Red rested her head on the pillow of fragrant blossoms growing over and covering the rocks surrounding her secret sunbathing spot.
The sun was high in the sky. Birds chirped and—Red inhaled a deep breath—the sweet flowers smelled divine. Smiling, she flipped her fin in and out of the tidal pool.
This place, her heaven on earth, was the closest she’d come to peace and happiness since returning to the ocean three weeks ago.
She would swim from the cove and explore the expanse of the ocean in the hopes of forgetting the wolf she’d given her heart to. But Red couldn’t forget him.
The emptiness in her chest was a reminder of what Axel had with him every day.
At night, she would beach herself on the shore and listen for the howling of a lonely wolf crying out for its lost mate. Red heard nothing but the noises of crickets and frogs.
It was wishful thinking on her part, that Axel might possibly remember her.
One day, as she swam near the cliff where he’d tried to cajole her back to a life with him, she thought she’d glimpsed a large man shielding his eyes from the bright sun as he looked her direction.
The early morning fog chose that moment to roll in, concealing her from him. When the fog lifted, the man was gone. She’d returned the next day and floated upside down, the sun high above warming her from head to toe.
Occasionally, she’d surface, just to sneak a peek at the cliffside, hoping he’d be there. But he wasn’t. There was only the emptiness of a memory of them, and their last time together.
Tired of the hot sun on her body, Red flipped onto her stomach, crossed her arms over the flowers, and rested her chin on her forearm. In the distance, she saw what looked like a large man walking toward her.
Red lifted her head and squinted. Was he friend or foe? Charming had told the villagers Red had made it home safely. However, he hadn’t told them of his wife and sister-in-laws’ secret—they were the Sirens.
Panicked that it could be one of Stasis’ wolves, that Axel and his pack hadn’t killed all the traitors, Red scrambled to get out of the tide pool. But the darn tide was way out there.
She pushed away from the flowers and swam to the far end of the pool. There were big rocks she could throw at the stranger if she needed to. He came closer, but she couldn’t get a good look at him. The sun was in her eyes.
“Who’s there?” Red reached for a rock. She’d escaped the clutches of a pack of wolves and had made it through Outcast Territory. A lone man wouldn’t scare her.
“The one who owns your heart, love.”
“What did you say?”
She wouldn’t believe him. Though his voice was familiar, he could still be a conniving wolf teasing the stranded fish before he gobbled her whole.
“I have your heart, Sunshine.”
He blocked the sun with his large body and gave her a wolfish grin that would’ve had her heart a-pitter-pattering, if she had a heart, which she didn’t. Axel held the mechanical ticker in his hand.
“But you shouldn’t remember me. That was my bargain with the gods. When I returned to the ocean, your men would get their memories back, and you would forget me.”
“How can I forget you when the ticking is a constant reminder of your laughter, your courage, and your damn stubbornness?”
He got on his haunches.
“Thank you for what you sacrificed for me. Next time, rather than throw yourself over a cliff, how about we have ourselves a good chat first? Then we’ll dive into the water together and get in a good swim while we’re at it.”
His eyes twinkled, and his face softened as he slipped his finger under her chin. “I love you, Red Little. Don’t scare me like that ever again, you hear me?” He leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers. “And don’t ever leave me again. Three weeks...” He moved his mouth over hers, and she purred in contentment. “Three weeks away from you pushed the limits of my sanity, Red. I need you, sweetheart, with me, always.”
“But the council’s demand that you find a mate—”
“Was about you and me. When they added that condition, and I declared you, Red Little, as my mate, there would be no denying the union between a fish and a wolf. Do you understand?”
She nodded. She fully understood. No one in the pack would challenge their love. And when they have their part fish, part wolf children, the pack would see and accept her and Axel’s kids as pack wolves.
Red would have a family of her own. Her soul lit with happiness.
She clasped his head in her palms and kissed him long and hard. He sucked on her tongue and nipped on the tip, drawing blood. The sweet taste of him mingled with the salty flavor of her blood. Red groaned.
“God, Red, I’ve missed you,” he murmured over her lips.
