The Alpha's Siren: Song of Mating

The mating season was here already. The water was warming and the first scents of heat were already in the water. My name is Briel, and I am 38 seasons old. We have 2 mating seasons a year. We are the Sea Singers. Land Walkers, who sort of resemble us, have called us many things throughout the years. We began to learn their names for us over time as they developed better ways to float on the water they were too weak to survive in. We are distantly related to them if the legends can be believed. When we leave the sea and go ashore, our tail splits and forms into the odd appendages the Land Walkers use to navigate their dry world. I have heard that the process is very painful, to imitate the Land Walkers, and that some do not survive it. Three seasons ago, my best friend went ashore to find help for our people and never returned. I begged her not to go. There are many stories like hers among our people, of those who leave and never return. Nothing I said would stop Shelli. So I watched from the water helplessly as she began to scream and change. After a few moments, she was standing on the odd legs that the Land Walkers have. She walked unsteadily into the tree line behind the beach and I have not seen her since. Shaking the unpleasant memory from my head, I began to swim for the deeps where there is little light and only the cold pressure of the water. The deeps are where I take refuge every mating season. Why do I seek refuge? I do not want my heat to begin. Technically, I shouldn't have known what the deeps were capable of until I was old and began to lose the ability to make young. I knew what the cold pressure did for the fire inside though, when it became too painful for the old ones to bear any longer, because my mother had been one of the healers of our tribe. I had been with her when she came across one of the younger ones who was struggling not to mate even though she was in heat and her body was demanding it. She had just lost a young one who had become sick. My mother told her the secret of what the deeps could do to ease her suffering that season. I was with my mother as she guided the grieving mother to the edge of the drop-off. Mother showed her the current that would sweep her down to the depths that would help. Mother could not go down that far herself, she was carrying a young one. Farther and farther I swam, until my fingertips touched the sand of the ocean floor. Here my vision was so different, everything defined by shape and contrast of light and dark shadow. It was my favorite place to be, especially with the heat coming. See, I don't want to have heat. I didn't want to make young. I wanted nothing to do with a mate. All of that was what killed my mother. I would not do it. I refused. It seemed odd to some that I'd never made young. I believe some thought that perhaps that I couldn't make young. I was a loner anyway, very different from the rest of the tribe, who all seemed very close to each other. I stayed off to myself and avoided all the rest. Over the seasons, the tribe had come to accept this and simply left me be. I was nearing the place where I could find the current when I spotted hunter males at the edge of the drop-off. I froze, unsure of why they would be here instead of up where the available were singing their songs of mating. Before I could decide on a course of action, they noticed me and began to approach. "You are Briel, daughter of Serli the healer?" the largest of the three asked. I nodded my head while trying to find the fastest escape route. These three are not simple males, they are hunters. Hunters are the strongest of the pack and often double as our warriors in times of unease. Hunters are the most obvious of the males. They make cuts on their faces to form patterns of scars. Hunters could only mean one thing: I was in some sort of trouble. "You are summoned by the Elder," said a smaller version of the first to speak. I was willing to bet they were brothers. Both had the same turquoise scales and eel black hair. Neither seemed to know how to smile. The other one was completely different from the first two. His scales were a simple silver and his hair was the color of wet sand. The only thing truly remarkable about him was the cruelty in his pale blue eyes. "I have broken no law. Why am I summoned?" I asked as I floated slightly to the left, hoping the current was close by. "If the Elder summons you, then you go. That is the only thing you need to know," said the one with sandy hair. His voice fell over me like jellyfish slime on my mind. It was hard not to make a face at how bad his voice sounded, but I managed. His sharp angles reminded me that there are always those who can't be trusted, no matter what position they hold, as my mother had found out the hard way. About that time, I felt the current. "Unless you wish to tell me why, I am busy at this time," I said looking at the first speaker. They all seemed somewhat