Page 28 of Siren’s Kiss & Feral Beasts

KAI

T he hunt has hollowed me.

Twelve months of chasing shadows, a full fucking year of tearing through ports that could’ve harbored her and setting fires to the one where herds were kept. We freed the humans and creatures found alive, sending them off to the eastern sea where colonies are setting up for the victims.

Am I a hero? No.

What I am is a man who's at his wits’ end, but has faith the goddess will smile upon him.

My claws are stained with blood and brine. My wolf follows her call, and the last one brought me to a stretch of water between Isle San Tico and Isle De Lobos. I’m close to home, just a two-day sail either way.

The challenges are also a few days from now.

Ships from all over the five seas are heading this way, all but the pack that betrayed their brethren and now serve the vampires.

The northern pack has been seen making deliveries, transporting valuables across the sea, and I intercepted one right before it docked in Bazra, before changing ships to one of theirs.

The sea bled black with smoke as my cannons ripped their starboard open, splintering wood and bone alike as the mast snapped clean in half. Men screamed, and my wolves howled. The humans working with the northern pack did not know what to do as we attacked from all sides.

The injured ones couldn’t do anything but lie there and pray for mercy, while the vampire’s newly acquired pets tried to flee, but I was everywhere. Claws, blade, teeth—I plowed through anyone who raised a weapon against me and mine.

The deck was slick with blood, the charred flesh of the men who died and traitors who once again kneeled for me. Just not as part of my brethren, but as traitors.

My hand closed around a wolf dressed in the vampire guard’s signature red, squeezing his neck tight. “Where’s the scientist and his family? The rest of my wolves?”

“Back in Morvane,” he wheezed, trying to fight my hold, but it was useless. My talon punctured skin; his blood dripped down my hand. “Please, I’m just following orders.”

“Whose?”

“Our pack leader. He and the scientist made a deal with the—” I didn’t need to hear any more. The confirmation of their treachery was all I needed, and I crushed his windpipe before tossing the guard’s lifeless body overboard.

A few more followed the same fate.

Inside the hold, though, I found their treasure.

Gaudy trash: gilded chairs and statues of gods they don’t even believe in, crystal vases, and painting after painting after painting of different types of flowers.

Décor from an era that no longer existed and was worthless to me; I dumped it overboard.

Let the ocean claim them. The only thing I kept were two chests of coins and a handful of scrolls marked with sigils I didn’t recognize.

Gold had purpose. Knowledge had teeth.

The rest? Dead weight, and the two were left floating in open waters with a message for the Lord they serve. ‘I wasn’t done.’

“Where are you?” I ask out loud. It’s beginning to drizzle, and I’m searching the area where we last met in our dreams. You brought me here with a promise, and I intend to collect.

“Alpha! To your right!” Maleth of all people yells out, and my head snaps in the direction he’s pointing.

“Starboard,” I bellow, spinning the wheel with so much force the spokes bite into my palms. My crew doesn’t question or hesitate, Otto already rushing my way to take over while I help my men snap the sails.

The deck tilts and a few barrels of rum break, but nothing matters more than reaching their luna.

Every single bit of gold could be reclaimed by these waters, and I still wouldn’t give a fuck.

She’s what matters. My Nerissa.

Reclining on a rock, she looks to be resting with nothing but a cloak covering her body.

Her hair spills like ink into the tide, her skin glowing under the sunlight, but it’s her stillness that has me jumping overboard and swimming toward her.

I’m close, just a few more strokes, when those violet eyes open and set on me.

I’m set ablaze by her face. Having her this close.

She reaches for me, lips parting, and a song trembles free. Not the kind of melody that kills or glamours, but something sweet. It’s raw yet soft, and it’s unlike any other I’ve heard from her before.

I thought she’d sung for me before, but this resonates deep inside my chest, and a warmth unlike any I’ve ever experienced before covers me. From head to toe, I feel her. Like a caress. Like a fresh breath after being enclosed and lost for so long.

Relief crashes into me so hard, I almost pause, but that in and of itself would be a crime.

Against her. Against me.

“Little treasure.” The pet name leaves me in a reverent whisper when I reach her.

“Come to your male.” A full-body shiver runs through her at the nickname—the command from her mate—before she throws her arms around my neck, pulling herself close, not an inch of space between us.

A sob catches in her throat, her tears wet on my neck as tiny fingers grip my shirt tight.

As if afraid I’ll disappear. “I’ve got you, love. ”

“I knew you’d come.” Her voice is low, a little scratchy, and I pull back just enough to get a good look at her face. While she hasn’t lost weight, the heaviness in her heart shows in her violet eyes. “I had to do this, Kai. Please forgive me for the past, and what’s coming.”

“Nothing to forgive.” My growl vibrates through her, and she finds this ticklish.

It breaks a bit of the tension, especially when I do it again.

When the laughs subside, I’m rewarded by her sagging against me, and I kiss the crown of her head.

“You’re mine, Nerissa. That’s the only thing that matters. ”

“You know what they’ve made?—”

“Enough. I understood perfectly, and all will be okay.” I crush my mouth to hers, a quick yet harsh kiss. Her taste is mana on my tongue, and I take just enough to hold me over until I get us alone. Moreover, when she kisses me back just as desperately, I know this bond owns us both.

