Page 2 of Where the Current Takes Him (Mermate #1)

Loriun

A faceful of saltwater hit Loriun in a beautiful mist. He blew out a sigh of relief and sprayed himself again.

This interspecies office was too godsdamned dry.

The light brush of rayon fabric against his scales grated on his nerves.

Human clothes were the bane of his existence, but for once, that was the last thing on the Alpha’s mind.

The moment he’d clicked the “donate” button on Ashford Montgomery’s campaign site, shame rippled through his fins. The questionable politician said his son was looking for an Alpha, and had agreed to the arrangement, but something about the transaction still felt dirty.

It all started a few weeks ago—Loriun was out at a company dinner, listening to his Alpha employees lament about the scarcity of human Omegas.

One of the human coworkers piped up, “You in the market, Mr. Kolhn?”

Loriun raised a brow. “Isn’t every Alpha?”

The man chuckled. “True. But you know, Mr. Kolhn, I’ve got a cousin with an Omega son. You might have heard of him. He’s up for reelection soon. Ashford Montgomery?”

Loriun’s brow furrowed. Everyone knew the human interspecies liaison. He was notoriously two-faced—displaying a pro-Mer stance when it came to technology and education, while secretly supporting an anti-Mer extremist group. Natural Order of something or other.

It was a tightrope walk, staying in the good graces of both the Mer and his bigoted human constituents. Like him or not, Loriun had to admit that the man was cunning.

“Of course I know of Ashford Montgomery," he replied, unable to keep an edge of disdain from his voice. “I’m surprised to learn he has an Omega son. I was unaware he had any children.”

“Yeah, well.” The human man— Bill? —waved a dismissive hand. “You know how folks are about Omegas in Florida. Anyway, I heard his son is lookin’ to settle down. Ashford’s vettin’ a whole conga line of suitors. Nobody good enough for his precious boy and all that.”

Loriun raised his glass to his lips. Gose beer had been a pleasant discovery for the Mer—salty, low alcohol content, and foamy. Watching his human workers knock back shots of liquor made him feel ill. There was something truly wrong with the entire species. Ingesting poison for fun…

“How old is this son?” Loriun finally asked.

Bill grinned. “Interested?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“He’s twenty-four. Want to see a photo? Ashford sent one over. ‘Course, he knows I work on the islands…”

Loriun’s nose wrinkled slightly. Twenty-four was hardly old enough to be settling down. It felt like a nearly infantile number to Loriun’s thirty-three.

He winced as Bill knocked back a tequila shot and tapped something on his screen. “Here.”

Loriun glanced down. A handsome, young Omega with sandy brown hair, deep, dark eyes, and smooth, golden skin smiled back at him.

“Pretty thing, ain’t he?” Bill laughed, pulling the phone away. “What d’you say? Want me to give you Ashford’s number?”

Loriun frowned. “Why would you give me his father’s number? This Omega is a grown man. Surely he can make his own decisions.”

Bill’s smile faltered a little. “Ah, well, y’see, he wants to weed out the bad apples so Beaumont doesn’t have to waste his time. Just makin’ sure his son only has to deal with the cream of the crop.”

The cream of the what?

Something about this whole thing felt off.

“If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.” Keld, the company’s gilt-scaled head of accounting jabbed Loriun in the ribs.

“Hey now, not so fast,” countered Zasia, a female Alpha. “You’re not the only single Alpha here my friend.”

“That Omega’s on the hunt for a male Alpha.” Keld rolled his eyes. “Come on, now.”

“Even seaweed has a straight stem—”

“Fine,” Loriun said loudly. “I’ll contact Ashford.”

He watched as all the hopeful Alphas around him deflated.

“Okay, well, if Loriun doesn’t make the cut, I’m next,” Keld grumbled.

∞∞∞

“Beaumont has selected you, Mr. Kolhn.” The politician’s oily, nasal voice did nothing to put Loriun at ease.

“Has he? How is that possible? We haven’t even spoken yet.

” Loriun fought to keep his voice calm. He’d spent the past few weeks compulsively looking at the photo of Beaumont Montgomery that Bill—whose real name turned out to be Jonathan—had emailed him.

The Omega’s handsome face and endless brown eyes made his fins flutter.

He was aware, rationally, that he knew nothing about Beaumont, yet he felt some strange form of connection to him.

“Mr. Kolhn, Beaumont trusts my judgment and he has seen your profile,” Ashford responded.

“He feels he knows everything he needs to know, and wishes to meet face to face. Now, there is one last matter to resolve. Beaumont will be needing a number of things in order to prepare for the move. As you know, I am in the midst of a reelection campaign.”

