The Alpha's Selkie Mate

Chapter 3

Most of the shifters kept their distance from her after the fight, their wary gazes never quite leaving her. No one said anything to her, about her, or even tried to get her to leave their celebrations, but still, the delicate hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end.

They had been since the moment the big male had laid hands on her. She couldn’t help but think that he was still out there somewhere, in the dark between the trees, watching and waiting, his dark eyes promising pain and humiliation. Or worse.

It was a feeling she ignored as best as she could.

So, she focused on what she did know. And what she wanted.

There was no longer any sweat trailing down her arms and back, nor were any bodies pressed against each side of her as they mutually undulated, free and wild, giving themselves over to the drums. Until that stupid male had come along, no one had cared that she wasn’t one of them. No one had batted an eyelid at her.

For a moment, she’d truly been a part of something.

To have lost that feeling so soon after having it…

Meriwa shook her head. That was okay, she told herself. She didn’t need anything but the music. The moment. The feelings. Everything that came from being here.

It was enough.

The air was chill where it slid between her and the others.

But still, she kept on dancing.

No matter how she tried though, it just wasn’t the same. The spark of magic she’d been living before was gone, hovering a finger’s breadth out of reach. Catching it was like trying to catch a dandelion seed floating on the swift wind. Impossible.

The music had lost its passion.

The fire’s light was dull and lifeless, the heat somehow colder than it had been. Or perhaps she shivered for other reasons.

And the eyes… Goddess the eyes. She could feel them all over her, wary and suspicious. Like she was the sole focus of a hive of bees, stingers at the ready. Why couldn’t they go back to the way they had been before when they’d ignored her existence entirely? When they’d unknowingly let her be part of themselves?

It wasn’t long before she became aware of one gaze, in particular, raising gooseflesh all over her body. Just the wind. Or the fire dancing a little out of reach of me. If she ignored it, whatever it was, surely it would go away.

It didn’t.

Just a slack-jawed hanger-on, she told herself, hips stuttering in their once smooth movements, getting off on the thought of a female decking one of their males. Or something. It’ll go.

Please go.

I just want this one night, okay?

The prickling sensation between her shoulder blades only became more acute, nigh unbearable. It felt like lightening under her skin, as though every nerve and synapse was firing at the same time after coalescing in a single spot.

She reached over her shoulder to rub it, half expecting to give herself an electric shock. There wasn’t even a whiff of static though, just that churning and burning under her skin - which wasn’t even hot to the touch anymore.

No inflammation and no injury. So, nothing to worry about. Except how any single stare could make her feel this way.

Sighing quietly, she readied herself to deal with another pushy male. All she wanted was a few hours to dance. Was that too much to ask?

The Goddess above certainly seemed to think so, as she peered down over everything with her bright eye. Meriwa wondered if, behind that blank whiteness, she was amused by what she saw.

Or disappointed.

Maybe this was a sign that it was time to leave.

It wasn’t like these shifters wanted her here.

It’s just dancing, she reminded herself. Besides the big male, she’d spoken to no one. Invited nothing. She had kept herself as separate as she could, in case she spoiled herself beyond redemption.

She wouldn’t be able to honor Panuk, and herself, if she couldn’t go back to her people. And she had to go back to her people.

No one would know what she’d done, that she’d broken their most sacred rule. They simply couldn’t. They weren’t here, now, and she wouldn’t smell like anything but the ocean and grief when she got back.

Meriwa would be gone with the sunrise and these shifters would forget all about her too. It would be as though she’d never existed in the first place. As though none of this had ever taken place.

It was a moment of pleasure amidst the promise of a lifetime of everything but. Didn’t she deserve a single moment? Did it matter if she had already taken it? Surely the Goddess, anyone, wouldn’t begrudge her that.

Besides, unless this new male was a glutton for humiliation, there were dozens of young, beautiful females for them to choose from. They did not need to annoy her.

A grim frown pulled at her brow.

She knew what he wanted. What every male wanted – the chance to humble a female before their so-called ‘power.’

Had she made herself a target by protecting herself?

Was this one of the big male’s lackeys doing his bidding and trying to make her uncomfortable enough to leave?

She wasn’t about to let anyone get the better of her. Wriggling her shoulders to try and dislodge the just-shy-of-painful sensation, she tried to get back into the music.

And tried.

And tried.

Gritting her teeth, Meriwa growled long and low in her throat. She’d lost the rhythm. It was gone like a butterfly slipping between her outstretched fingers. Oh, she could still move with the rest of the school, but she now felt unsure of herself, of the way she held her limbs or swiveled her hips. The naturalness of it was gone. Instead, leaving her stilted and jittering.

Sadness lapped at her.

Eyes narrowed in accusation, she turned to where the stare was still coming from.

Her gaze snagged on a pair of smoky grey eyes, luminescent on the other side of the bonfire. The ground fell out from under her, her heart speeding up inexplicably in her chest at the sight of those glowing orbs. Abruptly, it was as though she’d chased a penguin to exhaustion, twirling and swirling in the frigid waters, between the ice. It left her dizzy, even more unsure of the feet under her.

