Word Count: 3447

Adam sat in the driver seat of the car and tried to get himself under control before going into the hotel, he hoped he could get to his room without Reese or Callum seeing him. They would know the second they laid eyes on him that something was very wrong, and he wasn't sure he could talk about it yet.

His heart was crushed, and his hope was starting to dim fast, he didn't know what to do now, her words played over and over in his head. For seven years, I've hated you. Fresh tears flooded his eyes, but he fought them back, sniffed and breathed deeply for a second then headed into the hotel.

Luck was not on his side. Of course, it wasn't. Reese and Callum were both sitting in the lobby right in front of the doors when he walked in, waiting for him probably.

They both jumped up and came to him immediately, their expressions worried.

"Are you alright?" Callum asked.

"What happened, Adam?" Reese said, searching his eyes.

"Can we just go upstairs?" Adam said, walking past them toward the elevator. He couldn't do this out in public.

When they got to his room Adam went immediately to the mini bar and made himself a drink.

"I might need a few more of these," he remarked glaring at the miniature bottles.

"Adam, what happened?" Callum asked, sharing a worried glance with Reese.

"I talked to Celie, I went to her gallery to see her and we talked," Adam said slowly. "He was there, that fucking enormous merman guy was in there laughing and painting a shitty fish picture when I got there."

"They're together?" Reese asked carefully.

"No, I don't think so," Adam sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "They don't smell like it; his scent isn't on her at all. But he'd like it to be, I'm sure."

"What happened?" Callum asked again, relieved, Celie getting busy with the giant siren was definitely not what they needed right now on top of everything else.

"I asked her if she had thought about anything I said, about giving us a shot and she... said she..." Adam stopped and took a breath. "She said she didn't think she could, she said all she thought about when she saw me, was me rejecting her and all the pain she felt."

Callum's eyes closed tightly for a second, aching for his friend.

Reese sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and dropped his face into his hands. This was the last thing they were hoping for, but it was the first thing Reese was expecting. After seeing the girls more, being around them, hearing their stories, he realized how far they'd come, how much they'd grown, and how strong they both were. Not just Harper, but Celie too. They were not the broken girls who'd run from the pack, not even close.

"I tried...I tried telling her, that we would make good memories that would outweigh the bad ones. She said it wasn't just about the rejection, but about who I was as a person. I told her I wasn't the person she remembered, that I wasn't some asshole abuser who condoned hurting girls. But she said, that even if I didn't know everything, I knew enough, and I stood and did nothing but laugh when they were hurting and that she would always remember that." Adam sniffed, "she...she..."

He sat still for a few moments, his hand over his eyes, breathing deeply, gathering himself.

"She said she's hated me for seven years," Adam whispered, his voice harsh, and tears rushed from his eyes. "I asked her if she can really just walk away, and never know what it was like to have her mate, and she said...she'll be able to have a mate someday because she gets a second chance."

Adam looked up at them, desperation, and fear in his eyes.

"I said...I told her that I love her more than anything, and that this mystery mate might not be all that and they'll never appreciate her as much as I would. I said, she doesn't know where that person is, or how long she might have to wait for them, but I'm here now and I will do anything for a chance, and that I'll prove it to her, I'll show her if she lets me."

"But she still said no?" Callum asked, tears were standing in his own eyes watching his friend.

"She doesn't know, she's too raw, and too angry, and there's too much going on right now to just make that decision. She also said she's outraged that I came here and just expected her to forget everything she went through like it meant nothing and take me back." Adam said, taking a long drink. "She said she doesn't want to string me along or let me hope for something when she doesn't even know if there's anything to hope for."

"I'm sorry," Reese said. "Adam, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. Every bit of it is at my feet, and I'm so sorry."

"No, it's not, Reese. It's easy for me to blame you, but you didn't make me a coward. You didn't make me do what I did, you weren't standing over me alpha commanding me to do it. It was my dumbass decision, and I have to live with it. Celie made me see that today, and she's right. I stood beside you and said nothing, I saw what was happening and I was too much of a pussy to do anything even though I didn't agree. I thought, somehow in my mind, that because I wasn't the one doing it, that somehow absolved me, but it doesn't." Adam said, staring into his glass. "What is that quote? 'All it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing'? Well, I did nothing."

"Edmund Burke," Reese said. "But it's 'triumph', not win."

Callum gave a soft snort.

"When did you become the quote master?" Callum asked Reese after a few minutes of no one talking.

"When I started reading Harper's journals, she loved quotes, wrote them down all the time," Reese said slowly, thinking he might as well own up to it now. "My favorite is by Charles Bukowski, it says, 'The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence'."

"What?" Callum asked, sitting up and staring at Reese searchingly. "Harper had journals?"

"Yeah, thirteen of them," Reese answered. "I found them under her mattress the day she ran away. They weren't like those journals where they just talk about their lives, they were just like quotes, and sayings and some memes pasted to the pages. I kept them all these years, I never told anyone I had them."

"Why not?" Adam asked.

