Chapter 37: Lottie

We sleep in after our long night yesterday, not getting out of bed until my stomach growls in protest of its emptiness.

"Sounds like my mate is hungry," Hunter mutters while pressing kisses to my bare collarbone. "It's a good thing I am an excellent cook, unlike my sweet Nightingale."

I laugh, his scruffy chin tickling my skin. Pushing him away, I try to escape his hold, which he only tightens at my meager attempts.

"Hey, I'm learning and getting better. A few more lessons with your mom, and I'll be a pro."

"But I like cooking for you. I like that there's something I can do for you."

He stops trying to kiss and tickle me and leans up to look down at me under him.

"I will never ask you to do anything you don't want to. We may be a partnership now, but I will honor all your decisions and never force you to make one unwillingly. I promise Lottie that you'll be happy here with me. If not, I will gladly move anywhere you wish. Even if that means going back to Los Angeles."

"I don't want to go back to LA," I state firmly, surprising myself with the declaration.

Until this moment, I hadn't even known I'd made that decision. But it feels right. That's not my home anymore. It hasn't been for a long time. I'll figure out how to get my personal belongings from the mansion, and something will have to be done about my royalties, records, and merchandise lines. Although I've never had anything to do with them before, why should I now? I don't even care about them.

"Does that mean you want to stay here?" Hunter asks quietly.

I smile, for once able to give him a definitive answer.

"Yes."

"Well, then, I guess I should get to making us breakfast."

With swift, easy strength, Hunter scoops me into his arms and carries me out of the room, both of us still completely naked. And that's how I end up watching him make breakfast in nothing but an apron.

~

It's been almost two days since the full moon, and Hunter has been restless all day. Not only that but there is an influx of people at the house today. Ginger and Ryder weren't surprises, but Fynn, Tobias and Kai are. I thought Hunter didn't like Kai? Whatever their presence means, I don't get the feeling it's a good thing.

I find Hunter standing out on the front porch, watching down the driveway expectantly.

"Hey," I call, rounding him to lean against the post to his left. "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing, just watching."

"Watching what?"

He doesn't immediately answer, his fingers twitching restlessly at his side. Watching him patiently, I wait to see if he's going to tell me what's going on or not. It irritates me when people keep me in the dark, thinking they know better for me than I do. I may trust Hunter with my life, but that doesn't mean he can keep secrets from me. I frown and he sees it, exhaling harshly before resignation settles in his gaze.

"I'm watching for Vincent. He said he would be coming here today to force me to sign my property over to him. I have no intentions to do so, and I'm trying to mentally prepare for his arrival and trying to decide what form I should take to make my final answer crystal clear to him. I'd like to rip him limb from limb in my true form, but I think I'll start with my bare human hands. A good beat down always sates my protective instinct."

My eyes widen in shock. I kind of wasn't expecting him to answer nor to divulge so much.

"I don't want to keep things from you, Lottie. I know that's how you used to be treated, and I don't want to do that. I won't lie to you, but I also won't sugarcoat it. I very much plan on fighting Vincent, and things will get bloody."

I cringe not just because of the prospect of blood but that he could get injured. I reach out and clasp his twitching hand in mine, and he squeezes.

"I appreciate that. But isn't there some other way we can convince him to just leave without reverting to violence? I don't want anyone to get hurt. Least of all you."

He cups my cheek and gives me what is supposed to be a reassuring smile, but I don't feel very reassured.

"I love that you're concerned for me, Lottie, but sometimes this is how things have to be handled. Elves are stubborn, selfish creatures and sometimes require more than words to persuade. Don't worry, everything will be fine. I'll be fine. Ginger and Ryder will be fine. We've done this before, and we'll most likely have to do it again in the future."

That doesn't make me feel any better.

Leaning into his touch, I attempt to be as calm and confident as he is. I'm not sure it's working.

Hunter's ears perk and his head cuts back to the gravel road leading to his property. I don't hear anything, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything there. His hearing is far superior to mine.

"They're here," he growls. "Inside Lottie. I don't want you getting caught in the middle of anything out here. I need you safe."

Guiding me quickly back to the front door, he motions me inside ahead of him. Ryder is there waiting to greet us. Most likely waiting the whole time for Hunter to announce Vincent's arrival.

