Chapter 1
1699 Words
Sia
BAM!
The slap cracked across my cheek, hard enough to make my head whip sideways.
Lily grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at her. Her manicured nails dug into my skin.
“Listen here, you stupid b!tch,” she hissed. “I’m the queen of Sugar & Wave. You will never compete with me, do you hear that? F!cking siren.”
Her friends snickered behind her, crowding the narrow locker room.
Diana stepped forward, yanking a handful of my hair, her glossy lips curling.
“You had the nerve to ask Teddy for a transfer to the Sugar section? How dare you?”
Another slap. My head rang.
This is my life.
Banished from the Northern Sea, stripped of my home, my future.
I came to land chasing the freedom mermaids love to brag about — new beginnings, love, wealth.
Turns out? Freedom’s a goddamn mirage for a banished siren like me.
Without a master, I’m nothing but prey for the Sea Kings’ guards.
A master has to consent to my capture — that’s how I stay out of the deep, and their dungeons.
Right now, that master is Teddy.
Greedy, sleazy Teddy, who runs this pathetic aquarium and uses his ownership of me like a leash.
And these mermaid b!tches?
They love reminding me that I’m beneath them.
The Sugar section — their little adult playground — where rich men throw cash just to stare at them.
Me? I’m stuck in the Waves section, singing nursery rhymes to bored toddlers.
I asked Teddy for a transfer. One time.
Desperation made me reckless, I just needed a promotion with decent pay. Blabber mouth Teddy told someone.
And apparently, one of these plastic sea witches ran straight to Lily.
“Stup!d b!tch,” Fiona sneered, shoving me hard against the lockers.
They laughed as they turned to leave, heels clacking on the tile floor, swaying their perfect hips, their fake hair extensions bouncing.
I touched my stinging cheek, glaring after them.
A siren never forgets.
We may be beneath them in their eyes, but they’ve never seen what happens when we stop singing sweet songs… and start playing dirty.
~~~~~
I inhale, paste on a smile, and shift as I dive into the tank. My daily work routine is always like this:
The glass doors slide open, revealing the usual trickle of kids dragging their feet, unimpressed parents glaring at the "low-class" sirens like myself.
It’s always the same.
Smile, shift ,do some flips and wave like a trained pet.
The kids love it.
As much as I loathe this job, the way their faces light up — that fleeting joy — it's the only thing that keeps me from losing my mind entirely.
But today?
Something's… off.
No excited chatter. No sticky fingers pressed against the glass.
Just a handful of stiff men in dark suits, scanning the place like they’re guarding treasure.
Before I can fully process it, a little girl rushes in.
Pink tutu, matching ribbons in her hair. Energy exploding off her in waves.
“It’s Coco Bel! Uncle, it’s her — it’s really her!” she squeals.
I flip through the water, my long dark hair trailing behind me like a scarf, waving playfully.
Her face lights up like it’s Christmas.
Behind her… is a man.
A tailored clean suit, broad shoulders and impossibly confident posture.
The kind of man whose presence makes a room tilt slightly in his direction.
But I can’t see his face. The shadows and reflection hide him as he murmurs into his phone, uninterested.
If only he’d step closer to the glass, like his niece.
I press my hand to the glass, gliding toward them.
The little girl squeals, smacking her palm against the glass to meet mine.
The man…?
Turns away, pacing a few feet back, focused entirely on his call.
Argh. I just want to see his damn face.
“Sia, get out of that tank. Lily wants it.”
Teddy’s voice buzzes through my waterproof earpiece.
I flip with practiced ease, keeping the little girl entertained with a goofy underwater dance.
“Teddy, I have a client. I can’t just—”
“Sia. Get. Out. Now!”
His voice sharpens. No room for negotiation.
Orders have to be followed, I remind myself, swallowing my irritation.
Strange though — Lily never cared about the Wave section. She owns the Sugar tank — the adult show. Why the sudden interest in my kiddie pool?
I blow the little girl a kiss and swim to the surface.
Shifting back as I climb out, I snatch a towel off the chair.
Lily’s wicked smile greets me as she prepares to take my place in the tank.
Desperate for attention, as always. She shifts mid dive.
I click my tongue.
From the other side of the glass, I hear the little girl whine:
“This one’s boring. Let’s go, Uncle. I only came to see Coco Bel.”
A small smirk tugs at my lips.
Serves you right, Lily.