shocked by my answer. Before they could register what was happening, I slipped into the current and was swept right past them and over the drop-off into the deeps. Their surprised faces made me giggle as I swam with the current farther down. Here was where I was the happiest. My body began to glow everywhere I had blue or purple coloration. I knew my eyes were glowing. I could see here in a way that was different from anywhere else. Here there is no light from the sun. Here, there are only things that make their own light. And yet, I can see it all. Everything is clear to me, like it holds a soft glow. The shapes of fish swimming around were obvious to me. The only thing I worried about here was the Occati. They were also related to the land walkers, but they had tentacles instead of a tail. The Occati are dangerous and known to attack at random. I left the current now that I had reached the very bottom and knew where I was. I didn't have far now before I was able to just rest in my little hiding cave until the mating season was over. "YOU ARE SUMMONED!" I heard the words and the roar of the angry warrior as his fingers took hold of my tail. I began to struggle desperately against his shark-like hold. How had he followed me? I hissed as I turned, my barbs coming out along my back and tail and arms. The long and lethal barb at the end of my tail was now fully extended, as were my claws. I felt a barb puncture his hand, but he only gripped my tail tighter. I tried to attack, but they were too fast. The other two had my wrists and the largest had hold of my tail. "Release me! You have no right!" I screamed as we began to rise, slowly struggling toward the surface. I was not going to let them do this, they couldn't do this to me! "You are summoned. You may return to what you were doing after you speak with the Elder if she allows it," the smaller one said while trying to keep my right arm in his wrist. "You may as well stop fighting," said jellyfish voice while he struggled with my left arm. "You can't win." His voice only served to make me fight harder. We were just above the drop-off point now, and the water was noticeably warmer. "RELEASE ME!" I tried to bite them as I struggled. The biggest one pulled on my tail hard to keep my venom-coated teeth off of the one I assumed was his brother. They had me near the surface now, and I was starting to panic. Away from the deeps my heat would start. How long until I was changed forever? Garry's POV Another territory and still no mate. This was getting tedious. How was I still unmated? As the Alpha King of Texas, you would think I would have already found my mate. Maybe it was time to start considering other states. How many territories were left in Texas? There were only 4 of our 20 territories that I had not yet been to for my introduction to the territory Alphas and their packs. I was now glad that I'd sent my Beta and the rest of my envoy ahead of me to the next territory. I decided to take a run. Something had to clear my mind, and I always enjoyed running alone. Most would find that odd since wolves were known for being pack animals, but I'd always been more of a lone wolf. I hadn't even wanted the crown, but with my father's mind broken from so many wars and my older sisters away playing house, the burden was left to me. I didn't truly begrudge them their happiness, I was just frustrated with the lack of my own. I decided not to think about finding my mate again until I was in the next territory. Maybe I'll swing down to the water's edge to try and catch some fish for dinner. The pack had taken down a large wild boar the night before, so I was in the mood for a little seafood. Happy with this plan, I shifted and grabbed my bundle of clothes with my mouth. Setting off at a steady pace, I headed due South. Briel's POV The more I struggled, the more securely they seemed to hold me in place. My struggles had drawn quite the onlooking crowd by now. Many of the Tribe were swimming close by to see what was going on. It wasn't often that our hunters were called on for more than defense against others. We were only a short way below the surface now, and I could see the moon was full overhead. Why were they doing this to me?! "Briel," the Elder sang my name on a note that washed over my entire being, trying to soothe and calm. My mind seemed like murky water. What was going on? "You may release her." "She may try to swim away," the slimy-sounding hunter, who was the only one who didn't instantly release me, said. I quickly brought my claws up and dragged them roughly across the hand that was still gripping my upper arm. He hissed and let go while shifting to train his spear on me. "You are lucky, Jesiro. If she had not punished your defiance I surely would have," the Elder said. We call her Elder because she is the eldest of us. She had seen more than 500 seasons. Her hair was white, as were her scales. Her body was marked with cuts of magic and moonlight. The