Page 19

19

Laverne

I couldn’t believe it!

My precious coat had been picked up by another.

As Bradley held up my coat, an extension of my flawless self, I realized that a part of me now belonged to him. He was more than just a scoundrel. Now that he’d claimed my coat, he was my scoundrel.

How romantic!

“Brad,” I whispered, the sound mostly breath. My heart fluttered unexpectedly, fixating on the human before me—wait, no—the merman.

And not just any merman. A king!

Of course, that meant I was now a queen. It was about time someone recognized my rightful place was on a throne.

“Married?” Bradley’s teeth shone as he spoke that magical word, shimmering like pearls, alluring and irresistible. “You must be joki— Oof. ”

His voice was abruptly cut off as Big Brother slammed into him from behind. Bradley crumpled forward, revealing Kai’s flushed face and the fist he’d used to bring my newly won husband down to the sand.

“Kai-Kai!” I shouted, horrified to witness such violence from him. This wasn’t like Big Brother! Not at all!

Kai’s gaze remained fixed on Bradley’s groaning form. “He didn’t even ask you!” he said with a sniff, his eyes wide with indignation when they finally turned up to meet mine.

My chest tightened—Big Brother had such a sorrowful look on his face. It was as if he thought he’d somehow failed me by allowing Bradley to pick up my coat. But it wasn’t a failure. It was a success. The greatest thing to ever happen to me!

His hand, still clenched from punching Bradley in the back, trembled. “He… he took your coat without making sure it was okay with you first.”

“Well, of course it’s okay with me!” I snapped back, abandoning the trident to rush to Bradley’s side. And why wouldn’t I be okay with it? Bradley was a king, and I was obviously more than ready to step into the role of his queen, even if that meant doing so with stupid human feet instead of flippers.

Kai’s voice quivered. “ Okay with you? Please don’t say that,” he pleaded. “You saw him. He was just trying to get the trident away from you.”

Noticing that the trident was unguarded, he rushed to where I’d left it. He picked it up before anyone else could, the long metal glinting in his hand. “You’re half mer, Laverne. We can pretend he never even touched your coat. You… you don’t have to abide by selkie traditions?—”

But I was no longer listening. My attention was entirely on the fallen king, my beloved Bradley.

Even with his face planted in the sand, my coat still looked perfect, draped over his arm. A wave of protectiveness enveloped me as I lifted his head, brushing back his damp hair in search of those mesmerizing green eyes. “I’m going to be the most loyal and devoted queen you could ever wish for, Bradley!”

Although barely conscious, his eyebrows twitched, furrowing at the sound of his name. “Arch… Archer…” he murmured, though thanks to the sand in his mouth, whatever he was trying to say came out muffled and unclear.

“Don’t worry, Bradley,” I whispered back to him, firmly grasping his chin to save him from wasting more energy trying to speak. “You couldn’t have chosen a better wife. I’m the finest huntress in all of the Pacific. I’ll make sure you have all the fish you could ever want and more.”

Big Brother came up behind me, and before I could look up at him, he dropped something over my head.

I recognized the purple material as soon as it fell over my shoulders. “Ocean silks?” I asked in awe. It was just like the silks Freechia would wear. I couldn’t believe he’d created something like this so quickly with the trident. It had taken so much concentration just to make fish appear!

“I’m sorry that it doesn’t look very human.” Kai’s hand was still shaking as he carefully adjusted the garment to cover me all the way down to the tops of my legs. “This was the first thing I could think of.”

Well, it wasn’t very warm, that was for sure. But even if ocean silk wasn’t as cozy as my coat, there was something comforting about knowing that Big Brother had made it for me.

I moved my arms, appreciating the cool, smooth sensation of the material against my human skin. Not bad at all!

Bradley groaned, his eyes flickering open as he struggled to get up. I leaned in, eager to meet his gaze, when Lee suddenly rushed over.

“Stay down,” he ordered, stepping hard on Bradley’s back. Bradley let out a groan as Lee’s weight pushed him back into the sand.

“The fuck is going on here?” Lee’s eyes narrowed as he surveyed the fish scattered around us, mindlessly flopping in the sand. “Why do these fish look so... odd?”

I let out a hot snort, not appreciating how easily he’d insulted my creations. “So, I forgot to give them faces! So what?!” Didn’t he realize how hard it was to create something out of nothing? I doubted he had enough brain power to make a single strand of kelp!

