Page 9 of Losing My Siren Luna (Hidden Cove #1)

Elelira POV

Walking back to the reception hall, I tried to let the numbness overtake me again, taking a final swig of the wine before leaving the bottle on the pathway, not wanting to draw any more negative attention to myself by coming in with it.

There are already many differences in this second time marrying Lachlan already. Not just the kiss, which was unexpected and confusing enough, but Lachlan coming to look for me after.

Once he left the reception before, he never came back. I was on my own the rest of the evening until Mimi led me back to my room for the night.

What reason would he have to come search for me? I thought he and his subordinates would be readying themselves for their night out about now.

“Luna,” someone says, disturbing my thoughts. I looked around and saw Nilo and Cherum, Lachlan’s Beta and Delta watching me as I reentered the hall. I didn’t know which one addressed me, or why they would be calling me Luna, so I just stared at them in confusion.

“Pardon my late introduction,” Nilo says, smiling kindly, “I am the Beta here, Nilo Gossling. This is our Delta and your personal protection and aide from this day forth, Cherum Rosewood.”

“Luna,” Cherum bows his head respectfully. “I look forward to serving you from-”

“That’s alright,” I rushed to interject before he made a vow or anything of that sort to protect and serve me.

In this strange second chance, I still do not wish to cause qualms or be the reason someone breaks a vow.

“Like the Beta said during his speech, I have but 2 years, such a short time, that I will be in the care of this pack. After the contract is fulfilled, I have no desire to burden you any longer. If you will excuse me,” I bowed to both of them before hurrying off towards my seat.

I didn’t miss the way Nilo flinched when I mentioned his speech.

I wonder why he cares, or why they would bother talking to me?

They didn’t the first time. Cherum would always sneer or growl at me, not wanting anything to do with me before, and Nilo, though not as hostile, would be the one to turn me away every time I sought Lachlan out.

I don’t want to bear ill-will towards either of them, but those memories remain, so my bitterness does as well. I only want to live like the dead, the same as before, surviving until my 20th birthday.

I sat alone in my seat for quite a long time, watching the others around the room mingle and enjoy the celebration.

People are dancing, and the wine is flowing at every table.

Even my own. Alcohol doesn’t affect us the same as humans, but many in the room are starting to act drunkenly.

I have a much higher tolerance, since I am a hybrid, I suppose.

I used to try to use alcohol to numb the pain of Lachlan’s affairs, but it never fully worked.

Now, I am just enjoying the wine, which seems to be my only companion again in this marriage.

Lachlan, though he claimed he was coming right back, still hasn’t shown up.

I was about to wave Mimi over so I could retire for the night when he finally came back in, dressed entirely differently than before.

He always favored black, but he wore more gold during our ceremony, and now he is in a white linen shirt with his signature black pants.

You can see the contrast of his tan skin with the white shirt, making him more attractive and less severe-looking.

I’m sure the women at the establishment he frequents will go nuts over his appearance tonight. Good for them. Someone should feel happy on the day of our wedding. It isn’t either of us.

He sits in the chair beside mine, and I don’t even bother acknowledging his return.

“I’m sorry for my delay. I, uh, had a mishap on the dock and fell into the water. I had to go dry off and change.”

I can smell the saltwater on him, and his hair is still damp. I suppose he is telling the truth, but that is of little consequence to me. “I understand,” I mutter, so as not to be rude and disrespect him in front of his people.

“Lira,” he says the name softly. I wish he would stop calling me that.

“Elelira,” I muttered.

“What?”

“Elelira is my name. Not Lira. No one but-” I stop myself before I say you call me that . “No one calls me Lira.”

“I wish to,” he whispered in a deep, husky voice, making Val whimper with desire. I turned my head to look at him. His body is leaning towards mine and his eyes are begging me for something. For what, I do not know. “You will always be my Lira.”

With the tender way he says it, I almost believe him.

The silence stretches between us, and even Val is stirring inside me, curious, and maybe a little hopeful about the intentions behind his words.

"Uh, here," he murmured after a while, looking down awkwardly. He hands me a beautiful pendant necklace. The cool-toned jewels and pattern somehow remind me of the ocean, and my hand reaches for it without a conscious effort to do so, like I'm being drawn to it in some way.