shells, pearls and stones that decorated her hair were the only colors in the pure white that floated around her. She was not old in her appearance. Her skin does not sag in the way of the Land Walkers as they age. Her breasts were still high and firm. She still made young too. Her heat was the strongest scent in the water. It was a well-known fact that she only chose the strongest of the warriors to mate with now that her true mate was gone. Unlike most, the Elder did not succumb to the grief that kills most of our kind when their mate dies. Instead, she absorbed his energy. What she had done was rare, so rare that she was the only one in our tribe like her. She was skilled at the magic of her song; she knew how to use it. Most of us have never tried to sing more than a mating song because of how powerful and dangerous our songs are. There were none among us who could control our song like her. Only other Elders from other tribes or Queens. Queens were even rarer. The only queen we knew of was over 900 seasons old, and she never left her icy waters in the north most sea. My head was still murky from the Elder's song, so I was having difficulty keeping up with her words. "-again, I will handle the situation myself." "What?" I asked as I shook my head, trying to shake the fog from it. She swam closer to me and looked me over. "What I say now I say for your own good. You will not avoid your heat this season," she said softly as her clear blue gaze held my eyes captive. My heart was pounding now, she couldn't have just said that! "That is my decision to make, not yours," I hissed, my anger making the fog vanish instantly, as though it had never been there at all. She seemed surprised at my will for a moment before when she began to hum a note softly. I couldn't deny the power of it, until I realized what she was doing. I hissed in fury, "Enough! The decision is mine to make." "There, you are wrong," she said with a small smile that seemed almost sad. Her song changed to something completely different then. It was low, seductive. A mating call. The males all around us in the water began to secrete the mating hormone into the water. The more I scented it, the more my center seemed to burn. Lava began to burn in my tail. I wanted an escape. I wanted the deeps to cool this fire. I hissed in agony as males began to approach me. "NO!" I shrieked at them, my barbs coming out as I went back into defense mode. I slapped the one who dared to come closest with the largest barb on the end of my tail. "You can force my heat, but I refuse to mate!" "You will not resist forever. Look at you! Look how you have come into yourself with your heat!" the Elder sang in triumph. I looked down to see that much about me had changed. I now seemed to have more colors, more sensory and decorative fins along my tail. I was furious. I looked up at the Elder, wanting nothing more than to rip her apart and find the cool relief of the deeps. "Can it really be? Look! Look at her eyes! She is a Queen!" All around us became very still suddenly. I was still burning, but none of that seemed to matter for a moment. She called me a Queen. A queen became known when she first came into her heat. Her eyes would glow even in the light and her claws, barbs and teeth would all become venomous. My eyes found the male who had gotten sliced with my barb. The slice across his chest was oozing black liquid and there were black streaks that had begun to expand from the wound itself across his chest. He seemed to be in a great deal of pain. It was true, I had somehow become a Queen. I swam toward him slightly and he saw. His eyes widened and he rolled his head back, fully exposing the front of his throat. He was submitting to me in the most humble way, he was asking for mercy. I got a little closer and placed a hand on his throat gently, I was sparing his life, if he survived the venom. He seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. "Will you heal him?" the Elder asked me. She seemed to think I had an antidote to a venom I hadn't even known that I had! "If you don't then your venom will end his life." "How do I heal him?" I asked her since she seemed to know it all. "With your song. You must desire him to be healed and sing your desire. Only you can do this, you are his Queen," she said softly. Sing? She wants me to sing? I've never sang before! I tried to focus. But all I could hear was mother's voice warning me about the song. ' remember always that your song is as much a curse as it is a powerful gift. You can destroy the whole world with your song my sweet. yours is a powerful song. ' I'd sang as a child I now remembered. I'd been playing in a pool among the rocks on the surface while mother hunted. I'd been singing to the little starfish in the pool when mother surfaced screaming for me to swim, to get below to the reef where I would be safe. As she reached me the world exploded in sound. The sound was huge, like bull whales