Word Count: 4063

"Harper?"

Hearing her name Harper glanced up from the chart she was reading and was startled to see Luna Sophia standing in the hallway near her. She should have smelled another wolf the second it entered the hospital; she absolutely should have smelled it before it made it to the 4th floor and walked right up to her. She berated herself silently for not paying attention but chalked it up to her exhaustion and let it go. They had been with the police and the confused women until 4 am and she'd had to get up and go to work today. She had already missed two days of hospital duty this week and she was going to be off work for a month so she couldn't justify missing another day. She was so tired she was almost reminded of her last year of medical school and first year residency, she'd had days like this every day that year.

"Hello Sophia," Harper said glancing at the nurses station a few feet away. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, what's up?"

"I thought you might want to get some lunch?" Luna Sophia said. She was smiling but her eyes were worried.

"Yeah, sure, of course," Harper replied nodding, the clock on the wall told her it was after 1pm, so she could justify an hour break. "I have two more patient charts to look at really quick, if you don't mind? You can wait here in the lounge; it should only take me a couple of minutes. Then we can run to the café across the street. They have amazing chicken sandwiches and lemon cookies."

"Perfect," Luna Sophia said, following Harper into what looked like a small break room with some tables, a couple of vending machines, and a couch with a nurse sleeping on it.

Luna Sophia only had enough time to take a few sips of her coffee when Harper came back in. She had a large tote bag with her and sat down for a moment to switch her bright green crocs out to a pair of nude pumps that matched her plain blue sheath dress.

"Honey, you look wonderful, so professional." Luna Sophia said, admiring Harper's simple style and her French twist updo which made her look professional but still beautiful.

Harper led Luna Sophia out of the hospital and across a busy intersection to a small café that was tucked between two clothing shops. The inside was very homey with small bistro tables and a few booths in the back, most of the patrons were wearing scrubs and lab coats.

"How late were you up last night?" Luna Sophia asked. "You look tired."

"I feel tired," Harper laughed. "Today has been rough, I've been having flashbacks of my first year of surgical residency all day. We didn't get to bed until after 4am this morning, so it hasn't been an easy one. But I was out on Monday and Tuesday, and I'm about to go on vacation for a month, so I need to be here to get caught up before I go."

"I hate to put more on you Sweetie, but I've talked to Luna Penny and we are scheduled to head over to the packhouse as soon as you've finished for the day. They'll have dinner prepared and waiting for us, we didn't give them much information about what we wanted to discuss, but we let them know it's of vital importance and the ranking leadership should be there." Luna Sophia told Harper. She was slipping back into her Luna role easily, getting everyone organized and on the same page. "I also asked them to bring the leaders of the Keys pack as well, even though they are a small pack and don't have many members. I feel they may be at risk even more than the Everglades pack since they live on the islands."

"You're absolutely right," Harper sighed, scrubbing a hand across her face. "I didn't even think about them, but my brain is not fully functioning right now. I'm glad you're here, Luna, I'm not sure I could handle all the wolves on my own. It's been a long time since I had to work with a pack."

"I'm glad to be here too, Honey." Luna Sophia smiled, relaxing a little, she'd known Harper hadn't been too thrilled when they'd shown up out of the blue the night before. But she hadn't been able to wait to see Harper for herself, and make sure she really was still alive. "Dealing with packs isn't easy, that's for sure, and this is going to be a huge shock for them. Hell, I'm not sure they'd even believe us if we didn't have Matt and Eden to bring with us and show them, it's just so unbelievable."

"What did you tell them about why we need to talk to them?" Harper asked after she'd ordered her sandwich and a large latte.

"Not much, though they tried to press for more details. Just that we had some information on what could be a possible threat to the pack." Luna Sophia grimaced. "What could I tell them on the phone? Hey, I have a couple of mermen I want to introduce you to?"

Harper snickered, bouncing her eyebrows.

"Maybe...we'd like to warn you about some insane cannibal fish rogues that may try to eat your pack members?" Harper joked.

