Page 36 of Ocean's Whisper

Nereus. Her body flushed hot at the memory of him on the beach, water droplets sliding down the hard planes of his chest, his hands confident on her body. She had never been so boldwith anyone before. Something about him made her feel both reckless and safe at the same time.

Another sudden and unexpected memory surfaced—Lorelei's strange behavior after her thirtieth birthday nine months ago. The way the earth seemed to shake around her at her birthday party. Those comments months later about "finding her power" and her whirlwind romance with Draken.

Isolde grabbed her new phone from the nightstand and entered Lorelei's number into the keypad. She hesitated for a few seconds, then hit the call button before she could talk herself out of it.

Lorelei's familiar voice came through after three rings. "Hello?"

Isolde sank onto the edge of the bed. "Hi, Lorelei, it's Izzy. I lost my phone yesterday, so I'm calling from this temporary one I got." She half-lied so that she wouldn't send Lorelei into immediate panic. "I'm sorry for calling at this hour. I just... something weird happened and I thought of you."

"Weird how?" Lorelei's tone sharpened with interest.

"Well, there was this freak wave that hit the research station yesterday. Completely destroyed it." Isolde twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "I was there when it happened. Someone rescued me."

"Are you hurt?" Alarm colored Lorelei's voice.

"No, I'm fine." Isolde bit her lip, suddenly uncertain how much to reveal. "But something's happening to me. With water. It's like—" She paused, searching for words that wouldn't sound completely insane. "It's responding to me somehow."

The silence on the other end stretched long enough that Isolde checked to see if the call had dropped. Then Lorelei exhaled audibly.

"It started at midnight on your birthday, didn't it?"

Isolde's heart skipped. "How did you know?"

"Because the same thing happened to me, Izzy. With earth and plants instead of water." Lorelei's voice softened. "Remember all those weird growth spurts in my garden when you saw me three months ago? The plants that shouldn't have survived but thrived? That wasn't just good gardening."

"So I'm not losing my mind?" Isolde pressed her hand to her forehead.

Lorelei laughed. "Definitely not. I had the same freak-out. But it gets easier, I promise. You learn to control it."

"How?" Isolde demanded, leaning forward. "How did you figure it out?"

"Draken helped me." Something in Lorelei's voice changed and became warmer. "He understood what was happening to me before I did. He showed me how to channel it. To use it when I need it rather than having it burst out when my emotions run high."

Isolde thought of Nereus earlier today near the ocean, his steady hands guiding hers as she manipulated the water. The instant calm she felt when he was near. The way the ocean seemed to respond to them when together, their powers combined into one stronger force.

"Izzy?" Lorelei prompted. "Are you somewhere safe? Do you need me to come get you?"

"No, I'm safe." Isolde glanced around the luxurious suite. "I'm staying with... a friend. Someone who's helping me figure this out."

"A friend, huh?" Lorelei's tone turned teasing. "Must be some friend if you're trusting them with this."

Before Isolde could respond, a muffled voice called out on Lorelei's end.

"Sorry, Izzy—Draken needs me for something. Pack business." Lorelei sighed. "Let's talk more soon? I want to hear everything."

"Pack business?" Isolde repeated, the word triggering something in her memory.

"I'll explain more later. Just—trust your instincts, okay? And your... friend. If they're helping you control this, they probably know more than they're letting on."

The call ended before Isolde could ask more questions. She stared at her phone, her mind racing with connections she was beginning to make.

Luna. Pack. Powers awakening at thirty. It couldn't be a coincidence that Lorelei had experienced something so similar.

Isolde flopped back on the bed, her heart pounding in her chest. The water in the decorative fountain across the room rippled in response to her agitation. She took a deep breath, trying the centering technique Nereus had shown her earlier. The water calmed within seconds. She smiled, a small triumph in a day filled with revelations. Maybe she could do this after all.

Five days later,Isolde scrunched her toes into the wet sand, focusing on the gentle push and pull of the tide. Several days of intense practice had strengthened her connection to the water, but mastering control was like trying to harness a wild stallion – thrilling yet frightening.

"Again," Nereus instructed from behind her, his deep voice carrying over the crash of waves. "This time, try to separate the water into three distinct columns."

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