None of them compare. Not even close.
We’re only a quarter through the list, and I know I won’t find anyone more right for me than her.
She doesn’t even seem fazed by the carousel of beautiful women, which is not at all the reaction I was hoping for. I didn’t expect her to envy them—even at her messiest, they can’t compare. But how could she not care? If roles were reversed, I’d set off the smoke alarm with the steam coming from my raging jealousy.
Jealousy and envy are often mistaken as the same thing. Envy is wanting what someone else has, while jealousy is fearing what you already have could be taken away.
Then I remember.Duh, the mate bond.She doesn’t know I’m fated to be hers.
“Alright, Next up is...” Tyler angles his head to read the list closer. “Ass-er-ah Marinara.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and cringe internally.
A female with platinum blonde curls that cascade down to her waist and holographic freckles on the apples of her cheeks speaks up. Unbothered by the butchering of her name, she politely corrects Tyler. “It’s Azura Marina. Azura means heaven and Marina means ‘of the sea.’ Together, it means ‘heaven of the sea.’”
Azura has striking blue eyes that contrast with her dark eyebrows. The modern ornamental tiara has blushing pink, pearl and stone-colored seashells resting on either side of the crown of her head. A cone-shaped pendant with small pearls hangs from the gold spikes that pan from the center where there is a much larger pearl. It’s perfectly positioned over her middle part, dividing styled, face-framing layers.
Her alabaster plunging V-neck dress with pearls and seashells the color of a sunset swishes as she steps forward. She folds her hands in front of her, and the bell sleeves hang off her shoulders and flow behind her.
The rarity of the shells in her royal dress tells me exactly where she’s from. One can only find this variety washed ashore on one reef in the realm.
But of course, Tyler isn’t noticing any details beyond the mermaid’s enhanced beauty.
“Stop staring.”
He acts offended.“I’m not.”
“No? You got a little...”I point to the corner of my mouth, and he wipes his face with his sleeve.“There, you got it.”
“Fine. I’ll admit it. I’d gladly drown in her.”
“There’s something wrong with you.”
He folds his arms behind his head and leans back in his chair, probably imagining all the ways he’d bait her into his bed.
“Hey, do you think she smells like—”
“Alright, alright. That’s enough. She might be my future mate.”
“You’re right, you’re right.”
A moment of blissful silence passes, then Tyler just has to add,“I’m thinking about having fish for dinner tonight, what about you?”
I growl.
Her father, King Leviathan, stands beside her. Tall, broad in stature with similar features, including the staple blonde hair pinned in a braid behind him. And although she may appear unbothered, her father sure isn’t as amused.
Time to turn on the charm.
“Mr. Waller, may I present to you my daughter, Princess Azura, the heiress to her reef and city, Azuran. Home to the Tide of Azure.”
She curtsies.
I stand. “I apologize on behalf of my beta here. I knowexactlywho you are, and it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“You do?” she asks, pleasantly surprised.
“Of course. Your pod and my pack have been allies for some time. That and the Tide of Azure is the largest body of water in the realm. One I’d love to see someday.”