~~~~
“The hottest news on our desk… Alpha Killian Smith has openly declared his mate — Luna Marilyn Maeve — at a private ceremony. It took us all by surprise. Wedding bells are ringing, and they'll tie the knot next week. We can’t wait to see what the mysterious Luna Marilyn will wear for the big day…”
Some cheesy radio gossiper yapped through Teddy’s old speakers.
Teddy’s forty-five but listens to the radio like it’s still 1945.
I yawned loudly.
“So, I’m that boring, huh?”
Teddy’s voice cut through my daze.
“Next time we get a prominent client, you leave the tank for Lily.”
Huh?
I had no idea he'd even been talking this whole time.
It’s always the same song: Lily this, Lily that.
I bet she sucks him off better than she performs in that tank.
Probably grips his shriveled balls with that fake, surgically-enhanced fish p!ssy of hers.
Lily — the self-proclaimed Kardashian of Sugar & Wave.
Teddy — walking confusion, acting like a fruity gay man until it suits him not to.
He tossed a wad of bills at me — two measly hundred notes fluttering to the floor.
“There’s your pay.”
I stared at the cash, jaw tightening.
“Teddy, this is short. You said that was a prominent client.”
I expected to see at least five hundred.
He shrugged, lighting a cigarette, blowing smoke toward my face.
“Yeah, but I gave the rest to Lily. It was her client, not yours.”
I scoffed, folding my arms.
“How the hell was I supposed to know that? This is so unfair. You’re being cruel.”
He exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing with that annoying little smirk.
“Didn’t know you were this much of a whiner.” He leaned closer, smoke curling between us.
“You forget who owns you, Sia? Want me to scratch your name off that contract? Send you back to Bikini Bottom, flipping crabby patties with SpongeBob?”
As twisted and sarcastic as it sounded, the threat wasn’t a joke.
One flick of his pen. One stroke through my name.
And the Kingsmen from the Northern Sea would come for me.
Whatever fate waits for me there?
It's worse than this pathetic aquarium, Lily or Teddy.
So I bite my tongue and remind myself that freedom’s a game of patience.
“ No. I don't.” I replied softly.
“ Good.” He leaned back on his chair.
‘One day, I'll make you pay.’ I swear to myself.
~~~~~
I popped a fry into my mouth, washing it down with cheap soda as I lounged in a dingy little diner.
On the old TV in the corner, some black and white film flickered.
Some guy stepped into a cabinet, and came out looking completely different, he had a new face.
Then he tracked down someone who looked just like him, tossed the poor bastard off a cliff, and slid right into his life like it was tailor-made.
I sat up straighter, my eyes narrowing.
Something clicked in my brain like a switch.
What if I slipped into someone else's life… took their identity and walked away from Teddy, his slimy contracts, and his trio of fish-witch favorites?
The idea coiled through me like dark silk.
Freedom tastes better than soda and fries.
But it couldn’t be just anyone.
Not another siren — that wouldn’t protect me.
Definitely not some powerless human like Teddy.
I need someone dangerous, untouchable and feared.
My lips curved into a slow, wicked smile as the answer whispered itself.
“A werewolf…”
And not just any low-rank wolf.
If I’m going to do this, I need someone high up the food chain.
A gamma or beta. Maybe even higher, if that's possible.
Someone feared, respected. The kind of wolf who could make even Teddy flinch.
Second problem…
Teddy and that damn contract. It's my leash.
See, legally — or magically, whatever — a siren like me needs a human owner on land.
Terminate the contract? The Kingsmen come knocking.
Unless…I switch ownership.
If I belong to someone else, Teddy's rights dissolve like seafoam.
My loophole?A marked mate bond with a wolf.
Marking a mate counts as ownership — the ultimate binding contract.
There’s just one complication…
The identity I'm going for has to be an unmarked wolf.
Otherwise, if I impersonate a marked mate — my plan would fall apart faster than Teddy's cheap cologne.
I don't know much about wolves.
It’s practically a sin among our kind to get tangled up with them.
Sirens messing with werewolves? They say it screws with the biology, the bond, all that Moon-blessed nonsense.
But I’ve picked up a thing or two from the whispers in Sugar & Wave.
Enough to be dangerous and survive.
If I can find an unmarked, mated wolf… slip into her skin… convince her mate to mark me…
Boom.
Teddy's leash? Gone. New master, new life.
Freedom with a side of power.
I stood up, tossing my empty fry basket onto the table.
A wicked smile stretched across my face.
Time to go shopping…
- Writer
