Page 23 of Siren’s Kiss & Feral Beasts

KAI

O ur eyes met, and my world paused as those gorgeous violet eyes warned me:

She will be my downfall. She will be my solace.

My female. My siren.

That was two months ago.

Two gods-damned months since I last scented her. Since I watched her slip from the pier back into the sea, faster than my wolf could chase her. And while her abilities make me proud, I’m also angry at her for allowing this distance between us.

I’ve followed whispers, false trails—locations I see in my dreams when she deems me worthy. And there’s no doubt in my mind it’s real. All of it.

From the very first one, where her tears broke my heart and I soothed her with my kisses, tongue, and fingers. She came for me so prettily. Gave herself without doubt or holding back, moaning her submission to her male.

Still, she eludes me during waking hours. Haunts me every few nights.

Look for me where the stars burn brightest, Alpha Kai.

“I feel her close,” I tell my wolf, standing at the helm as we enter Mar de Noches Eternas, or Sea of Eternal Night. The waters are calm today, as if expecting me, when they’re known for their merciless tides and a vast stretch where stars burn bright even in the light of day.

Beautiful to most. To me, it’s another reminder of the empty ache clawing through my chest because the sea keeps her secrets well.

The deck beneath my boots rocks gently as Torren shouts orders up ahead. The sails snap high above, stark black canvas straining against the wind. Ropes creak against metal, and crewmen bark, while twenty wolves-turned-pirates run lines and guide the vessel closer to shore.

They know their roles: trim the sails, guide the rudder, and keep the ropes tight against the gust while the ship beneath us groans, the timber expanding against the water.

Leaving the wheel, I walk to the rail and grip it tight, leaning forward. Ahead, there’s a rocky coast, a nameless village unknown to most but protected by vampires. The oldest house, at that.

I bare my teeth. “Drop anchor.”

The command rolls out, and my men move like wolves on a hunt—formation tight, working as one, following their alpha. A heavy clanking sound follows shortly after, then a loud crash as it rips through the deep blue waters here. Less black, and cooler. Not cold.

The chains rattle as it sinks, while smaller boats are being lowered. Half the crew will go, while the other preps for departure; I don’t want to be here longer than necessary.

“You ready?” Torren asks, already climbing over the banister and positioning his body to climb down. Me? I don’t answer.

I simply dive down and swim ashore while the ethnic sounds of oars follow me.

Their village is silent. Too quiet. Stone halls rise in neat rows, their arched windows open as billowy curtains flutter in the breeze.

A herd house looms at the center, its doors barred but inside low whispers greet my ears. No one is crying, but there is an argument going on between a male and female. Her fear permeates the air, while he’s aggressive in his demands.

Rage flood my veins. This is what they do.

Take women and force them into becoming donors with the promise of opulence and wealth. Some are given that treatment with caveats, but many end up like this place.

They’re packed full. The men in charge of transporting sometimes abusing the humans. Because that’s what vampires traffic: defenseless human with no strength or protection against the filthy bloodsuckers.

Cage and bleeds. Herd and harvest.

My nose twitches as blood leaks through a crack. It’s old and watered down, but the scent is unmistakably metallic.

I break the door with one brutal kick, and screams fill the afternoon air. Women and men, I find both bound by a thin rope and naked, while two caretakers use a water hose to clean them off.

“Get them out. All but these two,” I growl out, and Torren moves fast, his sword breaking through the flimsy ties used.

The humans scatter at my bark, dragging the weak and I point in the direction of the ship I’d spied earlier.

The one used to take them north to Morvane.

“Find out if any of the men know how to sail and load them up. Await instructions after.”

“Yes, Alpha,” they answer in unison, yet Torren stays beside me, His nostrils twitching. “You smell it?”

“I do. Human, but not.”

“Find the source. Bring him or her back alive.”

“Aye, Alpha.” Through our link, I catch his laugh as he heads toward a solid red door at the back of the room. It’s thick and marked with four distinct claw marks in the front…

Turning toward the shaking caretakers, I point at the door from over my shoulder. “Who’s in there?”

They hesitate, lips trembling, but one steps forward. “Lord Severus forbids us from?—”

He doesn’t get to finish; I rip his throat out, and blood sprays hot across my arm and chest. It drips onto the floor, and the few hurrying out gasp, and the other caretaker becomes as still as a statue.

“Move,” I growl, wiping the crimson streaks across my jaw. And they do. Gods, they hurry out as if on fire, while my friend, the still-alive keeper, pees himself. He knows and I know that he will not make it to sundown, and all he has left is to pray.

His lips move, reciting an ancient prayer for mercy in death, while Otto joins his brother in tearing through the solid wood door. It creaks, groaning under the force, while a few of my men begin to tear through everything in sight.

