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Laverne

D id no one in this trash harem ever sleep?

And what had been the point of all that frolicking and intermingling throughout the night when Albert never even let us get close to the humans? It was like he just wanted to flaunt us around!

Utterly demeaning! A complete waste of my time!

Now that all of us were back to our precious skins, I’d been positive Albert would flop down in exhaustion. But no. He had the nerve to be wide awake and even demanded we hunt down a feast.

Of course, who ended up catching most of the fish? Me , naturally. Not because I was trying to outdo the others. I was just the best at it.

And yet, after devouring every fish I provided without even a simple thank you, Albert had the audacity to remain wide awake.

Some bulls had no manners.

“All right, my beauties.” Albert threw back his head, releasing a massive yawn. “Come to me. Gather close.”

Finally!

A cloud of sand kicked up underneath a herd of tails as the harem assembled around him. I followed in the rear, wondering what it was the others saw in the brute.

Sure, Albert had big teeth and was filled out nicely between the flippers, but that overpowering arrogance was hardly worth putting up with for the rest of him.

“Al,” one of his harlots moaned, batting her lashes. She crowded in front of him, her posture showing that she was eagerly awaiting his presence on her back. “Can I be the first?”

My jaw dropped as he obliged. Enthusiastically.

… Oh. Shameless! SHAMELESS! Even the seabirds surrounding the territory were offended.

While the others huddled around the two of them, vying for the next round of attention, I was, for once, glad to be small.

I turned quickly, staying on the edge of the group, choking on the overpowering scent of their combined pheromones. Disgusting!

Needless to say, I kept my pheromones to myself. I had no interest in actually becoming one of Albert’s ‘beauties.’ Hmph. He had already made it clear the last time he rejected me that he didn’t consider me mating material, and he’d better not even think about making a move on me now!

Big Brother had better be grateful for all this suffering I was enduring for him. This was my first time witnessing a coupling, and it was not at all what I’d imagined. The grunts, the groaning. Were they trying to make the most unappealing noises they could on purpose?

Surely, after all that… movement, Albert would tire himself out and fall asleep, right?

Wrong! He made it almost halfway through the harem before his hips started to slow, losing their momentum. And when he finally passed out on top of his latest conquest, it was with a loudly obnoxious snore.

His conquest didn’t seem to mind. And now that she wasn’t bellowing like a gutted fish, I could finally recognize her by her self-satisfied smugness. Dorothy.

Oh, she looked quite pleased with herself, like she thought she’d been chosen for some great honor, being squashed flat underneath him. What a jellyhead.

With that as their cue, the rest of the herd hunkered down, tucking their snouts and flippers in close as they prepared for a midday snooze. Took them long enough!

Now that Albert was asleep, I could risk getting closer to the trident. As long as no one had laid on it, it should have still been by his side. Thankfully, he’d been too caught up in his revelry to send it away. But who could blame him? Who would dare to steal from such a strong and intimidating bull?

I stifled a cackle, wedging myself closer to the center of the pile before tucking in my snout like the others did around me. It didn’t take long before the herd began emitting heavy, rhythmic snores. Now was my chance!

I lifted my neck with a stealthy twist, craning it to make sure every eye around me was firmly shut. My gaze landed on a pair of green eyes just as they found mine. It turned out I wasn’t the only one being sneaky.

“Bradley?!”

He silenced me with a single finger snapped to his lips—the ones that concealed those splendid chompers—but I’d, of course, only projected his name to him. I wasn’t an imbecile!

What was he even doing here, sneaking into Albert’s territory? Was he insane?

He sure looked insane, holding up one leg halfway frozen through its next sneaky step closer to our pile. Half of his face—the half not covered by a curtain of black hair—contorted. Given the way he stared at me, I assumed a hundred words were clamoring to escape his tongue. What did he want to say to me? His lips pressed, and he hesitated, no doubt weighing the consequences of accidentally waking the herd.

Wait a moment ? —

My heart leaped, jumping around inside me like someone had crammed it full of wiggly fish. “You came for me,” I gushed, suddenly realizing.

