Page 17 of Siren’s Kiss & Feral Beasts

KAI

E phraim Daire is a strong wolf.

He’s noble and just, a little demanding, but I’ve never seen him like this. A pained expression crosses his face before his eyes darken and the fine hairs on his arms become a thick pelt as his wolf pushes forward. Not out of protective instinct, but because something pains him on a deeper level.

It pours from him.

Pain. Regret. Rejection.

And while I’m not an empath, as the alpha, I’m attuned to every member of my kingdom’s emotions if I concentrate on a single individual. This is something that comes in handy to help soothe a wolf in distress or who is going through the loss of a loved one—the latter is what I sense in him.

A loss he’s never gotten over.

“Answer me, Grandfather.” I’m trying hard to rein in my anger and disappointment; my beast is on edge.

Between his emotions and mine—and my father’s worry—my tight leash is beginning to slacken, and claws, fangs, and fur burst forth.

My muscles bulge, and in my half-shift form, I’m towering over everyone inside this room before my next low snarl.

“Did you know our union was a possibility?”

“Yes.” Ephraim’s jaw tightens, but his eyes remain steady on me with a darkness I’ve never seen before.

His eye contact isn’t in defiance or disrespect, but to show honesty.

The torches sputter as a breeze sweeps in from the open windows, casting a jittery light across his tired face.

His burden is heavy. “It was always a possibility, one I worried about. First with your father, and then with you.”

“What were you thinking, keeping something like this from me?”

“That my prayers were answered, and the goddess held no ill will toward me or mine.” He rubs a hand down his face.

“Soul mates are sacred, Kai. I’ve drilled that into your head since you were young, and what I accepted—even if Lucienne had made up her mind—was wrong.

I should’ve fought harder. Made her see that breaking our bond was a mistake. ”

My father speaks up. “You had no choice but to accept.” Keep an open mind, my son.

I ignore his mindlink, keeping my eyes on the man I’ve looked up to all my life.

He’s always been there: he helped me shift for the first time, taught me how to hunt in my fur skin, and how to be a fair leader.

While my father was a straightforward alpha, everything black and white, my grandfather saw that for every problem, there are at the very least five different outcomes.

Points of view vary, the same way one truth can splinter into a thousand interpretations, depending on who’s wielding it. Perspectives are personal, and even the people with the best intentions can make cruel mistakes.

“I still deserved to know the truth.”

“You weren’t meant to find out this way. Not like this,” he says, voice calm but determined. “Not before I had a chance to speak with Lucienne.”

That doesn’t sit well with me. Not with me, or my wolf. Not one fucking bit.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You still have ties to the mermaid queen?”

“I do.” Doesn’t deny it. He’s stating a fact. “Just not in the way you might think.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” It comes out garbled, the angry growl of the alpha wolf, and both men share a look.

My beast doesn’t like that; his rumble in my chest is growing louder.

He’s raking my insides, digging into my ribcage.

“You think I wasn’t ready to discover my fate entwined with deceit?

That the precious stone you passed down to your bloodline wasn’t a blessing, but a cage you buried? ”

My father exhales roughly, his eyes darting between his father and his son. “Kai, your grandfather did what he thought best at the time. For you and the pack. He didn’t know if the gods?—”

“The gods?” My voice is low, dangerous. “You worried more about their unjust wrath over your mermaid’s choice, but failed to warn me I might be caught in the storm. That your hurt bond would lead to consequences that are impacting my fate and mate.”

How could they not see that? How do they not understand that the stone was never a true gift?

“It was never my intention to hurt you, Kai.” A flash of pain tugs at his features, the remembrance of a bond never completed, but it’s gone just as quickly as it appeared.

His jaw sets and shoulders square, but his voice doesn’t hold the weight of the leader he once was.

Now, there’s sorrow and regret. “I acted to protect this pack and my family, ensuring you’d never have to live with the hole I’ve carried for over a century.