“I am aware.” Loriun did not like where this was going.

“A financial donation via my campaign would aid me greatly in arranging Beaumont’s transition.

Furthermore, with your name on my donor list, it will show voters I have the support of a company at the cornerstone of our city.

Not only will this reinforce interspecies policies, but it will protect my son from dissenters. ”

Loriun was rendered speechless for a moment. The gears in his brain ground together, trying to determine whether the politician’s reasoning made even a modicum of sense. But Ashford did not give him the time to figure it out.

“So, Mr. Kolhn, are you willing to make such a donation? To protect your future family? The amount is, of course, up to you.”

“I—” When he put it like that, what else could Loriun say? “Yes, Mr. Montgomery, of course.”

“Wonderful! You can find the donation page on my campaign website. I encourage you to carefully consider the value of a fine Omega and the political connections he brings. When I have confirmed your donation, I will begin preparations for my son’s relocation.”

“But—”

The line was already dead.

Loriun dropped his phone to his desk and groaned.

“Did I just buy a human?”

∞∞∞

As it turned out, getting a human Omega to the Paeil Islands required an obscene amount of paperwork. Filling out forms for an interspecies house, applying for an interspecies mating license, registering him at their new district’s Omega clinic…

As Loriun signed the final document, he hurled the pen into the wastebasket at the corner of his office and stomped out.

“I’m leaving early,” he growled at Kaoi, his assistant. The Omega’s coppery facial fins splayed wide with concern.

“Bad day?”

Loriun grunted. “I’m never filling out a form ever again.”

Kaoi laughed. “Good luck with that. See you Monday.”

The Miami sun beat down on Loriun as he stalked through the parking lot.

Despite the humidity of the island, it was nothing compared to his species’ home planet, Usoi.

He jammed a fist into his messenger bag and pulled out a saline spray bottle.

The puff of moisture wasn’t enough, but it would have to suffice for now.

His phone rang as he slung himself into his car.

“Hello?” he snapped, twisting the key in the ignition.

“Is that any way to talk to your mother?”

Loriun cringed. “Sorry, Riue .” Though English was his primary language, Loriun preferred the Loaish terms for parents. English had no words to differentiate an Alpha mother from an Omega mother, and vice versa.

A peal of laughter from the phone’s speaker soothed Loriun’s irritation.

“I just wanted to know if you had an update on your Omega.”

Riue’s voice brimmed with excitement. She’d nearly burst into tears of joy when Loriun told his parents he was bringing an Omega home.

“I just finished the flood of paperwork.” Loriun sighed, putting the car in gear and navigating from the parking lot. “I thought it would never end.”

“Does that mean you have a date?”

“Yes. He’s coming tonight.” A wave of nerves rolled through his body.

Loriun rarely experienced anxiety when meeting new people.

As CEO of Ikatere Desalination, business meetings with both humans and Mer made up the bulk of his job.

Yet the idea of coming face to face with the man whose photo was now burned into his memory…

“Tonight?!” Riue was practically squealing with glee. “Fauos! Loriun’s new omega is coming tonight!”

Loriun’s jaei, his Omega father, joined in the cheering.

“When can we meet him?” Riue demanded.

“Wait, wait, have some patience.” Loriun sped along a little beachside road, barely noticing the scenery flying by. “He has a big adjustment ahead of him. New home, new Alpha, new everything.”

“You’re right, of course. We can be patient,” Riue relented.

“Can you, Zicoi?” Jaei teased.

“Oh, stop it. Well, keep us updated, Loriun.”

“I will. Talk to you soon.”

He ended the call just in time. His car rolled to a stop in front of a newly-constructed house, standing in a yard of violet grass. The ocean behind it lapped at the rear walls.

His new home. Beaumont’s new home. Their new home.

But Loriun’s first order of business was far more pressing. He parked the car in the driveway and launched himself toward the water, webbed feet kicking sand behind him, and hands busy stripping every article of pointless human clothing from his body.

The powerful muscles along his spine flexed, extending the many vertebrae to their natural state.

His tail unfurled from his body and scales lifted along his skin.

By the time he reached the shallows, he was fully shifted into his aquatic form, and performed an entirely graceless belly flop into the sea.

Loriun’s throat loosed an indecent moan as the water soothed his dry, shriveled skin. It took several minutes for him to no longer feel mummified, but when he had finally rehydrated, Loriun lashed his tail, and propelled himself deeper into the sea.

For now, all thoughts of the brown-eyed Omega washed away with the current.