of us wanted to let go.

Suddenly, I felt it. The veil on my magic tore, making it break free. Lachlan held my hands as the air stirred around our bodies. Light burst free from my skin, but he held fast. It was almost as if the magic was coming from him as well.

When the air settled around us, everything felt right inside me. I could feel it. My magic. I felt it coursing through my veins.

Lachlan looked stunned, but smiled as he led me outside to the water’s edge. He surprised me by undressing and going in beside me. There was a look in his eye like he was keeping some secret.

My feet tingled as I walked further and further from shore. As my head went under the waves, I let my magic change me in that familiar way I have craved for so long.

Gone were my legs, and in their place was my magnificent tail. It glittered in the setting sun. I stared at myself smiling when another magnificent tail caught my attention.

Lachlan was no longer wearing legs, but was now sporting his own tail. I thought I was seeing things, or it was a prank, but the gills on his neck and his fins were there too.

“Y-you are a-“

He laughed at my stunned expression. “I am a siren now, just like you.”

I gleefully swam into his arms, so happy that, even in this form, we could always be together. This just felt right.

“My Alpha,” I smiled, laughing with glee as we danced together in the water. “My husband.”

“My Lira," he smiled at me. "My siren Luna.”

~

Five Years Later…

I watched as my son swam circles around Cedric in the water. Lachlan and I were both surprised at the time of his birth when he came out of me with not legs, but a tail. A magnificent tail that shone with the power of his magic that was already awake inside of him.

It was my father’s magic. My father gave all of his magic to Lachlan to bring him back, and that magic transformed Lachlan and our children.

We were all hybrids. Our children and I from birth, and my husband by the gift given to him with his new life.

“There she is,” I heard my husband’s deep cheery voice from behind. He was walking along the beach with our daughter, Niomi, in his arms. She had just woken from her nap and still seemed a bit grumpy, pouting with her head resting under Lachlan’s chin. “I found mommy.”

“Come here my sweet baby,” I grinned, then laughed when she turned her face away.

She was like me in many ways. She loved her daddy deeply and could hold a grudge like none other.

She was most likely upset that I wasn’t there when she awoke from her afternoon nap.

She was now three years of age, and still refused to spend any time with her nanny away from us.

Lachlan was always more than willing to give in to her little tantrums, but I have been trying to draw the line more and more with her.

When baby number three arrives in the next few weeks, she will have a harder time adjusting.

But….it’s still hard to have my little girl mad at me. I may be guilty of over-indulging her from time to time too.

“I was just about to go for a swim,” I said with a smile in my voice. Niomi turned her head to look at me with her big, curious green eyes. “Your big brother is out there. Don’t you wish to join him with me?”

“Bwen-nus?” Niomi craned her neck to see her brother swimming with Cedric, the two of them now doing flips in the air, trying to outdo one another. Niomi turned those big eyes of hers on Lachlan. “Daddy swim wiff Bwen-nus too?”

“If that is what my baby girl wants,” he kissed her curls.

I rolled my eyes with a knowing smile. He grinned back at me. If Niomi had told him to eat sand, he would have. He hasn’t learned to tell her no just yet. I doubt he ever will.

Lachlan set Niomi on the ground, and she sprinted off, ridding herself of her bloomers as she went before she entered the water. Lachlan then helped me up from the ground, a task that is getting harder to do on my own the further along I get in this pregnancy.

“I’m starting to look like a beached whale,” I groaned.

“You’re as beautiful as ever,” he chuckled, giving me the softest kiss while placing a hand over my belly. “I prefer you like this.”

“I’m sure you do,” I giggled. “You prefer the work to get me like this.”

“That too,” he laughed.

We stood there together on the shore, watching our children play with one another in the water for a good while before joining in.

I couldn’t imagine a life happier than the one I am living now.

I will forever love and be grateful to the one who sacrificed everything to give me this chance to live again.