The Silver Siren

The loud bang of the slamming door echoed down the corridor of the hospital. 

Shit.

“What did you do that for?” Maddox demanded an answer.

“Shut up!” I said and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Go back to her! Now!” Maddox told me. He was pissed. But so was I, and I wasn’t going back in there right now. Years of endless searching for my mate, only to find that she doesn’t want a mate, has ‘plans’ for her future that obviously don’t include me, and won’t even stay in the pack house. Fate was giving me an ass-kicking today!

I wasn’t known for public, or even private, displays of anger, but now I was angry. I set off for the pack house hoping that walking would help calm me down. As I stormed off, I was seething. My hands were clenched into fists, making my knuckles white. I barrelled through the corridors towards the pack house, but I felt no calmer. There were a few people milling about talking and hanging out in the lobby of the main house, but no one dared talk to me. I headed for the main staircase and had stomped my way up maybe three stairs when I heard, “Stop right there, young man!” from behind me. 

Mom. Oh, come on! 

I stopped where I was and didn’t move a muscle. I could not catch a break today! I slowly turned round to face her. She was a beautiful woman, shoulder length blond hair hung in soft waves and her bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief. But don’t let that angelic appearance fool you. My mother, Lily, was a calm and reasonable Luna to the pack but piss her off and you were in trouble. She had her hands on her hips. Yeah, I was in trouble.

“Follow me” she said firmly, before turning on her heel and stalking off towards an empty meeting room nearby. I followed her into the room.

“Sit,” she ordered, and softly closed the door with a click.

I flung the nearest chair out from under the table and plonked my body down onto it. She still had her arms crossed in front of her and she did not look happy. She moved closer to me and raised both hands up to cradle my face, and her expression softened. 

“My darling,” she said, “What is wrong?”

“Allie said she doesn’t want a mate. I think she wants to reject me,” I answered, glumly. I felt myself calming down. Mom nodded. 

“Finding your mate should be a magical time for any werewolf. But what that girl has gone through in the last 24 hours is exceptional and unexpected,” she pulled over a chair and positioned it opposite me. She clasped my hands in hers, “She has turned 18, found her wolf, shifted for the first time and found out some horrific truths about her parents and herself that will affect her for the rest of her life. And not only that Reece, but she has also survived a very one-sided attack. Can you not imagine how completely overwhelmed she must be feeling right now?” 

I don’t know how she does it, but she always seems to know the right thing to say, and she is always right. She squeezed my hands gently. “Give her time, my darling. She needs time and she needs comfort. And you and Dad need to deal with the rogue first,” she said. 

I smiled, “Thanks, Mom,” I said as I hugged her.

“So, how are the interrogations going? Any new developments?” she asked. Dad had filled her in on the most important parts earlier when she visited Allie in the hospital, but she was a busy woman and spends most of her day dealing with maintaining our facilities, running the pack house and she also spends a lot of time helping in the orphanage. Some days it’s hard to find her in the grounds because she literally could be anywhere, always helping someone with something. 

“Brad and a team of warriors are trying their best, but most are still recovering from the force field that Allie unleashed on them. They got the full blast of it, and some are still unconscious. The few that are in a fit state to question have confirmed that they were working for Lucien, but most are still complaining that they feel like they’ve been hit by a truck,” I said. Mom giggled.

“She’s got some power, that mate of yours,” she said, smiling.

“Brad is continuing with the interrogations tomorrow, to give them some more time to recover. There was also a female rogue that was captured,” I said.

“A female rogue?” Mom asked, “Almost unheard of in the werewolf community.”

“That’s what I thought. She seems much weaker that the males. Brad will interrogate her tomorrow and I will have a nurse on standby to check her,” I confirmed. 

Mom smiled weirdly. “What?” I asked her.

“Spoken like a true Alpha. You will make an amazing leader Reece, and we are so proud of you,” she said, “With Allie by your side, you will soon be ready to take over the pack. Now that you’ve calmed down, why don’t you go back to the hospital and get to know her. It’s almost time for dinner. Why don’t you take her some food and spend some time with her?” She stood up and walked towards the door.

I nodded. “What if she rejects me?” I asked, honestly. It was an important question, one that I needed to find the answer to. Because it wasn’t just about me, it was about the entire pack. I couldn’t lead them without a Luna.

She repeated her original advice, “Give her time,” looking back at me, before leaving me alone in the huge meeting room. Easier said than done, I thought. Maddox wasn’t in the mood to wait and had been impatiently pining for her constantly. And I didn’t, realistically, know how much time we had before Lucien made another move. But short of locking her away for eternity and forcing her to be my Luna, I didn’t seem to have many other options at the moment. I fished my car keys out of my pocket and jogged to the garage. It was just a short drive to the pizzeria and within a half hour I was back at the pack house armed with 3 pizza boxes. I had no idea what she liked on her pizza, so I got a few different choices. 

I made my way to her hospital room and stopped outside her door. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I waited for a reply, but after a minute with no response, I knocked again. I decided to push open the door and walked in. 

“Allie?” I called out. The bedsheets were crumpled, and the pillows were in a mangled mess, but no sign of Allie. Quickly checking the room, I saw the door to the en-suite open and heard running water. She must be in the shower. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing she was here and hadn’t left. I set the pizzas down on the little hospital tray table and pulled up a chair, waiting for Allie to finish in the shower. I took out my phone and played a game to pass the time, but after just a few minutes a heard a loud thud coming from the shower. 