In the grand hall, tables can be heard being overturned and fabric ripping, the crash of heavy glass and boots crunching them into dust. Then the other rooms. From one building to the other, they trash everything in their path until what’s left is in ruin, and then they loot.

My crewmen begin to drag heavy chests from the coven feeding rooms: silver, coins, solid gold bars, and trinkets. Then, there are the ledgers. I’m given a few to look over as I babysit the man at my feet, his legs too heavy to carry the burden of being scum.

Because I may be a pirate, a feral beast at times, but I’d never hurt a fucking innocent woman, man, or child. That’s a line you simply do not cross.

After the last gold rimmed chalice is smashed and there is nothing else of value, I look at the pack member closest to me. “Burn it all to the ground.”

And they do.

Using a bottle of rum I’d brought ashore; I take a sip and hand it over as an accelerant. Within minutes, flames leap high, licking the bright blue skies, smoke billowing in the cool breeze. Screams echo from fear, stones and wood crack, while the herd compound becomes an inferno.

No more blood money here.

And yet, it’s still not enough. My chest heaves, and my claws ache as Nerissa’s violet eyes haunt me. As I hear her sweet, sultry voice whisper against my chest, body strewn over mine in my dream a few nights ago.

Look for me where the stars burn brightest, Alpha Kai.

It also reminds me of the conversation I had with my mother before setting sail. Her soft and lined hand was trembling as she pressed it to my cheek.

“When will you be back, my son?” she asks, voice shaky though she tries to mask it. Wolves surround us, crowding the dock as they load my ships with supplies, the air thick with prayers whispered to the gods.

“When the stone is in my hands and my mate is by my side.” There’s no other choice, not that I’ve been given one. Mates belong together, and I won’t rest until Nerissa is here. “I promise, I will be back and reclaim my throne.”

“Good. Cause I don’t want it. It’s too boring for me, Alpha.

” Veris says, and I turn fast enough to catch the smirk on his face.

He’s carrying my sleeping goddaughter, using her cuteness as a shield.

Ophelia is adorable in all her scrunched-up, old-lady- looking expressions.

Especially the milk-drunk ones, I’ve been blessed to witness over the last three days.

Their worry is palpable, as if their love.

My family. My blood. What I fight for.

“I’ll take care of everything here, Kai. Just come back safe.”

“I will. I’ll send word back soon enough.

” With a final hug to my mother, a kiss on the forehead to Ophelia, and pats on the back from Veris, I walk away.

It’s not lost on me that my father and grandfather are off licking their wounds; they’d already wished me well in private, and while our issues aren’t solved, we’ll work it out later.

My attention is solely on reclaiming what is mine, and as prior alphas, they understand more than most just how hard the impulses ride you.

To mate. To hunt. To bite.

I’ll be following the brightest star. She’ll guide me back, I promise.

I’d mind linked those words to my mother before my ships sailed…

“Alpha,” Otto’s voice drags me from watching the flames kiss the sky. “We found someone you need to see.”

The same scent gets closer. Not human. Not creature.

I turn to face them as they drag a man into the light, bound at the wrist but standing strong. He’s also tall. Bruised up, a little thin, but it’s his scent that’s odd. Can’t quite pinpoint it.

“I’m a hybrid,” he says, voice hoarse from disuse, silver eyes assessing me. There’s a glint of unleashed violence in them, but I don’t sense a threat.

Stepping closer, I tilt my head. “You live here?”

“No.” He spits on the ground, blood dripping down his chin from a split lip. “I was caged here.”

“By who?”

“The northern coven.”

“Why?” What do they need from you?”

“My mate.” That violence in his silver gaze has a name now. It’s the same one in my eyes, and it’s a pain I understand. Abandonment . Not done on purpose, but it’s the result of an unattended bond.

“Where is she?” I ask, giving Torren the signal to release his bindings. He’s freed a second later, stretching his arm out, testing the free motion after being bound for Gods knows how long.

When he speaks again, it’s low. Anger palpable.

“Severus took my female for his private herd, used her, and I’ll gut every last one of them until I get her back.” His gaze on mine is unflinching, and at the same time, not disrespectful. “Are you headed north by any chance?”

A growl rumbles through my chest. Brave bastard.

“What’s your name?”

“Maleth Sinclair.”

I study him, weighing the steel in his voice, the determination to find his mate, and how he carries the hollow ache of her absence.

“Betray me, Maleth, and I’ll feed your entrails to the predators below.”

A smile curves at his split lip. “Fair enough.”

“Good. Now go take care of your first job.” I point in the direction of the crying caretaker. “Make sure he doesn’t live much longer, then help set up the victims on the boat. They need to head east and stay east. The waters on this side of the world are about to get bloody.”