"Right! They're already confused. So this is my conversation..." Luna Sophia laughed, making a gesture like she was holding a phone to her ear. "'Hello Luna Penny, I need to speak to you, all your leadership, and the leadership of a nearby pack in regard to a threat to your people. By the way, we're bringing a few guests, do you you have a pool we can use? Do you mind making dinner or should I pick some up?' They probably think we're some crazy back woods pack leaders that just want to have a tropical vacation party on their territory or something. I should have asked her if they have daiquiri mix and plenty of booze." Luna Sophia rolled her eyes dramatically.

Harper couldn't help but crack up at that, she'd forgotten how funny Luna Sophia could be.

"Luna Penny is great though," Harper said. "She's an official Debutante from South Carolina whose daddy was the alpha of one of the oldest packs in America. She's the definition of generous, kind, and hospitable. Don't piss her off though, or you'll see how mean those little southern girls can get."

"I can't wait to meet her," Luna Sophia said. "I don't remember ever meeting her or Alpha Alexander at alpha meetings, but I doubt they ever had reason to be at any near us. The nationwide and international meetings had so many alpha's, I can't even remember a tenth of them."

"They're good people," Harper said. "They were so nice, supportive, and welcoming when Celie and I went to the pack for the first time to introduce ourselves and let them know we were here. We were scared to death that they wouldn't recognize our marks and would immediately throw us into a cell as rogues. We didn't know about the laws then and had no way of knowing they were legally bound to help us if we asked. Honestly though, they're the kind of people who would have helped us, even without laws forcing them to."

"I'm so sorry you were in that position, Harper," Luna Sophia started. "I just..."

Harper held up her hand to stop her.

"Luna, nothing that happened, NOTHING, was your fault." Harper told her earnestly, needing her to understand. "You had no knowledge of what was going on with us, I intentionally hid it from you. I was wrong to do that, as an adult, and looking back now I know it was wrong to keep it from you. I can see that my life would probably have been easier and better if I had opened up to you about what was happening. I know you would have stopped it and helped me and Celie. But I was a kid and didn't want to make a bad situation worse, and I wasn't looking at it from an adult perspective, so I hid it because I was afraid. It. Wasn't. Your. Fault."

"But I should have seen it." Luna Sophia argued.

"You were busy running an entire pack, raising your own child, and two orphans." Harper said, taking Luna Sophia's hand. "You had your hands full and had no reason to suspect anything was wrong because no one told you anything. Stop blaming yourself. You've carried this burden for over seven years, it's time to set it down."

Tears filled Luna Sophia's eyes hearing that.

"Everything that happened, happened for a reason. I really believe that. I'm fine. Celie and I are doing just fine. We're happier than we ever imagined we could be. We were never in any danger; we never went hungry or had to fight rogues like most runners. We never had any problems, we never struggled. I had full ride scholarships, I had college money and savings. Celie got a great job, making good money, the first interview she went to. We've had wonderful lives here; we thrived from the second we stepped off the train. Hell, we went to the beach every single day after we got here. I did all my studying in a lounge chair, wearing a bikini and sunglasses. I even had a tan line across my belly from where I propped my books on my stomach." Harper laughed, remembering that.

"But we worked hard, and we've had nothing but success in our lives. We didn't suffer or have any unhappiness or pain after we left." Harper assured her. "And you did so much good! Helped so many people, brought so much to light that no one knew. So much good came out of all the bad, we need to just focus on that."

Luna Sophia sniffed and took a deep breath before nodding. She needed to hear that, she needed to hear that Celie and Harper hadn't suffered.

"It was probably a lot harder on you than it was on us, honestly. We knew where the people we cared about were, and we knew you were probably ok. You've worried and stressed over us this whole time, and for that, I'm truly sorry. " Harper sighed. "We just knew we couldn't let you find us, not then, not with the way things were at the pack and how everything went down before we left. We knew you would bring us back, and we couldn't go back. We needed to be on our own. We needed to find our way, and we needed to do it alone. I hope you can understand that."

