“No. No. No!” She popped up, pointing at all of us as she turned in a circle. “You all have had her for quite some time. I need a girlfriend.” When Rabid opened his mouth, she made a shutting mouth motion with her hands. “One that is not part of your club and, in turn, ready to tattle on me at the first drop to gain favor with you all. Celine here is her own woman, working here like a…” Emma tapped her chin before her eyes lit up, “A consultant! Yeah!”
This whole time, Celine was just watching Emma in fascination, smiling and giggling at everything she was saying, not refuting a single sentence. Maybe Emma was right, and she needed a little girls’ time.
“Anyways,” Emma grabbed Celine’s hand, dragged her up out of her chair, and started walking out of the room, “We are going to hang out. No boys allowed!”
Dino threw up his hand, looking at Rabid, who was looking at the floor in confusion. Duce was sputtering, “What-… I mean, Emma-... g-get back here!”
Celine just turned towards all of us, saluted, and waved. “See ya later for the pack run, boys!” That stopped Duce in his tracks, letting the girls go with a sad puppy dog face. I looked over at Gears, who was smiling during the whole exchange. I tried to think about why the hell he was smiling when we should be hanging around her more, making her understand that she was meant to be with us, and then it hit me. Celine had already charmed one of the hardest people to get along with on this compound. If she could do that, then the rest of the club, and eventually Rabid, would crumble, and then we would have a shot at keeping her.
I picked up my hands, Gears’ eyes tracking my slightest movement as I signed,Well, it looks like she made a new friend. That could be dangerous.
Duce blew out an exasperated sigh. “I just don't know if it's a good thing or not. Emma’s got a lot of dirt on us.”
Everyone, including me, looked at the door they had left through. Wondering if Emma was going to be the little sister that was an angel or the little demon we all knew she could be.
I picked up my hands again.Celine could teach Emma a lot of… deadly and sneaky stuff. Duce sagged back into his seat. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his hands scrubbed his face.
“Damn it! Those two are dangerous together.” All of us nodded in agreement, realizing we had just sent a tornado to hang out with a volcano.
I was doing my pre-pack run job of patrolling in the forest, checking to see if there were any beer bottles or sharp objects left out here by accident. We didn't want any of the young pups to get hurt just because they weren’t looking.
I looked up at the sky, tracking that it was about three in the afternoon, and I was already on the other side of the compound, almost halfway done. I started on the prospect side, knowing that this would be the most trashed as I took a few of them with me and made them pick it all up, but now I was on the back side of the family area, and I knew it would be mostly picked up of anything dangerous.
“Awe, come on, you have to tell me! Do you like one of them?”
That was Emma’s voice in the distance. My feet moved in that direction subconsciously as I heard more.
“I don't know if I should be answering that question.” I heard Celine giggle as she responded.
I made sure my feet were silent when I broke through a thicket of bushes and was right behind Emma’s house. I looked up and saw one of her windows open as the girls talked in her bedroom.
“Then what if I take off my sister's hat and put on my girlfriend’s hat? Then would you tell me?” I held my breath, waiting to hear her answer.
Celine kinda mumbled, “What if I like more than one?”
“What! You like more than one of those doofuses?” I was this close to launching through the window and strangling Emma. When I first met Emma, she was such a sweet little girl, then. After everything that happened with Killian, shit just went south, and she returned with a bitter edge and a sharper tongue. We all still loved Emma to pieces as the strong, capable woman she had grown up to be. However, sometimes, she could also be that annoying little sister who needed her mouth taped shut.
“Yeah, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. We are just having fun with each other.” My heart immediately took a nosedive into the dirt, and my shoulders slumped. Is that all we are to her? Just something fun to fill her time?
Emma puffed out real fast, “Girl, I have seen how you look at those boys. I highly doubt it's just a good time.” Yeah, you tell her, Emma. “You don't think that you could ever become something more to them? Something like a mate? I would love to have you as a sister-in-law! Your way cooler than any of the bimbos they have fucked around with before.” My teeth clenched at Emma’s use of “bimbos” and “they” in the same sentence.
I never brought anyone home, let alone introduced them to Emma. As I waited to hear Celine’s response, my heart pumped rapidly, and my hands began to sweat as it felt like I waited for an eternity for her to answer.
In the most overly cheerful voice, I heard, “No. I'm not made to be anyone's mate. You see, I'm broken. I'm a siren whose song sings to no one.”
“Wait, wait, what?” Emma asked. I was starting to feel like a creeper just crouching here underneath her windowsill, overhearing a conversation that was not meant for my ears.
“Just what I said. My song is broken, and I am not able to find a mate because of it. Did you need help putting that away?” Again, her voice was nonchalant and carefree, but I was totally confused. Her song sings to me, and I know her song sings for Gears and Duce.
“No, I don’t. Celine-” Emma started, but Celine interrupted.
“Emma, it's fine. I have lived with it ever since I turned eighteen and couldn't find anyone at my singing ceremony. It's one of the reasons I do what I do, and one of the reasons I even got the job.” A big Emma-filled sigh came out from above me, and I told myself to think thin, think thin. I didn't want her to see me.
“We are all broken here.” Emma paused as she moved something. “All of us here are broken, unwanted, unloved people. Some of us were traded to slavers by our families, some of us loved someone their pack did not agree with, and some of us were just weird or abnormal to pack society. Rabid made a sanctuary for those who don't fit the mold and are on the unique side of things.” My chest puffed up in pride at Emma’s evaluation, and she was right. Rabid did gravitate towards people that were just as fucked in the head as the rest of us.
“Rabid sounds like a good man.” Celine’s voice said, but I could tell her mind was on something else.
Emma confirmed, “Yes, he is. All five of them are some of the best guys I have ever known, so please, don't hurt them, Celine.”
