Viviane’s POVI dig in my heels, but it doesn’t do any good. Caspian pulls me along as if I weigh nothing, oblivious to my resistance. He’s almost feral, his wolf so close to the surface that his temperature rises noticeably. His body scorches mine, even through our clothes.I can’t go to a doctor. They’ll take one look at me and know I’m not a shifter. I have to stop him.“Caspian wait.” I beg once we’re outside. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll tell you.” I put as much mermaid song into my voice as is possible without actually breaking into a melody.I might not be able to spellbind people, but all myths begin with a seed of truth. My voice was made to put men at ease, to soothe and enrapture, lure and beguile. The effects don’t linger after the sound dissipates, but the allure can be very powerful so long as the notes hang in the air.Caspian pauses, his jaw working in frustration. “Alright.” His musclebound arm tightens around my waist, “Tell me.”I adopt a placating tone, flatten
Viviane’s POVI can’t recall my mother ever truly lecturing me. Certainly we’ve had our arguments a few times over the years, after all, what teenager gets along with their parents all the time? However this is the first time in my memory she’s been genuinely angry with me, angry enough to raise her voice.My head is buried in my hands, a horrible ache searing through my temples as she circles the kitchen table, swaying on her feet as admonishments pour from her mouth.“Mom, please sit down.” I implore.“What’s the point in sitting?!” She cries, throwing her hands in the air. “We’ll probably be dead in a week.”Caspian’s visit had not gone over well. While it had successfully distracted the future Alpha from his efforts to sniff out my identity, his announcement had opened an entirely different can of worms.Mom held it together while he explained our meeting at the talent competition and expressed his affection for me, as well as his desire to help improve our situation. However the
Caspian’s POVOnly Viviane’s voice stops me from racing down the concourse and ripping Ryan away from her like human Velcro. “You’re a good man, you know.”A good man.Exactly the opposite of me.My wolf whines, still wanting to attack the man for putting his hands on our mate. He does not deserve to breathe the same air she does, let alone touch her. Even if Viviane is right, “good” doesn’t mean worthy.I can’t prevent the shift; I’m too far gone. My body fractures and folds: bones snapping, muscles tearing, skin morphing. In seconds a huge gray wolf stands in my spot, eyes glowing in the reflective glass of the dark windows.With every ounce of strength I possess, I turn away from Viviane and Ryan, sprinting away in the opposite direction. Even with my wolf in control, I know engaging Ryan would be a mistake. Viviane already thinks there is no good in me, killing her lover probably wouldn’t help change her mind.I burst from the stadium doors and take off into the woods, pushing my
Caspian’s POVPearls.Pearls scatter the floor around my feet, bouncing onto the hard wood and rolling off in every direction. I pull away from Viviane only far enough to see the horrified expression on her beautiful face, and suddenly everything falls into place.Every sign, every clue, every hint that’s appeared since we met lurches to the forefront of my mind, puzzle pieces locking themself into place of their own accord.“Viviane.” She won’t look at me, stubbornly clamping her stunning eyes shut. “When those girls trapped you in the classroom, why didn’t you shift?” I ask, voicing the questions I previously spared her. Shifters are not shy about nudity, so why had Viviane been so upset over having her clothes stolen, why hadn’t she covered herself by shifting? “Why didn’t you break down the door yourself or go out the window? You were only on the second floor.”Viviane cracks her eyes open, her features twisted into a forlorn grimace. “You know why.”I drop my forehead to hers, wi
Kiera’s POV“What’s going on with you?”Viviane is lost in thought again, her expression dazed and vacant. “It’s just been a crazy couple of weeks.” She answers simply, her lovely voice hushed.“Safe to say that’s the understatement of the year.” I quip. Viviane’s stock has skyrocketed at school ever since she won the scholars tournament and stopped wearing her glasses. We used to be ignored and overlooked, but now that everyone knows how smart and beautiful she is, we’ve become surprisingly popular.Of course it also helps that she’s dating the heir to the pack. I knew Caspian had been pursuing Viviane, but it still shocked me when she agreed to go out with him officially. Despite his bad reputation, the Alpha’s son is still extremely powerful and our peers won’t soon forget it.To top it all off, it sounds like Viviane’s home life has been a roller coaster as well. Though I don’t know all the details, apparently Marina decided they needed to leave the Nightshade pack last week, and