"Part of me does." Luna Sophia smiled sadly.

**

Harper jerked awake when she felt Matt's hand on her arm and blinked her bleary eyes as she look around. They were coming up the drive to the Everglades packhouse and she gave a silent plea for this meeting to be over quickly, but she knew that was probably too much to hope for.

"You guys looking forward to your first pack meeting?" Celie asked, yawning from the back seat. She'd taken Harper's lead and taken a nap on the hour and a half drive out to the pack.

"Not especially," Matt chuckled.

"Nope," Eden said.

"I don't blame you, wolves are generally assholes," Celie chuckled.

"Female ones don't appear to be," Eden said, raising an eyebrow at Celie, who blushed and gave a small smile.

Harper quirked a knowing eyebrow at Matt and shared a quick smile at the exchange. Harper didn't know Eden, but she'd met many sirens since she and Matt had gotten together, and they had all been amazing people. Theirs was a culture of shared kindness and consideration, she would have loved to see Celie find a siren mate. She wished Eden had shown up on their doorstep before Adam did.

Even though Adam didn't seem as bad as she'd always thought he was, Harper would still rather see Celie with someone else. No matter how much Adam regretted what he did, or how much he changed, he was still the guy who had left Celie crying in the dirt. Harper wanted to see her friend end up with someone who would never even think of making her cry, much less someone heartless enough to reject her and leave her like that. She thought her best friend deserved better.

The moment they stepped out of the Tahoe, Luna Penny descending the front steps with a wide welcoming smile.

"Harper! Celie!" Luna Penny waved them over, hugging each warmly. "It's so good to see you girls! It's been too long since you visited us. Who are your friends?"

"Hello Luna Penny, it's so good to see you!" Harper responded with a smile and held out her hand for Matt as he joined her in front of the porch. "This is my husband Matt."

"Husband!" Luna Penny's eyes widened, and a brilliant smile broke out on her face as she eagerly reached to hug a surprised Matt. "What a wonderful surprise, what happy news!"

Matt patted Luna Penny awkwardly on the shoulder and extracted himself from her as quickly as he could, while Harper pursed her lips to quell a laugh at his uncomfortable look.

Harper was a little surprised to see Alpha Alexander just watch in amusement as his Luna hugged a strange man, normally males wolves were territorial over their mates. But Luna Penny was a hugger, and it was clear that Alpha Alexander had grown used to his wife's behavior in the many years they'd been together.

Celie had just finished introducing Eden when Reese and the others made their way over, they'd been a little behind them in traffic and hadn't gotten there as quickly even though they'd been trying to follow them. It was partly Matt's fault though; he was a bit of a speed demon and since they knew exactly where they were going he wasn't inclined to worry much about the speed limit.

It was a study in proper Luna etiquette to watch Luna Penny and Luna Sophia meet, the two were so eloquent and gracious it made Harper smile watching them. It brought back many memories of Luna Sophia and she was glad to realize that she had some happy memories to go with the bad ones, she could see the same reflections in Celie's eyes as she also watched them.

Once the introductions were done Harper stepped forward again.

"Luna Penny, I know this is going to sound like a very...odd request, but could you ask everyone except the ranking wolves to please leave and go with us to the pool? Can you please alpha command everyone who is not invited not to come back there or look out the windows? Just for a little while." Harper asked. "We have something to show you, because honestly, it's one of those things you will have to see to believe."

"Alright..." Luna Penny looked slightly apprehensive but graciously showed them to the back of the house where the pool was as Alpha Alexander made the announcement and sent everyone away.

"This is going to sound completely unbelievable, but Matt and Eden are not human. They're actually uh...sirens...or what we might think of as mermen." Reese said, earning sharp gasps from the assembled wolves.

"We know, we were just as shocked as you, but you can see for yourselves." Alpha Lucas said gesturing toward the men.

