"The witch wanted something else first," Riven added, his rough voice carrying a dark edge that made me shiver despite myself. His golden eyes flickered with something I couldn't name—anger, perhaps, or remembered fear, or fierce protective fury. His massive body had gone tense, his crimson tail lashing slowly beneath the surface. "Something Kaelan could not give. Would not give, no matter the cost." He glanced at his pack leader with something like respect. "Vale offered his voice instead."
I wanted to ask what the witch had wanted. What price Kaelan had almost paid. But Vale was shaking his head, making a sharp gesture with one elegant hand—let it go, the motion seemed to say. It doesn't matter now. What's done is done, and I would do it again. The words hung in the air between us, heavywith meaning I wasn't sure I understood. I gripped the railing tighter, feeling the rough wood bite into my palms, grounding myself in the reality of this impossible moment.
"Why?" The question came out smaller than I intended, fragile and uncertain, barely more than a breath that the evening breeze nearly stole away. "Why would you do any of this? The gifts, the waiting, the price Vale paid. Why me?" I gestured vaguely at myself, at my worn clothes stained with salt and fish scales, at my wind-tangled hair escaping from its braid, at the life I'd been running from. "I'm just a runaway. A stowaway hiding on a fishing boat. I'm no one. I'm nothing special."
Riven made a sound low in his throat, a growl that vibrated across the water and seemed to resonate in my very bones, deep and primal and fierce. His golden eyes blazed like twin flames, and his claws extended fully, digging into his own palm where he clutched my ribbon. The water around him churned with the violent lashing of his crimson tail. "You are not nothing." His voice was rough, fierce, brooking no argument, each word a declaration carved in stone. "Never say that again. I will not hear such lies from your lips."
"You gave us gifts first," Thane added, his gentle voice a counterpoint to Riven's intensity, his amber eyes soft with wonder and gratitude. He pressed his hand to the ribbon at his throat again, his fingers tracing the soft fabric over and over, like touching it grounded him. "The pearl, that first day when you were running out of air and could have simply swum away. The ribbons, tossed down to us like offerings. You looked at us with wonder instead of fear. You waved at us like we were friends, like we were something worth acknowledging, worth knowing."
"You sang to us." Kaelan's voice was quiet, but it carried clearly across the water, weighted with emotion he couldn't quite hide. His dark eyes had gone soft, almost vulnerable, the hard edges of his control finally cracking. His pale hand drifted to thepouch at his hip, where he kept my pearl, I realized. He touched it compulsively, like a talisman, like something sacred. "Every evening, you came to the railing and sang, and you didn't know we were listening. You sang because you were lonely. Because you hoped someone might hear, even though you didn't expect anyone to answer." His voice dropped lower, rougher, thick with emotion. "It was the most beautiful thing we had ever heard."
"It wasn't beautiful," I protested weakly, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment, heat crawling up my neck. "I can't even carry a tune properly. My voice cracks on the high notes, and I forget half the words, and it's just, it's just noise."
Vale made a sharp gesture, shaking his head vehemently, his silver hair flying around him in a wild halo. He pressed both hands to his chest, over his heart, then extended them toward me—a giving motion, an offering. His blue-green eyes were fierce, insistent, desperate to communicate what his stolen voice couldn't say.
"He's saying your voice is honest," Thane translated, watching Vale's hands with the ease of long practice, his own voice thick with emotion that made it waver. His amber eyes glistened in the fading light. "It's not about technique or training or hitting the right notes. You sang because you were lonely. You sang because you hoped someone might hear, even though you thought you were alone, even though you expected nothing in return." He paused, swallowing hard, his amber eyes bright with unshed tears. "That's... that's what made it beautiful. The hope in it. The longing. The courage to keep singing even when you thought no one was listening."
Something cracked in my chest. Something I'd been holding together for eight months of running, of hiding, of being alone. I felt tears prick at my eyes and blinked them back furiously, my throat tight with emotions I couldn't name.
"I just thought you were pretty," I admitted, the words tumbling out before I could stop them, honest and raw and embarrassing. My voice wavered, thick with unshed tears. "That first day, when I saw Kaelan in the water, I didn't plan to give him the pearl. I wasn't thinking about courting or rituals or any of that." I laughed, the sound wet and wavering, catching on a sob. "I just... I wanted you to stay. I didn't want you to leave. I was so alone, and you were so beautiful, and I thought if I gave you something pretty, maybe you'd come back. Maybe you'd stay just a little longer."
Silence.
All four of them had gone completely still, the way they did when something caught their attention. Even the water around them seemed to stop moving, frozen in the golden light of sunset. Kaelan's dark eyes had widened almost imperceptibly, something raw and wondering flickering in their depths. Riven's claws had extended further, his whole body rigid, his massive chest rising and falling with quickened breaths. Thane's lips had parted, his breath caught audibly in his throat. And Vale—Vale had pressed both hands to his mouth, his blue-green eyes wide and glittering with something that looked like tears, his whole body trembling.
