Page 53 of Losing My Siren Luna (Hidden Cove #1)

Leona POV

My stomach churns as I step off the ship, my feet finally hitting dry land.

For some reason, the Gamma sent warriors and scouts on this ship too.

I was already on board when they boarded at the last minute before the ship cast off.

I’ve had to stay hidden away like a rat in the bottom quarters of the ship ever since.

I wouldn’t have even known the men were scouts if two of them hadn’t been frequent customers at the brothel.

They sought the mousier women, not able to handle what I had to offer, though I offered frequently.

Being Lycan, not human or werewolf like the other girls, I guess I was too intimidating to the weaker customers.

The alpha was the only customer that I actually felt any joy from being with anyway.

Who wouldn’t, with his dominant, aggressive bedroom manners?

He didn’t get as rough with the other girls as he did with me.

That’s how I know I meant something to him.

He treated me special, being wild and rough with my body on the nights we shared.

Yes, he may have been cold and distant, but I expect any alpha to be the same.

That skinny bitch he married and Yasmin, the drab whore, who couldn’t even handle multiple men at once without whining and moaning about it, ruined everything for me.

Lanny would have eventually gotten bored and came to find me again. There is no way a dismal, practically flat-chested girl could keep his attention for long. She was a true bitch, too boring and dreary for Lanny.

I check to make sure the coast is clear, Gamma Meldec’s men nowhere in sight.

When I was told to leave the brothel by Lady Vera, then denied access to the packhouse, the guards claiming Lanny forbade it, I had little option on where to go next.

The ship setting sail for the pack that the bitch came from seemed like a good enough idea for now.

I gained that alpha’s favor when I offered Yasmin for their particular requests.

He kept calling his niece a whore and bitch, rarely addressing her by name the entire evening.

Maybe he will help me get back on my feet.

Looking around, I can tell this pack is very different from the one I just left.

There are very few women out and about, and the ones that are out are dressed so conservatively that I look very out of place.

I self-consciously started to pull up the bosom of my blouse, but it was cut in such a way that it wouldn't cover much more.

I had to resolve myself to pull my shawl up over my shoulders.

I still catch many men staring at me with a look that sends shivers down my spine, but I try not to show how uncomfortable it is making me.

I started to walk to the town’s center, hoping the packhouse was easy to find, and I could get there without running into the Hidden Cove Pack warriors.

Staying below deck, doing filthy favors for the lowest workers so they would bring me food and take care of my basic needs was trying and humiliating, to say the least. I don’t want my sacrifice to be in vain by being caught once I’m finally off the confines of the ship.

“Uh, ma’am,” a young boy who looks homeless, filthy with dirt and grime, pulls on my skirt as I walk by.

I sneered, tearing my skirt out of his grimy hands. “What? Don’t touch me.”

He looks down sorrowfully, his face cast over with shame. “I’m sorry ma’am. I just thought I should warn you not to go that way.” He pointed down the alleyway I was about to head down. I noticed no one else was walking on the same path. It is completely vacant.

“Why?” I lifted a brow in question, looking doubtful at his warning. It's vacant, but the way seems normal enough.

“You don’t look like you're from around here. That way is a trap by the guards. With the way you are dressed, ma’am, and since you are all alone, the guards will probably take you and do the things that make the women scream for long periods of time.

” he bows his head deeper. “They did that to my mom. She didn’t live long after.

I sit here and warn people now not to go down that street.

You’re pretty, ma’am. They would definitely take you. ”

My sour mood towards him lifts considerably hearing about what he went through. Not enough for me to want to help him in any way. No one ever helped me. I’m grateful for his warning, though.

“I’m trying to get to the packhouse,” I told him, trying to maintain my cold demeanor. It’s like armor to me, and I’m not letting it drop for anyone, even a child. “Could you tell me the safest way to get there?”

“The packhouse?” He looks up at me, horrified. “Why do you want to go there?”

My brows pulled together. “That is my business. Why does it matter?”

“No one goes to the packhouse unless they have to. The alpha…” he gulps nervously. “He isn’t nice. He didn’t care when mom died.”

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.

After what they did to Yasmin, I didn’t think Alpha Wayne and his men would be kind.