My connection with Lucienne is small and sporadic, a trail of dreams that your grandmother understood because she, too, lived with a loss.

I never dishonored her. I honored her every day of her life, and thank the gods for granting me a second chance at love.

But Lucienne…” His throat bobs, and he stops to clear it a few times. “She’s a part of that past.”

“She rejected you.” My voice is venom-laced, but my chest tightens in a way I hate. Regret fills me, but there’s too much anger in me to take it back.

“She protected me and mine,” he spits out from between clenched teeth, his wolf rising behind dark eyes—the same chocolate tone as all the males in my bloodline—and had he not been my grandfather and someone I love, I would’ve knocked his fangs into the back of his skull.

“Her choices hurt her more than they hurt me, Kai.”

I cut him off with a scoff. “What I see and understand is that you’ve betrayed me. That your secrecy—defending her —might’ve cost me my mate. That while I’ve been bleeding to provide for our people and keeping us safe, you’ve forgotten where your loyalties lie.”

“You think I wanted this? That I didn’t beg her to reconsider, to not walk away from me?” It leaves him on a snarl, and my wolf answers. I bare my teeth and take a step forward. There’s only so much my beast can take, and being away from his mate isn’t helping.

It’s the opposite.

Nerissa is a craving I can’t ignore or deny; she’s burrowed deep under my skin, fusing with my marrow, a part of every breath I take.

“All this rage and guilt will tear this pack apart if you don’t get a hold of yourselves.

” My father’s voice cuts through the tension, and my head snaps toward him.

Julius steps forward, his shoulders tense but steady, and places two hands on the table.

Leans forward. “You are kin, not enemies, and need to stop being defensive. My son, you have every right to demand answers, but unless you truly listen, the point is moot. And you…” his eyes narrow on his father “…stop defending Queen Lucienne and start explaining. Your alpha doesn’t need the tragic love story, but the promises made and possibilities you dreaded. It’s time. No more hiding.”

For a few minutes, no one speaks. The only sound inside the stone chamber comes from the rustling wind through crevices and the flickering flames.

“You’re blindness to the real issues is what cuts me the deepest,” I say, voice low, but the edge of ire I’m teetering on slips through each syllable.

Veris, who’s been quiet this entire time, speaks through our private link.

Torren’s waiting for us outside the underground cells.

I give him a small nod and instructions.

Head on over. I’ll meet you there in ten.

“I can understand everything but not telling me that Nerissa Del Mare being my mate was always a possibility. For as long as I can remember, the mermen have tried to steal the stone. They’ve attacked our ships, treated us like enemies, and have shown they have little to no honor—yet I’m tied to the heir to their throne, and I’m expected to smile about it. ”

“Kai—”

“No, Father.” I give them my back as Veris exits, and it’s meant to drive the point home.

I’m beyond disappointed; my respect for my grandfather is hanging by a thread.

“At any point in the last fifteen years, he could’ve approached me and explained.

The mess created by King Atlas and Queen Lucienne’s selfishness is more than far-reaching.

My mate helped the mermen army steal the very gift her grandmother donated as a gesture of what—pity? ”

“You know why.” That’s all my grandfather says, but he does stand up from his seat.

The chair scrapes harshly against the ground; I still don’t turn around.

“The stone was meant to be a guide, so that no Daire wolf would experience what I did. Lived through. You’re grandmother softened the pain, Kai, but the ache never faded. ”

“And yet they’ve spent years trying to reclaim that precious gift.” I turn to leave, then, and make it as far as the doorway before I look at them from over my shoulder. “They’ve made us the enemy, and now, I might lose the very thing you tried to protect me from.”

“She’s dying.” Not what I expected, but it’s the truth. I see it in his expression. “Her bond with Atlas has kept her alive, but the longer we go without any contact, Lucienne wastes away.”

“And will the stone save her?”

“No.”

“Then why use my mate to reclaim it?”