"Ginger!" he barks out, and his sister immediately appears in the entryway. "Take Lottie upstairs. The rest of you, outside with me."

I'm handed off to Ginger, who gently but firmly grips my wrist, directing me away from the rest and the front door. Before I get too far, Hunter places a swift kiss on my lips that I barely have time to process.

And just like that, Hunter and the others are outside fanning out on the front drive, and I'm being led upstairs out of the line of fire.

We perch in a spare room with a window overlooking the front of the property. This allows us a view of the others below and the approaching black SUVs just breaking through the line of trees at the entrance to the property.

They circle and park, there are three, and all manner of non-humans spill from them. At least a dozen. Elves mostly, but there are also nymphs, one fairy, and others who must be shifters or meres because they look human even without a glamour. Which I can now see through, thanks to my fairy dusting.

The one I recognize without a shadow of a doubt is Vincent. His gray skin is dull in the hazy sunlight, but the adornments on his ears and fingers glint like crystal under a spotlight.

We're too far away to hear, and Ginger won't let me open the window or get any closer. But I can tell by their body language Hunter has just told him what he can do with his blackmail and demands.

The argument grows heated as we watch. Vincent's men pacing behind him. One of them slowly unbuttons his shirt; he must be a shifter. Another has grass green hair and skin the color of bark, and the trees around him grow and slither like living beings.

Although standing stock still, Ryder looks about ready to literally jump out of his skin and tear the face off the man opposite him. Tobias, the freaking fairy with gossamer wings and all, looks just as angry but like calm, focused anger that doesn't even scratch the surface of his unseen abilities.

Whereas Kai, the red-striped nymph, leans casually on the porch, his tail swaying lazily behind him, not a care in the world, rolling a tiny ball of fire in the palm of his hand. His red hair is the only part of him that looks similar to the man I met at karaoke. I may have stared for a whole minute at him when he arrived. He didn't seem to mind, but Hunter did.

I can't focus on any of the others right now for more than a fleeting moment. Hunter and Vincent take up the bulk of my attention. They're mere feet apart, and I can see Hunter growing in size, readying for a swift shift. And in the blink of an eye, Vincent sparks the battle they were all waiting for with one sweeping arc of his fist.

Hunter's body rips through his clothing, and his beast emerges biting, jowls reaching for Vincent. I barely notice Ryder's shift and the others clashing together. A literal battle has broken out on the front lawn, and I'm stuck up here watching, unable to do a damn thing as those below slash, bite, and tear into one another.

A strange phantom pain begins to grow in my chest, and I clutch at it, breathing heavily. It's as if I can feel every swiping graze of Vincent's blade that catches Hunter's flesh. A pounding warning that my mate is in danger, his presence in my mind a blaring neon sign pointing me directly to him.

Ginger holds me by my shoulders, and it's then I realize I'm trying to break free. To what? Run out into the fight? I would be mincemeat in a matter of seconds.

I hate feeling so helpless and weak. I've felt this way for too long.

For too long, I let others walk all over me and control my fate and life. Years I've spent under the thumb of others. My decisions and choices taken from me, by people like Vincent. Like my mother. Others who believe themselves above me, better than me. As if their wants and desires outweigh my own.

A burning hatred grows in my stomach, igniting a fiery wrath that I want to unleash upon the world. I want to put people like Vincent in their place. To show him and others that we are not less than him just because he says so. We are not here to bend to his will and do his bidding simply because he says we should.

I am no longer afraid of self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic assholes like him. And I will not let him take my new family and life from me.

"Let me go," I growl out in command to Ginger, needing to follow that burning demand in my chest to go to my mate. Ginger, surprisingly, instantly releases me.

With my newfound freedom and burning ire, I run from the room, heading straight for the front door. Straight for my mate, my friends, and the new target of my anger. Vincent.

When I burst through the front door, none of the fighting non-humans notice. None except Hunter, who must have scented my arrival when I stepped out of the house. The momentary distraction allows Vincent an opening to attack, his shiny large dagger poised to slash down upon my mate, directed at his throat, wishing to slash and kill.

" STOP !"

