Chapter 32 - Meeting with the Boss

Chapter 32 - Meeting with the Boss
Axel

After Flit had abandoned Axel in front of the ominous black door, he took a deep breath and braced himself before fully opening the door and stepping inside. As soon as his feet hit the soft carpet on the other side of the door he felt instantly better and relieved.

Beyond the ominous door was what Axel had suspected from the beginning, it was an office and luckily it wasn’t has dark and foreboding as the door that concealed it. Inside was quite warm and welcoming in fact, the walls were a cream colour and the carpet was a navy blue. There was a desk in the centre of the room which was littered with papers and folders; most likely to do with the club and all around the room were hundreds of funny gadgets that Axel had never seen before. The walls were covered in framed photos, only this time instead of them being just the performers of the club a lot of the photos looked to be group pictures in front of Runagate and a few were pictures of Sigmund with others.

There was a couch against the right wall and two chairs on either side of the large desk; in one of these chairs sat the vampire Sigmund. He was reading through some papers, but the moment Axel had closed the door he looked up and smiled at him, placing the papers back down on his desk.

“Ah, Alpha nice to see you again and in one piece.” He chuckled as he gestured for Axel to sit down across from him on the other seat.

“You asked to see me.” Axel pointed out as he obliged Sigmund and sat across from him.

“Yes.” Sigmund continued to smile as he leaned back in his chair and observed Axel. “I can only assume you have a few questions?” He raised an eyebrow.

Axel wasn’t even sure where to start or what to ask first, so he nodded his head vigorously in reply hoping that Sigmund would start them off and he could just go from there.

“Well, before we start the Q and A, I’d like to start by officially welcoming you to Runagate as the True Mate of one of my girls.” Sigmund smiled genuinely over the table at him.

Axel was shocked, he couldn’t even process or be angry at the fact that Sigmund had called his Mate one of his girls because he was so distracted from being genuinely welcomed by the vampire. Of all the scenarios he had run through his head of this meeting starting, being welcomed was definitely not one of them.

“Now since you are going to be a part of our big family now, I am afraid I can no longer refer to you by your title and will use your given name.” Sigmund raised his eyebrow again, as though challenging him to say otherwise.

“Of course!” Axel gushed, feeling himself getting a step closer to his Mate.

“Excellent! I will also stop referring to your Mate by her stage name as you are now privy to her real name.” Axel felt himself lean forward in his chair, anticipating finding out what she went by now and wondering if he had heard correctly the other night. “I will be calling her Raine.” Sigmund smiled, carefully watching him.

‘It is Raine! We heard right! We know her name again!’ Leon howled excitedly in his head and Axel felt like cheering out loud with him, but restrained himself from looking like a complete fool in front of the vampire.

“Raine.” He breathed, liking the feel of the word as it left his lips. Yet something didn’t feel quite right, like the name wasn’t right or something. He chose to ignore the feeling however, as he was just too happy and thrilled at finally knowing what to call her the next time they would meet in person.

“Now that that is out of the way Axel, I think we can proceed with any questions you may have.”

Axel had so many he had no idea where to begin. Did he start with how Sigmund knew he was Raine’s True Mate or what Raine was or what the hell had happened tonight?

He decided to go with the last question.

“What happened…in the VIP room? What did she do? Who is Maria? Why was everyone referring to Raine as Maria? What did her singing do to me and all those other customers? Her face changed! Why did her face change?” Axel probably would have gone on firing questions at poor Sigmund if the vampire didn’t raise a hand and signal for him to stop.

“Have you ever heard of Siren’s, Axel?” He asked and Axel genuinely thought about it for a moment.

“Maybe as a child in like bedtime stories.” Axel struggled to answer, but truthfully most of his knowledge was about his own race of creatures.

“Well, Sirens are often mistaken for mermaids but they are very different. Mermaids are parts fish part woman and generally mean no harm to any other race. But Sirens…” He shook his head frowning. “Sirens are creatures who are distraught and filled with hatred, they’re only goal is to cause as much misery and bloodshed as possible.” Axel felt a haunting shiver travel down his spine as he listened. “I have never had the ability to get close enough to ask one why they are so driven by such bloodlust, so that part is unclear. But you would probably recognise them from your bedtime stories as beautiful women who sank ships and drowned men by luring them to steer their ships into jagged rocks with their singing. Because a Sirens voice is unlike any you will ever hear, it is unearthly and beautiful and it calls to you, beckons you closer to them until it’s too late and you are as good as dead.” Sigmund continued to frown.

