Page 15 of Siren’s Kiss & Feral Beasts

NERISSA

T he water in Marivelle is cool against my skin, the unsettled currents brushing against my scales as I lie in bed.

It’s been twenty-four hours since his honeyed eyes glared at me, his mistrust thick in the air, and even from the water below, it struck with the force of a lash.

Kai thinks I helped Orion, and while untrue, the stone is around my neck.

Something I’d been planning anyway, so why does it leave such a bitter taste on my tongue?

I’m angry. Hurt. Confused. Unable to think of anything but him as sunlight fractures through the surface for the first time in hours, the broken gold rays dancing across my tail.

My emotions have been as tumultuous as the storm above, the water violent, and I can’t stop touching his chain—wishing its weight would anchor me. Instead, the Cordis Lux feels heavy, and its surface is cold. Like a heavy noose, and bringing it home did nothing to calm the storm within.

I’m in no hurry to hand it over. I’m irate at the mere thought of anyone touching what he wore close to his heart for so long.

He’s a werewolf.

My mate. The one soul meant to be mine, and he has to be the enemy.

I can’t accept him.

No matter how much every fiber of my being demands I return, slip beneath his warm body, and surrender to his bite. Mark him, my fangs leaving the sacred imprint of our bond for the world to see.

Because I want Alpha Kai Daire. There’s no denying it.

Mates are sacred, and the Gods never make a mistake. Our souls are intertwined in a way that no man or beast can undo, and yet, I have no choice but to turn my back against destiny.

Our paths were set ablaze by his grandfather’s greed and my grandmother’s soft heart.

“He’s a part of me,” I whisper into the empty room, my lips moving, but barely a sound escapes. Because if heartbreak had a name, this moment is the very definition.

Guaiac wood. Leather. Pineapple.

That’s what my mate smells like, and the memory alone is addictive. The perfect balance of tropical with a woodsy spice; it lit my soul on fire after the first inhale. My scales vibrated beneath his touch then, and they vibrate now as I recall the scent sliding across my senses.

I will never forget that first inhale. That wolf is forever etched into me, woven into my DNA.

Closing my eyes, I let the currents cradle me. Bubbles rise lazily past my hair, the silk of it floating around my shoulders and ribs while my heart races, each beat echoing within the stone against my chest.

Even here, beneath the waves, I feel him.

His presence on my skin lingers like the shadow of a storm, fierce and consuming.

Happiness at finding my mate. Sadness at being tied to an enemy of my people. And at the end, I’m right where I started…

Ire. Sorrow. Betrayal.

“Let’s get this over with,” I sigh, slipping from the bed, not bothering to glance at the mirror propped up in the corner.

A tide-hopper’s trinket my grandfather tolerates at best. Our prior king, his father-in-law, despised anything from the surface, banning their use after salvagers first dragged the reflective glass through the palace’s gates.

They’d been searching for gold and steel—anything of worth—and instead, found their faces staring back.

Great-grandfather called them dangerous; vanity made distractions.

But when his only daughter accepted his general as her husband, Atlas bent the rules to keep her happy. She’d been curious, admired the way light reflected off the shiny surface—the truth they showed.

And as a wedding gift, my grandfather presented her with one. Gilded oval and with a delicate filigree, the piece is beautiful and kept inside her private sitting room.

Now, it’s a common occurrence to see one. That, and brushes. Pretty baubles to fill pretty corners…

Swimming out of the room, I make sure to keep my eyes straight ahead and not give in to temptation. My reflection will only betray me, the red in my eyes nothing more than a mirrored image of the storm inside my chest. Truths I’m not ready to face.

It’s better to be unguarded than broken.

I reach the royal dais at the heart of the palace, finding my grandmother seated on her throne. The water shimmers, bending around her as she smiles down at me, a frail silhouette of the woman I’ve always admired.

Her violet eyes, so much like mine, just a few shades darker, have a sheen of glass over them. The tears don’t fall when we’re underwater, only while on land, and yet they gather just the same. “Nerissa, why have you returned?”

I’m surprised by the question, and my back straightens in a defensive stance. “Because this is my home.”

“Is it?” Her voice carries strength, yet layered beneath is a tremble that ripples across the distance separating us. “Or did you take what isn’t yours, and now you hide from the repercussions?”

“This belongs here. To you.”

“Or maybe it was meant to lead you down a different path.” Her exhale is heavy, and for a few seconds, I feel shame. A loss that isn’t mine, yet buried deep in my bones, I experience it just the same. “That heaviness is what I carry every single day. The loss is real.”

“I don’t understand. I-I thought you…” My words trail off, yet I still lift the stone around my neck out toward her. It vibrates against my skin. “This is yours?—”

“To give, Nerissa.” Grandma Lucienne lifts a delicate hand to stop me from removing the piece, but I do so anyway, swimming closer.

I stop next to her chair and lean down, placing my forehead against hers, giving her my love and respect while placing the Cordis Lux in her palm.

Mine encloses both, and immediately her bottom lip trembles. “Old friend, so honest and pure.”

“Reclaim your magic and heal yourself, my queen. Please, I can’t lose you.”

She’s the closest thing I have to a mother.

Always there to guide and love, give reproach from time to time, but a constant in my life.

