The Alpha and His Song

I Have Love Pt. 1

Odette let Keaton scent comfort her. I didn’t want to think about having s*x with my cousin. I couldn’t believe Luke was my cousin. I’d seen people with their cousins. They seemed like friends. Luke was mean and abusive. I’d made out with and slept with my cousin. UGH! I needed to stop thinking about this. That bath Haley mentioned was sounding better and better. Which was still warm. Fairies were officially in the running for coolest supernatural in my mind. The alcohol drink and ice cream hit the spot.

Keaton jumped in with clothes on. Crazy man. He made a move to kiss me and every part of me was relieved. Nothing in his kiss was tentative. He still wanted me. Tatum growled, “Of course he does. He’s ours.” I snorted, “WE had s*x with our cousin.” Tatum responded, “WE did not know that. I didn’t even know when I came to you to warn you. That can’t be held against us, and clearly mate doesn’t. Channing has told me he doesn’t care.” Well, that was good.

Eventually, we got out of the tub. We talked about marking. Lisa knew he was mine and she pulled all that crap! Tatum growled, “We can kill her.” I snorted, “I was ready to kill her without you. She probably trained though.” Tatum snorted, “She’s no alpha wolf. I have your memories. We could take her even without training.” Good to know.

I was more worried I’d marked Keaton but he hadn’t marked me. I asked Tatum, “Does that mean he doesn’t want us?” Sassy was sad now. Tatum snorted, “No. It had to be hard for him not to mark us. Especially after we marked him, but he was trying to wait until he could explain it.” That lined up with what Keaton said as well. I still wanted him to mark me though. He, of course, wanted to do some big to do about it. He was so sweet.

We fell asleep. I woke up in the ocean. I sighed, “But I was already with Caspian.” I groaned and swam down. I paused. This wasn’t the normal door I saw. This one was very dark. I swam through and saw complete chaos. I knew this territory was Luke’s. ASS! I stalked around. Several women were looking down but I saw the smiles in their gaze. What was going on? There was a bid podium outside.

Luke’s dad was there. Luke was sitting down on a chair. He looked sick and weak. Too bad, so sad. Darwin spoke, “Obviously, you saw my son go down in pain. His song rejected him and betrayed our cause. The girl remains in the werewolf pack’s care, but we will get her back. Our goals have not changed.”

Someone shouted, “HOW? The rumor is her father knows about her now!” Darwin said, “Our source in the pack hasn’t responded to us. That’s a rumor. Keaton Daniels would have no reason to bring the Conners in. He could pay the ransom they wanted. We heard the man in the background on Delana’s last check in. They were asking for two million dollars for her return.”

Someone hissed, “Why would they betray us for two million dollars?! The girl that was helping us wanted the girl here and out of her way!” Darwin sighed, “That’s the problem with hired guns. They don’t have any loyalty.” Someone snorted, “Like his song did. She manipulated you with her thrall, and now she’s out there. She knows all our plans. If she gets to King Caspian, she’ll tell him everything.”

Darwin hissed, “We have no reason to believe Delana went to King Caspian. She hasn’t made it home, and none of our spies saw her arrive through the portal door where King Caspian’s home is.” Someone yelled, “His armies gathered on Scylla! She could’ve gone there! We have to do something before they attack! Where is Morgana?”

Darwin’s face contorted. He snorted, “I do not need Morgana. She has had no contact with her children with her song. She couldn’t possibly know what he’s doing. We know the girl got into the ocean. Caspian is likely preparing to hear she’s somewhere in the sea. He doesn’t know it’s us. We are looking for Delana, and we will find her. We will get her back, and Luke will decide what to do. She’s clearly suffering a psychotic break over losing her child.”

Someone yelled, “We’ve been cursed to be infertile for years and you killed the first child we were blessed with! Our god will curse us for this! We have no hope! Princess Delana was our hope, and you killed her baby! Their clan will rise against us if she makes it home. Her brother will not rest until Prince Luke is dead. We can’t fight the Sargasso’s and the Marmara’s!” Several people murmured their agreement.