"It was all that was left of her, there was literally nothing left of hers in the house, her room was completely empty, like no one ever even lived there. She was planning on leaving for a long time, threw away everything she wasn't taking with her, and she was already packed to leave that day. And when I found the journals I didn't want to share them with anyone," Reese admitted. "Plus I kinda felt like a creeper, reading her private thoughts and stuff, and didn't want to just show her personal writings to anyone else. I figured me violating her privacy was bad enough and she would hate it if she ever came home and realized I'd had them and showed them to everyone."

"Yeah, she would have hated that," Callum said. "She was always very private. She would hate knowing you have them now."

"I wasn't planning on telling her I have them," Reese said wryly.

Just then there was a soft knock at the door and Reese stood to answer it. Luna Sophia and Alpha Lucas were outside.

"Well, I think the packs have some good ideas," Luna Sophia started as they came in and sat down.

Reese had a moment to laugh at himself a little, he was the current alpha of the pack, but the moment his mother had shown up she'd taken over. He was starting to realize Sophia had actually been the alpha all those years, she just let Lucas think he was in charge.

"The leadership of both packs are driving over here tonight and we're going to Harper and Matt's house for dinner to talk," Alpha Lucas told them, causing Reese to raise a brow.

"Has anyone asked Harper and Matt if they're ok with that?" Reese asked.

"Of course we did," Luna Sophia chuckled. "Everyone felt bad about Harper driving out there last night when she'd been seeing patients all day and had to go to the hospital again first thing this morning. I mean, it was pretty obvious the poor girl was exhausted and running on empty last night. They said the least they could do is make the drive out tonight so she could get some sleep before her shift tomorrow."

Luna Sophia leaned over toward Reese and whispered conspiratorially, "Plus Luna Penny is dying to see Harper and Matt's house on the beach since I told her all about it."

"Ah, of course," Reese laughed at that, sneaky women.

**

Harper was setting out snacks around the rec room when the wolves began arriving around six pm. She was feeling better tonight, she'd gotten some sleep last night and tomorrow was Friday, so it was her last day of rounds for a month unless an emergency surgery came up that they needed to call her in for. Even though she was going to be busy with Matt monitoring the ocean for mating tritons, she was looking forward to the time off. She could nap and lounge during the day since tritons didn't hunt when the sun was up.

"I'm so looking forward to going out on the boat and being out to sea for a week looking for tritons," Celie muttered to her as they stood at the bar watching everyone milling around waiting for the last car of the Keys pack members to arrive.

"I was literally just thinking the same thing, two minutes ago," Harper laughed.

"You're going out on the boat for a week?" Luna Sophia asked from where she was speaking softly to Luna Penny nearby.

. Celie linked Harper, hiding a grin as Harper turned to the Luna's.

"Yep, we were planning on shipping out Sunday morning," Harper told her. "We stay on the boat and monitor the smaller islands around here. Normally that's where we'd find them coming to shore, they usually stick to the small uninhabited islands. This is the first time we've ever had them come to shore on Key Biscayne, this should be much too bright and busy for them to risk."

"Typically, the only thing we really have to watch out for here is to make sure no one is out there swimming at night," Celie said a little louder, the wolves in the room had all moved closer to listen to their conversation. "A triton will still try to lure someone who's out in the surf in the middle of the night, they're just easy targets of opportunity, though, they are usually too scared to actively hunt an island this busy."

"They...." Harper trailed off as they heard knocking at the door. The Keys pack alpha and luna had arrived.

"So we've been having some meetings and going over all the information you gave us last night, we still have some questions," Alpha Alexander started off after everyone was seated with a beverage and plate of food.

"Of course," Matt answered. "We're happy to give you any information we can."

"What would we be patrolling for, if we have wolves out looking for these creatures?" Alpha Michael asked.

"There isn't much you can do about them in the water," Eden answered. "You won't be able to see or smell them if they are out there, the only thing you can do is make sure no one goes into the water at night. I advise against letting anyone even walk in the surf, they can be lured if they're touching the water."

"What exactly does "lured" mean?" Luna Diana asked. "I've heard you say that several times, people are lured into the water. How?"

"Well, if you're familiar with Greek mythology, you know the legends say sirens sat on the rocks and sang, and their song enchanted the sailors so much they sailed their boats onto the rocks and sank their own ships and killed themselves." Matt smiled. "Is everyone familiar with that myth?"

All the wolves nodded.

"The only part of that story that isn't true is that sirens intentionally lured sailors to sink their ships on the rocks." Matt chuckled. "A siren's voice can enchant or lure a human to follow their orders, and sirens have the ability to draw people with their auras. Sirens are strong enough to compel a human to do just about anything, if you can hear our voices, or feel our aura, you can be compelled, and we can project our voices for a great distance. If I were to go outside and shout with all my strength, everyone on this island would hear me, and even some on the mainland. Projecting your aura is harder, I can only project mine about a mile or so over land. In the water is a different story, sound and aura travel further, the water propagates it, I can be heard for at least fifty miles maybe further, in the water."