My voice rings out loud and demanding, echoing in the open space. An angry command in a tone that I've never heard before. Much to my surprise and shock, every single one of them stops mid-movement. Freezing like statues. Claws about to rip into flesh, fire and water magic poised midair reaching for its target all come to a halt.

The ache in my chest that told me Hunter was in danger simmers out, only to be replaced with the hatred I have for Vincent.

With confidence I finally feel, I stride forward, weaving between shifters, nymphs, and fairies. Many drop their position of attack and watch me pass. Shocked perhaps that I would be ballsy enough to walk head lifted through the middle of a fight such as this.

When I reach Hunter and Vincent, I step directly between them, Hunter to my back, a hulking form that only fortifies my nerves, steeling my spine with his love and support.

Vincent stares at me disbelieving, a baffled frown on his face. His thin lips pinched tight in a straight line. He doesn't speak, and that suits me just fine.

"I have had enough of arrogant bullies like you thinking you have any right to control others."

I punctuate my words with a sharp finger poking into Vincent's chest. The action isn't strong by any means, but he still stumbles backward.

"I have had enough of being told what I can do and having people like you think they're better than me simply because they decided so. No more. No more sitting back and letting assholes like you walk all over me. From now on, I control my life, not you!"

I poke him again in the chest, and he takes another step back.

"You are no longer welcome here. You're going to leave, and I never want to see your ugly, smug face again. You're never going to try to buy, steal, blackmail, or force Hunter to give you his land ever again. As a matter of fact, how about you just forget you ever met us? Forget about Snowberry completely. Wipe it from your mind and never set foot here again. Any of you."

I glare at the non-humans Vincent brought with him, making sure they all hear my words.

I don't expect them to listen to me; why would they? But my patience has run out, and I don't give a damn anymore.

Vincent stares at me, his expression blank, his face going slack. Like a zombie, he sheathes his knife and turns around, heading for his vehicle without a word—all of them do. I stand there staring in disbelief.

That actually worked?

Holding my breath, I expect them to turn around and attack once again, but they never do. They all load up into the trucks silently and just drive off.

"Well, hot damn."

Kai's voice startles me so much in the eerie silence left in the wake of Vincent's departure, that I jump and turn to face him, not even realizing he'd approached me.

"Looks like we have a siren in our midst."

"A what?"

Kai doesn't answer; he just chuckles as he walks down the driveway.

"Let me know if you need any more help, Alpha. I am happy to assist whenever there's a good fight to be had."

He waves over his shoulder, meandering his way towards town completely calm as if he wasn't just part of a battle that very well could have killed him.

Hunter shifts beside me back to human form, uncaring of his nudity, and jerks me against his bare chest, slanting his mouth over mine in a punishing kiss.

When he finally pulls away, I look up at him, a little dazed and still very confused about how me yelling at Vincent made him leave.

"You were amazing, Lottie."

"I don't know how," I confess.

Hunter's eyes shift between mine, looking for something and finding it when he grins down at me.

"That explains a lot, actually," he says, but I'm still confused.

"What does?"

Fynn appears at our side, ignoring Hunter and his bare ass, to carefully inspect me. His studious gaze intense. So much so that I shrink under it awkwardly.

"I don't know how I didn't realize before," Fynn mutters to himself.

"Realize what? What did Kai mean?" I demand, tired of this wordplay.

"You're a siren. Or at least your ancestor was. Their greatest power is their voice. They possess the power to command and control any living being with just their voice."

My jaw drops in disbelief. Is he saying I have power? Like magic power to control people like puppets?

"It's minimal but still there," Fynn continues. "Apparently, growing stronger with your emotions. Perhaps that's why her singing sounded so mesmerizing to you, Hunter." Fynn inclines his head at Hunter, who only watches in amazement.

"I . . . you think I'm a . . . siren? Or at least part?" My gaze flits between Hunter and Fynn.

"Yes," Fynn answers smoothly. "I'll have to do more digging into your family history to confirm, but from what I've seen, that appears to be correct."

A siren, like a mythical mermaid in old sailor's tales. I smirk, liking the prospect. It makes me feel like I belong in their world and not just because of the mate bond with Hunter, but because of who I am.