"Please bear with us." Harper said apologetically as she motioned for Matt and Eden to step forward. The female wolves raised eyebrows when the men took their shirts off, and Harper couldn't hold in a growl when the unmated female gamma of the Keys pack scoped Matt out. "Could you turn around for a second?"

But then the dumb female just turned her attention to Eden instead of looking away, and earned herself an even louder growl from Celie. Which made Harper giggle, Eden grin, and Adam frown.

Everyone looked away while them men stripped the rest of the way down and jumped into the pool.

"Ok, you can look now," Harper started. "I know this seems weird, but the reason we're doing it this way is because we weren't sure you'd believe us any other way."

Then Matt and Eden began shifting, it soon became apparent what they were, and that the simple in ground pool was not nearly big enough to hold two fully grown sirens. Harper and Celie exchanged a quick look, this was the first time they'd seen Eden's marine form and they were stunned at just how massive he was. He stretched nearly the entire length of the pool and was at least a foot and a half longer than Matt who was over 10 ft long in the water, which made Eden nearly 12 ft long from nose to tail, an amazing sight, especially in a little recreational pool. The two of them couldn't even swim around each other that much to show off their forms to the onlookers. The assembled wolves all stared in shocked silence before they began talking at once.

"Where did they come from?"

"Where did you find them?"

"Why are they here, you said they were a threat?"

"Wait...Wait...Wait." Harper held up her hand, gesturing to the pool. "They are no threat; they are here to warn you of one. Please, let them explain."

Harper and Luna Sophia calmed everyone and got them all to turn back around so that Matt and Eden could climb out of the pool and put their clothes back on. The wolves were all whispering and glancing cautiously at the men. Everyone couldn't help but notice the still healing deep gashes and claw marks covering Matt's body.

Once they were dressed and seated in the large meeting room of the house everyone finally quieted down and Matt started explaining. He told them of his kind, repeating everything they'd told the others, he explained the culture of his people and how they were not a threat. Then he told them of the tritons and their vicious ways, he told them of the troubling behavior they'd been witnessing, how Matt had been attacked, how Reese had been lured, and of the death of the young man the night before. By the time they were done speaking the wolves just sat staring at them in stunned silence.

"This is unbelievable." Alpha Michael from the Keys pack shook his head. "How is it that we've lived on these islands for two centuries and we've never encountered these...creatures?"

"You may have encountered them and just not realized it, if you've ever had someone disappear during a night swim." Matt told them.

Beta Christopher of the Keys pack snorted.

"Young man, we grew up here, we know there are sharks and saltwater crocs out there, we don't swim at night." He said, making the others laugh.

"Reese does." Adam couldn't help poking his friend's ego. Making the local wolves howl, to which Reese just shrugged sheepishly.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know a cannibal merman was trying to sing me into the water so he could eat me?" Reese joked. "Not one of the tourist brochures mentioned that possibility. I would have remembered a tidbit like that if I'd read it."

Everyone cracked up hearing that.

"Well then, it's unlikely you've ever run across one." Matt said, chuckling. "They don't attack or come to the surface in daylight near populated beaches. They are solitary creatures who only hunt at night and are only able to come onshore once a year. Until now, they've avoided populated islands and only taken the occasional lone swimmer, which in nearly every case has been a target of opportunity. In the last ten years I only know of three swimmers that have been taken from a FL beach, and one of those could actually have been a shark attack."

"Our people patrol all the populated coastlines; we have been trying to wipe them out for a millennia." Eden said. "But the ocean is vast, and there are not so many of us that we can watch every mile of coastline and protect every swimmer who enters the sea."

"Why do you think they've changed their behavior?" Luna Penny asked.

"We don't know," Matt answered honestly. "They may be on the brink of extinction; cooperating may be their evolution for their species to survive. We have no way of knowing. They have no language, no culture, and no society, we have no way of spying on them to find out what they are up to because, even if we did, we wouldn't be able to understand them. We can only observe their behavior and adapt ours to protect people."