Oh, Bradley! The lovable fool had seen my blushing form in the moonlight, and now here he was, ready to steal me from Albert and a thankless life in his horrible trash harem. Little did he know that I had no interest in Albert. I was only here for the sole purpose of executing what would be my most extraordinary revenge plot yet!

Bradley’s teeth gnashed together. He shook his head with force, his eyes darting toward Albert’s massive form sprawled in the middle of the herd pile. It was adorable how humans couldn’t simply express their emotions like sea lions could. If he’d asked me last night, it was possible I would have gone willingly. Maybe. I would have at least considered it.

I lifted onto my belly, and Bradley hissed a low, almost inaudible noise. He fired off the same gesture Kai-Kai used with the flat of his palm whenever he wanted me to stay put and slipped closer, his eyes locked on where Albert slumbered. Rude! This simply would not do. If he wanted me to accept him, he’d have to work on his manners.

Unless…

Was he planning to fight Albert? For me? Talk about a bold move. That was an impressively moronic idea, but who was I to stop him if he wanted to try?

I held my breath, my fish-crammed heart fluttering more with Bradley’s every move. And goodness, he moved well. Sure, he wasn’t scarred or rugged like the males I typically went for, but there was something alluring about him. Maybe it was his boldness in coming all this way just to claim me as his. It was also a little thrilling to know that he was obsessed with me enough to follow me here and watch me in secret, the pervert.

Albert was going to crush him as soon as he woke up, but still, this was the most romantic gesture I’d ever beheld. Even better than a bucket of fish.

Bradley swept into the herd pile with the grace of a rolling tide, and I was more than ready to let him take me into his arms.

Then a devious smirk spread across his face as his gaze slid from Albert and down to his feet where— wait a moment!

Wait. A. Moment.

The horror, the scandal. Bradley! He wasn’t here for me. He was looking right at the trident!

I had absolutely never been so betrayed in my life. I couldn’t even contain the snort of utter disgust that escaped me. “Scoundrel!”

Oops . That one I might have projected out loud.

Bradley crashed a finger to his lips, but it was too late. Before I could decipher the heated message in his adrenaline-crazed eyes, a resounding snort erupted from Albert’s great nostrils.

Oh.

Albert’s jaws parted before his eyes were even open. Bradley froze, hands still hovering, caught in the act of reaching for the trident in the sand in front of him.

Dorothy’s garbled scream pierced through the beach as Albert launched off her back, flattening her into the sand even more. Although Albert’s neck swung wildly, his gaze found me first. “Protect the relic!” The bull roared the command as his jaw snapped down on Bradley’s poor, flimsy human shoulder. Whoopsie .

Bradley staggered underneath Albert’s weight. A pained groan escaped him, his voice straining with agony. It was only when Albert jerked his neck, cracking bone with the motion, that I saw the blood seeping down Bradley’s front. The color in his green eyes drained to haunting darkness.

The harem scattered, roused awake with annoyed grumbles that quickly turned into girlish giggles when they realized the horrors unfolding before them.

By the time Albert dragged Bradley off, pulling him through the sand while his hands blindly grappled at his sides, a red pool had formed underneath the trident.

When Albert made it to the water, his neck swung in one final thrash, and he tossed Bradley to the waves like a discarded carcass. The water swallowed him up, and I waited, breath held, to see if he would emerge from the waves.

He didn’t.

The waves kept rolling in, fading the crimson wash of Bradley’s blood. When the last of it washed away, I finally took a breath.

Well, so much for that. Sorry, Bradley!

Albert turned with his neck held tall and proud as thick, vile droplets dripped from his jaw. “Laverne!”

A shiver went through me when I saw the bloodlust in his eyes.

“Good instincts,” Albert called. His teeth glistened red in the sunlight. “Thanks for protecting what’s mine.”

There it was—the simple thank you I’d been waiting for from him, although I hadn’t wanted it to come from something like this.

A pang of sadness hit me, one that I knew all too well—heartbreak.

Bradley... He was a fool, and he’d brought this upon himself by betraying me. But hey, it wasn’t my first time being disappointed in love. There was nothing for me to do now but move on.

I slapped on a fake smile, the talented actress that I was, my mind already working on how I could use this newly formed trust to my advantage.

“Always happy to support the herd,” I cooed sweetly.

Yeah, as if!