Viviane’s POV“How is this possible?”Caspian is still standing over Mordred in wolf form, his fangs dripping with blood. His paws are planted on my attacker’s chest, pinning him to the ground with bruising force, but Caspian’s attention is fixed solely on me.At first it hadn’t even occurred to me that he couldn’t speak when shifted, I simply heard his voice and responded reflexively. Now it seems all too surreal, can I really be hearing Caspian speak in my mind?“You’re mates.” Chase explains evenly, still trying to balance Caspian’s out-of-control emotions with his unfailing calm. “It’s right for you to be linked this way.”My eyes swing back and forth between the men. “Does it work both ways?”Chase is watching his friend closely, seeming to notice the way Caspian’s focus lingers on my ripped clothing. Before answering he pulls off his jacket, moving forward to offer me the garment.I leap backward out of Chase’s reach, my mind registering nothing but the fact that a man is approa
Viviane’s POV“I have a surprise for you.”Caspian hasn’t let me out of his sight since Mordred attacked me at the stadium. If he can’t be with me himself, he assigns enforcers to guard me. He won’t admit it, but I’ve caught one too many suspiciously mature looking teenager wearing an earpiece roaming the halls of my school.I know in my heart Caspian would never endanger me, but “surprise” has always sounded like another word for “trap” to me. “What kind of surprise?” I hedge warily.Caspian huffs out a laugh, reading my mind. “A good one.” He pledges, planting a soft kiss on the tip of my nose.Still I hesitate. “I don’t know Caspian, surprises are… couldn’t you just tell me what it is? I’ll appreciate it just as much, I swear.”“You have to start trusting me sometime, Viviane.” The words could have sounded harsh, but he says them without a hint of judgment or annoyance.“I know.” I whisper, bashfully fiddling with the buttons of his shirt.Powerful hands knead my lower back and a h
Viviane’s POV“It’s not that simple, Caspian.” I exclaim, shrinking away from him. “Mermaids don’t have mates the way shifters do – this is all new to me.” Seeming to hold himself in check, the future Alpha watches me retreat. “I don’t know what to think.”Caspian squares his shoulders. “It’s not about what you think. It’s about what you feel.”“Is it really that easy for you?” I counter, “you just know, unconditionally? You never feel unsure, you never feel overwhelmed by it all?”“Yes.” He replies curtly. “It’s that easy. One whiff of your smell, one look at you, and I know.”“But you’re also experienced, you know what it’s felt like with other women,” I remind him, “you have a very large frame of reference whereas I have nothing.”“Nothing?” His wolfish eyes sharpen with possessive pride.“Is that so surprising?” I inquire defensively, “Secret identities and dating don’t go very well together.”“Then why have you risked it with me?” He prods, stalking me across the beach.“Because
Three Months LaterViviane“Viv, are you ready?” Kiera asks, appearing in the doorway.I’m standing in front of a huge, floor length mirror, my wedding gown flowing around my body in graceful waves. It’s a delicate concoction of sea colored silk that ripples over my curves like water, and brings out the color of my turquoise eyes.I honestly can’t believe this day has finally come. I never thought I’d get married at all, and here I am preparing to walk down the aisle to join myself with the first Alpha in shifter history to rule two packs. After my rescue, Caspian tried to find another candidate to lead the Bloodstones, but none of the wolves in the pack were willing to do away with Damien’s mermaid program completely. Luckily for us, none of them were strong enough to challenge Caspian either, so he stayed in control by default.When we got home he finally sat down with his father and aired out all of the secrets and unspoken traumas of Caspian’s childhood, and his father willingly s
VivianeDamien’s body is so heavy on mine. His rough hands bruise my skin as his sneering face gazes down at me, and nausea writhes in my belly as I feel his hardness digging into my stomach. My mind is whirling, struggling to stay in the present as past horrors seek to drag me under, and simultaneously fighting the urge to leave my body and dissociate from the violation I’m about to suffer.In the distance Caspian’s roars and growls fill the air, the sound of his body slamming into the glass over and over again wrenching at my heartstrings terribly. I don’t want him to see this, I can’t bear the thought of him blaming himself for not saving me, and I know he will.Calling out to him through our mental link, I try to tell him to turn away, even though I know it’s useless. Don’t watch, Caspian. I beg, please, I don’t want you to see this.No! He thunders back, don’t give up, Viviane! Just hold on!It’s okay. I mentally sob, I’ll be okay. I’ve survived before and I’ll survive again, jus
3rd Person“What do we do?” Chase exclaimed, his gaze ping ponging back and forth between the images on the security screens. The Beta was beside himself, unable to help Caspian and distracted by his mate’s antics all at once.“I don’t know.” Marina fretted, her attention focused on Viviane and Caspian, divided by glass walls and completely at Damien’s mercy. Even as she watched them, she knew she couldn’t simply stand there and do nothing. “I’ll go help Kiera.” She suggested after a moment. The chances that she would be able to help her daughter were slim, but Chase could – assuming he was able to focus on doing so. “She’s not in imminent danger and the faster the other mermaids are freed, the better.”“Thank you,” Chase breathed, anxiously following her movements on the black and white monitors.Without another word, Marina careened out of the control room, dashing for the lower levels where the mermaids were trapped. Her heart pounded, blood rushing in her ears as she darted throug
