A week after my blissful and peaceful time with my family, another potential alliance arrived. From the ocean. The fish tribe. The merfolks.
It was the first time I had ever seen a merman, and the sight of him stole my breath.
The delegation emerged from the river that bordered our village, their bodies glistening with water and moonlight even under the afternoon sun. There were three of them, representatives of the underwater kingdom, their forms shifting seamlessly between human legs and the shimmering tails of their true natures. But none of them compared to the one who led them.
Caelion.
He stood at the forefront, water cascading from his form in rivulets that caught the light like scattered diamonds. His hair was the color of the deep ocean, a blue so rich and vibrant it seemed to glow with its own inner luminescence, falling in waves past his shoulders to his waist. Shells of iridescent pearl and abalone were woven through the strands, catching the sunlight and casting prismatic shadows across his face. His eyes were the color of sea glass, pale and translucent, framed by lashes dark and thick. His features were delicate yet masculine, high cheekbones and a jawline sharp enough to cut stone, lips curved in an expression of serene confidence.
He wore little above the waist, revealing skin the color of pale sand, smooth and unblemished, lean muscle rippling beneath the surface like currents beneath still water. Around his neck hung chains of fine silver net, adorned with sapphires that matched his hair, and similar jewelry wrapped his upper arms, his wrists, catching the light with every movement. Below the waist, he wore garments of woven sea silk in shades of midnight blue and silver, the fabric clinging to lean hips and long legs that moved with the fluid grace of one more accustomed to water than land.
His feet were bare against the earth, and along the column of his throat, barely visible beneath the fall of his hair, shimmered delicate scales in pale blue that allowed him to breathe beneath the waves. His ears, peeking through the ocean colored strands, were finned and translucent, the thin membrane catching the light like gossamer, marking him as something other than fully human.
"Greetings, lion beast king," Caelion said, his voice like the sound of waves against distant shores, melodic and hypnotic. "My name is Caelion, prince of the northern sea. I come here to seek an alliance."
Caelion. The name suited him perfectly, like poetry given form.
His sea glass eyes found mine across the gathering space, and they widened slightly, as if he had seen something unexpected. Then he smiled, and it was like the sun breaking through storm clouds, radiant and warm and extremely beautiful.
Please do not look at me like that, I thought desperately, my heart hammering against my ribs. I already promised my mates I will only have them three. I am content. I am whole. Please.
I looked away, focusing on Atlas in my arms, on the solid warmth of my children, on anything but the merman’s piercing gaze.
The selection began. The other two merfolk found mates easily enough, drawn to females who admired their exotic beauty and the promise of ocean treasures. But Caelion stood apart, declining every offer with a gentle shake of his head, his expression polite but distant.
Then Rina stepped forward.
She had dressed for the occasion, feathers and silks and painted eyes, her smile calculated to charm. She approached Caelion with the confidence of one who had never been refused, her hand reaching out to touch his arm, her voice carrying across the clearing with false sweetness.
"I want you, prince of the sea," she purred. "I would show you what it means to be truly mated."
Caelion looked at her, his sea glass eyes cool and assessing. For a moment his expression was unreadable, a mask of polite disinterest. Then he stepped back, just enough that her hand fell short of touching him and bowed his head with formal precision.
"I am honored by your interest, female," he said, his melodic voice carrying clearly across the gathering. "But I must decline."
Rina’s smile froze, her lips parting in confusion. "Decline?"
"Yes," Caelion said simply, his tone neither cruel nor apologetic, merely matter of fact. "I do not wish to bond with you."
The silence that followed was broken by Rina’s sharp intake of breath, her face flushing a dark, ugly red. "What?" Her voice rose, shrill with disbelief. "What do you mean you decline? What could I possibly lack that you would refuse me? No one refuses me. No one."
Caelion tilted his head, studying her with the detached curiosity of a scholar examining an unfamiliar specimen. "You lack beauty," he said, each word precise and devastating in its honesty. "True beauty. The kind that shines from within and without."
Rina’s mouth worked, her hands trembling at her sides. "How dare you," she hissed. "I am the most beautiful female in this village. Every male here would kill to have me."
"Perhaps," Caelion acknowledged with a slight shrug. "But you are not as pretty as her."
