Word Count: 3505

"I'm so sorry to be leaving you at a time like this," Luna Sophia said, as Celie and Harper walked her and Callum to the airport terminal. "But you know how the pack is, we just can't leave them on their own for too long, and even though Drew is great, he can't handle everything alone."

"Of course, Luna Sophia," Harper said. "We totally understand, and we've got so many people at the house, it's not like we'll be doing this alone. I think Luna Penny will have our backs."

"Oh, yes! She certainly will! I just love her, I wish I'd met her ages ago, what a wonderful woman, and such a strong luna! She's got her hands full with Porter though, he's such a funny kid." Luna Sophia chuckled. "I wish Reese had been more like him, Porter hasn't got a mean bone in his body and is such a goof. He'll make a good alpha though, if he can grow up just a little."

"You should have met him when he was younger," Celie said smiling. "He'd just turned twelve when we got here and he was a little shy at first, but once he warmed up he was so fun. He was the one who really made sure we felt at home and were included in everything they did as a pack. He's a good kid, I just love him, he's like a little brother to me. I can't believe he's eighteen and is taking over the pack soon, makes me feel old."

"How did your father and brothers take it when you talked to them?" Luna Sophia said, turning to Celie. With everything going on she'd forgotten Celie had finally called her dad.

"They were great," Celie said, smiling a little sadly. "They were so happy to talk to me, they weren't mad at all. They're coming to visit next month, I asked them to wait until then because I didn't want them showing up in the middle of mating season. I didn't tell them why, just that this month wasn't good, and then I blamed the hurricane."

"I'll talk to him when I get back," Luna Sophia nodded. "I'll explain that you wanted to see them immediately, but you have a houseful of company and with work and the weather, he'll understand."

Luna Sophia turned then to Harper as she dug around in her enormous purse.

"I almost forgot!" Luna Sophia said, handing her a small box in bright wrapping paper. "Happy Anniversary! I know today is two years with Matt and you were going to celebrate. It's a shame you can't go out on the boat like you originally planned, but I hope you two get to spend some quality time together tonight."

"Luna, you didn't have to get us anything!" Harper immediately told her, but the luna just waved her away.

"Of course I did, it's from Lucas and I, go on and open it!" Luna Sophia said, grinning excitedly.

Harper opened the box and found a men's and women's matching bracelet set. They were thin braided white gold with a slim monogramed plate with heartbeat spikes and each other's names on them, Harper's bracelet even said 'Mattie' since that is what she always called him.

"Oh, Luna, these are so beautiful! Thank you so much!" Harper said. "Do you know why I always call him Mattie when everyone else calls him Matt? It's because his siren name is Ma'Tee, but since he goes with his human name, I just sort of put them together so he gets a little of his real name too."

"Well, I noticed you both wear those matching braided cord bracelets so I thought I might get you something that will last a bit longer." Luna Sophia said, smiling. "We're so happy for you, Sweetheart, you deserve so much happiness, we're thankful you found it."

"Thank you, I know Mattie will love it too." Harper said, and tearfully hugged Luna Sophia tightly. "Be careful on your travels, and I hope you can come visit us again soon."

"Oh I will, Sweetie," Luna Sophia smiled. "When it gets cold and nasty at home this winter, we'll definitely be coming to your house for a nice long stay."

Luna Sophia then turned to Celie and hugged her tightly as well.

"Be sure and invite me to the wedding." Luna Sophia whispered.

"You might be jumping the gun on that a bit, Luna." Celie just giggled and shook her head.

"One way or another, I think it's gonna be happening soon." Luna Sophia said, winking at her.

Callum stood by holding their bags just smiling, he hadn't said anything so far, letting the girls say their goodbyes.

"Thank you for seeing us," Callum finally said. "I know it was a shock, us dropping in like that."

"You can say that again," Celie snorted.

"Sure, it's no problem. Thank you for apologizing, I know that probably wasn't easy to do." Harper said nodding.

"Believe it or not, it was," Callum said, smiling a little. "It was so long overdue, that it was a huge relief. Please think about what I said."

Harper just nodded again with a halfhearted attempt at a smile as she watched them walk to the security line.