Luke hissed, “I’ll have Odette. She’ll give us a child. A child with Merrick and Sargasso blood. Delana will take her rejection back. I’ll torture her until she does. She’ll be by my side again. We will have more children. Then she will be happy here. We will have the Marmara’s support in anything we do because they won’t want to come against their sister. This was a setback. Don’t tell me you are afraid of some mangy dogs. We already hurt him. He won’t be hard to kill.” Sassy hissed in my head. Tatum snarled, “If only we could rip his head off here and be done with him. I hate him.” I retorted, “You and me both, Tatum.”

Someone yelled, “You had a source in their pack! That’s how we managed that. He’s an alpha!” Luke laughed, “An alpha under the influence of harpy blood. He’s useless and weak.” Tatum snarled loudly in my head. Another one yelled, “The girl has surfaced. She could accidentally help him.” That froze everyone on the stage. Well, that was insulting. They hadn’t figured out I could help.

Darwin chuckled, “Nonsense. We haven’t heard of the young Alpha being frozen. She wouldn’t know how to bring him back to normal. He’s walking around just fine. He’s still under the harpy influence.” Everyone relaxed. Except I knew they were wrong. I knew Caspian and he helped me. I wanted to shout that out loud, but I finally understood why Caspian warned me not to speak here. I was related to them; they’d hear me. It didn’t make sense the dark could hear me if I was here, but not see me. I guess that was another mounting question for Caspian. I was flung backwards.

I was brought to a different court. I saw Lily. I was NOT calling her grandma. She looked furious. Someone asked, “Lily, have you reached Morgana.” She hissed, “That USELESS girl lied to me! I warned her the girl was too close to her father! She told me she sent her back to Nashville. I thought she was in a long distance relationship with that Alpha boy. I never should’ve left her in charge of the girl! I still can’t get a hold of Morgana.”

A man stood, “Well, we have to make other plans. Do we know anything other than Princess Delana betrayed the Merrick’s. Where could she the girl? She is not at home. We have people watching her apartment. That is hard enough with all the forces watching out for the girl now.”

Lily snorted, “I honestly didn’t know Delana had that in her. Good for her. I do not know where the girl is any more than you do, King Wymore. Have your people seen her?” Seriously? Delana gets a name, but not me? I’m her freaking granddaughter. She refuses to call me anything other than the girl. UGH!

King Wymore snorted, “No, but we have more problems with how the girl was raised. Princess Delana knows she’s related to the Merrick’s. The girl's human sensibilities will revolt. She’ll be more upset with Morgana than she has been. When we find her, you need to bring her here.”

Lily rolled her eyes, “Gee, I didn’t figure that out. You seem to be missing the problem. Princess Delana knows that the girl is related to you too.” The man smiled, “But I have already figured out that issue.” A man came forward and nodded to Lily.

King Wymore said, “You know we adopted the young lad. He’s got our last name of Wedell, but he doesn’t have our blood. They will bond. He will not be an i***t like the Merrick boy was with her. He quite likes her already. He thinks she’s smart, beautiful, and malleable. He wants to keep her as well. The Merricks were short sighted here. Morgana should’ve aligned with us to begin with.”

Lily nodded, “You know I agree. None of us want the girl to die. Girls in the Sargasso line are rare. It would anger both our god and goddess to destroy that. Yes, Prince Delmar is a good choice.” She left court.

Prince Delmar laughed, “I like that she thinks it was her idea.” Another man laughed, “Of course. We never planned for Princess Odette to marry me. It was always you, brother. We may be dark, but I’ll not marry a cousin. That’s revolting. I can’t believe she thought I’d agree to do that. She’s beautiful, but we are related. I can’t believe Luke stooped so low.” Prince Delmar laughed, “Really brother?” The man laughed, “You got me there. He’s always been an errant child, but who could’ve guessed he was so desperate and hard up he’d still choose to f**k and marry his cousin over his song. That’s just....something I guess.” Ok, well I already liked them better than the Merrick’s. They still sucked though.

Prince Delmar smirked. He was handsome. Not Keaton handsome, but… My heart filled with sorrow wondering if their plan would’ve worked better. Would I have missed out on everything if I’d met Delmar instead of Luke?

King Wymore said, “The Merrick’s are Idiots. To kill a woman of the Sargasso line. What were they thinking? They are always powerful. If she likes it here and is happy King Caspian would be happy. We could even let them see her. We will not starve her for attention either.” Prince Delmar smirked again, “I have no intention of starving for her attention. We can move things at her pace, but I plan to pay plenty of attention to her. I’ll teach her about Sirens. We can figure out what she can do together.” They all laughed. Would I have been drawn in? Tears filled my eyes. Was I this susceptible? I was pulled back.