He turned, and his arm rose, his finger extending to point across the clearing. Every head followed the gesture, every eye seeking the object of his comparison. My heart sank as I realized he was pointing directly at me, standing there with Atlas in my arms, my hair unbound, my dress simple and worn, my body still soft from childbirth.
"Her," Caelion said softly, and there was something in his voice, some note of wonder and certainty that made my skin flush hot and cold. "She is the one I want."
Rina’s face twisted with shock and fury, her eyes darting between the merman prince and me, her composure shattering like glass. "You would choose that over me?" she spat, her voice cracking with rage. "That plain, used, fat—"
"Please do not bring her into this," Caelion said, his melodic voice carrying clearly across the gathering. "Let me be as honest as I could be for someone like you who seems to like the sound of their voice to understand. You are ugly. I find you unattractive, and the attitude you are portraying right now is highly distasteful."
He stepped around her then, as if she were merely a stone in his path, his sea silk garments flowing around his legs as he began moving toward me with deliberate, regal grace.
Rina stood frozen for a heartbeat, her mouth open, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Then she screamed, a sound of pure rage and disbelief that echoed off the surrounding trees.
"This is not over," she shrieked, her voice carrying across the clearing. "No one humiliates me. No one!"
But Caelion did not look back. His sea glass eyes remained fixed on mine, his expression serene and certain, as if the storm of Rina’s fury were merely a passing breeze.
He walked toward me with the grace of tides and currents, every step regal and deliberate. The shells in his hair chimed softly, a music like bells, and the water that still clung to his skin sparkled in the sunlight. He stopped before me, and up close he was even more beautiful, his scent like salt and clean ocean wind, his eyes searching mine with an intensity that made me want to flee and step closer all at once.
"May I become your mate?" he asked, his voice soft, intimate, carrying only to my ears.
The world seemed to stop.
Then Leon was there, stepping in front of me with a snarl, his golden mane bristling, his body tense with protective fury. Ravin appeared at my side, his massive form blocking the merman’s view, golden eyes cold and dangerous. Soryn slithered forward, coiling protectively around my legs, his own eyes narrowed to serpentine slits, hissing a warning that needed no translation.
A hint of fear entered Caelion’s expression, a flicker of uncertainty in those sea glass eyes as he took in the three males arrayed against him. But he quickly discarded it, straightening his shoulders, lifting his chin with princely pride even as he faced overwhelming odds.
"I am not looking for another mate," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "I am sorry."
Caelion’s smile faltered, a shadow crossing his beautiful face. But he bowed his head in acknowledgment, stepping back with fluid grace.
King Roan cleared his throat, the sound drawing attention back to the formal proceedings. "The selection is complete," he announced. "Two of your clan have found mates among our females. But you, prince Caelion, have rejected those who chose you, and you have been refused in turn. What say you?"
Caelion’s pale eyes found mine again, held them with a determination that made my breath catch. "I have not seen another female I wish to bond with," he said clearly, his voice carrying across the clearing. "Please, allow me to stay until I do. The alliance between our peoples need not be sealed immediately. I will wait for the one who calls to my heart."
Leon and Ravin’s father exchanged glances with the Mer prince, then nodded slowly. "That is alright, Prince Caelion. When you find the one you seek, you need only inform us."
"Thank you."
The gathering dispersed, Rina leaving in an angry huff, her new hawk mate trailing behind her with confused eyes. The other merfolk departed with their chosen mates, and my own mates clustered around me, touching me, reassuring themselves that I was still theirs, that I had refused.
But even as we walked away, even as I clutched my children close and felt the solid warmth of my mates at my sides, I could feel Caelion’s gaze upon me. When I turned at the edge of the clearing, glancing back despite myself, he was still standing there, water dripping from his blue hair, shells chiming in a silent breeze, his sea glass eyes fixed on my retreating form with an expression of longing and resolve.
Even as he became smaller in my line of sight, even as the distance grew between us, he never looked away.
---
Ravin walked beside me as we made our way to Layla’s home, our four cubs toddling along the path on unsteady legs. They were old enough now to walk short distances, their plump bodies swaying with each step, but I had gathered them into a woven carrier against my chest before we left, unable to resist the need to have them close. Their tiny heads peeked out to watch the world pass with wide, curious eyes, and I pressed a kiss to Atlas’s mohawk, feeling the warmth of their bodies against my heart. The morning was warm and golden, the village alive with the sounds of daily life, and I found myself smiling despite the tension that had lingered since the merman’s arrival.