“Not them, Kai. Atlas wants it.”

“That’s even worse.” With that, I walk out, fury and worry beating in time with every step. I don’t believe in coincidences, and rogues appearing in San Tico on the night of the challenges—where I scented her for the first time—doesn’t sit well with me.

If they know something, I’ll find out. Even if it means ripping it from them a bone at a time, because I’ll never stop fighting for what is mine. And Nerissa is just that.

My mate. My home.

The air down in the underground cells is damp, heavy with body odor and fear. The latter of which is heaviest, especially for three wolves who’d been wearing scent blockers the last time they’d been in my presence.

They thought they’d been clever.

That they could cheat me.

Torren and his brother are standing just inside the iron door, leaning against the wall, but they straighten when they sense me. Both nod, their hulking forms half-hidden by shadows, but it’s the glint of metal that catches my attention. It’s my sword in Otto’s hand, that and the leather scabbard.

“How?” I ask, but it comes out edged with steel.

Otto flinches, but fights himself while keeping his neck bared. “The blacksmith delivered it last night. Said it was sharpened and balanced; he didn’t want to disturb you, Alpha.”

“Thank you.” Taking it from his extended hands, I run a finger down the sharp blade before wrapping my fingers around the handle.

I test the weight and balance, twisting it to see how it feels.

A slow swish cuts through the air, clean and precise, as three rogue wolves are brought to their knees before me.

Filthy. Fearful.

The first to the left is a male with the intelligence of a potato. No pack wolf or rogue would bare his teeth at an alpha wolf, especially one who looks as if a strong breeze will knock him over.

That bravado will not save him.

“You reek of piss and fear,” I murmur, crouching low while tilting my head to the side. He’s easily sixty pounds less than me with no muscle mass or weapon, and I pity the idiot. “You’re also too stupid to realize you’re already dead.”

He laughs at that, the sound ugly, a hint of panic in it. “I’m not afraid to die, but you should be.”

“Is that so?” I bring the tip of the sword to his ear and saw back and forth slowly. The skin flays easily, as if it were butter, and I make a mental note to send the blacksmith a gift in appreciation. “Tell me more.”

“We’re not afraid of you,” he spits out, fighting back the urge to flinch away. What’s left of his ear will fall to the floor with two more glides of my blade.

“Sure.”

“Spiro had a powerful backer. She’ll protect us.” She. Interesting.

“What else?” The cartilage is hanging by the thinnest thread as blood spurts and seeps from the wound. Nothing big or traumatic, just small increments that bring a smile to my face. After the last few days, I need an outlet, and this fool is the perfect target. “Don’t be shy.”

“The mer?—”

Gagging behind us cuts him off, and I look over, finding the female retching, deep, painful heaves with little to nothing coming out, and I give Veris a look.

Get her water and a chair.

He doesn’t respond, but I hear him exit the room and return a few minutes later. The scrape of metal is loud as he drags the seat over, and I raise a brow. Veris shrugs, but he’s gentler when handing the woman a paper towel and an unopened water bottle.

She’s grateful for both, whispering an almost too low to hear thank you while the other male shows me his marked neck. Same one she has. A sign of respect from two rogues, I could easily kill within these walls, and no one would bat an eye.

The punishment for trespassing is death. And yet, nothing pleases me more than the look of utter disgust on their companion’s face. He’s angry. Disgusted. Jealous. It all pours from him, mixing with his already putrid scent—the combination tickles my nose.

It also amuses me, and after the last few days I’ve had, it’s appreciated. Makes me feel warm inside. And in the spirit of being a good host, I make a few decisions.

“Veris, get these two moved across from him and into a clean cell. I want them fed, offered a shower, and given a mattress and blanket to lie on.” Once my beta leaves to do what I need, I give the final pull of my sword, severing the assholes ear completely off.

It lands near his knee after a bit of bouncing, earning me a glare. Pitiful as it is. “Is there a problem?”