I woke up with a gasp. Melanie whispered, “Are you ok?” I turned, “How long have you been here?” She said, “I just got here. I was checking to see if you were awake. I found some things…ok I found a lot of things. I kind of spiraled. Gosh, I thought I had all Cassandra’s secret lock boxes. Honestly, I just figured she had the one. Because gosh that secret phone was bad. I had to steal it because…no one needs to see those texts or hear those voicemails. That’s like an implosion waiting to happen. She kept diaries though. So, I know what happened with the harpy seer and everything. She made bad choices, but it’s not like anyone would’ve been mad at her. She was a new Luna. She just should’ve told Nathan. Your dad….you know him. Yeah, that’s a thing.”

I laughed, “I missed you.” She smiled, “I missed you too.” She handed me a small device. I asked, “What’s this?” She told me, “The money you invested with me. Congratulations, you're a millionaire.” I faltered, “Excuse me?! I only gave you like two hundred dollars!” Melanie nodded, “Well, yes. I put some in a stock I knew was going to rise. I bought at three dollars a share. It jumped up quite a bit. Then I exchanged those and kept doing that. So…yeah.” I hugged her, “I can’t believe you did that. I…I have money.” Tears filled my eyes.

I asked, “Will the Daniels hate me when they find out about Emma? Will Key?” Melanie snorted, “No. I think Frank will be relieved, honestly. He thought it was random. It was an attack. They were waiting for him to leave with Chase and Cameron. They didn’t want him here. I found her texts she was lured out there. Not unlike you were lured to Yellow Hills.” I snarled, “Lisa.” Melanie made a face, “Yeah, she’s hiding, but I’ll find her. I’ll so find her. I have folders for everyone about everything I found. I have all of us set to have a meeting because you know…I didn’t figure you’d want to break the news. I’m terrible at breaking news…so we have our think tank gathered.” I agreed, “Yeah, I don’t want to tell them.”

Before she could say anything else, Key woke up. Melanie rambled until her Xander popped in. I asked Tatum, “Did Keaton link him?” Tatum replied, “Channing did. They have a system. He kisses her to stop the rambling.” I snorted, “I might have driven to get him a few times. She once ranted for three hours and we couldn’t get her to stop.” Tatum laughed in my head.

Melanie told them about the meeting. It was so cute her Xander didn’t know she’d hacked him. She’d have him hacked for a long time. She could change his schedule around as much as she wanted. I’d have to tell him. Keaton thought his family was mad. I asked Tatum, “Why would they be mad? It is because he wants to be with me…after….Luke?” Tatum answered, “Channing said no. He said they like you.” Hopefully, they did. I probably needed to improve their impression of me. So far it was not great. Tatum assured me, “It’s fine.”

I mean not really. I was convinced that the Robin Hood lady was his mom. She probably thinks I’m crazy. The Hood guy had to be his uncle. He totally seemed related to the Robin Hood lady. I did try to help though so that probably worked in my favor. So, maybe if his mom liked me they would all forget about Luke. His dad liked me before that I was pretty sure. Emmett had seemed curious at first, but at my party they liked me. Keith could help me. I knew he liked me. I’d just prove I was a good person. That was a thing. Tatum snorted, “They like you.”

I was drawn back to the conversation happening when Alexander called her Lovebug. That was the sweetest. The guys were surprised Melanie owned a software company. I raised an eyebrow. She owned ten that I knew of. They were surprised by one. Before she could ramble about the amount of companies she had Alexander popped us to the gym then to a treehouse. This was not a normal treehouse. It was a literal house in a tree.

I linked Alexander, “Who built this?” He smirked, “I did.” I gaped, “You’re a carpenter?” He laughed, “No, I used fairy magic.” Damn. Fairies got cooler and cooler. I told him, “You didn’t ask Melanie the right question about her security companies.” He cut a glance at me, “Companies?” I nodded, “Yup. Plural.” He bit his lip. He seemed to find that fun.

Melanie gave me the opportunity to tell Keaton about his grandma. That would be the brave thing to do, but I was not feeling brave today. Luke always blamed me for being the messenger about things, and I didn’t want to do that. Tatum linked, “Mate is not that awful siren.” I knew that, but the fear was still there. Plus, I’ve never had to break it to someone that a murder was a different type of murder. Or that there was a murder. I didn’t even play that Clue game.