I trust her. Will stand by her.

When I finally tear away, I press my forehead to hers. “Never again, my siren. You vanish on me without telling me what’s going on, or hide anything from me, and I will make the impossible possible.”

“And what’s that?”

“I will burn the seas until you’re back pinned beneath me.”

Her smile turns wobbly when her bottom lip trembles. “I’m dangerous, Kai.”

“I’m worse.”

The crew lowers the rope ladder, and I haul her with me, one hand on the rope and the other around my siren.

I’m dripping and concerned, but whole for the first time in months.

No one speaks as we make it back on deck, but they drop to their knees in a show of respect, and her little mouth drops open.

It’s adorable, and it’s going to get very confusing in a few short hours.

In the meantime, I need to get her alone.

The pack members stay like that as we pass, Torren giving me a nod of understanding that I reciprocate with one of my own. No one will bother us. Not unless it’s life or death, and I will kill anyone myself who does so without a good reason.

Across the deck, I carry her into my private quarters.

She’s exhausted and shaking, the thin cloak doing absolutely nothing to protect her after days of shock. Nerissa lets me remove the fabric, but grips my hand to stop me before I place it on a chair. “Do you see the difference now?”

It takes me a moment to understand, but when I do, her beautiful scent dances around me like a fairy. It dances across my senses, the tethers of our half-formed bond stroking my cock.

“Motherfuck, Nerissa. How is this…?”

“A gift from my grandmother years ago. It cloaks my scent.” Her smile is a bit cocky now, eyes playful. “Could probably mask a full ship if used as part of the sails. You know, hypothetically speaking.”

“We’d have to test that theory someday, but for now…

” I trail off, picking her up and tossing her onto my king-sized bed.

She bounces a few times, tits juggling enticingly in all her naked splendor.

A tiny doll, well over a foot shorter than me, she has curvy hips and enticing thighs.

A flat stomach and high, perky tits with dusty rose nipples that complement her sun-kissed skin.

Long black hair, a cute button nose, and pouty lips.

Nerissa Del Mare is all that, an ethereal fucking beauty, but it’s the violet eyes that hold me captive. They say so much when she’s quiet, like now, when she beckons me closer with the crook of a finger.

The mattress dips and redistributes my weight after I take off my clothes, tossing them over the edge of the bed, and crawl over her.

I’m covering her from head to toe, giving her my warmth as the wolf rubs under the surface of my skin.

Not stretching, but scenting her through my skin so she carries a bit of us on her.

She doesn’t pull away when I do it, either.

Instead, she patiently lets me drag my nose from one side of her neck to the other, leaving tiny trails of kisses in my wake.

I work my way down her body, collarbones, chest, stomach, and exhale roughly over her mound and back up again.

Then her back and ass; not an inch of her hasn’t been touched or kissed, and we purr with unadulterated pride when orange blossoms and coconut also carries notes of wood and leather.

Even the tiniest bit of pineapple fills me with pure male satisfaction.

“Now, we can rest.”

“Is that so?” Nerissa lies half on me and half on the bed, her leg across my cock. “Nothing else you want to do?”

“For tonight, yes.” Tipping her face up to mine, I rub my thumb under her eyes. “You look exhausted.”

“I’ve been worried. Haven’t seen or spoken to my father or grandmother in a while.

” My hands begin to sweep up and down her soft back, the same way she traces the outline of a human skeleton on my torso.

The point of her nails leaves a thin red line, as if she were playing Connect The Dots.

I don’t mind, revel in it, actually, because this is the most relaxed I’ve seen her.

“Last time, Dad crossed paths with me in the western seas.

His birth pod resides there. Much smaller than our royal grounds, but they're a fun and happy bunch.”

“Did he give you any news on Lucienne? Was he going to be staying a while?”

“A vague update, and yes.”

“Explain.”

“So bossy.” She admonishes, pinching my side, and I flash my teeth at her. Fangs and all. “And rude.”

“Just that he’d be there a while, but was paying close attention. His older brother and his wife are helping him heal. And as for Grandma…” Nerissa bites me, not enough to break skin, but enough to leave a mark. “She’s playing her role, and will remain by his side.”

“What if he flips on her? Hurts her?”

“She’s a strong mermaid and literally born a queen. She wasn’t crowned through marriage, or for the sake of prosperity, but by her bloodline.”

“So your saying never underestimate her?”

“Never underestimate a woman in general, Alpha.”

“Noted.”

We lay in silence after that, her body relaxed against mine while the ocean rocks us. It’s lulling effect keeps us inside my room, warm and safe and oblivious to the outside world, until my look out sounds the alarm.

Then, it’s chaos. Boots pounding and shouting, my door banged on while Torren yells through the wood, “Sirens!”

A chorus of chants, their song threading into the walls the closer they get. And unlike our last encounter, this time, it’s all women.

My pack members are in danger. My ship is in danger.

Their songs grow louder, rousing my mate from sleep, and she hums a single note before rising to kiss my lips. Soft and private, the note is meant only for me, until the tip of a blade is pressed against my chest.

My knife. A clear quartz handle with a four-inch blade I keep close to my pillow every night.

Right against my heart, she whispers:

“The captain always goes down with the ship.”