**

Harper let out a huge sigh as she and Celie got back into the jeep, she rubbed her stomach with a grimace.

"You ok, Harp?" Celie asked, turning to her, concerned.

"Yeah, my stomach has been queasy the last few days," Harper replied. "All the stress is getting to me, I guess."

"Stress has never gotten to you before," Celie frowned at her. "You were like a tank through medical school."

"Reese never showed up before, and tritons have never attacked the house or the boat before," Harper laughed. "Or during a hurricane..."

"True," Celie laughed. "I still can't believe they showed up. I can't believe they're still freakin here!"

"Yeah, I been meaning to ask how you feel about that...I know you..." Harper started, but Celie held up her hand.

"I don't know, Harp, honestly." Celie said, "but I think the bond is finally breaking. I think the acceptance did the trick because I don't feel much of a pull toward Adam anymore."

"Is that a good thing?" Harper asked.

"Yeah, I think it is," Celie said. "I know you like Adam now, you guys seem to be getting along really well and becoming friends and everything. Do you want me to take him back?"

"Cel, I don't want to tell you what to do, you should..."

"Just answer the question, Harp." Celie sighed, exasperated.

"No," Harper said honestly. "I hope you don't take him back. It's your decision though, Cel, you need to listen to your heart and do what is best for you. If you want him back, I'll support you a thousand percent, and he does seem to be different than he was, he seems like a nice guy. I really, kinda, like the guy he seems to be now. But the truth is that I feel you deserve better. Cel, I'm your best friend, soul sister, and hetero life mate, so of course, I want only the absolute best, most perfect option for you. But this is all you and what you want, so don't take what I say to heart and make your decision based on that."

"Of course, I'm going to take what you say to heart, Harper!" Celie said, shaking her head. "I know that you, above every other person on this planet, want my happiness more than anything else. You see things clearer than I do most of the time, so your opinion matters to me. Just like my opinion matters to you, and don't act like if I had hated Mattie or thought he was a complete asshole, you wouldn't have dumped him."

"I probably would have," Harper conceded. "In the first week or so...after that, I would have told you to piss off and learn to like him."

They both laughed at that.

**

Harper paced the bedroom, she had her sexy lingerie on under her robe, and she had candles lit all over the room. But she felt weird doing this now, it was supposed to be happening on the boat, out in the ocean, under the moon, not in their bedroom with a house full of people and her ex mate just down the hall.

She rolled her eyes thinking of Reese, goddess, of all people why did he have to be here in her freakin house on the night she was going to mark the man she loved? Would he feel it? She knew that rejected mates felt it if their fated mate marked someone else, but did the rejectors feel it too? Shit, she hadn't even thought about that until just now. What would he do? Would he try to bust in their room and do something?

Harper mind linked Celie who was downstairs playing video games with Porter. They'd taken the early patrol and were relaxing now with a little Resident Evil.

Celie replied, making Harper smile and shake her head. She'd never gotten into video games, but Celie and Porter always played together.

A few minutes later there was a soft knock on the door and Celie slowly opened it. Her eyes immediately lit up and she grinned, bouncing her eyebrows at Harper.

"Ahhhhh, mood lighting, sexy underwear, somebody's gettin lucky!" Celie smirked.

"Well, I was planning on it. You know it's our anniversary and I was going to mark Mattie tonight," Harper said, then rolled her eyes. "But now I'm worried because Reese is here in the freakin house with us. I don't know if rejectors feel pain when their fated mate marks someone else."

"Oh shit!" Celie gasped, eyes wide. "Rejected mates definitely do, I bet rejectors feel it too, maybe not as bad, but I think they feel something. Oh my god, this is a fucking nightmare!"

"You think?" Harper deadpanned. "Now I don't know what to do, it's our two year anniversary! This is when our siren bond will be sealed when we mate! I can't just put this off and say hey, let's do this in a couple of weeks! What do we do? I mean, what is Reese going to do? Is he going to try and bust in here and start some shit?"