fighting for a female, only above the water. A ship had crashed into the rocks, just on the other side from where I'd been playing. As I hid I saw my mother saving the Land Walkers from the water. The creatures were weak and unable to survive without the dryness of the land above. They didn't see her, but they spoke their odd language of simple sounds, some more loudly than others. It was after this that mother told me I must be very careful. Land Walkers are such simple creatures, and they had heard my song to the starfish. They crashed their way of surviving the water against the rocks because they had been desperate to find my song my mother said. They didn't even know why they wanted to find it, they simply knew that they did. I shook my head at the memory knowing that I could not save this male. I had never had control, I had never even practiced. I hadn't sung at all since that day when I was only 3 seasons old. I was still shaking my head when the male began to seize up. His body began to jerk around and the Elder sang the song again that had made my head feel like murky water earlier. Only this time I didn't feel disoriented, I could clearly hear every note she sang. "I can't do what you ask," I said trying to give her room to work. She shook her head and sang more, clearly waiting for me to try. I listened to her voice and then tried to match her sound. The sound I made was small at first. I watched him grow still slowly, and then my song changed. I don't know how or why, but the notes took on an eerie sound that was high and low at the same time. The song was meant to heal, and heal it did, but something else seemed to be happening. He was growing in size. The Elder was silent now and watching with a look of shock clear on her face. The wound stopped oozing now, and was almost gone, and his eyes that had been rolled back into his head were now open and focused on me. I stopped singing when the wound was fully closed and simply looked at him. "The Queen has healed you completely," the Elder said the the male. His eyes never once left mine, and I was startled by what I saw. His eyes were glowing violet, which only happened when a warrior was awakened. His body was now marked with violet in the markings of a warrior. "She has also made you her warrior. I have not seen something like this since I was still young." "I will serve you always my Queen,'' said the male in a voice that was pure devotion. I could feel him connected to me. I placed my hand over my heart and felt the echo of this new warrior's heartbeat in my chest. He was bonded to me, and I could feel him. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what I did or how I did it, You don't have to serve me," I said quickly. He smiled softly and approached me, clearly scenting my heat in the water. I hissed at him, clearly not wanting to be touched. He stopped his approach and bowed his head, clearly willing to obey. His arousal was clear and protruding in front of him, as were the other males. "I will serve you always. Will you let me help ease the pain of your heat?" he asked, bringing my focus back to my tail and the fire there. "NO!" I said, angry again. I turned on the Elder, furious again that she had done this to me. "Why did you do this?!" "Because I realized what you have been doing all these seasons. We all thought you could not make young, we hear the stories of less and less young being born in all the waters. We need young if our people are to survive. As Queen, it is not only your sacred duty, but you will birth future Queens. I thought they had all died out. I don't know how you are what you are, but you are a Queen. Your tribe will reject you if you don't make young. You will be a Queen with no waters," she said as she swam away from the growing mass of males that surrounded us. My heat was the only scent left in the water, I couldn't even smell the rest of the tribe. It only took a look around to see that they had all come to my scent. They would find me even in the deeps. With a hiss of fury I swam toward the shore. The males were following, some foolish enough to try and get a little close to me. I turned and opened my mouth to hiss at them. Only a song began to emerge. It was mostly deep sounding, but my anger was evident in every note. The males following hissed and writhed in pain. Only my warrior seemed immune. I put my lips together again, now afraid of the power of my own voice. Before any could follow I swam for the shoreline. Pulling myself ashore was no easy task, but I managed it. I lay there flipping my oddly heavy tail on the wet sand. I rolled to my back once I was fully out of the water and looked at the moon. It didn't take long before I began to change. My tail was on fire in an entirely new way, as if a shark were attacking me. It felt like I was ripping, being split in two. When I could finally handle the pain no longer my mouth opened and I let out a single scream before the world grew dark.