Page 33 of Siren’s Kiss & Feral Beasts

It feels like stepping into a trap. Orion’s grin turns cocky, as if he won. My grandfather beams with pride, his arms around my grandmother, whose eyes are on something in the distance. Reflective and small. The vampire walking beside me tilts his head, eyebrows furrowing a second too late.

Guards collapse under the first strike.

Wolves hidden by the fog leap onto the ship.

They surround the deck from both sides, scaling the sides in human form before transforming into beasts, and large paws hit the wood.

Some of the older pieces crack under the weight, but that only spurs these killers into taking down anybody deemed an enemy with them.

A few vampires are the first victims, falling on the large wooden pieces sticking up in the air.

Their cries are short-lived, while the panicked song of sirens rends the air.

They’re trying to call out to anyone nearby for reinforcements, but that’s their second mistake.

My father is the first one on the ship, followed closely by my uncles and cousins—every member of the Azure pod is here, and they are brutal.

Some have swords, others use spears, driving the blades in deep without a single ounce of remorse.

In the chaos and screaming, Orion reaches me as Lord Severus runs inside.

I lose sight of him the same way the merman general has forgotten his mate on the dais; she screams and cries, but those crazed eyes are on me.

“Did you call them here?” I don’t answer him.

Instead, I take two steps back. “Answer me, you bitch.”

We follow this game until I’m back by the entrance to the captain’s quarters, and his hand shoots out to slap me. It never makes contact as a large clawed hand grips and catches his hand, snapping the bone in two before reaching back and patting my thigh.

Orion screams, stumbling back in pain while Kai, in his half-shift form, removes the blade from its makeshift holster.

“Do you want the honors, little treasure?” he asks, the garbled voice deep and powerful; it runs through me, and I shiver in both lust and excitement.

One, because he came for me, and two, because it’s a true honor when a predator offers you his kill. “Or do you want me to handle it?”

It. Not a man. Not worthy of having a name.

“Can I have first strike?”

“You can have anything you want.” Alpha Daire lunges after the general, who’s trying to slink away toward the banister.

He almost makes it, too, but is then dragged back for me.

Orion’s kicked in the back of the knee and made to kneel, looking at me as I grip the dagger and drive it straight into his eye, twisting it.

The sound it makes is wet, then a pop, and drops him with a sickening thud.

Did I kill him? Possibly, but I’m not given the chance as my mate lifts me, wraps an arm under my bottom, and stomps a foot through his chest on his way to the other side of the ship.

“I’ll kill her. Stand back,” a voice I’m all too familiar with booms, and every merman stalks forward, closing in on my grandfather when a loud, angry growl fills the night.

Another black wolf jumps onto the ship; its animal has a few streaks of grey along its ears, and its eyes are set on my grandmother.

Her eyes become glassy, a few tears falling at the sight of him, and the stone I’d carried around my neck comes alive. Blue and bright, and it vibrates as my mate nuzzles the side of my head.

“Ephraim, I’m—” She’s cut off by a low chuffing sound, almost a chuckle or maybe a chide, but Lucienne submits to the sound.

The wolf, like my mate, can stand on his two hind legs and turn into something that’s the perfect balance between man and wolf.

His features come forward, a handsome man with a few scars from age, but just as handsome as my mate. I’m a very lucky siren.

“Come to me, Lucienne. It’s been too long.

” Her body moves, tries to shove Atlas away, but the latter only presses the knife deeper.

My grandfather mumbles something, curses ever marrying her, but it’s the first drop of blood that signs his death warrant.

Ephraim’s hand shoots out and yanks my grandmother into his arms, kisses her forehead, and then places her behind him.

It all happens so fast after that. Blood everywhere. Guttural cries.

He tears into him with claws and teeth, ripping chunks of flesh from his body, and I have to look away from the gruesome scene. I hear it, though. The anger. The utter brutality, until there’s nothing left but a mangled heap that soon after hits the water.

I should feel sad, but I’m not. I should demand they stop, but this is a necessary evil.

One by one, every merman, vampire, and siren left is made to kneel as wolves make quick work of the enemy. All but the vampire lord, who seems to have disappeared the moment the attack began. They’ve searched the boat, but he’s nowhere to be found. The same goes for Maleth…

My father and our family collect any flammable item on this ship they can find, while Magda and Elara step into view, lighting the pyre. They smile at me in my mate’s arms, the affection genuine in their eyes, until I feel something sharp slice into my arm.

Not deep, but it burns, and Naia is given no mercy as she screams her hate.

“You don’t deserve to be happy, Neri. You took everything from me, like the selfish—” Kai’s hand punches through her chest, tearing out her heart.

Quick. Painless. A mercy kill for what an alpha wolf is capable of for his mate, and I’m thankful.

A piece of me will always care for her, but she chose this path.

To take and take as long as it served her. No care for anyone but her, and I can’t blame it all on the mate bond. They were brainwashed into thinking everything they did was justified as good for the kingdom.

“She can follow him into the afterlife,” Kai spits out, grabbing my arm gently and turning it to see the cut. It’s small, red, but not really bleeding. “Does it hurt?”

“I’m more than fine, handsome.” He likes that, a slight pink crossing his cheeks, and I fall at that moment all over again. The past year has taught me a lot. Patience, trust—to enjoy the small moment because at the end of the day, those matter the most. This is one of those. “Let’s go home.”

“Only if you do me the honor of accepting my bite one week from today in front of our sirens and wolves.”

“It’s a date, Alpha Daire.” With both hands, I cup his cheeks and lay my forehead on his. Share my aura, breathe in his every exhale. “Now, kiss me. I’ve missed you.”