"I was over eighty miles from here when I heard your call," Eden told Matt with a shrug. "It was clear as day and certainly traveled much further, you must have grown stronger since last you called out to anyone. I wouldn't go outside and shout, you would shatter the minds of all your neighbors, and they would definitely hear you on the mainland."

The wolves stared at them in amazement, this was unbelievable.

"How far can your voice travel, Eden?" Celie asked.

"A couple hundred miles," Eden replied. "But I dwell in the ocean and use my voice more than Matt, so naturally it is stronger. If he lived at sea and used it more, his would be much more powerful, he has the ability, just not the practice."

"Tritons don't have our power, but they do have a slight ability to lure, if you're touching the water, the sound vibration or energy created by their voices or auras can lure you." Matt turned back to the wolves. "I'm not sure the scientific explanation, but basically it only works if you're touching the water, the water is the conduit for their power."

"You're sure they can't do it out of the water?" Beta Christopher asked.

"We haven't observed it," Harper said. "Even if they had stronger voices, it would be harder for them because they don't have language, they can't relay complex demands. The lure works because they are just projecting a desire to go into the water. It's simple, they just need you to go out far enough for them to grab you."

"Once you're in the water, you're a goner, you can't fight them. They're far too big and strong, even if you could get a few blows in, all they have to do is drag you under for the two minutes it takes for you to drown."

"That brings us to the topic I'm most interested in," Alpha Michael said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "Just how physically strong are these creatures, in and out of the water? What exactly are we dealing with, I need figures, and examples. Are they as big and strong as you?"

"Some could be, I suppose," Eden answered. "But I have never seen one reach my size, the largest I have ever encountered was about ten inches shorter than Matt in his marine form. I have only encountered one of that size, most around seven to eight feet long in the sea, and perhaps 6' or 6'1 on land."

"Don't be fooled by that figure though," Harper said, when she saw the wolves relax a little. "They're nothing like us physically. Their power and strength are far greater than ours, even if we are the same size. Their muscles, tissues, and bone densities are twice what ours are, and when they shift they keep those attributes. They don't turn into humans when they shift, they are the same creature they were before, they just have legs instead of fins."

"Eden, let them feel your muscles!" Celie said grinning, poking Eden's bicep. It was especially funny, since her expression changed immediately when she did it. She was trying to make a joke, but then was honestly shocked by how hard his arm was. She poked again then turned back. "Seriously, feel his muscle. I'm not joking anymore."

The wolves glanced at each other, then Alpha Alexander's son Porter rolled his eyes after Luna Penny elbowed him, and he got up and came over to poke Eden. His expression also changed when he touched his arm, then Eden smiled and flexed, and Porter actually gaped at him.

"Ok, I was skeptical until just now," Porter said sheepishly, and turned back to Eden. "I don't wanna arm wrestle."

Everyone laughed hearing that comment, and Porter winked as he returned to his seat.

"And in the water...well just imagine trying to wrestle a dolphin with arms and talons." Matt told them. "You're never going to be any kind of match for them in the water, so don't even consider pursuing one into the ocean."

"Like I said to Reese the other night," Harper sighed. "Wolves are not apex predators here, in any form. I've fought them as a wolf with them in human form on land, and it's still not easy. I would be able to rip a human or werewolf in human form apart in a second. Not so with a triton, even in human form they are tough, males especially. They keep their talons, hooked teeth, and tough hide when they shift. I would not be able to beat more than one at a time, wolf form against human form, and I'm not a small weak she-wolf."

"Nope," Adam commented. "Harper is a beta female warrior wolf."

"So what are we supposed to do if they come onshore?" Alpha Michael asked.

"Attack as a group of at least two to one, or leave them alone," Eden said.

"At first I would advise leaving them alone anyway," Matt said, rubbing his chin. "If they come onshore in a group, we need to watch them, see why they're doing it. They've never done this before that we've observed, we need to know what is driving them to do it. Is it truly just mating, or are the actually hunting on land? We need to figure that out to really understand what kind of threat we're facing."

"There's also the possibility that we are blowing this a little out of proportion," Harper said. "The truth is, as far as we know, there's only a small dwindling population of tritons in all the world's oceans. It's not like thousands of them are going to storm the beach one night. We could conceivably go the rest of the season and not see another one."

"How likely is that?" Beta Christopher asked.

"In my opinion?" Eden responded. "Not likely. A few days ago I would have said it's possible. But we had ten sightings and two attacks in two days on a populated island. That worries me."

"I agree," Matt said. "My instincts are screaming at me right now that this is not over."

"We've got another problem as well, we won't be able to do much beach patrolling soon," Luna Penny said, frowning at her phone. "Turn on the weather channel."

Harper searched around the bar for the remote and turned the TV on, after a few seconds they all groaned. Tropical storm Howard had just been upgraded to a category two hurricane and it was heading straight for the south east coast of FL with another tropical depression forming behind it.

"Gotta love late summer in Florida." Harper burst into a hearty laugh.

"Hurricane party!" Luna Penny and Celie shouted together, and Celie cheerfully clinked her glass against Luna Penny's as they both giggled.

Please Vote if you like this chapter!