“Laverne!” I heard Mama’s voice before I even saw her, and then she was there, bounding through the sand with her flippers wide open. “My baby finally got married. That’s what’s going on here! I can’t believe I got to witness it myself.” She charged through the sand, throwing her flippers around me as soon as she reached me. “My precious daughter, I’m so excited for you!”

Mama’s embrace smothered me, but I was so happy to see her that I smothered her right back.

“Mama, you saw him? You saw how he picked up my coat?” I could barely contain my excitement.

I could see the tears welling up in her eyes as she squeezed me, holding me against her chest. “I always knew you’d find someone worthy of you, dear. And to think he’s a king! I couldn’t be happier to see you settle down with royalty like I did.”

Royalty… like she did? Her words pierced my heart like a barb.

Mama had also fallen for a king. One who abandoned her for years, leaving her isolated, far from the children she cherished until I came along.

If I hadn’t been born as a sea lion, Mama would still be alone, and her king wouldn’t have given a second thought to her loneliness.

My king wouldn’t be like that, would he?

No, of course he wouldn’t!

Bradley stirred beneath Lee’s foot, attempting to push himself up against the force, but Lee pressed down harder with a menacing glint in his eyes.

“Enough, Lee!” I demanded, breaking free from Mama’s hug to grab hold of Lee’s foot and yank it away. “Bradley is a KING! You can’t just stomp on him like this.”

Lee stood straight, his arms crossing. “I don’t give a damn who or what he is. He’s not taking Kaius’s trident,” he snarled, glaring down at Bradley. Then he turned to Kai. “That was a solid hit you landed. What do you think we should do with him now?”

Big Brother’s face paled like he already knew Lee was hoping for more violence. His grip tightened over the trident, and the ocean silks I wore seemed to shiver in response. “I don’t know. M-maybe I could make a cage, and we put him in it? Just long enough for us to get out of here?”

A CAGE?

“Kai-Kai,” I gasped, not believing what I was hearing. Betrayal! Utter betrayal! “You might not like him, but he is my husband .”

Bradley garbled something face-first into the sand—probably agreeing with what his darling wife was saying!

Kai’s lips fell. “It’s not that I don’t like him, Laverne…”

Lee’s grin widened with a chuckle. “A cage, huh? I like it. He’ll make a nice sacrifice for the sea lions to enjoy when they finally wake up.”

A sacrifice?

My jaws snapped as I lunged forward, closing them around the meat of Lee’s leg. Unfortunately, my human teeth weren’t sharp enough to sink in deep, but it was enough to make him curse and stumble back, freeing Bradley from his weight.

“The fuck! Kaius,” he growled, turning to him for help as he swiped a hand over the teeth marks I’d left on his leg. “Control your sister!”

But I refused to back down. “You think Big Brother can control me?” I snorted, wiping the gross taste of him from my tongue. “As if!”

Kai stepped in between us, trying to diffuse the tension. “Now, guys, let’s calm down! We’re not going to hand him over to the sea lions, Laverne.” He turned to Lee, reminding him, “Because the Southern Ocean is our ally .”

Bradley turned his head, finally spitting out enough sand to speak clearly. “A sacrifice? Leave it to an Atlantic mer to suggest something so archaic.”

“Shut your mouth.” Lee’s growl turned feral, punctuated by a distant crack of lightning. “Orca-toothed bastard. At least the Atlantic hasn’t tried to steal a trident from one of its so-called allies.”

Kai-Kai and I exchanged a look that said, really?

“Lee…” Kai said gently. “Are you sure your father wasn’t planning to use Claira to get all the other tridents for himself?”

Lee growled again. “I would have never allowed it.”

“Uh-huh. Sure,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “We believe you.”

Big Brother raised a hand, attempting to keep both of us calm. “Okay, here’s an idea: why don’t we let Laverne decide what to do with him?” He took a deep breath before turning to me. “Since he’s your—” he hesitated, “—husband.”

Darn right, Bradley was my husband! And now that he had my coat, there were many things I wanted to do with him. But those things would have to wait.

Kai-Kai had made a great point earlier. Even though we were married, Bradley was still after the trident. Did that mean I’d have to part ways with Big Brother to ensure its safety? Well, that was out of the question!

Without me around to protect him, Big Brother would be vulnerable to all sorts of scheming back at Ren’s kingdom.

A better solution was a temporary split from my husband. It was just how it had to be. But only until Kai-Kai got his mate back and he no longer needed the trident’s power.

