Ch. 12

I sigh and sit down. Still, no sign of Arkell, and no one has seen or heard from him. "Where could you have gone?"

"He might have gone to fight a Siren."

"A Siren? The mermaids that lure you to your death?" I ask.

Damien nods. "Most males are raised believing that if you fail your female, you must bring back a jewel for them to be younger and live longer. Only Sirens carry the jewels in their bodies."

"So you have to kill one to get one, right?" Tears poke at the back of my eyes.

He nods. "The worst thing about it is no one knows their weak spot. So they're very difficult to kill."

" I wish I could tell him that he didn't fail me. The cliff was an accident, no one knew it would happen."

"The rumors don't help. No one believes you have two Ferals as spouses either." He pokes at the fire.

I sigh "Let them talk, I already know that I can't mate with the shark boy."

He perks up. "Oh?"

I nod. "When female sharks get pregnant the young eat the mothers' eggs. Not to mention I could get cut by their teeth. I feel like it's really dangerous, and I don't want to lose my life giving birth."

"I didn't think of that." He stands up and holds out his hand. "Let's go for a walk, I'm sure you're tired of being pregnant already."

I take his hand. "Honestly, a little bit. I should give birth soon, I would like to use the bath again if possible."

We go outside and walk around the market.

I hear whispers here and there but at this point, I don't care.

We get some extra grain that they can turn into flour for pasta nights and found someone that can provide spices for me.

"This is lovely Damien, thank you." I take his arm as we walk back home.

As we walk up to the house I feel something hit the side of my head.

I look down and see a rock at my side. Something warm runs down next to my ear. I touch it and it's blood.

"Feral breeder!" A few children run off.

Damien tries to run after them, but I pull him back.

"Don't." I try to wipe away some of the blood.

He rushes me into the house and cleans the wound for me. He grunts in anger and constantly glares at the window.

"They're just kids, Damien."

"Children with no respect, if only they knew the whole story."

"They probably won't care."

"They should."

"Look," Comac says. "They're only mad because King Arkell is missing. We know that you're not the reason why. Just leave it be and don't leave the house for a while."

I nod warming my aching feet by the fire. "Damien?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Has any male ever been successful at killing a Siren?"

He hesitates, not wanting to say. "To my knowledge, no, no male has ever been successful."

"So, he's risking the extinction of his Clan, to make up for something that was an accident?"

"Seems like it." Comac sits by me, laying my head on his chest.

"I'm sure he'll come back, he's the strongest of his kind. We just need to give him time."

I sigh. "Okay." All I can do now is hope he returns, not just for my sake, but for his people.

"Are we almost ready to go?" I ask, packing some food and water for the trip.

"Yes, we just need to get the kids." Damien walks outside to get them.

I follow him out and lean against the wall. "I hope he'll be there." My heart says he will be but my head has doubts. I need to go so I can know for sure.

Comae comes up and picks up the basket of food and water. "You ready?"

I nod. "Is the shark ready?"

"He has a head start, I'm sure they miss the ocean."

The kids run up to us, excited to leave.

"Let's get going, okay?"

They scream and run ahead of us.

"Don't go too far!" Damien yells.

We all walk together under the shade of the tall trees. The breeze softly blows through my hair helping me stay cool from the sun.

"The breeze is nice."

"It should stay nice like this." Kali slows down and walks beside me.

"I wish it could kiddo."

After a couple of hours, we finally reach the ocean. We pick a shady spot under a tree and lay out a picnic.

"Go play in the water. You can eat when you're hungry."

They run off. My shark spouse swims up and plays with them. He gives them rides on his back and even teaches them how to hunt for fish.

"I should show you how I used to fish as a kid." I smile as I watch them.

"How did you do it?" Comac leans forwards with interest.

"We have many different kinds of fishing. There's regular, fly fishing, and spearfishing, we even had contests to see who could catch the biggest fish. My dad would always love to take me. There's this giant lake by my home, and we would always go in the morning. Those were good memories." I lose the smile that was on my face.

"Are you okay?" Comac leans in a bit.

"Yeah, my father passed away a long time ago."

He caressed my cheek. "I'm sorry."

"We can always talk if you want to," Damien says, without taking his eyes off the children.

The day goes by and I haven't seen any sign of the Arkell.

I stand on the shore facing the horizon. The waves roll in and splash against my bare feet. No one needs to get hurt because of me. I take a deep breath and try calling out to him. Of course, I don't get a response. My heart tells me to sing something but what? As soon as one comes to my head, it's easy to sing.

As I start the song, the Wolf mark on my chest glows softly. It seems to amplify my voice.

Bleeding Love- Leona Lewis

Closed off from love, I didn't need the pain

Once or twice was enough and it was all in vain

Time starts to pass, before you know it, you're frozen, ooh

But something happened for the very first time with you

My heart melts into the ground, found something true

And everyone's looking 'round, thinking I'm going crazy, oh

But I don't care what they say

I'm in love with you

They try to pull me away, but they don't know the truth

My heart's crippled by the vein that I keep on closing

You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding, keep, keep bleeding love

I keep bleeding, I keep, keep bleeding love

Keep bleeding, keep, keep bleeding love

You cut me open

Oh yeah

As I sing, I can feel myself cry. I can't finish the song, my energy is completely drained. I collapse onto the ground in exhaustion. "Come back to me."

"Fae! Are you alright?" Damien runs up behind me as I catch my breath. "Why did you use my howl?"

"To call to him, I didn't realize I could use your howl." Sweat drips down my temple. I try to rest and let the water cool me off.

After a while, I hear the rustling of wings.

I look out to the ocean, desperate to see him again.

He comes closer and gets easier to see. He's injured, I hope he can recover. He changes into his human form and lands in front of me. "Fae, you're here." He says out of breath.

"I was hoping you heard me, and came back." I try to stand but my legs are like jello.

"I did hear you." He smiles. "Be careful next time, you sounded like a Siren." He lifts me and wraps his arms around me.

"I've been so worried, don't leave me ever again." I cry in his arms.

"I won't, I can promise you that." His wings come out, and they wrap around us.