“Is Raine one?” Axel gulped, praying to god that she wasn’t.

Just hearing about these creatures made him want to run as far away as possible. But Raine was his Mate, he couldn’t run from her. But he had experienced everything that Sigmund spoke about when he heard her singing that evening, her voice was unearthly and beautiful, he felt lured to her (More than he already was with the mate bond) and Leon had warned him that if he got too close it would be dangerous. All the signs were pointing to her being one of those devilish creatures.

“No, thankfully Raine herself is not a Siren.” Sigmund sighed.

“Then what is she?” Axel asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him and just being so glad when Sigmund said she wasn’t actually a Siren.

It was a question that had been swimming around his head for years, ever since he had first met her on the day of his Alpha ascension ceremony. He knew that she was capable of magic and apparently capable of singing like a Siren without actually being one. She was able to evade the best trackers of his pack without giving any hint or leaving any clues as to where she had gone or was going and she always seemed to be one step ahead of them, as if she could tell what was going to happen before it happened. The question of what she could be was starting to drive him crazy, because it was like she was a little bit of everything, which was impossible!

“I’m afraid I cannot tell you what she is.” Sigmund smiled apologetically at him and Axel felt his spirit dampen at this news. “But I can tell you about Maria.” The twinkle returned to Sigmund’s eye.

“Who is this Maria?” Axel growled, by accident. He was sick and tired about hearing that woman’s name whenever he wanted to talk about his Mate.

“Maria is the Siren who lives inside of Raine.” Sigmund replied, shutting Axel up immediately.

“What?” Axel swallowed.

“Maria is a Siren who lives inside of Raine.” Sigmund repeated, watching Axel closely.

“But…you said Raine isn’t a Siren…” Axel murmured but knew that the vampires ears would easily pick up his words.

“Raine is not a Siren. But Maria is!” Sigmund explained, but it just confused Axel even more.

He was about to growl something back at the vampire, but Sigmund beat him to it.

“Let me explain in more detail.” Sigmund suggested. “Years ago, before I or even you knew her, Raine came across a village that was in horrible need of some help.” He sighed and then paused as though in thought.

Axel nodded along intently listening and gestured for him to continue.

“I’m not sure about the exact details of what happened, the only one who could tell you everything would be Raine. But the village was by the sea and was plagued by a supernatural problem. A Siren had possessed one of the villagers and every full moon they would take control of the villager and lure the other villagers to the sea where they proceeded to attack and drown them. The Siren was Maria.” Sigmund looked up at Axel and for once Axel was not annoyed to hear Maria’s name but horrified and shocked.

“The villagers didn’t know what to do. They tried to tie down the possessed villager but Maria always escaped. They couldn’t harm the villager possessed by her because they cared for them and didn’t know whether Maria would simply pass into another. They tried hiring exorcists and priests to rid the villager of Maria but nothing worked….Until a young woman came to the village…” He eyed Axel again, except this time there was that twinkle in his eye again.

“Raine.” Axel breathed, making a guess at who the woman was.

“That’s right.” Sigmund chuckled. “Raine listened to villagers plight and lucky for them she knew exactly what was possessing their fellow villager. So she stayed until the next full moon and kept an eye on the possessed villager. When the time came to finally face off against Maria…” Sigmund paused and looked as though he were in deep thought.

“What!?” Axel gasped hanging off the edge of his chair, dying to know what his amazing Mate had done to save the village and its inhabitants.

“I’m not sure what happened next.” Sigmund admitted with a clumsy smile, nearly making Axel fall from his chair.

“What!? You said you knew!” Axel accused the vampire.

“Well, I know as much as has been confided to me.” Sigmund chuckled. “What I know is that Raine did something to the possessed villager and managed to transfer the blood thirsty soul of Maria into her own body instead.” Sigmund finished.

“Why would she do that? Isn’t there a way to kill the Siren?” Axel asked, not very happy with the knowledge that his Mate had willingly accepted the dangerous soul of a murderer into her body.

“I asked the same question, but Raine simply claimed that everyone deserves a chance and Maria deserved one too.” Sigmund vaguely explained, but continued when Axel gave him a very confused look. “Even my knowledge of Siren’s is very limited, but Raine has a vast knowledge of many beings and she is the best person to trust when it comes to matters such as these. And don’t ask how she knows so much, I can’t tell you.” Sigmund chuckled before Axel could even ask; it was like he was in his head or something.