When Haley popped in she smelled very strongly of…something I couldn't quite place. I asked Tatum, “Can I talk to Keaton?” She replied, “You marked him, so we should be able to.” I asked, “Even if he hasn’t marked us back?” Tatum said, “I’m a new wolf. I don’t know how all this works. You can try to link him.” It worked, but I clearly shouldn’t have asked that question. The answer was Haley smelled like my brother. They’d been having s*x. I mean they were married with twenty kids. At least it was twenty last I heard from Melanie.

Keaton started to get upset. I reached for him. It seemed to calm him down. I asked Tatum, “Did no one like Cassandra? Who is she? I’m getting the sense it might be my dad’s dead mate, right?” Tatum answered, “I’m asking Oden some questions. He didn’t like her. She was rude to them over their fairy blood. She said he was very mean to his mom.” I asked, “Haley? Why? Fairies seem like the coolest supernatural I’ve met so far.” Tatum growled, “Excuse me? We are cool!” I said, “Of course we are, but they have literal magic to create this house. They can charm water to stay warm…..it’s cool.” Sassy huffed in my head along with Tatum. Whatever. Cassandra was a crazy person. Fairies were awesome.

Dylan joined the conversation. Tatum snorted, “His wolf, Fang, is quite funny. He insists you know that.” I smirked, “Alright. He’s seemed pretty funny so far. I get the sense he’s a big kid.” Melanie blurted out harpies killed Emma. I really didn’t think her way was bad. It wasn’t tactful, but it was like ripping off a band aid.

Keaton froze. I linked Tatum, “Is he ok? Is he in shock? What should I do?” Tatum answered, “Channing has locked down too. Just give him a minute.” I explained that’s not what I saw. I was really glad I didn’t see someone die in the past. That would’ve been awful. Apparently they could wipe my memories. That was just annoying. I didn’t want anyone to take my memories. My mind had been messed with enough as it was.

Keaton did not take it well that they tried to kill his mom. He was furious. His eyes were flickering black. I was guessing Channing had snapped out of silence and now was angry. Tatum linked, “Hold his hand again.” I grabbed it and he marginally calmed down. I explained they weren’t after her anymore. I explained about Lisa and the weird blue thing I did. He handled it better than I thought he would. Then again, he was a supernatural used to such things.

He paused me and he got a far away look on his face. I asked Tatum, “Uhh…what?” Alexander linked me, “He’s linking someone. Probably Emmett. Emmett is their lead Alpha.” I nodded, that made sense. I replied, “Melanie said Lisa was gone already.” Alexander replied, “How lovely.” He spat out sarcastically. He looked positively furious that his brother was thrown back. I couldn’t help but smile about the other news Melanie casually dropped. I hadn’t seen Olivia yet, but she was mentioned with Maverick. I knew she liked him. She was quiet and shy, but really sweet. I was happy for her.

Dylan tried to lighten the mood and he made a plan. Haley was going to warn Eric, but I really felt I should. I linked him, “Does this work this far away?” Eric answered, “Anywhere you are, little sister, you can link me.” I told him, “I’m sure you’re getting a heads up that something is coming. Everyone seems to think you’re going to be mad, but I just want to say I’m sorry. I know I’m bringing this knowledge out, but I also think it’s needed. Plus, just remember the mistakes our parents make aren’t on us.”

Eric asked, “Why do I get the sense you mean my mother?” I replied, “Because you’re smart?” He snorted, “Whatever this is, you have nothing to be sorry for.” I told him, “Melanie knows more than she’s sharing.” He laughed, “She usually does.” That was true. She held a lot back. I wanted to help her. She carried the weight of the world sometimes with the knowledge she had.

It was cute watching Melanie with her dad. She clearly didn’t notice how much it meant to him that she included him in this conversation. She was visibly relieved when he started talking. She idolized him even when she thought he was dead. I wondered if he knew that. Several people always said she’d never want anyone but her Xander. They were right, but she told plenty of men they didn’t treat women right. That came from her dad. He was her example of how she should be treated in a relationship.

