His beast howled with triumph
Control. I have control.
But his heart was pounding like he’d just sprinted across an entire mountain range, and when she finally saw him and raised a hand in greeting, the urge to leap from the rocks and dive into the water to meet her almost overwhelmed him.
Instead he watched as she made her way towards the shore, pulling herself gracefully from the waves. She wore the same diving suit as before, the mesh fabric clinging to her body in a way that revealed every slender curve. The small specks on her skin glowed a gentle blue as she approached the cliff path.
He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just watched her climb, mesmerized by the fluid grace of her movements, the way her body found purchase on rock that was slick with spray. Even though she was no longer in the sea, she still belonged in this wild environment.
She stopped at the entrance to the cave, her bioluminescence shifting uneasily from blue to silver as he rose to his full height. In the growing light, he knew he must look like something from a nightmare—almost seven feet of scarred muscle and barely contained aggression, his eyes already starting to glow with the force of his emotions. He waited for her to flinch, to retreat, to show any of the fear that his appearance usually provoked.
Instead, she tilted her head and studied him like he was a puzzle she was trying to solve.
“You’re still here.”
Her voice was exactly as he remembered—low and musical, with that strange resonance that made his beast want to roll over and bare its throat.
“This is my territory.”
“I know. You made that very clear. I know you told me not to come back.”
“Why did you?” he asked gruffly, his voice scraped raw by the three nights of restless waiting.
She hesitated, her gaze darting towards the cave behind him. “I was worried about Lilani. I wanted to make sure she was healing properly.”
“She is.”
She fell silent, watching him with those strange luminous eyes. Up close, he could see the details he’d missed before—the elegant slits of her gills, sealed now that she was above water, the fine translucent webbing between her fingers, and the pearlescent sheen of her skin that made her look like something crafted from moonlight and sea foam.
Beautiful,his beast whispered.Mate. Ours.
He told his beast to shut up.
“Is that the only reason you came back?” he asked, refusing to admit that he hoped it was something more.
“No. I found something,” she said slowly. “In the trench, before the storm. Before I heard your daughter. And I don’t know why, but I think… I think it might be important. To you, or more specifically to your people.”
His eyes narrowed. “What kind of something?”
“It’s a type of musical instrument, one we would call a flute. But there’s something different about it. When I touched it, it… responded to me. To my—” She made a small sound in her throat that might have been a laugh. “To my Song, I guess.”
“What does that have to do with the Vultor?”
“I’m not sure but there are some engravings on it and the patterns are similar to the ones I saw in your home.”
He froze. Was she referring to the lineage symbols he’d sketched around Lilani’s bed alcove? His pack might have rejected her, but they were still part of her heritage, and he’d planned on explaining that to her when she grew older. They were only simple sketches, a father’s attempt to preserve their history. He was shocked she’d even noticed them.
“You couldn’t have seen much,” he said, more of a growl than a question.
“I saw enough,” she answered quietly. “And the markings on this flute… they feel important, Valrek. They feel old. They feel like they belong to someone.”
A spark of suspicion ignited in his mind. “You want payment.”
“Of course not!” The words burst from her, her skin flashing. “I’m not here for payment. I’m here because…” She stopped. Her gaze drifted towards the sea, then back to him. “Because you’re not the only one who is alone here.”
Alone.The word landed between them, heavy and undeniable. Hewasalone. He had Lilani, and he would die for her, but the isolation of their exile was a constant ache, a hollow space inside him that had grown wider with every passing year.
“Show me,” he ordered, the command harsher than he’d intended, and she raised her chin. “Please,” he added, the word rusty from disuse.