“So this vicious Siren just takes control of her whenever it feels…” Axel mumbled, extremely upset but having nothing he could possibly do about it.

“Actually no.” Sigmund interrupted him. “Maria is at her most powerful during the full moon at its highest point. As long as Raine can secure herself before she begins to awaken then it’s a very simple thing to deal with; as long as no one in the vicinity is free to be harmed either.”

“Like tonight?” Axel asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.” Sigmund chuckled. “We secure her with a special rope, it is woven from Unicorn hair that was given willingly by the creature, and it’s so pure that it cancels out the Siren’s evil strength. It causes her to resort to singing and trying to lure victims close to her to free her. Luckily we make sure to tie down our customers as well and the staff retreat to a safe room before they can hear her.” Sigmund explained.

“Why sell tickets to something like that?” Axel asked incredulously. “If she’s dangerous and trying to kill?”

“What can I say, it’s an experience. You’d be surprised how much people are willing to pay to put themselves in life threatening situations. And it’s not every day you get to listen to a Siren’s song and live to tell the tale.” Sigmund laughed.

“People are crazy!” Axel huffed earning himself another laugh from Sigmund.

“They are indeed, you’d be surprised by some of the stories contained within these walls.” He chuckled. “Back to the more pressing matter at hand though, your bond with Raine.” Sigmund continued eyeing Axel across the table.

The moment he said this another question popped into Axel’s head and he couldn’t help but divert their conversation.

“Oh yeah, Flit said you were able to tell I was the real deal because of Maria but I don’t understand! You weren’t in the room and all Maria did was sing. So how could she have possibly confirmed it?” Axel asked curiously.

To his surprise, Sigmund began chuckling again.

“I always watch Maria’s performance through our security cameras but I am careful to mute all sound in case she tries to tempt me through the computer. This room is also sound proof, so the sound from the bar does not carry to hear and to answer your question, she looked at you.” Sigmund smiled.

“Huh?” Was all Axel could manage.

She looked at me? He thought, feeling very confused.

“Maria does not bother looking her prey in the eye, she sings to tempt them near but never seeks them out actively. When she heard you however, she knew you were someone connected to Raine. She tried to lure you with more than her song because to harm you would deeply wound Raine and that is unfortunately the type of pain she loves to inflict.” Sigmund shook his head regrettably.

“How could she tell though?” Axel swallowed, realising he was gonna have to be extra careful during full moons at this point.

“She is a very powerful being. So, even though Raine may not feel your bond just yet, she could feel the magical bond that ties you to her host. I believe she could sense the Moon Goddesses blessing for your union and knew immediately what you were to Raine. Maria is the only being I know who can sense these things, I don’t know how she does it, but she can and she confirmed it tonight.” Sigmund explained, clasping his fingers together as he propped his elbows atop the desk.

“So, now that you know…what does it mean?” Axel asked nervously.

He didn’t know what he would do if Sigmund forced him to leave, that he wouldn’t help him win the heart of his Mate. He would go mad. Leon would easily be able to take control and he would likely go feral until he had her. He needed her more than he needed air to breathe and he could feel himself slowly getting closer to her but he knew that all it took was one wrong move and she would disappear again. He couldn’t let that happen, not after finally finding her after all these years.

“We’ll need to be quite tactful, Raine is very intelligent and if she senses something is wrong or being planned without her knowledge, well let’s just say she is not a woman to cross.” Sigmund chuckled, as if remembering something.

“Wait, you’re going to help me?” Axel asked feeling both himself and Leon perk up.

“I want what is best for those who work for me…we are like family. If I believed you to be a malicious or wicked man I would not have hesitated to have you thrown out of my city. But I don’t think that’s who you are; I think you are a man who made a very silly mistake causing her to run before she even knew what she was to you and now you want a second chance to prove yourself to her. I think you are the type of person who wants her to be happy and never want for anything and I think those are admirable qualities.”

Axel nodded along vigorously as Sigmund spoke, because it was true. He wanted only the best for Raine; he wanted to treat her like a princess, no like the queen she was to him. He wanted a second chance to prove to her that he was worthy of a goddess like her.

“You’re lucky, Raine is a big believer in second chances.” Sigmund smiled kindly at him with that twinkle in his eye again. “Here’s hoping she gives you the time off day first.” He chuckled.