Page 49 of Losing My Siren Luna (Hidden Cove #1)

Lachlan POV

My nerves are getting the best of me as I lead Lira through the castle and out to the warrior’s part of the castle. I can sense something is bothering her, her face lost in thought as she stares vacantly down at the ground. Val is flashing in her eyes a lot too.

“ My mate likes me. Don’t worry too much,” Killian tries to tell me.

“ You’re mate may like you, but mine still wants to go back to the sea,” I reminded him. “ She could be talking about leaving me right now.”

Killian huffs, “ Don’t be an ass and she won’t.”

“I’ve been on my best behavior,” I growled at him.

I didn’t even snap when the naked merman was swimming with her and she was all over him.

I could tell they were just playing, but it didn’t stop the jealousy from raging inside of me.

I kept it in, not wanting to anger my wife.

I’m glad I did too. She seemed mad enough with Meldec.

“ You’re right,” Killian sighs, “ But it hasn’t been that long. A week isn’t enough time to recover from the past. She has to learn to trust you again. Just keep it up. Hopefully, tonight will help.”

“I hope so.” I want with Lira what Killian has managed to build with Valerina in just a week. They are smitten with one another already. It’s helped to keep Lira open to me, but I can still sense that she is reluctant to grow closer to me. She doesn't trust me.

We pass many warriors and pack members on our way out, everyone smiling and offering their greetings to both of us.

Lira is always exceptionally kind, showing grace and poise in every interaction with my members.

She is a fabulous Luna, and the impact she has had on the pack in just the past week has been amazing.

People are always excited about seeing her, and they trust me more now.

She had helped to tame Killian, who was always volatile and prone to outbursts.

I don’t snap as easily at anyone either.

I had very few happy days, or days I would describe as good in our first life.

I was always irritated and felt on edge, ready for the next attack or the next war to break out.

I was holding my breath and waiting for Wayne to double cross me using his niece, or waiting for my lands to be raided again, my people needing a fierce leader and not a weak-willed chump who couldn’t resist his tempting new wife who I thought was my enemy and not my mate.

Everything is different this time. I’m not fighting my attraction to her.

I want her. There has never been a question about that.

Now, I know not to fight my feelings for her.

I know not to resist the urge to go to her when it comes to me throughout the day.

If I want to see her, I don’t get angry at everyone around me and start to lash out, then release my tension with pointless sex at the end of the day.

I find her. I will drop everything to seek her out when the need arises, and I find so much more satisfaction with just watching her eat apple slices being offered to her by another man than I ever found in anything else.

No amount of meaningless sex, brawling, wine or spirits could ever compare to the pleasure I get from seeing her growing healthier by the day.

I find myself grinning like a fool when I’m watching her laugh and joke with Niomi, teasing Cherum, or simply enjoying a cup of tea.

Her mere presence makes my life have meaning.

That is being reflected back in my pack, and the castle feels like a much happier place simply because of her existence.

I was a fool before. Such an utter fool.

If I hadn't been fighting myself, everyone could have had a better life, and this redo would never have been needed. I deserve to struggle right now, scraping my head on the ground to earn her trust and forgiveness. Forgiveness I can’t even yet apologize to receive.

Not because of the contract with her father.

One day. One day she will know, and then I can spend the rest of my life showing her how truly sorry I am. It’s baby steps for now.

Lira’s small hand keeps flexing in mine. Not like she is trying to pull away, but like she’s fighting some internal battle with herself.

“ The sparks,” Killian reminds me, “ She can feel them even if we can’t. She is resisting the effects.”

I don’t want that. I know Killian said not to manipulate her with the bond, but I can’t help myself. I lifted her hand and kissed the back of it, making her gasp and stare up at me in surprise with her big emerald eyes.

My gawd, she is beautiful. Inside and out.

She blushes, and I want so badly to run my finger across the pink-hued skin on her cheeks. Her face has filled in some over the past week, making her look healthier, and her skin glows with sunshine and vibrancy now. Her hair seems to have more light blonde streaks than before too.

“You’re so beautiful,” I couldn’t help but to tell her.

