"What the fuck," Dallan murmured to himself. He jerked his hand away from the knob as if he touched something poisonous. What was he feeling?
His nose quirked and he felt a surge of his wolf. Unintentionally, his claws elongated; his body became hot. He was aware of every single thing going on around him. The voices of the men coming from the lower deck sounded like a conversation being made directly beside him.
"What the fuck," Dallan repeated as his heartbeat increased. How come he could feel all the known signs of a mate?
He looked around to know where the peculiar scent of a female he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with was coming from. All indications pointed towards the door he was standing before.
"What the fuck!" Dallan repeated again, this time frantically. Only one soul he knew could be inside the cabin.
The mermaid!
The fuck! The goddess mated him to a mermaid?!! A low class of specie! He would have done better with even a measly human!
Dallan knitted his brows. His heartbeat accelerated, only this time, it was as a result of anger. By now, their ship had completely left the storm. Now they were sailing peacefully under the soft glow of the moon. The thought of the serenity of the sea did nothing to make Dallan relaxed. All his life, he had always prayed for one thing: to find a mate. Now that the goddess gave him one, he was praying to be mateless throughout his entire long and boring lifetime. That would definitely be better than this... this...
What could he even call it? A mistake of a mate?
Dallan steeled himself and pushed the door open. All his anger flew out of the window.
A beautiful young woman was curled at one corner of the cabin. Her knees almost touched her chest. Dallan could no longer see the tail that proved her mermaid status. All he saw was an extremely beautiful lady with olive skin smooth as ivory. When she looked up, he froze.
He should have just turned back, Dallan realized after setting eyes on her face. She looked too ethereal, too heavenly. Drops of silent tears streamed down her cheeks—slowly. Dallan itched to wipe them off or caress her until she calmed down. His fingers trembled when he saw her recoiling in fear. Did she perceive him as a monster?
Did mermaids always look this innocent and beautiful? Kai had not told anything about this. Dallan had not even bothered to ask about their physical properties except for some funny questions about their tail. Now he was wishing Kai lingered around to answer the load of questions piling on his mind, or simply help in pulling him out of the cabin since his feet seemed to have glued the floorboards. He fisted his hands and slowly approached her.
"Please, don't hurt me..."
Dallan stopped in his steps. Her voice sounded like a spell, drawing him closer, clouding his senses. He knew how spells worked, after all, he had a warlock in his pack.
Only a peach-transparent gown clung to her skin. It made Dallan's mouth water. Her tail was nowhere to be seen. What replaced it existed long and fresh legs appealing to sight—and touch. Dallan knew how soft her skin would feel beneath his touch.
Her pointy nipples pressed to the fabric so hard that he began to crave a taste. Her skin looked too smooth and shiny to classify her as a mortal. It seemed living in the water and coming to land as she pleased had its own advantages.
This is the mate the goddess gave him?
Dallan realized that he had asked himself endless questions in a little span of some minutes. The excited release of adrenaline his wolf kept pumping into his veins and the natural womanly scent pervading his nostrils was not helping his attraction to her. How would he even handle this?
Coming closer, within reach, Dallan could now clearly see her face: dark-as-night hair, face smooth as glass, and lush rosy lips made her look tempting. Under the right light, Dallan knew her eyes would be green. When he was just inches from her, he gave himself a thumbs-up. Truly, her beautiful orbs were green. It reminded him of moments when he would run around in a forest filled with just the natural colour of leaves and vegetation.
"What is your name?" Dallan asked the first reasonable question that entered his mind. For a moment, she stared at him with glassy eyes then wiped the tears off.
"My name is Hazel."
Ah, beautiful name! Dallan could definitely not give that compliment. The scent came again, that warmth and feeling of serenity pervading his senses, dulling his thoughts. He could not deny it anymore. He just found his mate. He had plans for his life and this mermaid fitted into none of those plans.
He had always planned to jubilate when he found his mate, maybe even throw a party in the pack for almost a week. He had great plans for a mate. How would a weakling stay beside him in general meetings or public outings? What happened when she had to defend herself?
"This won't work," Dallan murmured under his breath. He was getting irked with himself and it was not helping his feeling of agitation. "Are you okay?"
Dallan felt like ripping his own head off after the question escaped his lips. He should be strong! Not asking of her well-being being like some effeminate specie! He cleared his throat and reconstructed the question. "I hope this place is not too uncomfortable for you. We don't want you dying on us before we get to our destination." He sincerely hoped she got the message. They had her as a prisoner—and it would stay that way. As soon as they got to the pack, the first thing would be to make findings on how to reject a mate or swap for another one.
"Where are you taking me?" Hazel looked directly into his eyes. Her unshed tears made the green eyes look like a painting. As Dallan was still looking into her eyes, entranced, he saw them change colour.
It was more like some brief seconds of a black cast over her eyes.
It changed back to the normal green before he even had time to peer closer. Was it his eyes or the light? He shook his head to clear off the thoughts. "You will be going with me to my pack. We need you, and I will like you to corporate with us to avoid unnecessary suffering." The thought of making her suffer almost made him recoil back in shame. "For your information, I am Dallan."
"What do you need me for?" Hazel quietly asked. She wrapped around herself and drew her legs up. It was clear she felt very uncomfortable beneath the heat of his gaze.
"What are your powers?" Dallan answered her with a question. "I want to know what you can do."