I turned back to Keaton. He was fuming. He admitted he didn’t know his biological grandma, but I could tell he was upset for his grandpa. They wanted Melanie in the other conversation, but I needed her! Tatum linked, “Mate will be with us.” I replied, “If I'm facing a firing squad, I want Melanie in there in my corner and on my side. She’s my safe place. That’s probably not fair, but she is.”

Tatum assured me, “Mates family won’t be upset.” I snorted, “If I was Frank Daniels, I'd be furious. The messenger always gets the anger.” Tatum softly said, “They are not Luke.” I knew that, but the echoes were there. There were things Luke had done to me in our relationship that I hadn’t talked about. Things he did…..even when I told him something my mom told me to tell him…I just didn’t want to be the vessel for their anger like I was for him or my mom.

We were popped to the Daniels. His dad already looked furious and worried. I shrank back into Keaton. They were going to be mad at me. I was trying to focus on my breathing. I didn’t want to have a panic attack. Melanie squeezed my hand and smiled at me. She linked me, “Freya said Tatum is saying you think they will blame you. They won’t, I promise.” Her words were like a balm on my soul. She couldn’t lie. She was truly awful at it. The panic attack was moved to the back burner. I need to be there for Key right now.

Drake took control of the situation. I glanced at Melanie. She was totally at ease in his presence in a way. The love she always held in her eyes was there. It felt like she was holding back though. I got that. It was hard to immerse yourself into a group of people when you’ve been alone for so long. I’m sure it was strange for her because she thought they were dead. They didn’t see what becoming an island did to her. It wasn’t hard for me to give up my island because I never wanted it. I wanted connections. Melanie had them and they were ripped away from her.

They started talking. I was so afraid they would be upset with me. Drake began to tell the story. Apparently, my dad beat his dad in a fight. I linked Melanie, “So, another one of my grandparents suck?” Melanie replied, “Nathan killed his dad, but he did suck. He was evil.” I snorted, “Great, what about my grandma?” Melanie began picking at her sleeve, “She’s dead too.” I asked, “Did my dad kill her?” She shook her head, “No, he didn't…” Weird. Melanie definitely knew who killed her though. I let that go.

Keaton’s mom threw a vase. Honestly? Same. She’d definitely figured out Lisa was involved. I could get behind the vase throwing. The room froze when Drake told everyone Frank’s first wife was targeted. Keaton’s mom’s hands flew to her mouth, then to her husband. The raw pain on Chase’s face had me looking down. I felt like an intruder to a family moment.

Melanie linked me, “It’s going to be ok. I know that look too. You’re their family. That’s how they all feel because you are Keaton’s mate.” I nodded. She told me, “I feel like an outsider looking in a lot too.” I squeezed her hand. That was so sad. She was raised around here.

I had to say something to help them. So, I told them the truth, that Frank saved Nadine and Susy’s life. I had everyone’s attention with that statement. Tatum encouraged, “Keep going.” So, I did. Emmett assured me I didn’t do anything wrong. A weight lifted off me. He wasn’t angry with me.

Melanie had clearly found out more information than I knew. That wasn’t surprising; she always knew a lot of things. She basically could find anything she wanted with some typing. The world literally was at her fingertips.

I tentatively joined the conversation here and there. They wondered why they abandoned the other Daniels mates for Keaton. Melanie clearly knew. She was linking her dad. I chimed in to explain about what Aiden did to the harpies. I was getting braver jumping in now that it seemed no one was mad at me.

I heard an angry roar that shook the windows. Holy s**t. Were they under attack? Did that kind of thing happen? Clearly, it did. I was kidnapped while the Daniels pack was attacked. Then they assured me it was Eric. Jeez. Who wanted to make my big brother mad? Not me, that's for damn sure. His enemies were idiots. He could shake the windows with a roar.

Melanie had clearly talked more to Caspian since he was ready to do a ritual to rid the Daniels men of harpy blood. There was a ritual?! Because I don’t think Caspian was going to kiss them all. That seemed odd. I cursed my mother in my head for not raising me to know about the supernatural. I thought I paralyzed my boyfriend. Or something. I didn’t even do anything wrong. I helped, but the panic I’d hurt him was real.

The Daniels didn’t think they could be upset about Emma because that brought Nadine into their life. I could see the conflict on their faces. Melanie came to the rescue again. Of course. I never had any doubt. She was always the fixer to any situation. Melanie handed out her folders. I wanted to laugh. She’d always given people those. She loved her red folders full of information.