“I think we should go with the cage thing,” I decided with a nod. “Let’s leave him somewhere where Albert and his trash harem won’t find him.”

It would be hard for him, living without me until my return, but I would be worth the wait.

Kai’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Damn, Laverne.” Even Lee looked impressed by my maturity. “Fuck, yeah. That’s a solid plan.”

Bradley’s neck strained to look up at me, the green eye not covered by his hair sparkling with a look that was unfamiliar to me.

“Laverne,” he breathed out, and everything inside of me swooned. Was this… desire?

“Wouldn’t you rather have me, your husband, with you?” he said calmly, as if he were trying to seduce me with the gentle cadence of his voice. His hand found my leg, where the ocean silks didn’t quite reach, and squeezed.

Oooh . I liked that.

“Take me with you,” he said, a demand laced with longing.

It worked.

“On second thought, we’re taking Bradley with us!” I proclaimed, ignoring Lee and Kai-Kai’s groaning protests.

“W-with us?”

“No, we fucking aren’t .”

Yes, we were! Sorry, boys, but love was all about taking risks. What did they know about love, anyway? Neither of them had ever been married. Plus, they’d let another male swoop in and steal their mate!

“What a wonderful idea!” Mama said, bouncing up on her tail. “It’s never good to be separated from those you love. It hurts the heart. You make sure you take good care of my Laverne!”

Sand clung to Bradley’s bare chest as he pushed up on his elbows. “I’ll take great care of her,” he said, a grin spreading across his face. His hand tightened over my coat like he had no intention of ever letting go of it. “Don’t you worry.”

Underneath him, the moonflower he’d presented to me was still in full bloom, humming with the blue moon’s magic. Although I didn’t know how it survived the night, with a moonflower’s magic, I’d be able to return to my sea lion form as long as I had my coat.

I picked it up and carefully tucked it into my hair, mimicking the adornments I’d seen Freechia wear, but as soon as I removed my hand, the flower slipped.

Before it hit the sand, Big Brother caught it. He locked an elbow around the trident as he knelt down, working the flower back into my hair. This time, it stayed in place.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep him with us, Laverne,” he said gently. “But I won’t stop you if it’s really what you want. Just be careful, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“Aww,” Mama gushed, listening in on our heart-to-heart. “Always such a good brother to my Laverne!”

Mama was right. There was no one better than my Big Brother. I gave his arm a squeeze to show my gratitude.

“I’m not a jellyhead, Kai-Kai. I know he still wants your trident,” I whispered to him, hoping Mama wouldn’t hear me.

But even if I wasn’t Bradley’s only interest, I was still a selkie. If the stories were true, now that he’d claimed my coat, I would never be able to shake the fluttering in my chest he caused, the thrill of having him near me.

And even if he gave my precious coat back to me, I would still crave his attention. I’d still offer it right back to him the next time I shed my coat. I wouldn’t be able to help but be drawn to him, like Albert and his beauties .

It was why I hadn’t wanted Albert to take it. Once he had my coat, my nature would have kicked in, and I would have been bound to the brute forever!

But I liked Bradley. He had a good heart, even if he was also a pervert and a scoundrel.

I got to my feet, liking how the ocean silk garment swished in the wind as I moved, and gave Big Brother a huge hug. “I promise I’ll be careful, so let’s take him with us.”

I’d always been curious about hugging with arms instead of flippers. It was nice, but definitely not something I’d want to do forever. I was a proud sea lion, after all!

“He’s really coming with us? Fucking crazy,” Lee grumbled, but I wasn’t worried. Bradley might have been my husband, but I still wouldn’t let him take Big Brother’s trident.

“It’s not up for discussion,” I said firmly. “As a queen, I have the final say in what we do. Don’t forget that both of you are just princes,” I added with a snort.

Kai-Kai choked on a laugh as Lee huffed out his annoyance. But at least he didn’t argue further.

“That’s right,” Bradley said, confidently rising to his feet. His sandy arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me away from Big Brother to bring me up against his chest.

It was the first time a male had touched me like this, and I didn’t dislike it. No, not one bit. Maybe arms were sometimes better than flippers.

“Queen Laverne,” he murmured into my ear, his lips barely brushing against it. My coat hung loosely from his hand, its fur barely grazing my stomach, but it was clear he wasn’t offering it back to me. No, it was his. I was his. “What do you say, whiskers? Still want to be my queen?”

Despite the horror on Big Brother’s face, my insides puddled at Bradley’s charm.

Queen Laverne .

I liked the sound of that.