Page 53 of Siren's Kiss & Feral Beasts
After the last gold rimmed chalice is smashed and there is nothing else of value, I look at the pack member closest to me. “Burn it all to the ground.”
And they do.
Using a bottle of rum I’d brought ashore; I take a sip and hand it over as an accelerant. Within minutes, flames leap high, licking the bright blue skies, smoke billowing in the cool breeze. Screams echo from fear, stones and wood crack, while the herd compound becomes an inferno.
No more blood money here.
And yet, it’s still not enough. My chest heaves, and my claws ache as Nerissa’s violet eyes haunt me. As I hear her sweet, sultry voice whisper against my chest, body strewn over mine in my dream a few nights ago.
Look for me where the stars burn brightest, Alpha Kai.
It also reminds me of the conversation I had with my mother before setting sail. Her soft and lined hand was trembling as she pressed it to my cheek.
“When will you be back, my son?” she asks, voice shaky though she tries to mask it. Wolves surround us, crowding the dock as they load my ships with supplies, the air thick with prayers whispered to the gods.
“When the stone is in my hands and my mate is by my side.” There’s no other choice, not that I’ve been given one. Mates belong together, and I won’t rest until Nerissa is here. “I promise, I will be back and reclaim my throne.”
“Good. Cause I don’t want it. It’s too boring for me, Alpha.” Veris says, and I turn fast enough to catch the smirk on his face. He’s carrying my sleeping goddaughter, using her cuteness as a shield. Ophelia is adorable in all her scrunched-up, old-lady-looking expressions. Especially the milk-drunk ones, I’ve been blessed to witness over the last three days.
Their worry is palpable, as if their love.
My family. My blood. What I fight for.
“I’ll take care of everything here, Kai. Just come back safe.”
“I will. I’ll send word back soon enough.” With a final hug to my mother, a kiss on the forehead to Ophelia, and pats on the back from Veris, I walk away. It’s not lost on me that my father and grandfather are off licking their wounds; they’d already wished me well in private, and while our issues aren’t solved, we’ll work it out later. My attention is solely on reclaiming what is mine, and as prior alphas, they understand more than most just how hard the impulses ride you.
To mate. To hunt. To bite.
I’ll be following the brightest star. She’ll guide me back, I promise.
I’d mind linked those words to my mother before my ships sailed…
“Alpha,” Otto’s voice drags me from watching the flames kiss the sky. “We found someone you need to see.”
The same scent gets closer. Not human. Not creature.
I turn to face them as they drag a man into the light, bound at the wrist but standing strong. He’s also tall. Bruised up, a little thin, but it’s his scent that’s odd. Can’t quite pinpoint it.
“I’m a hybrid,” he says, voice hoarse from disuse, silver eyes assessing me. There’s a glint of unleashed violence in them, but I don’t sense a threat.
Stepping closer, I tilt my head. “You live here?”
“No.” He spits on the ground, blood dripping down his chin from a split lip. “I was caged here.”
“By who?”
“The northern coven.”
“Why?” What do they need from you?”
“My mate.” That violence in his silver gaze has a name now. It’s the same one in my eyes, and it’s a pain I understand.Abandonment. Not done on purpose, but it’s the result of an unattended bond.
“Where is she?” I ask, giving Torren the signal to release his bindings. He’s freed a second later, stretching his arm out, testing the free motion after being bound for Gods knows how long.
When he speaks again, it’s low. Anger palpable.
“Severus took my female for his private herd, used her, and I’ll gut every last one of them until I get her back.” His gaze on mine is unflinching, and at the same time, not disrespectful. “Are you headed north by any chance?”
