Hope sparked in my chest. But it didn't last long. The second man was running towards him. Castor could hold one of them off, but not two. What the hell was he thinking?
Castor grunted as the second man slammed into him. The force of two men on top of him sent them all sprawling to the ground. Castor was trapped beneath them. I realized in horror that they had forgotten about me and were going to take their anger out on Castor.
My skin felt hot with rage. I stopped running abruptly and turned around, ready to throw myself into the fray.
“Let go of him!" I shrieked.
It was a good thing the men had momentarily forgotten about me. Their incompetence gave me a free attack.
I dug my nails into the closest man as hard as I could and raked down. It was no fatal attack, but it was enough to distract him. He snarled and swatted me away, but I didn't back off. I grabbed his arm and bit down. He screamed in pain and flailed backwards. I let go, panting hard. My tongue tasted disgusting. I spit the taste of human out of my mouth.
The man's eyes blazed as he glared at me. He remembered who I was and what I was worth. "Forget that guy, grab the mermaid before it escapes!"
Good. That was what I wanted. These disgusting creeps needed to keep their hands off Castor. Knowing he could be growing our child inside him filled me with new strength. I didn't care if I couldn't shift into a powerful animal form—I'd fight dirty if I had to.
I heard the waves lapping at the shore behind me. We were close to the water.
"Come and get me," I said, glaring at them.
"River!" Castor called.
I didn't care if he thought this was a stupid idea. He was the one who was possibly pregnant. I needed to protect him and our baby no matter what.
I backed up as the two poachers advanced on me. Greed and rage warped their faces. In that moment, I almost felt sorry for them. They were pitiful creatures. But then I remembered how ready they were to hurt my mate, and I didn't feel much sympathy anymore.
I opened my arms as I backed away slowly, taunting them. "You want me so bad? Come on. What's stopping you?"
My body acted on its own. I didn't know what came over me. It was like the force of my will to protect Castor transformed me into a new version of myself. A stronger, more confident version. One who would fight off the wrath of two angry humans for his sake.
I looked past the poachers and met Castor's gaze. I wanted him to know that he could trust me the same way I trusted him.
I backed up until I felt the water's edge.
The aggressive poacher suddenly struck out his hand. It was too fast for me to dodge. His fingers gripped viciously down on my arm. He winced and instinctively jerked away, but his hold was too firm.
"Grab it!" he hissed to his partner.
Before I could snatch my remaining arm away, the other poacher had me in his grasp. I jerked towards the water purposely, but they wouldn't let me fall back. They yanked me away from the edge.
My stomach flipped in panic.
No! I'm so close, they can't drag me back now!
I clenched my core and kicked at their chests. The blow wasn't enough to dislodge them, but hell if I wasn't going to try. I refused to be taken back in, not when I was so close to the water. I flailed like a fish out of water, putting every ounce of strength in my muscles. Their grips didn't budge.
Just as they began hauling me in the opposite direction, one of them screamed in utter agony. He instantly let go of my arm and fell over. The other man was so startled that he sprung backwards away from me.
I gasped when I saw what happened. The aggressive poacher was thrashing in the dirt. Castor had sunk his beaver teeth into the man's leg and wasn't letting go. Blood streamed out of the wound and onto the ground.
I shuddered. Those beaver teeth were scarier than I thought.
But Castor's attack gave me an advantage. I was free to run to the water now, but I wasn't leaving him behind.
"Castor, come on!" I cried.
Castor's dark eyes blazed furiously as he sank his teeth in deeper for one last second before letting go. It was a finalfuck youto the poachers and everything they’d done to us.
Castor threw himself towards me.