She bites her lip, then looks away shyly. “We are already married, Alpha. You don’t have to flatter me.”

I resist the urge to groan, not liking that she just thinks that I’m trying to flatter her. “Lira, you really are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I’m not just trying to flatter you.”

She grins, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s more like a scoff, air exhaling from her nose in a puff. “I know you prefer more voluptuous women, Alpha. I have seen your tastes. That is why you have been insisting I be fed more, isn’t it?”

“What?” I stopped us just as we walked past the armory and warrior barracks.

“The only woman I prefer is you. Your eating habits have nothing to do with my taste.” She is my taste in women.

Anyone else I was with after we married the first time was nothing more than her replacement. None of them ever compared to her.

“I know I’m very skinny,” she whispers, running her free hand down the front of her dress. “Thank you, though, for trying to placate me.”

“I am not just telling you that you are beautiful as empty words, Lira. Look at me.” I gently turned her to face me, resting my hand on the side of her face. She doesn’t flinch away from me, which makes me ecstatic, besides the fact that she doesn’t believe me when I tell her she is beautiful.

“You, Lira, my wife, are the most gorgeous woman in the entire land. Maybe in the world. I doubt I could ever lay eyes on anyone more pleasing to look at than you. It’s not just your appearance, though.

I find everything about you to be beautiful.

The way you drink tea, the way you smile when you look at the sea, the face you make before you say something teasing to your Delta, and even the way you glower at someone when they make you angry.

As long as it’s not me, I find joy in everything about you.

You also have the most beautiful heart. You knew the relationship I had with Yasmin, and you still helped her when no one else stepped up to.

You are kind to everyone in this pack. I’ve even stuck off to watch you entertain the children in the orphanage.

Your heart is just as beautiful as everything else about you.

I’m not trying to flatter you. I truly mean it. ”

Her emerald eyes are staring up at me, Val shining through them, watching me with scrutiny, weighing my words, probably to detect any falsehood in what I am saying. There is none. I meant every word.

“Why?” she asks softly, leaning into my touch, probably without realizing it.

She would blush if she realized she was seeking out more contact with my skin.

I’ve noticed the bond causes her to do that at times and she usually doesn’t pick up on it right away.

She does it a lot in her sleep. Holding her to help to keep her nightmares at bay is how we fall asleep, but I often wake up with her body wrapped around mine.

She doesn’t even realize it. She just seeks me out in her sleep, and she hasn’t had nightmares again since that first night.

“Why what?”

She presses her lips together, her eyes searching mine. “Why are you so sure I am the most beautiful person to you? Do you….do you, um,” she hesitates, pressing her lips together again.

“Do I what?” I asked in a husky whisper.

“Do you…..do you feel it?” Her voice is shaky, like she is scared to fully form the sentence. Feel what? What is she asking me?

“ The bond,” Killian tells me. “ She is asking if you can feel that she is our mate.”

My throat swells, the contract pressing forward preventing me from outright saying it.

I want to. I want to scream it. I want to tell the whole world that she was fated to me and only me.

Her uncle and everyone else be damned. I want her to know that I’m treasuring my bond with her, even though I can’t fully feel it yet.

“ I can, though,” Killian reminds me. “ It's not often, and takes a lot of strain, but I feel flickers of it. I know my bond is there with Val, even if you can’t feel yours with Elelira.”

That’s right. I may not feel it, but I can tell her that Killian has.

I test the words in my head, imagine saying them and don’t feel my throat swell like before. I guess it's safe.

Lira was still staring up at me, waiting for my reply. She truly is the most beautiful woman alive. Even without the bond telling me that, I know without a doubt that she is.

“Killian does,” I whispered, tracing her soft cheek with my thumb, marveling at the glittering in her eyes at my confession.

“He feels the bond?” she gasps, her voice sounding slightly broken with relief. “Really?”

I nod, nervous and relieved that I’m finally able to tell her in some way that I know we are mates.

“So,” she bites her lip, hesitating again, “You….you know that we are…..mates?”

“Yes,” I smiled weakly, hoping she wasn't upset by the news. I shouldn’t know, but I don’t want to lie to her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she says, looking a little lost; maybe stunned.