I held my phone up to my ear early the next morning and listened as it rang. After a few moments, there was a scuffling sound "Mendez." A smoky female voice answered.

Mendez was new and as such got the shitty jobs nobody wanted. I also knew that she had minored in species traits in her studies before the academy. "It's Sawyer, I need you to make me a list of things I need to know about sirens," I tell her.

She makes a soft little humming noise, "I heard about that case. It's yours?" She questioned.

"Yeah. Protection duty." I tell her vaguely.

"Okay boss, what do you need on the list?"

I think for a moment before answering, "Well for starters anything to avoid that will make her bonded mates kill me." I grumble grumpily.

"What did you do?" She asks like it's obvious that I did something.

I huff out a breath, "I rubbed her back." I say like it's ridiculous.

She gasped, "You did not!" She shouted into the phone.

"She threw herself into my lap and started crying her eyes out! What was I supposed to do? Then she threw herself at a fully shifted Crocotta like he was a fluffy cat talking about God-dammed slippers after I tried to stop her and got threatened by a kitsune to let her go and accused of sexually assaulting the girl!" I finished my rant taking in a deep breath realizing I had said the last park all in one breath.

Mendez clucked her tongue, "You did kind of assault her. Siren's have scars on their backs from their wings they are very sensitive, it's a pleasure zone. Never touch her back or her wings."

I frowned, not realizing how bad what I had done was until this moment. "What else do you know about them?"

She hummed again in the annoying way she always does while thinking. "From the top of my head, I know that Sirens take more than one mate. They aren't physically strong, and their bodies are delicate. It takes half the amount of force to break one of their bones as it does for a normal Arcane Species but they heal as quickly as the rest of us. They tend to be smart and inquisitive and can sing people into a compliant trance. We didn't learn much about them in school since they were thought to be extinct. I'll do some research and send you anything that looks interesting." She informed me.

"Thanks," I grunt out the reply.

I hung up the phone and sat down on the couch I had been sleeping on. Last night I had really messed up and I hadn't even realized how badly until just now. I heard movement upstairs and my eyebrows went up when I realized what I was hearing. I had been here for two nights, and I knew she had multiple mates. My brows went up when I remember she went up with two shifted men and realized what that meant.

It was still an hour before everyone else was supposed to get up, so I pushed my earphones into my ears and tried to ignore it. Drowning the noises out with the best of early 2000s punk rock music. I got up and headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast. Feeling properly shamed I made enough for everyone as an apology for the night before. While I hadn't known about the trait, I should have investigated sirens as soon as she told me she was sure she was one. I had messed up by not making sure I knew everything there was to know about sirens. How could I protect her if I hadn't even known touching her back could throw her into a boneless heap of pleasure? What if I had done that in public for hell's sake? I had just gotten this case and I was already fucking it up.

Distractedly I threw some sausage links in one pan and eggs in another. I needed to do better by Sage. She deserved to live a life without fear of being abducted or executed. My shoulders stiffened with the resolve to protect her no matter what. Even if she had four other powerful men around her to protect her it would be my responsibility to protect all of them. I put some toast in the toaster replacing it with fresh bread one it popped back out.

When I was taking everything off the stove the hairs on the back of my neck stood from the sudden presence in the room. I turned taking my earphones out to see Sage standing in the doorway. She took a step into the room looking nervous. "I'm sorry." We both blurted out at the same time.

I shook my head, "No I should be apologizing. I dropped the ball. It's my job to know everything about you including all the dos and don'ts of your species. I should have known." I tell her not meeting her eyes.

She frowned, "It's not all your fault. I was just so relieved." She held her hand to her chest. I couldn't see the panic button, but I saw the thin silver chain disappearing into her shirt collar with a gold one alongside it. "Sometimes it's hard to control my reactions when there are so many of the same emotions that I'm feeling near me. Seriously funerals are the worst." She let out a humorless laugh.

I remembered that her father had passed away and understood the lack of humor. It was a little frustrating that she had no other living relatives on that side. The only test given to the students at schools like Oak Mountain Prep was the ability to walk through the wards. This made the school a safe place for arcane species, but it lacked the finesse of proper security. Though it was rude to ask what species someone was I couldn't imagine the community's reaction if we started blood testing all their children.

"So, truce?" I asked.

She frowned looking behind her and pausing for a moment before stepping toward me again. Her eyes took on a fierce gleam and her mouth narrowed into a sharp line. "As long as you never look at Maddox like he's going to hurt me ever again. He gets enough shit from everyone else. I will not stand for him being treated that way in his own home. I don't give a damn if you're here to protect me. If that ever happens again, I will knee you so hard in the balls you won't have to shift to make your testicles disappear." She growls making me take a step back and cup my junk instinctively.

It wouldn't look that bad if the kitsune hadn't decided to walk in at the moment it looked like I was now groping my own crotch in front of Sage. He didn't say anything about my compromising position which made me remember they had excellent hearing and he probably hear every word. His hand came up and wrapped around the back of Sage's neck in a possessive manner that showed off the new mark around his wrist. "I like the protective savageness. You should let it out more often." He smirked before pressing a kiss to her temple and walking to the fridge to get himself a glass of orange juice.

Sage made a disagreeing humming noise that somehow wasn't annoying when she did it like it was when Mendez did. I set out the plates and took a serving of everything before taking a seat at the table mentally preparing myself for the day ahead. I knew it would be rougher than yesterday. There would be a bunch of questions now that Sage had been reported it would likely be big news. People probably already knew about it added to the fact a decent number of people had seen Maddox's bonding mark. Today would be a shit show and I would have to pretend to be a docile new girl and not slap people in the face for making rude comments. We were all royally screwed.