Moonlit Waters: His Mermaid Luna

Chapter 7: Sea girl

OCEANA

The hole muffled my scream as I landed on my back at the bottom, my arms flailing and my fluke thrashing wildly. The dog narrowly missed me, tumbling next to me inside the hole.

However, before I could react, it was on top of me, pinning my arms to the ground. I closed my eyes, bracing for the savage bite that would take my life. Everything was happening too quickly, with my family's faces flashing before my eyes, and I could not even scream anymore.

But the bite didn’t come. Instead, the dog ceased its growling and released my arms, which had become welded to the sand due to its weight. If it had not been for the sand, I was sure they would have snapped in half.

I slowly opened my eyes, my heart racing, and the dog was still towering over me. I opened my mouth to beg him not to hurt me, but I froze the moment our gazes met, my breath catching in my throat due to an unexplainable sensation. A surge of energy sent shivers down my spine. It was as if the entire world had vanished, leaving only the two of us, and my heart pounded in my chest with renewed vigor.

My eyes dilated, my vision narrowed, and all I could see were Lykos's dark and intense pupils, but just then, the dog scrambled away from me, as if my gaze had burned him.

He left me in the hole, and I sat up, clutching my chest to suppress my racing heart as it echoed loudly. I scrambled to get out of the hole, frantic as the fear came frantic back. However, the sand was excessively wet, causing me to keep falling back without the necessary support to climb out.

The more I fell, the more frantic I became, and before I knew it, I was in tears, pounding my fists against the crumbling wall, as if I was losing my mind.

But then I heard it—something digging desperately in the sand, and soon sand was splashing everywhere. Wiping my tears, my eyes widened, and then I saw Lykos creating a path out of the hole.

I was not sure if it was for me, but I waited for no invitation and crawled frantically along the path he made. The dog stopped digging the moment I stepped out, but I did not look at him. I couldn’t. I crawled like a madwoman to the sea, where I threw myself into the water, my tail flapping desperately as the water carried me away.

LYKOS

A distant water-like sound reached my ears. It was faint at first, but a cold sensation soon enveloped my body, and the sounds became louder. The smell of the ocean filled my nostrils, and my eyes opened.

I felt rocks beneath me, my mind foggy and vision blurry despite my eyes being open. Then all of a sudden, a barrage of memories came flooding back: the plane breaking in two, the elders' faces as they were ripped off, the crash hitting the water, Felix dead on the beach, Felix's face as we laughed and joked, the exit from the Crystal Pack, and then Argon—his screams and voice telling me to run.

My eyes snapped open for the second time as the darkness lifted. And there, just a few feet from me, I saw it—a seaman digging in the sand.

Perhaps running would have been the best option, but I was unable to do so as my rage took hold, propelling me forward. He turned just as I got to him, but I lunged at him, Argon’s face flashing before my eyes.

He let out a sharp scream, and everything went black for a moment as I tumbled into the hole and landed on my side. Everything spun and I was clearly still weak, but there was no time to stay down, so I lunged at the seaman, pinning him to the ground.

However, just as I was about to deliver a savage bite, I realized it was a girl, and I froze inches from the creature’s throat.

Her heart was racing with fear, and before I knew it, I was off of her, and just then, she opened her eyes, and my breath caught in my throat. They were hypnotic, drawing me in, and for a brief moment I could not move before snapping out of it and scrambling out of the hole, backing away with my heart pounding erratically.

I kept backing up, frantically looking around for more seamen but there was no one. Only her heartbeat and the sound of the waves could be heard.

But just then I heard her cries, piercing and desperate, as she pounded against the wall. She was trying to get out of the hole, and I wanted to run away and leave her there, but my body moved of its own accord, and I found myself digging a path for her, my heart racing with each grain of sand that fell out.

Before I knew it, she was crawling out. But she didn't look at me, and I watched as she scrambled, crawling as if her life depended on it.

It was only when she reached the water that I realized I had stopped breathing and my breath ripped through my lungs as I watched her swim away.

The farther she went, the colder I felt, and the more the darkness seemed to close in around me. She disappeared beneath the waves and my legs collapsed onto the sand, feeling like they had run a marathon.

But the roaring sea brought me back to reality, and I struggled back to my feet. Everything I had numbed moments ago came crashing back and I took off running, tears streaming from my eyes and blurring my vision.

My body went numb with each pound of my paws on the sand, and I had no idea where I was going. But I needed get away.

OCEANA

The instant I got far enough away from the coast, I stopped swimming, and when I turned around, I saw Lykos flying in the other direction. Where was he going? I asked myself, and without thinking, I started swimming in the direction he was going.

