Chapter 10

• He nods, pointing towards the door that takes you to the back passage to the docks.
• I sprinted out of the hall to find her, praying she wasn’t trying to escape to the sea again. That image has haunted me for so long. I can’t lose her already. Not like before.
• I ran towards the docks, frantically, then saw in the distance the silhouette of a mermaid utterly still in the sea, just staring at something at my personal dock. I gasp, realizing who it is, and what he must be staring at. He must have heard my gasp, because he quickly looked my way before smirking and diving under the water’s surface. His hearing is as excellent as always, I see.
• I ran the distance from the castle walls to the dock, maneuvering around the stone trail so I didn’t fall off the cliff in my haste. It still takes me far longer than I would like, and I’m in full panic mode by the time I get near the dock.
• “LIRA!” I yelled as loud as I could, my throat and lungs burning with the force. “LIRA!” I screamed again, finding her at the end of the dock, dangerously close to the edge while staring down at the water.
• Don’t do it, Lira. Don’t leave me again.
• “Lira,” I panted out as she turned gracefully to face me, her golden hair streaming behind her like dancing sunlight in the sea winds.
• Her sunny hair is such a contrast to her icy expression. She looks exasperated, like I had disturbed her greatly with my presence.
• “Yes?” she mutters coldly, making Killian whimper.
• “Wha-what are you doing out here?” I asked like an idiot. “Why aren’t you at the reception?”
• She furrows her brows, “Why would I need to be there when you aren’t?”
• I cringe, knowing she is referring to our first reception when I left early, leaving her on her own without any regard for her.
• “I’m sorry. I just had to speak with my Beta for a moment. I was coming right back.”
• “How was I to know that?” she snaps.
• I try not to cower in her fierce gaze, so much the same as the way she looked at me when she rejected me. My stomach is in knots, and I can't think of any other way to carry on with a conversation with her. Should I just try groveling at her feet, begging for her love and acceptance? Will she find mercy for me? Pity? I will accept anything but rejection. I won't survive another rejection from her.
• She sighs deeply, realizing I have nothing left to say. Good going, idiot. You yelled at her, and now you can't find your voice to apologize or say something that may help you to win her favor.
• She takes one last lingering and longing look at the sea, then walks past me, back towards the reception.
• I watched her go, frozen in place by her cold demeanor until she could no longer be seen.
• “Good going. You should never have left her in the first place,” Killian snarls at me.
• “You were the one that told Nilo to meet us out in the hall while he was giving his speech,” I reminded him.
• He humphs and retreats to grieve in the back of my mind, distraught at our mate’s scorn.
• “You didn't think I would make it that easy for you, did you?” a deep, musical voice questions me. I turned to see the man I saw in the water staring up at me from the space between the dock and my boat. Lira’s father.
• His long hair is fanning about him in the water, the same golden color as Lira’s. The embedded crown around his head, signifying his status as king, shines in the waning sun. His broad body is massive, even in the water in this form. He is the reason I got a second chance, but also the reason Lira remembers everything.
• “King Brennus,” I grit my teeth, knowing an outward display of my anger towards him would do me no good. “You never said she would keep her memories as well.”
• “Why would I do you that favor? It was your mistreatment that led her to run away in the first place. I told you that I would give you a second chance. Nothing more. In all honesty, I hope for your failure. She deserves better, and if it were not for her locked magic, I would take her back with me now. I wish to,” his voice drops slightly, then he looks towards the castle as if he really wished to come on shore and retrieve her.
• “She could have told me about the bond before. Told someone,” I murmured in defense. She never gave any indication that she was a hybrid to anyone, or that she was my mate.
• “If she were to tell your people that she was your mate after your treatment of her, they would have called her crazy. And how do your pack members view the other races? I know it is the consequence of endless wars for your territory, but your kind does not view the fae races or demonic races favorably. If she said she was half siren, your own commanders might have killed her thinking she was truly a trap sent by her uncle.” I know by the way he always refers to Wayne that his hate for the alpha of the West far outweighs his hate for me.
• “She tried to tell you,” Killian tells me, coming forth again, “She tried requesting an audience with you multiple times, and you always turned her down. It wasn’t until she stopped trying to seek you out that you even bothered showing her your face, and by then she was probably set on rejecting us, so why would she try after that?”
• He’s right. She may not have trusted my people with her secret, but she did try to reach out to me. I was the one that prevented her from telling me anything.
• “I don’t want to hurt her again,” I whispered. “I will do anything to gain her trust.”
• King Brennus must take pity on me, because his cold eyes softened. “Because of our agreement, and for your help in bringing her back to this point, you have 2 years. 2 years to gain back her trust and maybe even her love. I think I was more than generous to give you that. I have countless other means to keep her safe and secure until her 20th birthday. I am allowing you another chance. One you do not deserve.”
• He lifts one of his hands from the water, a stunning necklace with glimmering jewels embedded in an intricate pendant, the pattern reminding me of a crashing wave in his palm. “This is my gift for my daughter on her birthday. Be sure she gets it.”
• I lean down, taking the necklace gingerly from his palm, enamored by the way the last of the sunlight dances on the cut stones.
• I’m so fixated on the necklace that I don’t notice the smirk that comes over King Brennus’s face before he reaches up and pulls me into the water. My wedding attire is ruined, and I’m a sopping mess.
• I sputter as I pull myself back onto the dock, still gripping the necklace in my hand. King Brennus is laughing like a hyena, bellowing loudly and making me growl.
• “That's my gift to you , my new son-in-law, on your wedding day.”
• “Trying to drown me?!” I sputtered.
• “No,” he chuckles one last time before his face turns serious, “Not drowning you, though you deserve it.”
• That’s the last he says before diving back into the sea. I will have to be on my guard. That man will be watching us closely over the next 2 years. I’m sure. If I step out of line once, he will waste no time in taking his daughter away from me.