"NO!" Celie said, her expression fierce. "Reese ain't coming anywhere near here tonight. Fuck no. I'm not allowing that; he's not messing this up for you. I'll go talk to Porter, I'll tell him the whole story about us leaving the pack, I know he has no real idea about what happened to us. Then when the boys get home from their patrols, I'll explain fated mates to Eden so he gets what could happen. Between Porter, Eden, and me, that fucker's not getting through that door. The three of us can handle his ass, no problem. Hell, I'm pretty sure Porter would stand a good chance against him alone, and I think it's definitely possible Eden could smack him down hard if he needed to."

Harper blew out a deep breath, it made her feel better, but this still was a horrible situation that she did not want to be in.

"I wish I'd thought of this earlier, Mattie and I could have gone to a hotel or planned something to be away from here." Harper pressed her palms to her forehead. "I can't believe I didn't even think of this until just now."

"Yeah, me either, it's not like you've had other shit on your mind," Celie rolled her eyes at Harper. "We only just had nine sirens attack our house during a hurricane."

"You don't have to be a smartass," Harper narrowed her eyes at Celie playfully.

"I kinda feel like I do need to," Celie snickered. "Anyway, I'm going to go down and talk to Porter and we'll see if he has any ideas. Maybe we can get Reese and Adam out of the house, or something."

"We should give Adam a head's up too," Harper said, chewing her bottom lip. "He won't let Reese go crazy, he knows this is going to happen, I told him I was going to mark Mattie."

"Don't worry about this Harp, seriously," Celie put a hand on her shoulder. "We got this, I'm going to go talk to Porter now, and we'll just be prepared. You fluff yourself up and get ready to lay some LOOOOVE down on your hubby when he gets in."

"Fluff myself up?" Harper asked, confused.

"Yeah, you know, take a nice long bath and hump the jacuzzi jets or ummm, I don't know have a little fun with yourself, you know, a massage of your..." Celie grinned.

"STOP!" Harper shouted, putting her hands over her ears. "I don't want to hear any of your ideas about 'fluffing myself up'! I'll wait until my husband gets here and let him fluff me up. Goddess, I can't believe you said that."

Celie just grinned like the Cheshire cat and sauntered out of the room with a wave.

**

"Hey Porter, I need to talk to you about a potential catastrophe in the making," Celie said as she came back into the rec room.

Porter immediately stopped his game and put down the controller.

"What's up? Did you see something on the cameras? Did Harper get a message from Matt?" Porter immediately started questioning before Celie held up her hand.

"Would you let me explain the catastrophe before you start jumping to conclusions?" Celie asked, rolling her eyes at him. "This has nothing to do with tritons and everything to do with rejections, mates, and mating."

"What?" Porter stared at her like she was crazy.

"Ok, so there's a backstory with why Harper and I left our pack and moved here as lone wolves." Celie took a deep breath. "Harper and I were bullied like crazy; Harper was beat up and abused by the pack and specifically by Reese and Callum. Then on our birthdays we found out that Reese was Harper's mate and Adam was my mate and Reese rejected Harper, and Adam rejected me, and we left."

Porter was staring at Celie open mouthed in shock.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You're fucking with me, right?" Porter said.

"No, I'm not fucking with you even a little," Celie said flatly.

"What the hell is wrong with them?" Porter exploded. "You and Harper are hot!"

"Thanks," Celie chuckled her mood lightening a bit.

"Seriously, though, why did they do that?" Porter asked, confused. "And why the hell are they here now if that's what happened?"

"So they tracked us down and came to apologize, thinking, I guess that we'd fall at their feet or some shit." Celie rolled her eyes.

"They're not that bright, are they?" Porter laughed.

"They're not even dim," Celie shook her head. "Anyway, so now we get to the potential catastrophe part. So this part concerns sirens, because sirens have mates too, but they are not fated mates like us, sirens choose their own mates, and when those mates have been together for two years, their mate bonds are sealed and they are forever bonded, like wolves. With me so far?"

"Yeah, I follow," Porter assured her with a nod.

"So today is Harper and Matt's two year anniversary," Celie watched Porter's eyes widen. "And she's going to mark him tonight and they are going to seal their bond."

