RAFF

Moonlight bathed the selkie woman waiting on the shore, her pale face glowing like a freshwater pearl. Broad shouldered and tall, her body was hidden beneath a cloak, but he recognized a warrior's stance. Her white hair was intricately braided and tossed over her shoulder. Only a few loose pieces shifted in the gentle breeze. If Raff had not been so consumed with rage and worry, he might've found the image beautiful.

"Stiaka voru," she said as they waded onto the island.

Her gaze fastened on Dorea, but he could see that her eyes were the same brilliant turquoise as Meribella's, and it made his ire grow hotter. No one responded verbally to her greeting, but Dorea rushed forward, stepping into the selkie's embrace as though they were friends reuniting after a long absence. There was no sense that this was only the second time they'd ever met.

"Astra honors my family this day," the woman said, the shiver in her voice from emotion and not the bitter chill in the air. "I lost one daughter and have gained two."

"I never thought I would live to see this day," Dorea replied. Her hand dropped to the soft swelling of her stomach. "Thank you for agreeing to this meeting. Valencia, I'd like you to meet Raff, Meribella's Soul Bonded."

"Greetings werewolf," Valencia said. Much of the warmth she'd reserved for Dorea vanished, and he didn't imagine the disapproval in her expression as she looked him over. "I did not approve of the union between you and my granddaughter."

Raff bristled. "I'm not sure that's any of your business."

"I'd always heard werewolves were hot tempered. I see it is so. If you would allow me to finish? I said I did not approve. I no longer feel the same way. My son Calder tells me what you share with Meribella is something we've not seen in many years. A true soul bonding."

Raff didn't need someone to tell him what he had with Meribella was special, but he didn't understand the emphasis she put on her last words. "Are not all mate pairings true soul bonds?"

"No, they're not. Often, we mate for selfish reasons. Power. Pleasure. Children. The bonds forged are magical in nature. Almost artificial. I don't mean to undermine the beauty of mates. There is great beauty in choosing someone to stand at your side, but there was never a choice for you and Meribella. You were created by the gods to complete the other."

He knew her words to be true. It explained so many things about their relationship. The intensity that had formed so quickly between them. The way he'd wanted to die after he thought she'd drowned. The way he wanted to murder Caspian for touching her.

"But is that not a cruel trick?" Thorne asked.

"Well met little water witch," Valencia said, bowing deeply before Thorne and surprising the rest of the party. "It has been many years since a witch has visited Selkie Island, and I feel the power of the seas in your veins. It is no wonder you and Meribella came to be friends. As to your question, well, the gods are not always kind, but I have hope that they did not do this out of malice. There is a plan we cannot see, and this is why I am allowing you all to stay on Selkie Island as my honored guests. I cannot save Meribella alone."

Her words struck him like a physical blow. Gasping for air, he struggled to form his next words, "Has she been hurt?"

"Come with me, and we will talk."

She turned and walked into the tall trees lining the beach. He'd never seen such big trees before, and he nearly fell backward trying to crane his neck to see their tops. In the darkness, it was hard to tell where they ended.

"Have you ever seen such a place?" Thorne asked, peering into the heavens at his side. "I cannot decide if the trees are tall or if the sky is low. The stars are so big, I feel like I could reach up and touch them."

Lincoln nodded, his mouth hanging open. It was a rare moment when his sarcastic Beta fell silent, but the beauty around them had stolen speech from all their tongues.

"Come, this is only a small part of our Island," Valencia said.

"I would think you would live on the shores, near the water," Dorea murmured, looking back at the crash waves with longing. It reminded Raff of the days before Meribella came into her powers, when she could tolerate only a little distance from the ocean.

"We do. On the other side of the Island. I could not greet you there because everyone would know you were here."

Lincoln's tongue loosened. "You really think we're going to be able to hide the entire time we're here?"

"No, I want everyone to know you are here, but it will be a surprise. Tomorrow is the first day of our Fertility Festival. Traditionally, our warriors fight in a tourney. It is for a most valuable prize."

"And what is the prize?" Raff asked with some trepidation.

"A chance to breed with any selkie of his or her choosing. The sons and daughters of the Harpy Clan are almost always chosen by the winner. The Star Blessed are always born of our line, and they want the chance to elevate their status by being the parent of the next one."

"That sounds like rape," Thorne growled.

"The chosen has the right to refuse," Valencia said, "but no one has ever done so. The pairing almost always results in a pregnancy, and children are a rare commodity these days. I, myself, am the result of such a pairing."

"Really?" Raff said, doing his best to focus on the story Valencia was sharing and not the fact that men would be fighting for a chance to bed Meribella. Because he had no doubt she would be the one men would be lining up to fight for.

"Yes, my father was a great warrior of the Leopard Clan, and my mother was the granddaughter of the current Star Blessed at the time. She was already showing signs of inheriting the gift. Those still living say they'd never seen a tourney so brutal. She gave birth to twins. One the spitting image of the father. While I favored the Harpy Clan."

"What happened?" Dorea asked.

Valencia sighed, the weight of centuries lived sitting on her shoulders. "Clan lines are harsh. We stay with our own, and on the rare occasion that we mix breed, the children are raised by those whose traits they possess."

"So your parents were not mated?"

"Oh no. Screwing around is one thing. Bonding across clans is simply not done."

"So Meribella and Caspian can't be bonded then?" Raff almost shouted in excitement. The first kernel of hope blossomed in his chest. Only for Valencia to crush it with her next words.

"It is not done, but it is not impossible. He will fight for her tomorrow. Rumor has spread that they've already started sleeping together-" Raff roared and fell to his knees- "but he will want to breed her. The best time for that is after winning the tourney. The gifted selkies will bless her womb before they sleep together. His mother will push for them to become bond mates. She is a bitter, jealous woman."

Raff barely understood her. He knew what Dorea had said- that they were plotting to force them together, but his heart felt shattered. How could Meribella betray him like that? To let someone else into her body when they'd never been able to achieve that level of intimacy.

"Caspian's mother is Nerida, right?" Dorea bent down beside him and put her arms around his shoulders.

Valencia's cheeks were tracked with tears. "Yes. His mother- and my sister."