However, it was dark, and his black fur made it difficult to keep up with him. I eventually lost sight of him and stopped. For a brief moment, I stood there and peered into the darkness where he had vanished.

The images of him towering above me in the hole replayed in my head, and the feeling I had when our gazes locked was unlike anything I had ever felt. It was almost as if I knew him and was safe. I couldn’t even understand the logic of it.

He attacked me. He nearly killed me, I reminded myself. But then, who stopped him? He just stopped on his own. I wanted to deny it, but in those seconds that I looked into his eyes, there was no danger there.

“I hope you get away, Lykos. I hope you get far away," I whispered to the night, feeling strangely connected to him. I could not explain it, and my body tingled with adrenaline from our encounter, which had heightened my senses.

I imagined how horrified my parents would be if they found out what I had done, and it sent shivers down my spine as I turned towards home, my fluke twitching with residual energy. The swim back felt longer and each stroke through the water filled me with thoughts of Lykos as I contemplated how long it would be before the guards caught up with him again.

LYKOS

I ran along the cliff until I found a way up and climbed, my legs burning from the exertion. I kept running, driven by a desperate need to get away, until my legs could not take me any longer and tears continued to flow down my cheeks as I collapsed.

I wanted to let out the loudest howl, cry to the gods, and demand that they return me to my family. But I was afraid of drawing attention to myself, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. Argon gave up his life for me so that I could return home. I wanted to tell our story, to honor his sacrifice. But as I raised my head, all I could see was sand and water. I also knew the sea girl would alert the seamen, who would return to hunt me down.

Burying my face in my paws, I sobbed uncontrollably, mourning all that I had lost while Argon's voice echoed in my head, telling me I had to find a away. But how? Everything seemed hopeless. But then a thought occurred to me: the sea girl.

I began to wonder if I should have tried to speak with her, but how? I could not communicate without using mind link. How was she supposed to understand me?

I began reflecting on how I awoke to her digging. What exactly was she doing? It appeared that the grave was intended for me, but why? Why was she so concerned with burying me?

Questions without answers began to swirl in my head before her eyes as she looked at me, flashed back into my mind. At first, all I saw was fear, but then it was replaced by another expression that I did not understand. But now, in retrospect, it felt like assurance, as if she knew I would not harm her.

Another thought shattered my mind: the spear that was embedded in my neck. It snapped in half and remained lodged in my neck until I passed out. But it wasn't there when I woke up and I saw it near the grave which meant she removed it. But why? Why did she care to remove it? And why was she alone out there with me?

“Can she help me?” I whispered to myself and before I knew it, I was up on all fours, my head snapping back in the direction I came from.

She was the only sea creature who did not attempt to kill me, and I needed to find her. She might be my only chance of going home. I began running, motivated by a renewed sense of hope and desperation while telling myself that Argon’s sacrifice had to mean something. I needed to find a way to survive, to honor his memory by getting back to my pack and betrothed.

CALISTA

I heard a knock on my door just as I was about to go to bed. "Come in," I said, and my sister, Thalia, entered with a sly grin. "You're still thinking about him, aren't you?" she teased, settling down next to me, and I couldn't deny it.

Lykos had me completely smitten, and I could not stop thinking about him. I did not know how many times I closed my eyes and replayed his voice in my head, each time spreading a warm sensation across my chest.

“I can’t wait for the next six months to pass,” I confessed to Thalia, “so Lykos and I can get our human forms and get married.” She admitted that Lykos's wolf was impressive, but she could not finish because I jumped in, painting a picture of the majestic black wolf all over again.

His strong legs, his fur that was the deepest shade of black, thick and glossy, and I remembered how each strand caught the light in a way that made him appear almost ethereal as we strolled through the garden. He was breathtaking, and I began to picture him again, his piercing amber eyes, intelligent and intense, with a gaze that seemed to see right into your soul.

His commanding presence exuded strength and protection, and every inch of him radiated power and grace, and he was mine.

Thalia laughed as she watched me swoon over my betrothed. "I am glad our parents gave your hand to someone you like," she confessed. "I was concerned about who it was going to be." She continued, and no one was happier than me, and I began to say so, but another knock on the door interrupted our conversation.

"Come in," we said in unison, with me speaking through mind link since I was in my wolf form, and our father walked in. "Father," I began, but then paused to take in his expression.

“What’s wrong?” Thalia and I both asked, our voices overlapping, and he took a deep breath that caused my heart rate to rise.

"Something has happened," he said, his voice full of concern. “Lykos’s plane has disappeared.”

The words struck me like a blow to the chest, and I froze in my tracks. "What do you mean by disappeared?"