"You wanted us to stay," Kaelan repeated slowly, his voice strange, raw and wondering and almost broken, like I'd reached into his chest and touched something fragile. His pale hand had gone to his chest, pressing my blue ribbon against his heart. "You wanted us to stay."
"Yes?" I wasn't sure why that was significant, why they were all looking at me like I'd just handed them the moon and stars and everything in between. "I mean, you were the most incredible thing I'd ever seen. Of course I wanted you to stay. Wouldn't anyone?"
Vale made a quick gesture. His hands moved in quick, fluid movements, and Thane translated in a voice that had gone rough with emotion, his words catching on each syllable as if it hurt to speak.
"He says... that is how courting begins. Among our kind." Thane's amber eyes were bright, almost glowing in the fading light, and his voice trembled with the weight of what he was saying. "You offer a gift. You ask them to stay. You hope they'll return. That's the ritual. That's how it has always been. That's how it starts."
"You were courting us, little human," Riven rumbled, his rough voice softer than I'd ever heard it, almost reverent, almost awed. His golden eyes burned into mine like twin suns, and his claws had retracted, his massive hands pressing the pink ribbon over his heart. "From the very first moment. Following instincts you didn't know you had. Performing rituals you'd never been taught. Your heart knew what your mind did not."
Courting.
The word settled into my chest and took root there, blooming into something warm and terrifying and wonderful. I'd been courting them. Without knowing it, without understanding what I was doing, I'd been following some ancient ritual that meant something profound to them. Something sacred.
"Is that..." I had to stop, had to swallow past the tightness in my throat, had to blink back the tears that threatened to spill. "Is that why you kept coming back? Because I accidentally started courting you?"
"There was nothing accidental about it." Kaelan's voice was certain, absolute, ringing with conviction that seemed to shake the very air between us. His dark eyes held mine, and I couldn't have looked away if I'd wanted to, they held me captive, pinned in place. "You followed your instincts. Your instincts led you to us." He raised one pale hand from the water, pressing it to hischest again, then extending it toward me in that gesture I was beginning to understand—the claiming gesture, the declaration. "And we have been courting you in return. The gifts we left on your pillow, in your boots, on the rigging. The visits every evening without fail. The waiting."
"The ribbons we wear," Riven added, his rough voice thick with something I couldn't name—devotion, perhaps, or fierce possession. He lifted the pink ribbon, pressing it to his lips for a long moment, breathing in its scent, before returning it to his chest. His golden eyes never left mine, burning with intensity. "Your colors. Your scent. Carried against our skin, against our hearts. So that anyone who saw us would know, we belong to someone. We belong to you."
"We are yours." Thane said simply, his gentle voice carrying the weight of absolute truth, of a vow spoken and meant. His amber eyes were soft and bright and full of hope. "If you'll have us. All of us. Whatever that means, whatever you want it to mean—we are yours."
The sun had nearly set now, painting the sky in shades of purple and deep blue. Stars were beginning to emerge, scattered across the darkness like promises, like hopes, like the beginning of something new. Four creatures in the water, watching me with eyes that held no cruelty, no calculation, no desire to own or control. Just want. Just hope. Just the desperate, overwhelming need to be chosen.
"I don't know what I'm doing,." I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper, carried away by the evening breeze. Tears were streaming down my cheeks now, warm and wet, and I didn't bother to wipe them away. "I don't know your customs or your world or what any of this means. I don't know the rules, the rituals, the right things to say. I'm just a human. A runaway. Someone who's been hiding for so long I've forgotten what it feels like to be seen."
"We see you." Kaelan's voice was soft, fervent, almost worshipful, carrying across the water like a prayer. His dark eyes were fixed on my tear-streaked face with something like reverence. "We have always seen you. From that first moment in the water, we saw you. And we will never stop seeing you."
"You don't have to know the rules." Thane added gently, his amber eyes warm with understanding, his voice soft as morning light. He had drifted so close to the ship that he could have reached up and touched the hull. "We'll teach you. Anything you want to know, anything you want to learn—we'll show you. We'll be patient. We'll wait as long as you need. Forever, if that's what it takes."
Vale nodded emphatically, his silver hair swirling around him, his hands moving in an elaborate gesture that seemed to say everything at once, yes, please, we're yours, just let us show you, just give us the chance.
"You are perfect," Riven growled, the words rough with emotion, torn from somewhere deep in his chest. His golden eyes burned with fierce conviction. "Exactly as you are. You don't need to be anything other than what you are. We want you, not some version of you that knows our customs, not some perfect omega who follows rules and knows the right things to say. We want you." His voice dropped lower, almost tender. "The girl who gave a monster a pearl. The girl who sang to the empty sea. The girl who waved at us like we were friends instead of nightmares. That's who we want. That's who we love."
