Siren -Editing-

Chapter nine

I stalked the hall silently, able to see everything in precise detail despite the house being pitch black. If I were lucky, Father hadn't noticed I had been missing in the few days I was gone. But luck was rarely on my side, and he seemed excited about the next upgrade he had planned.

Every step I took toward my room felt like setting off an alarm to the rest of the pack. Like I was going directly into the lion's mouth and didn't have a chance at survival. I looked in every direction every few steps to be sure I was still in the clear before I moved on, as my heart pounded in my chest.

Soon, after minutes, I reached my room and silently slid inside. I sighed in relief as I took in the familiar sight with laundry strewn about on the floor and bandages crumpled by my mattress lying in the corner. I paused as I glanced at the window where a familiar figure wrapped up in her favorite blanket stood staring out.

"Please come home, Lil." Her breath was a whisper as I approached her, a thousand questions flooding my mind. What has Father done to you? Being the most repeated.

A million questions I wanted to ask filled my mouth, never to be asked. Instead, I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her side as her startled cries wrapped around me like knives to my heart.

She crouched down to my level, her arms never leaving my back, and looked me in my deep red eyes, "Where have you been? I've been worried sick."

I shook my head and pulled myself closer into her embrace as I had to listen to her heart break for all the things she would never be able to learn anymore.

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Jes and I avoided most of the preparations without much trouble. The pack was too focused on what they were doing to care about what two newcomers were doing to get out of helping. It wasn't until we were called to get changed into "formal attire" that we had to face our decorated torture.

"I don't get why we need to be dressed up for this."

Jes shrugged, "Tradition, maybe?" We separated at our rooms, agreeing to be at each other's side for as much of it as possible.

Once inside my room, I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. I knew Father was usually good in a crowd; he wouldn't make a scene himself. Anything that happened would have been started by someone else, who will be painted as the villain of the interaction. No matter what happened in the past, I would have to be just as civil and do my best to keep Jes calm.

That would be the harder task. She had a hot streak when it came to anything to do with him; she refused to talk about him otherwise, but there was the rare occasion where she would suddenly be fired up by something that reminded her of him.

On the bed, two dresses had been laid out for me by someone, probably Blake, to choose from. Both were red but had different styles, one was bright red satin that plunged in the back with a gold chain around the neck and a tight skirt that caught the light like water but would easily show the majority of my scars toa nyone who looked, the other was almost maroon with a corset top and a flowing skirt with black accents and would cover most aside from the ones on my shoulders.

I paused, my scars being the focus of my decision; I didn't like how they looked or the memories that they carried with them. But the temptation to embrace them was strong, like it would be a touch of defiance to Father, even without any interaction between us.

I heard movement outside the door as others rushed by, excited for the evening to start, like they had been waiting all year for it. Taking another breath of my mate's musk, I carefully slid into the first dress and braided my hair the best I could, having to do it twice for it to be presentable. I squeezed into the heels that seemed to match the dress best just before I left the room.

The party was already loud, even though it was only supposed to be an elegant dinner, it sounded like a college rager. I waited on the stairs for Jes, who gasped once she saw me.

"Lily, you look...amazing." She looked me over as I smiled my thanks, "No, really, red suits you."

"You don't think it's a bit much, with my scars?"

"I barely noticed them, and I saw all of them in medical."

I nodded, maybe it was all in my head. "Ready?"

She shook her head, "But we can't stall all night."

I wished we could, and I knew she did too. But there was a small part of me that was excited to see him, a small spark of hope that our father had changed and would apologize to us. The hope of a small child wanting to fix a broken family still lingered within me in spite of everything I knew and had gone through.

Experience told me not to get my hopes up, that I would only be left hurt and forgotten behind if I let them reach their peak. But my romantic heart wanted everything to somehow be alright again.

We walked, arm in arm, into the party, where we greeted our mates waiting for us by the table. I was grateful that I couldn't see our Father immediately, though his scent was already everywhere in the room, filling me with the familiar dread I had when he led me down into our basement.

I had to force the memory invading my head away, I had to focus if the evening was going to be at all salvageable. Blake took my hand and led us to our seats, assigned by status luckily, so Jes and I would still be in view of each other the whole night.

"Mom, Dad, this is my mate, Lillian." Blake introduced me as we approached. I had already met his dad once in his office, even if I wasn't paying any attention to what was going on. But his mom looked familiar, with kind grey eyes and a fresh head of dark grey hair.

"Kate?" The realization hit me like a truck. I had already been in the pack before, and I had already seen everyone who lived here. I almost lived here among them, if I hadn't left Blake, and I could have been closer, happier.

Regret washed over me as she spoke, "So, you are mated to my son." She gave me a wink, reminding me of her effortless kindness that she had shown me a decade ago. She was born to be a Luna, everything about her screamed it, all the years had done for her was give her the experience she didn't need.

"Seems like it," my voice graveled as my father's words echoed in my ears.

A smile spread across her face as she motioned for me to sit down. Blake pulled the chair out for me and waited until he pushed me in to sit down himself.

Conversations quieted after a while, being replaced by light banter and dulled into a murmur of words as the last few people straggled into the room and took their seats along the table. Only a few minutes later, after everyone was settled in, the Alpha stood at the head of the table.

"Thank you all for coming and giving up your evenings to be here and celebrate the safe arrival of our visitors from Pusa Luko." he waited for the few claps that emerged from the group. "I would like to welcome each personally, Alpha Taani, Beta Mason, Alec Chapel, and Vivine Brown." Each one stood and waved, looking exactly as I remembered them. I avoided eye contact, but I could tell the moment Father spotted me, then Jes, then Daniel. He stared at each of us throughout the Alpha's speech, even after he sat back down in his assigned seat far too close to me for my liking. "We are gathered here together to celebrate a long-standing alliance between neighbors, formed by matehood generations ago. As neighbors, we are either each other's greatest strength or our greatest weakness. Trust is the only difference between the two, a natural wavering trust that we must continue to strengthen, or it will be the downfall of both packs. For now, enjoy yourselves. Eat what we have prepared, talk, laugh, and rekindle friendships. Our work will be done in the morning, tonight we celebrate with good food and entertainment once we can't eat anymore." He motioned for everyone to dig in and sat back down at the head of the table.

I turned my head toward Jes and instead made eye contact with the monster that made me who I am. A smile grew on my father's face, and a flash of red came from his eyes as he gave me a small wave.

~

Edited