I never held that illusion for a second, but I didn’t think even a child in his own pack would be terrified of him.

Lanny had a mean streak, but only when you angered him.

He would never unjustly hurt a member of his pack, and from what I hear, the orphans all love him.

Alpha Wayne can’t be that bad. It’s an alpha’s duty to take care of his pack, but also his duty to punish members when needed. I’m sure this boy’s mother committed a major offense to earn her alpha’s unfavor and mistreatment. That has to be it.

I turned my nose up, not trusting the boy’s words any longer.

He probably isn’t even an orphan. He’s probably trying to trick me into going in a different direction so whoever he is working with can rob me.

There doesn’t appear to be anything that seems off on the path before me.

He is just trying to deceive me, I’m sure.

“Thank you for your warning, child, but I think I should be on my way.”

When I take another step towards the alleyway, he hurriedly grips my skirt again, a panicked expression on his face.

“Ma’am! You can’t-”

WHACK

I backhanded him, sending him flying about a foot off the curb where he was sitting. He whimpers, tears filling his surprised eyes. Guilt almost settled in my chest, but it was quickly replaced with disgust by seeing a dark spot spread on the rear of his pants, the stench of urine filling the air.

“Don’t. Touch me,” I snapped coldly, then turned my back on his sobbing, crumpled form. He will not earn my sympathy by causing me to fall for his scams. I will speak with Alpha Wayne about the filth he keeps on his streets too.

I walked for about 5 minutes, the boy’s sobbing no longing reaching my ears, when a couple of guards dressed in similar attire to the ones who were accompanying Alpha Wayne at the brothel were wearing.

The flame red stripes on the seams of the trousers and sleeve cuffs are a clear sign they were Alpha Wayne’s men.

Fear grips my chest, seeing the vulgar expressions on their faces. They are eyeing my exposed chest like starving men eyeing a roast of a spit.

I turn to run back the way I came, but two men are coming from that direction, looking me much the same as the other two.

“What do we have here, Bernie?” One of the men from behind asks the men standing before me. I turn in a circle, then try to back into the side of a building. There is nowhere to run. I’m blocked from every angle; every escape.

“This one really does appear to be asking for it,” another man said, stepping closer to me and running a finger over my collarbone and dragging it to my cleavage. A disgusted shiver wracks my body, realizing the boy was telling the truth washing over me.

“She doesn’t have the scent of our pack,” another one with rotting teeth grins wickedly. “We can do as we wish, then toss her into the sea. No one would make a fuss.”

“No,” I whisper hoarsely. “I’m…I’m here for Alpha Wayne. Please…”

“The Alpha?” the fourth man pushes past the other three to look at me. To my relief, he is a familiar face. One of the men that visited the brothel that night. “Why?”

“I know you,” I compose myself enough to sound somewhat confident, though my voice is still a bit shaken. “You were with your Alpha at the brothel I worked for in Hidden Cove a week ago.”

Recognition replaces the skepticism on his face. “The Lycan wench that offered us your friend. I remember,” he grins slyly. “Did you bring her with you? She was….fantastic,” a hungry look fills his eyes.

“No,” I say in a measured tone. “She, uh, had to retire after that night.” I leave out how she was taken as the chosen mate to one of the top warriors working directly under the new Luna.

“Understandable,” he chuckled darkly. “That's too bad.”

I smile weakly, flinching involuntarily when he presses himself up against me, holding his weight with his arm on the wall behind me.

He runs his nose from my ear to my nape, breathing deeply.

“You shouldn’t visit our Alpha smelling like you haven’t bathed for a week.

Why don’t I take you home for a quick soak , then I can take you up to see him.

He won’t be available for several hours anyway.

He will be so excited to see you later.”

I paste on a smile, glad I will only be entertaining one of these men for the time being. The other 3 look slightly disappointed.

“I would like that very much,” I rested one of my hands flirtatiously on his chest, running my nails through the sprinkling of chest hair poking out above his shirt.

I would rather chew my own toe off than gratify a man like this, but I see no other choice in this situation.

I will just have to use my charm to subdue him.

“Maybe I can help?” The man with the rotting teeth speaks up.

“Why not?” The man before me chuckles. “It can be a team effort.”