“Allie? Are you ok?” I called out. No reply. I jumped out of the chair and was in the bathroom in seconds. I found her on the floor of the shower cubicle. She was unconscious. 

“Oh shit! Allie! Allie!” Quickly checking she was breathing; I gently shook her to try and wake her. I switched the water off and grabbed a pile of fresh towels stacked near the basin. I threw one over her and scooped her up out of the shower cubicle. She started to wake up and I carried her over to the bed and sat on the edge, still cradling her in my arms. She weighed almost nothing. She was starting to shiver, so I swung another towel around her. Nestled on my lap, I brushed the wet hair off her face and stroked her cheek. She opened her eyes, blinked a few times before she said, “What happened?” 

“You were in the shower. I heard you fall so I came in and got you out. You must have passed out,” I said. I nodded towards the stacked pizza boxes, “I brought pizza.”

“Oh,” she said quietly, “I fell asleep, I think. Bad dreams. So I took a shower, but I felt weird.” Her face was pale, and she felt lifeless in my arms. 

“I’ll call for Doctor Stevens,” I said. 

“No,” she said, adamantly, “I’m fine now.”

She still seemed a little out of it but after a few minutes of holding her, she leaned into me, and a small sigh escaped her lips. It had Maddox purring, and it felt amazing. I pulled her closer, inhaling her scent. Fighting for control with Maddox, I somehow resisted the urge to kiss her. It was hard, and I’m not just talking about the situation. But thinking about the advice my mom had given me, I decided to not try and kiss her right now. 

“I brought you some dinner. Are you hungry?” I said. She opened her eyes and pulled away from me slightly. I felt her tense up and she grappled with the towels to pull them up under her chin. A tiny delicate blush appeared across her cheeks. I chuckled softly, “Pizza?” 

“Yes, please” she said quietly. I landed a quick kiss on her forehead and placed her gently on the bed. 

“I better get the Doc to check you out,” I said and forced myself to walk away from her. Once I got outside the door and closed it behind me, I leant up against the wall and closed my eyes. Maddox was raging at me. I let out a long breath and went to get the Doc.

“What are you doing? Are you crazy? Get back in there!” he said.

“Are you kidding? You heard what mom said. She needs time,” I told him, “Now shut up.”

When I returned with the Doc, she was dressed in a clean hospital gown, and she had braided her hair. The Doc quickly checked her vitals and said it was most likely a fainting episode brought on by exhaustion. Happy that Allie seemed to be ok now, he left us to eat our pizza. We sat and ate the pizza in slightly awkward silence. Allie reached for the pepperoni. When she was done eating, I cleared away the boxes and refilled her water jug.

“The Doc said you can be released tomorrow,” I said, clearing my throat. She looked up and her eyes widened.

“Oh,” she whispered, “ok”

“I’ve arranged for the guest room to be made up for you,” I said. I was killing me to not have her stay in my room, our room, but at the moment this might be the only way I can get her to stay at the pack house. Maybe mom was right, and she really did just need time to adjust to all the new stuff in her life, including me. So, I offered a compromise.

But I could tell she wasn’t happy with my news. A frown settled on her beautiful face and when she opened her mouth to speak, I was sure she was going to refuse.

“Do I have to leave my home, and Melissa?” she asked sadly, and I was struck by how young and vulnerable she seemed in that moment. 

“Yes,” I said gently, “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I cannot keep you safe unless you are here, with me.” She sat silently for a few seconds, and I saw fat tears start to cascade down her face, and I felt her pain in my chest. Our bond was getting stronger. Her tears kept coming, and soon she was sobbing, becoming hysterical. Her eyes started to glow again. 

“Sweetheart, please calm down. Your eyes are glowing,” I said, quickly remembering what happened the last time they did that. I reached for her hand first and got close enough to pull her into a hug. The sparks at our touch calmed both of us immediately and I slowly stroked circles across her back to sooth her distress away. When I heard her sobs stop, I pulled away and picked up her chin using my finger and checked her eyes. They were a little puffy but back to normal and her tears had dried. I smiled. “That’s better,” I said, still looking into her eyes. They were mesmerising.

“Ok,” she said quietly, “I will stay in the guest room.”

I’d still prefer her to stay in my room, but it was a step in the right direction. And the guest room was right next door to mine. A grin erupted on my face, and I couldn’t help but plant a kiss on her lips. It was just a quick touch of our lips, but at the slight contact, everything felt like it was falling into place. She didn’t pull away, so I kissed her again, this time for longer and stroked my tongue over her lower lip. Still she didn’t pull away. She started to return my kiss, and opened her mouth slightly, granting me entry. I held the back of her neck with my hand and stroked her face with my thumb. 

“Hey, where are you?” Brad was mind linking me. I groaned and broke our kiss. 

“With Allie at the hospital,” I said, “This better be good, Brad”

“Got some updates for you from the rogues, man,” he said, oblivious to what he’d just interrupted.

“Ok, come to the hospital,” I said.

“Cool, see you in ten,” he said, ending the mind link. I looked at Allie and she was staring at me strangely.

“What?” I asked.

“What are you doing? Your eyes looked weird,” she said.

“Brad was mind linking me,” I said, wondering why she thought it was weird. Then it clicked, she has only just turned 18 and wouldn’t have been able to mind link before. “I will teach you how to do it. Now you’re 18 you will be able to mind link too.”

She smiled and seemed happy with my suggestion. “Brad is on his way over. He says he has some information from the rogues.”

“Oh,” was all she said.