Page 15 of Losing My Siren Luna

He’s right.

With a final run-through of the plans for moving her room, Nilo walks off to carry out the tasks, and I hurry back to the reception hall.

When I got there, I didn’t see her at our table, and with a quick glance around the room, I could see she was no longer there.

“Alpha! You’re back! I thought you had retired for the evening to get your rest before we head out tonight!” Cherum came up from behind me, slapping me on the back in the cheerful way he used to.

I haven’t seen him like this in so long. He’s my Delta, and he’s supposed to be Luna's aide and protector. Because of my order to not treat Elelira as Luna, he neglected his duties, snubbing her completely. He may have been the only one who came close to feeling as bad as I did when everything came to light.

“I won’t be going out tonight, or any night from this night forth,” I told him in a terse tone, “Have you seen my wife?”

“Your wife?” he questions me, “I figured you sent her away. I saw her leaving not long after you left the hall with Nilo.”

My eyes grow big and worry hits me. “She left?”

He nods, pointing towards the door that takes you to the back passage to the docks.

I sprinted out of the hall to find her, praying she wasn’t trying to escape to the sea again. That image has haunted me for so long. I can’t lose her already. Not like before.

I ran towards the docks, frantically, then saw in the distance the silhouette of a mermaid utterly still in the sea, staring at something at my personal dock. I gasp, realizing who it is, and what he must be staring at. He must have heard my gasp, because he quickly looked my way before smirking and diving under the water’s surface. His hearing is as excellent as always, I see.

I ran the distance from the castle walls to the dock, maneuvering around the stone trail so I didn’t fall off the cliff in my haste. It still takes me far longer than I would like, and I’m in full panic mode by the time I get near the dock.

“LIRA!” I yelled as loud as I could, my throat and lungs burning with the force. “LIRA!” I screamed again, finding her at the end of the dock, dangerously close to the edge while staring down at the water.

Don’t do it, Lira. Don’t leave me again.

“Lira,” I panted out as she turned gracefully to face me, her golden hair streaming behind her like dancing sunlight in the sea winds.

Her sunny hair is such a contrast to her icy expression. She looks exasperated, like I had disturbed her greatly with my presence.

“Yes?” she mutters coldly, making Killian whimper.

“Wha-what are you doing out here?” I asked like an idiot. “Why aren’t you at the reception?”

She furrows her brows, “Why would I need to be there when you aren’t?”

I cringe, knowing she is referring to our first reception when I left early, leaving her on her own without any regard for her.

“I’m sorry. I just had to speak with my Beta for a moment. I was coming right back.”

“How was I to know that?” she snaps.

I try not to cower in her fierce gaze, so much the same as the way she looked at me when she rejected me. My stomach is in knots, and I can't think of any other way to carry on with a conversation with her. Should I try groveling at her feet, begging for her love and acceptance? Will she find mercy for me? Pity? I will accept anything but rejection. I won't survive another rejection from her.

She sighs deeply, realizing I have nothing left to say. Good going, idiot. You yelled at her, and now you can't find your voice to apologize or say something that may help you to win her favor.

She takes one last lingering and longing look at the sea, then walks past me, back towards the reception.

I watched her go, frozen in place by her cold demeanor until she could no longer be seen.

“Good going. You should never have left her in the first place,” Killian snarls at me.

“You were the one that told Nilo to meet us out in the hall while he was giving his speech,”I reminded him.

Hehumphsand retreats to grieve in the back of my mind, distraught at our mate’s scorn.

“You didn't think I would make it that easy for you, did you?” a deep, musical voice questions me. I turned to see the man I saw in the water staring up at me from the space between the dock and my boat. Lira’s father.