MERIBELLA

Meribella searched for her well rehearsed lines, but they fled in the presence of the living, breathing god before her. She'd been singing at Joe's Pub for the last week, hoping the rumor mill would begin to churn and stories would make their way back to the Orion Pack's compound. Whether or not rumors drew him here tonight, she'd known the moment he'd entered the room.

A thrill ran through her as her fingers tumbled over the keys, and she forced herself to keep her head down, afraid that if she saw him while singing, she'd be unable to finish the song. She had to appear unaffected when she found him in the crowd, but all she wanted to do was drink him in. He was no good for her. No good for any woman according to Mac, but as crystal blue eyes filled with pain and hope devoured her, she had to stop herself from reaching for him.

"Hello," she said. Hello? Hello, that's all you've got?

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Is this some sort of Fae glamour. I'd advise you to get your sorry, sick ass out of here before I take you out."

Meribella tensed as Raff's companion stepped between them. Normally she'd say he was handsome. Surfer boy blond hair and a strong jawline, but every line in his face was contorted in fury. His protective streak towards Raff warmed something inside of her, and she added this detail to the list of things in Mac's story that didn't make sense. The cruel man the Starless pack Alpha described wouldn't be the type to have such a good friend. And that's what this man was being: a friend.

"Lincoln, enough."

When she wasn't dreaming about wolves and selkies, she dreamt of that voice. The raspy edges scoured away her defenses, heating her skin and making her breath uneven. For so long she'd fought against human emotions like desire, love, and friendship, but the universe kept shoving them in her way. And maybe now that she knew the truth, knew that she would only ever be human, she could act on them. But what about what Morgan LeFay is offering?

"Do you think I'm going to let her fuck with your mind again? After I just managed to get you to pull your head out of your ass? I don't think I can save you again."

Save him again? Indeed, Raff blanched at Lincoln's words, shame and guilt projecting from him, so at odds with the cocky bastard who'd saved her from drowning on the side of the road.

"B," Thorne called from where she was sitting at the bar. The witch had refused to stay behind, and Meribella couldn't pretend she wasn't relieved to have a companion along. Joe and Vivian, though happy to have her back, had been less than enthused about her decision to reveal her true fate to Raff. Joe in particular had raged and ranted, finally leaving to shift into his bear form for a moment alone in the woods. She really needed to get the rest of his story.

"Who is that?" Raff asked, jerking his head in Thorne's direction. "I didn't take you for having many friends."

"A lot can change in seven months," she responded, wincing at the ice in her words.

"Yeah, but last I heard people didn't rise from the dead regardless of the amount of time that passed."

"Lincoln, you need to step outside. Now." The last word vibrated with power, and Lincoln spun on his heel and walked outside, his movements stiff and robotic.

"Is there somewhere we can speak that isn't so loud?"

Meribella pretended to hesitate. "Thorne is waiting for me."

"Please." The single word was coated in anguish.

She nodded, grasped him by the hand, ignoring the thrill that zinged through her as his rough fingers curled around hers. The grip was far tighter than necessary, as if he was afraid she might vanish. "Thorne, I'm going to step outside for a minute."

"This isn't the dick you were running from is it?"

"Thorne!" She didn't have to pretend to be outraged. The witch was going way off script. Not that she hadn't already jumped shipped, but still... They were going to have a talk later.

"If you're not back in here in fifteen minutes, I'm sending Joe."

"Some friend you've got there," Raff muttered, as they slipped into the pub's back alley. The heavy metal door clanged shut, cutting off the boisterous sounds of the bar.

"She's been good to me."

"Why?" he demanded, clearly over the small talk.

He pressed her up against the wall, his hands cupping her face, his right thumb tracing her bottom lip. How she wanted to pull that curious digit into her mouth. She pressed her knees together, fighting the heat that flooded between her legs at the thought. But it didn't matter, he could smell her. She could smell both of them, the scent intoxicating. Even if she pushed him away, protesting at his forward treatment, her body had already betrayed her.

"Was I so very bad? I apologized for being an ass." The hands left her face and went to her wrists. He pressed them against the wall as he closed the gap between their bodies. Every hard inch of him was pressed against her, and he slowly, so very slowly, lowered his head until his mouth replaced his thumb. Just a light brush, a whisper. But it set her aflame.

"You stood me up."

The Alpha tensed and pulled back, those bright blue eyes flaring with the first hint of anger she'd seen. "You threw yourself off of a pier because I stood you up? You didn't even really like me."

She shoved him off and turned her back to him, gathering her thoughts and hiding her heaving chest as she wrestled for control. "I didn't jump. You scared the shit out of me, and I fell."

A strangled growl sounded behind her. She wasn't the only one spiraling. The thought caused a measure of satisfaction.

"What the fuck were you doing on the other side of the railing Meribella? You really do have a death wish."

"When you stood me up," she began, whirling around and bumping into his chest. Refusing to move, she turned her head up and glared at the brute. "I walked to the ocean to clear my thoughts. I don't open up to people easily."

This was the part of her plan that was the most difficult. Weaving the truth into her lies. Making herself vulnerable.

"And I took a chance on you. On the friendship you offered, and then you didn't show up. The ocean comforts me."

His jaw tightened, but the anger faded. Lowering his head again, but this time to rest his forehead against hers, he stayed that way for nearly a minute before speaking. "I-I didn't mean to be so late. There were things that came up, and I didn't have a way to get in touch with you. When you fell into that water- Meribella..." Gods she loved the way her name sounded on his tongue. "I panicked. I jumped in and when I didn't find you... I've been so lost, and it doesn't make any damn sense."

His sentiments echoed her own. Perhaps she hadn't suffered as much from being separated from him...Her feelings had been buffered by fear, but now that he was before her, she could understand the intensity he was describing. The senseless way they were drawn to one another. Resisting the urge to wrap her arms around his waist to offer him comfort and find her own, she stepped back.

"Raff." The werewolf closed his eyes and breathed deeply, seemingly savoring the sound of his name on her lips, just as she had hers on his. "I know what you are."

Of all the reactions she'd expected, it wasn't the one she received. The man burst out laughing, the smile transforming his smouldering sexiness to breathtaking beauty. "Most people around here know, but that makes this entire conversation easier. Wait-" The smile faded. "When did you find out?"

"I saw you shift when you gave up looking for me."

Shit. Shit. Shit. The anger was back in full force. "How long did you watch me Meribella? How long did you laugh while I nearly froze to death trying to save you?"

"It w-wasn't like that. Raff!" He was walking away. Whatever line existed for him, her admission had crossed it. "I couldn't let you see what I was!"

Storming back to her side, he snarled, "And just what are you?"

Lies with truth. "I'm a selkie."

"Not human?"

"Not at all," she fibbed. Gods how she wished mind reading was a power she possessed. He had frozen before her, all color washing from his face. She needed him to speak. To tell her what that meant to him.

She didn't have to wait long, but he didn't answer her with words. Crushing his mouth against hers, he hooked his hands beneath her thighs and settled her legs about his hips. Even with her considerable height, he made her feel small and delicate. His tongue pried her lips apart, sweeping into her mouth like a flame, the heat rushing through her insides. She moaned against him, fisting his hair in her hands as she kissed him back. The moans echoed in the alley as he pressed her back into the wall, his fingers scrambling up her shirt and brushing the undersides of her breasts.

"Don't leave me again," he begged between kisses.

"I won't," she whispered, dropping her head back to let him access her throat. With each kiss, she drew him further into the web, all too aware that she was becoming just as tangled in the deception. Whatever choice she would make from this moment forward, she would still lose. And she prayed she could still tell the difference between lies and truth when this was all over.