Brielles POV
My head felt like I’d been hit with a ton of bricks. Every movement of the car made nausea churn violently in my stomach as I slowly opened my eyes.
Black interior was all I could see. Dark leather seats. Tinted windows. The low hum of the engine vibrating beneath me.
“Where am I?” I croaked, not really speaking to anyone in particular.
“Heading home,” Jason answered, his voice low and steady from the driver’s seat.
I rubbed my temples gently, trying to piece together what was happening. My thoughts were foggy, scattered.
“Your true home,” he added quietly.
And then it hit me.
The screams.
His growls.
The massive wolf.
My breathing quickened instantly, panic clawing up my throat.
“Calm down, Brielle. It’s going to be okay,” Titan said softly from beside me.
I turned sharply toward him. “So what? I’m being held hostage now?”
Jason immediately shook his head. “You’re not a hostage, Brielle. But it’s dangerous for you to be out in the human world without supernatural guidance.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Supernatural guidance?”
“I’ve done just fine so far.”
“You’ve only done well because your wolf hasn’t surfaced yet,” Jason said sternly. His eyes flicked toward me in the rearview mirror. “When she does, you could become a danger—not only to humans, but to our entire kind if our existence gets exposed.”
Silence filled the SUV for a moment.
“You were supposed to get your wolf at eighteen,” he continued. “I don’t know why you didn’t. But I could smell the wolf on you, and because of my genetics…” His jaw tightened. “It means your shift is getting close.”
I stared at him silently.
“You need to shift in your home territory,” he explained. “You need to acclimate around other wolves. Learn control. Once you’re no longer a threat, if you still want to go back to your old life… you can.” He finished the sentence with visible reluctance.
For the first time since waking up, part of what he said actually made sense.
“What about my mermaid side?” I asked quietly.
Jason grimaced immediately. “Siren side. Not mermaid,” he grumbled.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“I don’t know much about hybrids,” he admitted. “I’ll have to find someone who does. Maybe a healer familiar with sirens.” His expression darkened. “Their kind usually keeps to themselves. They have their own king. Their own laws.”
I swallowed hard before asking the question lingering in my mind.
“So… how did you end up with my biological mother if she was a siren?”
Jason’s grip tightened around the steering wheel.
“Your mother was my mate,” he admitted quietly.
I frowned. “Mate? What’s that supposed to mean?”
This time he rubbed his temples in frustration.
“The Moon Goddess rules over all supernatural beings,” he explained. “Every wolf is assigned a mate specifically chosen for them. Usually it’s someone from the same species to avoid… complications.” His eyes briefly met mine in the mirror. “But every once in a while, she pairs differently.”
“Huh.” I leaned back in my seat slightly. “So you just happened to be that one-in-a-million exception?”
“Exactly.”
I hesitated before asking my next question.
“So… what happens when you meet your mate? How do you know?”
Jason exhaled heavily. “Titan, you want to take this one?”
Titan visibly swallowed hard.
“Well…” A faint smile tugged at his lips. “From what everyone says, it’s… intense. Beautiful.” His voice softened. “Your eyes lock, your skin breaks out in goosebumps, and your wolf instantly recognizes them. Claims them.”
I watched him carefully as he spoke.
“It’s supposed to feel like finding the missing piece of yourself,” he continued quietly. “The person you’re meant to spend eternity with. Until death do you part.”
Something about the way he said it made my chest tighten.
“Okay…” I said slowly. “So my biological mom was a siren, Jason’s a wolf, and they were mates. Is my mom living in this territory with you?”
Jason’s expression instantly fell.
He shook his head slowly. “No. Your mother vanished shortly after we mated.” His voice dropped almost to a whisper.
“What? Why?”
“That,” he said painfully, “is a question I’ve asked myself for twenty-one years.”
The car grew quiet again.
“I searched for her everywhere,” he continued. “I went to the seas myself. I yelled for her. Hired submarines. Searched coastlines.” His jaw clenched hard. “I never found a single trace of her.”
His eyes met mine again through the mirror.
“Until you.”
I froze.
“When I saw you in that coffee shop…” His voice cracked slightly. “You look exactly like her. The resemblance is terrifying. If it weren’t for my scent recognizing you, I would’ve thought you were your mother standing there.”
A lump formed in my throat.
“My wolf recognized his own blood,” he murmured. “The alpha blood running through your veins.”
I stared down at my hands. “So… you waited all these years for her to come back?”
Jason sighed heavily.
“I couldn’t keep waiting forever,” he admitted. “I had responsibilities to my pack. I needed an heir.” A humorless laugh escaped him. “And trust me, I tried.”
Titan awkwardly looked out the window.
“I thought maybe the problem was because I wasn’t mated to the wolves I was with,” Jason continued. “Eventually I met a woman decent enough to become my wife and Luna. She already had two sons. We’ve been married for ten years now…”
He paused.
“But we were never able to have children together.”
My stomach twisted. “And now there’s me?”
Jason finally looked directly at me, pride and intensity burning in his eyes.
“Yes. You.”
The weight of his next words slammed into me.
“You are the sole heir of the BloodMoon Pack.”