Whatever’s draining her, taking the vivacious, happy mermaid who raised me, has turned her into a frail woman.

Her scales have dimmed, her face is now pallid, and no sea witch has been able to diagnose her.

No herb has stopped the sickness from spreading, either.

“This was never meant to be yours, Neri. I sent you to the surface for a reason, not to reclaim my gift to Ephraim.”

“A gift? He stole from you!”

“Or maybe his fated mate gave him the only thing she could, so that no other wolf in his bloodline would experience the same devastation. The pain of losing the other half of their soul.”

Her truth runs into me with the force of a killer whale slamming into you. It happened once when I was fourteen summers, playing with friends, and I swam out toward an injured, blue whale calf. It took weeks: a couple of healing potions and the resetting of bone for me to bounce back.

And yet, this feels worse. So much worse.

“What does that…what are you?—”

“The Gods have not forgiven us, child.” Her lips tremble, her expression one of pure grief, and the currents around us shift.

Push a little more violently, as if renewed, yet uncertain.

“It breaks my heart to see this again. To feel it pulse against our palms, but this magic…it’s not ours to command, even if its origins come from me.

The stone remembers its keeper, and what you hold now is unstable.

Incomplete, and needs to go back to the wolves who care for it.

I swallow hard. My scales vibrate with a low hum, their shimmer faltering. “How can I help? Tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”

The water around us seems muted in my despair. It feels my sadness. I’m beginning to see that I’m more than lost, that I’ve been lied to, and information has been withheld.

She claims our family heirloom was a gift, while my grandfather wants to save his wife. Somebody is lying.

“What I am is wasting away, my child. This is the penance for a love deferred; the cost of the choices I made to protect my people and save him. ”

“Him?” I ask, but I already know the answer.

“Ephraim Daire.”

She was mated to a wolf.

I’m mated to a wolf.

Same bloodline. Same story.

History repeats itself.

“Enough,” a voice booms from outside the hall, seconds before he steps in. Regal. Commanding. King Atlas glides forward with deliberate motion, eyes shifting to his wife before locking on me with calculated scrutiny.

Behind him, Orion and Naia of all people follow, and I’m more than confused. What is she doing here? With them? Their expressions are blank, yet tension radiates from her in pulsing waves.

I’ve known her since we were babies, growing up and getting into trouble together, trained by my father to fight and protect—the same way our army does. And yet, seeing her standing next to my grandfather feels like a betrayal.

The air vibrates with expectation, and I stay quiet. If they came to find me, they’ll make the first move.

Not that he waits long. King Atlas swims toward his wife, dropping a kiss on her forehead. “That name is forbidden, my love. You know this.”

“To some,” our queen answers calmly, fin sawing back and forth.

On the outside, she seems calm, but I notice the twitch of her fingers beneath mine.

The flash of anger in her eyes just before she pushes the Cordis Lux back into my hand and nods for me to step back.

Her movements are subtle, as is the urgent look she gives me. “You know this.”

“To all, my queen. I’m a jealous merman.” He sits beside her, ignoring her response and what I now know is a jab, and takes her hand in his. Only then does he turn his attention fully on me. “You’ve done well, my child. Thank you for returning the stone to its rightful owner.”

“Did I?” There’s a challenge in my tone; I’m not ready to deal with him. “Because I feel?—”

“You and Orion did an excellent job, Granddaughter. I’m so proud of you.” While his tone appears proud, the undertone of warning is there. It says to leave it alone. “We will honor you both under tomorrow’s moon. The ballroom is being prepared as we speak.”

I ignore the proclamation and raise a brow. “Why was Orion in Port Avaria? Under whose orders?”

“Mine,” he says. Calm. Unbothered.

“ Why was he following me?” My acerbic tone bothers Orion, and he stomps his polearm with the twin forked blade. Its heavy and strong staff is made of basalt stone, and the sound reverberates throughout the room. Icy and daring me to continue, much like his glare. “Is there a problem, General?”

“Respect the crown, Nerissa.” Not yelled or hissed at me, but I still bristle at the reproach. So does my grandmother, but before she can say anything, I do.

I glide toward him and stop inches from his face. My eyes meet his, and it’s hard, but I bite back a smile when I take note of his injury. He should’ve never messed with my wolf. Control yourself, Nerissa. Kai isn’t yours.

“Or what?” Two words, simple and honest, and spoken just as coolly as he did to me a few seconds ago.

“I am not beneath you, General Orion.” The use of his name and title is on purpose.

For someone who thinks highly of himself and is a firm believer in hierarchy, I just punched him where it hurts.

“I will never justify my actions to you, much less my personal relationship with my family. Those do not, and never will, concern you.”

That bothers him. His jaw clenches, eyes flicking to my grandfather for a minute before softening when meeting mine again. “My apologies, Princess. I’m just?—”

We’re interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. It’s sharp and insistent; my scales ripple with unease. I hear my grandfather call for the person to enter, feel my grandmother’s tired body slide in beside mine, and then feel all eyes on me.

Yet none of it matters as a guard delivers the news that my father’s been found unresponsive beside my mother’s memorial, his slumped body clutching a single pearl in his grip.

And if I thought my heart hurt before, I’m in agony now.

“Please…” my voice breaks, a sob catching in my throat “…take me to him.”