"Oh Shit!" Porter said.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I said," Celie told him with a nod.

"Reese will feel that," Porter said.

"Yup," Celie confirmed.

"This is going to suck," Porter shook his head. "You know we're probably going to have to knock his ass out."

"Ha! I've been wanting to do that for years!" Celie laughed.

"Now's your chance," Porter cracked up and bumped his fist with her. "We don't even need an excuse; we can just clock him when he comes in and say it was for his own good."

"A preemptive strike! I didn't even think about that," Celie laughed so hard she had to hold her ribs.

"Pop goes the weasel," Porter joked.

"Here comes the BOOM!" Celie shouted, flexing her biceps.

They laughed some more, each making stupid punching references for several minutes before they got serious again.

"Ok, so," Celie said, rubbing her eyes. "I'm going to explain to Eden as soon as he gets back, and he'll definitely be down to defend the honeymoon suite up there. We just have to make sure Reese can't get up there or interrupt them while they are completing their mating. With everything going on we didn't even think about this, and he wasn't supposed to be staying here, so this is not something we could have ever prepared for. If not for the stupid ass tritons, they could go out on the boat and he'd never be able to reach them."

"Yeah, they can't go out there," Porter confirmed. "They'd be sitting ducks on the boat, all the damn tritons in the world could swamp them and the doors on the cabin are definitely not strong enough to keep them out. This is so fucked up."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Celie sighed.

"Why did they do it?" Porter asked after a few minutes. "Reject you guys, I mean? Are they stupid? You guys are great, you're smart and funny and nice. You're total hotties too. I can't see it."

"We were nerds, and Reese's girlfriend didn't like Harper, or me because I was Harper's friend, so everyone picked on us." Celie said simply. "We weren't cool enough for anyone to want to mate us. Reese rejected Harper right in front of the whole school, he called her names and yelled his rejection at the top of his lungs so everyone would hear it and laugh at her. But Adam was so embarrassed to be mated to me that he had me go to the side of the school so he could reject me without anyone seeing him talking to me."

"That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard in my life!" Porter shook his head angrily. "They're such assholes! I actually liked those guys too! Until now, I mean. I know I play around with girls a lot, but I tell them I'm not serious, and that I'm done when my mate comes along. Done. I would never reject my mate, that's just...it's insane. I want what my mom and dad have, I don't just want some girlfriend."

Celie smiled at Porter, he was one of the sweetest guys she'd ever known, and she adored him.

"Good for you, Port," Celie ruffled his hair. "One thing you might want to consider though, I bring this up because it would bother me. When you meet your luna, do you think she will be comfortable in a pack where she knows every female has slept with her mate?"

Porter's eyes widened.

"I hadn't really thought much about that," Porter admitted.

"Maybe you should," Celie said. "And think about how you'd feel if your mate was doing the same thing you've been doing."

Porter's eyes widened again, he sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I wouldn't like that," Porter frowned.

"I didn't think so," Celie chuckled.

"I'm a dumbass," Porter sighed.

Celie couldn't help but laugh, she opened her mouth to reassure him that there was still time for him to get his act together but just then Eden and Matt came through the doors.

"Any scents?" Celie asked.

"Not a whiff," Matt smiled. "You guys apparently scared the absolute shit out of them, they're not even swimming around the island now."

"That's amazing!" Celie cheered. "Any idea where the wolf patrols are?"

Porter's eyes blanked for a minute but then cleared.

"They're on each end of the island, I let them know you scented nothing in the water," Porter told them. "They are going to make two more passes before the next shift gets here, so they'll be out for another couple of hours."

"That's great!" Celie exchanged a relieved look with Porter. "Matt, you should hurry up and get up to bed, I know you must be really tired."

Porter stifled a chuckle as Matt grinned and saluted as he left the room and jogged up the stairs.

"So, Eden, can we talk? We have another potential catastrophe to avert and need your help," Celie said. "But it's kinda a long story, want me to get you a snack?"

Eden grinned at her with a raised eyebrow but shook his head.

"I'm fine for now, what's our next potential catastrophe?" He asked.

"You're going to love this..." Porter snorted.