The Silver Siren

Allie

“Don’t cry,” she encouraged, “Please.”

“You are safe here. I will make sure nobody ever hurts you again,” I promised her. I wiped my tears away. She smiled. I helped her wash her hair in the bowl and she tried to towel dry it, but she was very weak and it was a struggle to raise her arms for too long. I dried it for her and ran a comb through it. She was much taller than me, so I selected a sundress for her from some of my new things. My pants would be far too short for her. She would need new things. She had nothing.

“That feels so much better,” she admitted, “Thank you so much. You didn’t have to do this.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, “It’s the least you deserve.” She did deserve more, I thought. Much more.

“I’m sure your mate will come back for you soon. Honestly, I think he was as shocked as you were. Brad has been looking for his mate for a long time. I guess neither of you was expecting this to happen,” I said, “Don’t give up on him.”

“Do you really think he will come back?” she asked, nervously, “What if he does come back? Who is going to want a rogue for a mate? He might reject me.”

“It will be alright. You’ll be safe here, Penny. Brad is the future Beta of our pack, and I am our future Luna,” I said, trying to reassure her. I realised my mistake too late.

“He’s the Beta??!!!” she cried, looking horrified. "Oh my Goddess! This is terrible!"

“He’s a good guy!” I said, trying to make it right, “He is loyal to Reece. He is your true mate and would never hurt you!”

"Ranked wolves have too much power and control. They think they can do what they want to people. They think they can hurt people and it won't matter!" she cried. "Penny, not all ranked wolves are like that. I promise you, things are not that way in this pack. I've grown up here. The ranked wolves are fair and kind. They would never hurt anyone. Everyone matters in this pack. You are safe here. Please believe me," I said, keeping my voice even and calm. It was harder than I thought it would be when I thought about her old pack and what they allowed to happen to her. She wasn’t safe there. But she will be here. I will make sure of it.

She seemed to calm down a little and said, “It’s been a long time since I felt safe. I’d almost forgotten what that felt like. But I do kinda feel safe here. Even if it is behind bars,” she said, with a small smile on her lips.

We talked some more as her hair dried, and I combed it back away from her face into a little ponytail. I bought her some make up that Kayla had forced me to buy but I had never used and together we applied a little. We talked about her past and our futures. I told her about my past too, and I told her about my powers. It was easy to talk to her and it felt good to unload on her. I suddenly got a mind link from Reece, not realising how long I had been here.

“Everything ok, sweetie?” he asked, “It’s almost time for dinner.”

“Oh, wow,” I replied, “I didn’t realise it was so late. I’ll come back to the pack house now.”

“Ok, have a guard bring you,” he suggested.

“Ok,” I said and ended the mind link.

“I have to go,” I said to Penny, “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

She smiled and said, “Ok, see you tomorrow”

We said our goodbyes and a guard saw me back to the pack house. I found Reece in the lobby waiting for me. “Where’s Brad?” I asked.

“He’s gone back to the dungeons to talk to Penny,” he explained.

“Oh?” I said, trying to get him to say more. I liked Penny and didn’t want to see her getting hurt again after everything she has been through.

“Yes, we’ve been quite busy while you were with Penny. The meeting went ahead as planned and some of the other rogues had recovered enough to be questioned,” he said.

“And?” I enquired. I had a feeling he was enjoying keeping me hanging and had a sly grin forming on his face.

“They all, more or less, said the same thing as Penny. That they were captured and held against their will and controlled by dark magic to attack. The male rogues will be staying in the cells for the time being, mostly so we can guarantee that their passage out of our pack goes as smoothly as possible. Some of them are still weak. We also need to make sure the threat from Lucien is under control, and key to that is finding him,” he explained. I breathed a sigh of relief that the other rogues had confirmed Penny’s story.

“What about Penny?” I asked.

“Brad is going to talk to her. Dad agreed to allow her to stay in our pack, with Brad, if that’s what she wants,” he said, “If she wants to stay here, once they have mated and cemented their bond, she will officially no longer be a rogue and will be part of our pack.”

“So Brad isn’t going to reject her?” I said. I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face.

“Ah, I never had you down as a romantic, sweetie,” he teased, chuckling, “No, he’s not going to reject her. He has been waiting a long time to find his mate and he desperately wants her. Her being a rogue and finding her under these circumstances just freaked him out, I guess.”

That was fantastic news, but I was still worried about her. “You didn’t tell Brad about what she went through at her old pack, did you?”

“I only told him she left her pack of her own accord. If she had been banished by her pack, that would have changed things and the outcome might have been different for her. It’s up to her to tell Brad what happened, when she is ready,” he said. He always knew what to say, and how to say it. I knew he would be a great leader for our pack.

“Oh, ok,” I said, “So, what happens now? With Lucien, I mean. What are we going to do?”

“Our focus is now going to be to find him. Dad has alerted the Elders about what he’s been up to, so no doubt they will conduct their own investigation. They will also provide some help for his capture. Melissa has been really helpful. She can’t find him using magic, but she is working on a spell to try and locate the dark magic forces he has been using. We will be sending search teams of warriors out from tomorrow to search any abandoned buildings for his base.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? The warriors could get hurt!” I said, worried.

“They are trained to do this, honey. They will be perfectly safe. And we have to do something. We can’t just sit here and wait for him to come and get you!” he said. I suppose he had a point.

“You're right, sweetie. But while all this is going on, Melissa has suggested that you practice using your powers so that you learn to control them. What do you think?” he said.

I wasn’t sure. I was nervous about using my powers. Look what I did to the rogues. After spending the afternoon with Penny, I had started to feel normal again. By accepting that I’m different felt like I was leaving a normal life behind me. I looked at Reece. He was going to be our Alpha, making me Luna. My life wasn’t going to be normal by his side. But I would rather be by his side than anywhere else, I realised. Maybe it was time to accept that this is going to be my life now. I had a mate and I actually felt happy. So I had some freaky powers that could do strange things. There really was no going back to a normal life.

“Ok, I will try,” I told Reece. He smiled and took my hand. Looking into his eyes I felt our bond strengthen. Impulsively, I grabbed him around the waist in a bear hug. My head just reached his mid-chest, and I pressed the side of my face into him, squeezing him tight. Inhaling deeply, I drank in his scent, and it had never smelt so good. He wrapped his arms around me and dipped his head to rest his chin on my head. We just stood there in the lobby and held each other. It had been a long day. After a few minutes of listening to my stomach growling, Reece said, “Dinner?”

I nodded against his chest and reluctantly released him. “Let’s go,” I suggested.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to spend much time together today. Things got crazy really quickly. But we still have tonight to spend together. If you want?” he asked.

I nodded shyly. The more time I spent with him, the more I found out that he was amazing. Kind, thoughtful, strong. Having a mate didn’t feel how I thought it would. It felt better. It felt real, and it was becoming clear to me that I was falling in love with him…