Missing him equally, she planted more kisses on his forehead, eyelids and even his chin before she yanked his head to the side and bit his neck. He yelped, and she laughed.
When he untangled out of her hold, and locked his eyes on her body, his sight lingering on her red bandeau, her laughter faded. In his eyes was a truth that wet her sex. The wolf wanted to eat her whole.
She raised her arms to the air. “Mark me, taste me?”
“Forever?”
“Eternity, Axel.”
“And your heart?”
“Belongs to you.”
He reached for her bandeau. She shook her head. “The metal door is gone. There’s nothing there but smooth skin.” Returning to the ocean had removed the traces of Charming’s miraculous work.
“You’re okay without it?” His brows tugged low.
“I have my soul, and that’s enough to keep me alive,” she admitted.
Still looking perplexed, he pocketed the heart in his shirt pocket and hauled her out of the water and into his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking my Siren for a swim.”
“But the heart—”
“—can sink to the bottom of the ocean. Who you are lives inside your soul, Sunshine. You admitted that yourself. It’s your beautiful, courageous and stubborn soul that keeps you alive.”
Arms tight around his neck, Red toyed with the hair at his nape. “How did you get so wise, wolf?”
“Well, you see, there was this fish, and she swished her beautiful tail, and—” he stopped talking as soon as she settled her nose deep in his hair and inhaled his earthy scent.
“I love your smell.” She inhaled another deep breath. “Like honey over smoldering logs.”
He growled low. “We’ll make love on the beach, next to a campfire.”
“I’d like that,” she whispered. She edged back and looked at him. Something bothered her. “Why did you wait three weeks to come see me?”
He kicked off his shoes and hurried them into the water, ignoring her question. He dove in. She followed. Axel swam circles around her, and Red squealed with laughter. Hands circled her waist and yanked her full on a naked and muscular body. He’d stripped.
“Axel, we can’t make love like we should.” The sudden realization overshadowed her new-found happiness.
“We can.” He nipped at her bottom lip. “I’ve made a deal with the gods.”
“You what?!”
“The same deal Charming and Cinder made.”
“But our children—”
“—will be loved, as Iris and Jacob are loved by Charming and Cinder. It is the condition, the concessions we must make to be together, Red. Accept it, sweetheart.” He took her hands in his. As he tread water, and she swished her fins, he said the words that would seal their fate.
“Be my wife?”
She threw her arms around his neck and tugged him to her. “Yes, my love.”
At her words, the water beneath them swirled with bubbles. Tingles shot across her fins then zipped up and down her Siren tail. Her toes brushed against Axel’s large feet. Red gasped. “I have legs again.”
“Yes, but they will soon disappear until we meet again from midnight to sunrise.” He dropped kisses on her gaping mouth. “The gods are giving us time to consummate the bargain.”
She smiled. Those darn gods. In a way, they were romantics. Grabbing Axel by the hand, she tugged him toward the shore.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry to your place.”
On land, they dressed. Hand-in-hand, he guided her in the opposite direction of the White Forest.
“Where are we going?”
“To the place I’ve built for us and our future children. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past three weeks, building a home for us.”
Home. After we made love, I thought I was your home. Words from Axel that nearly undid her on that cliffside.
“But your position as Alpha, and your pack?”
“They have found their new home in the White Forest. The bears, panthers, and cougars are helping them settle in,” he reassured her. “I’ll visit when I can. And they know where to find me—living by the ocean.”
Unable to stop smiling, she swung their clasped hands. “A wolf and a fish can live happily-ever-after together, can’t they?”
“Of course.” He scooped her in his massive arms, and gave her a wolfish grin. “They share a common sky.”
Agreeing completely with him, she lifted her face to his for his scorching kiss. It wasn’t his bite that marked her, but his love.
“I love you, Axel Wolfe. Thank you for stealing then safeguarding my heart.”
“To think I held a Siren’s heart near mine.” He shook his head. “You make the man and the wolf inside of me very happy. I love you, my Red Little,” he murmured over her lips. “For as long as the ocean and the land share a common sky.”
An eternity.