Raff

Once again the selkie nation lined up on the beach, but this time there was no hate in their eyes. Only sadness and gratefulness as the one they called Blessed returned home. They believed her sacrifice had saved them from Nerida.

Raff wanted to tell them her sacrifice was pointless.

In the mass of fur and leather, he stood out in his jeans and Henley. It felt wrong for him to wear their clothes, but what he wore felt wrong too. His best bespoke suit would feel wrong. The only thing that felt right was fur covering his skin.

Thorne stood at his side. From time to time she crinkled a piece of paper she clutched in her hand, and he almost asked her to stop or throw it away. Before the ceremony, she told him she'd discovered important information, but he wouldn't let her explain. Today was about saying goodbye. No matter how angry he was, he wanted to be fully present.

Thorne accepted a dress from Addien. Its neckline went up to her chin, and the long sleeves came to a point over the back of her hand. Around her bare feet, the skirt billowed in the wind, the white hem turning black where it brushed against the sand. Gold and white were traditional colors of mourning among the selkies. Raff wore a gold rope around his forearm.

Dorea walked into the waves with Valencia. Her swollen stomach strained against the fabric of her attire, and she put one hand beneath it as she bent over to kiss the top of Meribella's head. The shroud he'd detested hid Meribella from view, and all over her body were flowers in every hue. At her feet, Aurora rested, refusing to be separated from her mistress, even in death.

"Are you really going to let them push her out there with Aurora on the barge?" Thorne asked.

"She bit the last three people who tried to remove her."

"I can sedate her with magic. This isn't right."

"You sedate her now and what then? She'll mourn herself to death. She won't eat." Raff explained. He knew his words to be as true as if Aurora had told him herself. Wolves were loyal beasts.

Dorea took her grandmother's hand, and together they walked back to the shore. Caspian and Addien were among those not present, the selkie's injuries too extensive to allow him to get out of bed yet.

All around Raff, the selkies began to slip out of their clothes and into their skins. Leopard, Ringed, Harpy, Elephant... all shapes and sizes of seals went into the sea, swimming after the raft carrying Meribella.

And then Valencia began to sing. Dorea joined in. The words were foreign, but the notes were high and clear and mirroring Raff's pain perfectly. It drew a ragged sob from him and turned his eyes wet again. How many times would he cry until he thought there was nothing left to cry?

Thorne raised her fingers to her lips and pressed a kiss against them before pointing her fingers to the heavens. A light pulsed from her ring, and a ring of light blossomed around Meribella's barge.

"What is that?" His voice was hoarse.

"Protection from the elements."

Raff wanted to mock her because what did protection mean to Meribella now, but he didn't. Whatever she needed to do to find some semblance of peace, he would accept. Lincoln pulled her close, and she turned her face into his shoulder and shook with the force of her tears.

As was the custom, they stayed on the shore until sunset lit the ocean on fire. Meribella was nothing but a black dot against the blue, and the selkies returned to shore one by one. And finally, only Raff remained behind with Lincoln and Thorne.

He raised his eyes to the dusky sky. A single star was visible, and it pulsed brighter and brighter. Its shimmer so much like Meribella's skin that he had to turn away.

"Raff," Thorne said, grabbing his arm as he headed back to the cottage.

Food had been prepared, and the people would be awake for hours- eating, and drinking, and fucking away their sorrows. Not him. He was packing and getting on a boat and finding a Faerie queen.

"Raff. Listen. I need to tell you something. I think I know why Meribella kil- did what she did."

He didn't want to know. It didn't matter... did it? "Why did she do it?"

The witch held out the crinkled paper. "Remember the spell that could break the Alpha bond?"

Of course, he did. It started this entire mess.

"What about it, Thorne?"

"This is a spell and ingredients for a potion that looks like it does the opposite. It creates a bond."

"I'm not following you."

She exhaled and rubbed the space between her eyes. "Sometimes witches will create potions like this to use with a sorcerer or another witch. It gives you access to each other's strengths. It's supposed to be temporary and mutually beneficial. This is some sort of perverted version of that. It's almost parasitic in nature."

"Go on, babe. Tell him the rest," Lincoln urged when Thorne grew quiet.

"Raff, I think Nerida was using this with Meribella to gain access to her Blessing. It couldn't have been for long. She would've made a bigger move, but if Meribella found out about it...."

"Why would she kill herself? Wouldn't the bond break when Nerida died?"

"There's a note in the margins here." She gave him the paper and pointed. Scrawled in cramped letters were the words resurrection and protection. "Meribella can literally bring people back from the dead. Maybe she didn't think Nerida would stay dead?"

"Were making a lot of assumptions," Raff snarled, shoving the paper back at Thorne. He wanted to be gone from this place. Now. Thorne's discovery did nothing but create more questions.

"Raff, how is an Alpha bond broken? Without magic?" Lincoln called out. "And without a fight?"

He froze. His back to his friends and his eyes on the snow capped mountains, he found the answer. It sent a shiver through him that had nothing to do with the cold air.

"Death."

                                                             ********************

Thorne and Lincoln

Thorne waited for Raff to turn back around. She wanted to see that he understood and forgave Meribella. After everything they'd been through... this couldn't be the way things ended.

"I don't understand," Thorne cried. She walked across the beach until she reached the water's edge. The ocean was strangely warm against her frigid skin.

"He's hurting."

"We're all hurting, but he acts like he hates her. Of all the emotions I expected from Raff, that was not it."

Lincoln put his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. They both peered across the sea, searching for the white figure floating on the water, but it was either too dark or she'd drifted too far. There was nothing but miles of moonlight and shadows.

"Maybe it's some sort of deep rooted anger toward her over how she faked her death."

"Lincoln, really?"

He snorted in her ear. "I'm not being an ass. I've told you before what he was like then. The man literally lives with the horror of knowing what it's like to live without her, and Meribella knew that. She told me once he would wake up from nightmares about her falling into the ocean and never returning. That was when the thing between them was nothing but lust and magic. Now, he loves her. Truly loves her. To him, it's not just the loss of her, but it's a betrayal."

"I thought finding out the truth would help him understand she felt like she didn't have a choice."

"We don't know that for sure."

"I know it's true. Meribella has always been my destiny. Before I was born, my mother had a dream about a Hawthorn thorn bush sitting in the middle of the ocean. A seal swam around it. It's how I got my name, and for a long time, I didn't understand the rest of it. But then I met Meribella. Before I knew what she was, I felt drawn to her. It was like soulmates but for friends. I can't accept that this is the end. I have to do this for her. Something tells me her soul won't rest while Raff is angry."

"He'll come around. Give him time."

"I don't know if we have it."

Thorne twisted in his arms and cupped his face with her hands. Drawing his lips to hers, she tried to pour out every bit of her heart into him. As if sensing her desperation, he opened up to her, letting her lead him. He would always follow her. 

A/N you can thank @theCertifiedbawse for the song! So perfect for these last few chapters.