We had not gone far when I saw him.
Caelion moved through the village center like a visiting deity, The entourage of females following Caelion were from her own tribe, lion and tiger and wolf beastwomen who had abandoned their usual duties to trail after the beautiful merman. their tails swishing with barely contained excitement as they followed at a respectful distance, whispering among themselves, their eyes drinking in the sight of him as if he were like some celebrity from her old world stepping out of a limousine rather than a prince of the sea touring a forest village. He moved with unconscious grace, his blue hair catching the sunlight, his finned ears peeking through the strands, every step drawing admiration like a magnet draws iron.
He was beautiful, I could not deny it. Beautiful enough to rival any Hollywood actor I had once watched on screens back in my old life. But as my gaze shifted to Ravin beside me, to the powerful line of his shoulders, the proud set of his mane, the golden warmth of his eyes, I knew that my own mates; all three of them could rival any of them. They were sexy, all three of them, in ways that went beyond surface beauty to something primal and true.
Caelion’s sea glass eyes found me then, and his face lit up with a smile so bright it rivaled the sun overhead. He broke away from his admirers without a word of apology, striding toward us with purpose, his sea silk garments flowing around his lean frame.
"Hello, female," he said, his melodic voice carrying the rhythm of ocean waves. "We meet again. I see you are walking with your cubs."
"Hello," I replied, shifting Atlas slightly in the carrier, feeling the weight of Ravin’s tension beside me like a physical force. "Are you enjoying our village so far?" I asked merely to be polite.
"Yes," he beamed, his gaze never leaving my face, ignoring the way Ravin’s hand found the small of my back in a claiming gesture. "It is beautiful. The trees, the air, the warmth of the sun. Very different from my home beneath the waves, but lovely in its own way."
"Should you not be actively looking for a mate, Mer Prince?" Ravin interjected, his voice carrying a tone that was more hostile than friendly, more warning than welcome. "You are here to find a mate, are you not?"
Caelion turned his attention to my first mate, studying him with those translucent eyes, his head tilting in acknowledgment. "You must be the eldest prince of the village," he said, his tone respectful but unbowed. "I am the fourth prince of the Sea King of the Northern Sea. Caelion, at your service." He looked back at me, and his smile softened into something genuine. "Your choice in a female is admirable. She is beautiful."
Heat rose to my cheeks, a blush I could not control spreading across my face at the compliment, spoken so openly, so without artifice.
"We are busy," Ravin said, his arm sliding around my waist to pull me closer, his body language very business-like but his demeanor anything but professional. His golden eyes were hard as stone, his jaw tight with restrained violence. "Continue on your way, Prince. My mate and I have a prior engagement."
If looks could kill, Caelion would have been dead a thousand times over, struck down by the force of Ravin’s protective fury. But the merman seemed oblivious of the fact, his sea glass eyes still fixed on me with an expression of wonder and determination that suggested he did not understand the danger he was courting or simply did not care.
But just like that, Caelion’s smile returned, unbothered by Ravin’s hostility, as if the lion prince’s anger were merely a passing cloud. "My apologies," he said, his melodic voice carrying a hint of regret and polite acknowledgment. "It seems you are busy. Maybe another time."
He bowed his head slightly, a gesture that managed to be respectful and yet somehow still challenging, his sea glass eyes finding mine one last time before he turned. With fluid grace, he walked away, his sea silk garments flowing around his lean frame, the entourage of females from the village trailing behind him like ducklings following their mother.
Ravin did not relax until the merman had disappeared around the bend of the path, his arm remaining rigid around my waist, his heart hammering against my shoulder where he pressed close. I could feel the tremor in his hands, the barely restrained urge to chase after Caelion and make his threat physical.
"He is persistent," I murmured, pressing my hand over Ravin’s where it rested against my hip.
"He is dead if he touches you," Ravin replied, his voice flat and certain. "I do not care if he is a prince of the sea. I will tear out his throat and feed him to the fish."
I said nothing, only leaned into his warmth, but as we continued toward Layla’s home, I could not shake the feeling of those translucent eyes upon me, watching from a distance, patient as the tides.
And I knew, with a certainty that made my stomach clench, that this was just the beginning.