"What is this for?" I asked softly. The metal in which the jewels are embedded is cool to the touch, and tingles run up my fingers.

I would mistake the tingles for the mate bond if I wasn't familiar with the sensation from before.

Magic. The necklace is embedded with fae magic, much like the siren magic I processed after my 20th birthday.

Siren magic is fae magic, since sirens are one of the many races of fae-kind. "Where did you..."

"It was a gift. Not from me," he let me know quickly, "It was given to me by, uh, someone who wished to pass along the present to you."

"Who?" I can't help but ask.

"It has magic like ours in it," Val muses in my head, fascinated by the feeling we get from holding the pendant. It almost feels like it's redirecting its magic to flow into us. " Who gave that to him? Does he know that it has magic in it?"

"Werewolves and Lycans cannot sense magic like hybrids and other races can. I doubt he is aware."

"Someone who wishes for you to have a happy life here," he smiled nervously.

I can't help but snort in a very unlady-like fashion. I doubt I'll have anything close to a happy life here.

"Lira, I just want to say, I do hope you can find a way to live happily here with me and, well, happy bi-"

"ALPHA!" a group of young women interrupted whatever he was about to say.

They are all dressed alluringly, with low necklines and bodices to push their breasts almost to their chins.

They came to his side of the table, a few of them ignoring my presence, and the others sneering in my direction before turning overly sweet smiles towards Lachlan.

Lachlan looks panicked, in an uncomfortable frenzy like he isn't sure what to do.

One of the women, a beautiful brunette with thick lashes and voluptuous curves, pushes up against his chair, sending me a mocking grin before bending over to rest her arm around his shoulder, her chest imposing on his face.

I scoff, and Val whimpers inside my head. We knew better. I almost considered holding out hope for this second life and this marriage to my mate. Almost. I'm glad I didn't now, because he clearly hasn't changed.

"Alpha. We wanted to offer our condolences after listening to all your mourning all night long last night. We look forward to seeing you again later this evening."

He starts to growl, pushing her away from him, but I quickly rise to my feet, maintaining control of my outward emotions.

The only display of my annoyance is my painfully tight grip on the pendent in my hands.

"I think I will retire for the evening. Have a wonderful night, ladies.

Alpha," I bowed my head, and started walking out of the hall.

I do not wish to cause Val any more pain than she is currently feeling, and my walls are fully erect around my heart and my emotions once again.

"Lira!" Lachlan calls to me, but I ignore him, done with his fake niceties for a lifetime.

~

Lachlan POV

“Alpha?” Leona paws my chest while pulling my arm. I shake her off and step away, intending on chasing after my wife. She is gone, though. She didn’t even turn back when I called her.

“Why?” I growled furiously as I slowly turned towards the women. “Why would you think that was okay? To disrespect your Luna like that on our wedding day, why would you-?”

“Lanny,” Leona pathetically whines out the nickname many of the girls call me, cutting off my question.

“Don’t be like that. You looked like you were struggling, so we came to help.

You told us she wasn’t going to be anything more than an annoying guest,” she pops her hip out to the side, “You said she would never be our Luna, Lanny. I don’t know why you are being so mean. ”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, focusing on containing my lycan, who is trying to break free and tear this woman apart for insulting our mate. How am I going to get close to Lira now? How am I going to overcome this misunderstanding?

“Alpha?” Yasmin, the girl I used to frequent more than the others because she was the least clingy. “I’m sorry if we offended you. We can leave,” she murmurs, pulling Leona back meekly. “We will see you later,” she bows politely, many of the other girls following her lead.

“You won’t,” I told them coldly. “I won’t be coming back again. I’m a married man, and I won’t betray my wife.”

Leona scoffs, “Lanny, you can’t be serious. You said-”

“I SAID,” I yelled above her, using enough of my aura, letting Killian push to the surface to make my point, “I will not betray my wife and your Luna,” I glared at her menacingly until she submitted, bowing her head in compliance, but still bearing an arrogant grimace on her lips.

Most of the guests had stopped to observe the confrontation and my bout of anger.

Good. There will be many to witness me sending these women away. “Do you understand?”