"I don't have any powers."
"Excuse me?"
"I said I don't have any powers, Dallan—"
"First of all, it's Alpha Dallan. And secondly, how the fuck don't you have powers?!" Dallan yelled. She flinched back. That, and the need to find out the truth, made him calm down. "How is that possible?" He stood akimbo. He had known Kai since they were little after Kai's parents died and he had to move in with Dallan's parents, and for once since they knew each other, the nerd had never made an error when giving out characteristics of species. Dallan knew that Kai even had more information about vampires than most of the vampires themselves. If Kai said a wolf or any other transitioning specie could release wings and fly, Dallan would believe him. That was the extent to which Kai possessed knowledge of things like that.
"I don't know what you mean by 'how is that possible'? Am I supposed to have powers?"
"Hey, listen to me. I am not playing here," Dallan warned. "I want to know what your powers are before I completely lose it."
"I do not have any powers," the scared lady repeated. "What do you mean?"
"Don't mermaids always have a special kind of power? Healing and other bullshit?" Dallan knew he would soon explode or ram his fist into a wall—or someone. The former didn't seem okay since that 'someone' was likely going to be Kai who may not survive the blow considering the heat crawling around Dallan's body. Kai had told him that all female mers had powers!
"Mermaids do. But I don't have." Hazel moved back until her back pressed to the wall. "If that is why you captured me, I am sad to inform you that you just wasted your precious time."
He found himself a feisty mate. Dallan nodded and turned around with dry humour, "If you ever need water, just let me know."
"Oh, I will." The reply came back as boring as his voice sounded. If Dallan was annoyed, he became furious. When he got to the door, an idea struck him.
"If you don't have any power, you must have someone who does, right? A sister, friend, any female... Tell me where they are." For the first time since their little discussion began, he saw her hands tremble. That was a good sign.
"I... I don't know."
"Oh, you will. Trust me, you will." With that, Dallan spun around and exited the cabin, banging the door hard for emphasis. "Kai!"
There wasn't any need to shout. His childhood buddy was on the upper deck, gazing at the silent waves. "Why are you yelling? Don't tell me our mer friend got you pissed."
"Kai, you said all female mers have powers." Dallan gripped the front of Kai's shirt so hard that it almost tore. "How come she does not have any powers?"
"Wha... What? How?" Kai clung to the fist around his shirt. "Dal, please let me go." The fact that Dallan had him pressed against the railing was a fact he was well too aware of. What happened if he was pushed off the ship? Knowing the alpha so well, Kai knew it could happen. "How is this possible, Dal?"
"Don't Dal me! She just said she has no powers!" Dallan was not even sure if he could believe her, yet here he was fuming. "And I also demand to know why the fuck she is my mate!"
"Your what?" Kai demanded with eyes wider than saucers. "Did I just hear you say mate?"
"Have your hearing gone so bad or have you lost your wolf capabilities?"
"None! How is she your mate?"
"How do you expect me to have an answer to that question?" Dallan pushed Kai forward until Kai's torso was slightly bent over the rail. "I need to know what the fuck is going on!"
"Okay. Relax, Dal. Just relax." Kai held up his own hands in a gesture of calming Dallan down. "Why don't you let go of my shirt and let us sit down and discuss this like grown men?"
"Kai, do you want to die?" Dallan was not smiling. Kai knew the question wasn't from any amusing thought. Dallan had once pushed him off a cliff when they were still little. Even though Dallan received his punishment, Kai had spent almost an hour getting healed. That day, his healing seemed a bit slow, but at last, he completely healed. That experience taught Kai a valuable lesson. Even now, he could not remember what he had done to irk Dallan.
"Dallan, please," Kai called out his full name. This situation was not one to make unnecessary informal statements. "Look, I will get to the bottom of this. I promise."
"Does that mean we just spent hours at sea for nothing?" Dallan asked through gritted teeth. Kai looked directly into his cold blue eyes.
"Let me make some findings. Come on, let me go now." Reluctantly, Dallan freed him. Kai straightened his shirt. "What do you mean by that mate stuff you mentioned earlier?"
"She is my mate. I felt all the signs with her. Kai, what do I do?" Dallan's fierce mood dropped. He had a pleading look. "How will I be mated to a mer? What will people say? Alpha Dallan, the mighty warrior who took over silhouette pack from his father has suddenly settled for a lesser specie of creature. The pack is not anywhere near its full potential. How will that be possible when we've just got a powerless mer."
"Dude, relax. If she is your mate, you should be happy. This is what you have wanted all these years. You are over a hundred now and you just got your mate! That is a thing of joy. Also, remember that you did not choose her yourself so there is nothing to worry about." The way Kai smiled warmly during the entire speech made Dallan almost feel relaxed. "Forget about what the pack will say. Just make sure that you continue being yourself. Follow the legacy your parents laid for you. The goddess bless them, they were also my parents after my dad was murdered and my mom died months later. Bringing me into your family is one of the things I am forever grateful to your parents for. Look how close we have been since then, even when they went back to meet the goddess after so many centuries."
It seemed the message was sinking in because Dallan suddenly looked thoughtful. Something incomprehensible flashed across his eyes. Kai was about to add more motivation when he heard what made him freeze.
"I will never accept her. She will never be my mate. I heard wolves can reject their mates and stay single throughout their lifetime. Is this true?"