He stared at me. For a long, frozen moment, he just stared, his grip loosening slightly on my wrist, confusion and the first hint of fear flickering across his face.
"You're insane," he said finally, but his voice wavered, doubt creeping into his expression, his certainty crumbling at the edges.
"Maybe," I agreed, ripping my arm free from his grasp, feeling the sting where his fingers had dug in, already knowing there would be bruises. "Or maybe you should have listened when I told you to leave me alone."
I shoved past him, making for the railing, not caring anymore about stealth or caution or any of the careful rules that had kept me alive for eight months. I was done. Done hiding. Done pretending. Done being afraid.
"Where do you think you're going?" he called after me, his voice rising with anger and confusion, his footsteps following behind me. "We're in the middle of the ocean! There's nowhere to run!"
I reached the railing and gripped it with both hands, my bag bumping against my hip, staring down at the dark water below. Somewhere in those depths, four sirens were waiting. Four ancient predators who had braided their claim into my hair and called me theirs. Four monsters who would burn the world for me if I asked.
"Get me out of here," I called into the darkness, my voice carrying across the water, desperate and demanding, raw with need. "Now. Please. I need you." For a heartbeat, nothing happened. The waves lapped against the hull. The stars glittered overhead. Cort's footsteps approached behind me, confused and angry.
"Who are you talking to?" he demanded, reaching for my arm again, his voice harsh with frustration and disbelief. "There's no one?—"
The water erupted.
Four shapes burst from the surface, massive and terrifying and beautiful, their eyes gleaming in the starlight. Kaelan reached the ship first, his claws digging into the wooden hull as he hauled himself up with inhuman strength, water streaming from his dark hair. Riven was right behind him, his scarred facetwisted into something that might have been a smile if it weren't so terrifying, his golden eyes blazing. Vale and Thane surfaced on either side, their hair streaming water, their expressions fierce with protective fury.
Cort stumbled backward, his face going white as chalk, a strangled sound escaping his throat.
"What the fuck—" he choked out, his voice cracking with terror, his eyes wide and wild as he stared at the creatures climbing onto the ship, his hands raised as if to ward them off.
Riven's smile widened, showing too many teeth, his golden eyes fixed on Cort with predatory delight, water dripping from his crimson hair as he pulled himself over the railing. "Hello," he said, his voice silk and murder, his scarred face terrifying in the starlight. "I believe you touched what's mine."
"What—I don't—" Cort stammered, backing away so fast he nearly tripped over a coiled rope, his hands raised in front of him like they could ward off monsters, his whole body shaking. "What are you?"
"Your worst nightmare," Riven said simply, advancing on him with the lazy confidence of a predator who knew his prey had nowhere to run, his claws extending with a soft snick.
Kaelan was at my side in an instant, his hands cupping my face, his dark eyes searching mine with desperate concern, water still dripping from his hair onto my skin. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice rough with fear and fury, his thumb tracing over my cheekbone like he was checking for damage. "Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine," I said, and I was surprised to find it was true, leaning into his touch, feeling the tension in my shoulders begin to ease. "I'm fine. I just want to go. Please, Kaelan. Take me away from here." His eyes dropped to the bag at my hip, and something softened in his expression—understanding, maybe, or tenderness.
"You packed," he said quietly, his thumb still stroking my cheek, his dark eyes warm despite the chaos around us.
"Everything I own," I confirmed, my hand pressing against the worn canvas, feeling the small, precious items inside. "I wasn't leaving anything behind."
"Soon," he promised, pressing a fierce kiss to my forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment, warm against my skin. "Just let us handle this first."
I looked past him to where Riven had Cort backed against the mast. The alpha was trembling now, all his earlier bravado completely evaporated, his face a mask of pure terror, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks.
"Please," Cort begged, his voice breaking on the word, his eyes darting between the four creatures surrounding him, his hands clasped in front of him like a prayer. "Please, I didn't—I wasn't going to?—"
"You touched her," Riven said, his voice dropping to a growl that vibrated through the air, his claws extending as he flexed his fingers, his scarred face terrible in its fury. "You threatened her. You put your filthy hands on what belongs to us."
"I didn't know!" Cort cried, tears streaming down his face now, his whole body shaking, his voice rising to a desperate wail. "I didn't know she was—I didn't?—"
"You knew she didn't want you," Vale said quietly, appearing at Riven's side, his silver eyes cold as moonlight, his beautiful face hard with fury, his voice carrying an edge that cut like ice. "You knew she was afraid. And you didn't care."
"Please," Cort sobbed, sliding down the mast until he was crumpled on the deck, his hands clasped in front of him, his whole body shaking with terror. "Please, I'll do anything. I'll leave her alone. I'll never?—"
"No," Thane said, and the word was so unexpected—so hard and cold coming from gentle, tender Thane—that even Rivenglanced at him in surprise. Thane moved forward, his golden-brown eyes blazing with a fury I'd never seen in him before, his whole body vibrating with rage, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "You don't get to beg. You don't get to make promises. You had your chance to leave her alone, and you didn't take it."
I stared at him. At all of them. These ancient, terrifying creatures who had turned their fury on a man who had dared to threaten what was theirs.
My pack.
"Riven," Kaelan said, his voice sharp with command, cutting through the tension like a blade. "Not yet." Riven's head snapped toward him, a snarl building in his throat, his golden eyes blazing with barely contained violence.