Viviane The day of the auction begins like any other, except instead of waking up and getting ready for school, I’m taken to a Bloodstone spa. If the circumstances were different, I might enjoy the pampering, but I know none of the treatments I’m being given are for my benefit. Instead they’re purely intended to make me as desirable as possible to the shifters at the auction. The servants do not speak as they bathe me, filling a huge ornate tub with perfumed water and rose petals, then adding soaps that froth and foam at the surface. I can see the women attending me are mermaids from the brands on their ankles, but they are not as beautiful as the other girls in the brothel. I wonder if this is yet another fate for my kind – if one is too dried up to produce pearls, but not lovely enough to fetch a high price as a pleasure slave. Instead they must help send the unlucky beauties to their terrible fates. I have to think this is the best deal a mermaid could hope for in Sangville, m
CaspianChase and I are on the outskirts of Sangville when we sense we’re being followed.After killing mordred, a cold sort of determination took over me, an emotionless drive to finish the job no matter the cost. I knew if I let myself think about Viviane – about what might be happening to her this very moment – I would lose my ability to think about our situation objectively. Despite the fact that this was the most personal thing in the world to me, if I let my emotions rein as we planned our strategy, we would lose – and badly.So we arrived here and bega
Viviane“The auction is tomorrow.” I whisper, looking around at the hundled mermaids surrounding me. A dozen worried faces gaze back, their pretty features ranging from frightened to positively petrified. “If we’re going to escape, we have to do it tonight.”“There’s no use.” One of the younger girls sighs forlornly. She looks about fifteen and has spent most of our time here crying. I can’t say I blame her. When I was her age I would have fallen to pieces under these circumstances. I’m actually amazed I’m not in worse condition now. Being with Caspian really has changed me, made me stronger and more confident. A few months ago I would have sat here and waited for him to come and rescue me, but we don’t have the time to waste.“I know it’s daunting, but we have to try.” I tell her gently, looking to the others for support. Unfortunately she’s not the only one who has doubts. Spending one’s formative years in captivity has that effect, we were trained to obey or suffer, and made to bel
Caspian“My brother?” I repeat, stunned.“Honestly Caspian, I knew you were incompetant, but I never thought you were stupid.” James drawls. “Did you never wonder how there could be such a large age difference between siblings? Our grandmother was already thirty when she had mom, she was in her fifties by the time I came around - not exactly prime breeding years.”“They died before I was born.” I remind him, “I never knew the math.”My head is reeling, but I have to admit it makes sense. It would explain why my mother always treated him like a son, why she loved him so much more than she loved me. We were both her children, but he was the one she actually wanted.“Why lie about it?” I demand, “My father let her get away with everything, why lie about your relationship?”“It was never about your father.” James scoffs, “It was about mine. He would have taken me from her if he’d known I existed. She was nothing to him, just another she-wolf in a long line of conquests, but he never had o
Caspian “Are you sure about this, Caspian?” My father asks. “James is family!” “Being family didn’t stop him from kidnapping my mate or betraying me in the pack games.” I remind him. “I don’t have proof yet, but I’m going to get it. If I’m right he’s the only one who might know where they’ve taken Viviane.” “I don’t understand, why would mermaid traffickers take her in the first place?” He inquires, “if she discovered what they were doing, why not just k- silence her?” He continues, clearly amending his words even as they leave his mouth. For a moment I consider lying, but I can’t help but think this has gone on long enough. The truth is that mermaids like my mate have been suffering in this city for a long time, and the only way things are going to change is if I change them. Taking a deep breath, I announce, “Because Viviane is a mermaid.” “What?” My father questions blankly, “What are you talking about.” As I explain everything
I spent the first thirteen years of my life in the Bloodstone territory, yet I’ve never seen an inch of the free territory. I knew only the pearl farms and the river which swept us to freedom.I’ve imagined it a thousand different ways, always assuming the blood money they wrought from the flesh of mermaids afforded the pack lives of unimaginable luxury. I wasn’t wrong, but I certainly didn’t picture this. As the truck rumbles through the city, I remain glued to the back window, trying to memorize the streets, the landmarks and route on the off chance we actually manage to pull off an escape. Luckily the shifters don’t seem to believe we’re capable of even contemplating saving ourselves, because they don’t try to stop me.My memory is incredibly sharp and if I can focus on navigation, I might stand a chance. However it is difficult, because everywhere I look my eyes want to leap out of my head. The bloodstone capital seems to have been built on the side of an active volcano. Silver bu