Siren's Secret

26. Heart Strings & Kings

"Wait, the Panther King is coming here?! Where is he going to stay?" Rieka started to pace nervously, "My dad's pack isn't exactly in good shape right now and there's no room here for a king and his entourage-"

Pierce walked towards her and put his hands on her shoulders, "Calm down. My father will stay at my place."

"But we're going to be in the process of setting it up as the base for my collective!" Rieka shook her head, "That's hardly appropriate for his arrival!" After the agitation from earlier, Rieka started to actually get worried. She started to try and think of any way to accommodate a foreign dignitary while keeping everything going and it was starting to overwhelm her.

"Hey, Hey! Look at me Little Wolf," Pierce put his hand on her face to gently turn her aqua eyes to his golden ones, "My place was hand picked by my father. It's more than fine for his visit. It's got plenty of space and I have staff there that can see to his every need. He will want to come for a visit here but it will be one of peace since I've already solidified an alliance. He would not sever an alliance without good cause and without knowing all the facts."

Rieka nodded but her brows furrowed in worry. Pierce chuckled, "And my father is many things; bossy, reserved, even a little intimidating. One thing he really is though, is fair. It's why our people prosper and there hasn't been wars within the feline shifters in a long time."

Rieka lowered her eyes, considering what Pierce said. In doing so she inadvertently started to trail her eyes down his lightly tanned and muscled figure; strong chest, toned abs, and then the healing fresh scar of the injury from Catlia on his side. Four large slash marks that go from just under his armpit down to below his rib cage.  

"Does it still hurt?" She asked quietly, lightly touching the deep red marks. 

"No. My insides feel sore occasionally but nothing too bad." Pierce replied, barely a whisper and gently raised her chin so Rieka looked into his eyes again, "I'm so sorry Pierce. If I hadn't gone-"

"None of that," Pierce gazed lovingly, "I will gladly trade these scars for the freedom you gave me from that monster. I wouldn't change a moment Little Wolf." 

Pierce reached out and brushed his thumb lightly over Rieka's bottom lip. They stared at into each other's eyes, barely breathing for fear that the moment would disappear. The warmth of their feelings enveloping them in a haze that just grew stronger as they started to inch closer-

DING! 

Rieka's cell phone notification broke the tension that hung thick in the room. Rieka smiled sheepishly at Pierce who let out a quiet chuckle as Rieka fumbled to get her phone out of her pocket. 

She opened her phone to see a text, "Georgia's downstairs. She wants to go over what she's found at the crime scene and the body. Care to join?" 

"Of course." Pierce nodded, threw on a shirt and they quickly walked downstairs, neither saying a word.

"You know he's not our mate. I'm not sure why you're entertaining this idea of him in the first place." Rayna snarked.  "I know he's not our mate, but we could do worse. Especially since I'm not even sure we have one. Angels can be mates to wolves obviously, but they don't have destined mates themselves. We might fall into that category." Rieka tried to reason with her wolf.  

Rayna was very much a wolf in that all the traditional pack feelings, responsibilities, and actions were how she acted and felt. Rayna was always sure there was a destined mate out there for them.  Rieka was a bit more pragmatic than her wolf. She knew that they were far from the norm and that all traditional rules might not apply to them.