Suddenly, her human form was too tall, too far off the ground. Her center of gravity was all wrong.

She could hear nothing but the buzz of her pulse, the whoosh of the blood that coursed through her in strong and fast pumps, echoing inside her skull.

It was impossible to tear her eyes away from him.

He was lithe, this male, and he was lounging against the trunk of a distant tree, away from anyone else, his arms crossed over a pleasantly broad chest that tapered into a pair of trim hips.

No wonder she had felt his look as though it were a physical touch, with eyes like that. Mercurial and shifting, like the smoke that drifted off the fire. Overcast skies from one angle, dark enough to almost be black from another. When the light caught them just so, the light reflected back at her as a beacon of fiery, white light.

Trying to breathe was near impossible; it snagged in her throat, thick and unfamiliar.

How could she not have noticed him before, when the world had narrowed in and everything else had faded away?

His body was held so casually in check but she could see the tension coiled beneath the surface of those solid muscles, and there was no mistaking that it was Meriwa he was looking at. His observation was direct, brazen even - those eyes tracked every minute shift of her body.

For the first time in her life, Meriwa felt truly like prey. Not even the other male’s attentions had made her feel like this. The dress she wore wasn’t long enough, thick enough, and she fought the urge to cover herself. For a moment, she longed for the sting of ice against her skin, if only for a moment’s reprieve.

She feared she would melt away to nothing otherwise, under the heft of that naked stare.

Before she jerked her head and tore her eyes away from his – like pulling glued fingers apart - she caught his unfurling smirk. Just the mere quirk in the corner of a mouth too plush to rightfully belong to a male.

The heat licking at the underside of her skin began tingling, more like anger than this strange feeling she’d never felt before.

There were only a few hours left before sunrise. The moon had already begun to descend towards the horizon. She wasn’t going to waste it caught up in a staring match with a pretty— no, arrogant male.

If only that were true, and she could’ve stopped herself sneaking peeks at him.

Now that she knew he was there, he was like a magnet that continually pulled her eyes toward him. Behind the veil of her thick, black human hair, she looked at him over and over again.

Worst of all, he seemed to know it. He wore that infuriating smirk like the finest cologne. It was almost inviting her to come closer and see if it was as delicious up close as it was far away.

Which only made her scowl, her cheeks irritable and likely red.

Just the fire, she told herself.

His observation lay over her like a sun-warmed blanket on the hottest day of the summer – heavy and cloying. Just who did he think he was, staring at her so blatantly? Just thinking about it made her gnash her teeth, brow furrowed darkly over her eyes.

If he was trying to intimidate her like that other male, it wasn’t going to work.

Hitching her chin, she met his eyes shamelessly.

The bastard dared to smile fully, showing his bone-white teeth. Straight and perfect; a mouthwatering contrast to the deep olive of his skin. He stood in the shadow of the moon, but he was kissed by the sun. Blessed, perhaps. She thought he might even have chuckled to himself, a small quake racing across his broad shoulders.

Tossing her head with a chuff that belonged in the throat of her true form, she began to dance. All without taking her eyes off of his. If he could stare, then so could she. And Meriwa would do it better. This male, infuriating as he was, would be the first one to look away. That she would make sure of.

He shook his head, smile still firmly fixed in place.

That was as good as an acceptable.

It was game on.

Her movements took on that liquid quality once more; limbs and hips smooth as she followed the crooked finger of the sweet, deep melody.

Meriwa fought the urge to smile back at him, the handshake that would seal this little bet of theirs, as it were. Instead, she sunk further into the sensual roll of her hips, thighs pressed tightly together. His eyes drank her in, as though he hadn’t tasted water in weeks. Sweat ran down her neck, collecting in the shadowed valley between her breasts.

She could tell he fought the urge to follow its path with his eyes.

The muscle in the corner of his jaw leaped, sharp enough to cut glass. How would it feel to run her tongue over it – would she feel the muscle tick? Would the dark stubble scape her tongue raw or would it delight her?

Meriwa quickly banished the thought. It was the heat from the fire, that was all. It made her think these strange thoughts.

Her fingers brushed along her shoulder to her collarbone, tingles following in their wake. Then over the mounds of her breasts, lingering a moment too long because it felt so strangely good, down the flat plane of her stomach to the fabric stretched taut at the apex of her thigh.

The male’s sharp Adam’s Apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed hard.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

Stiffening up as though she’d struck him, his eyes flew back up her body to catch once more on hers.

It was a look she felt right down to her toes.

Before the world could fall away again, he was joined by another male. He appeared out of nowhere, two earthenware cups in his hands. He held one out, making her male startle a little. With obvious reluctance, her rival turned to give his friend his attention, taking one of the cups into his long-fingered hands and using it wet his throat.

She wondered if it was as dry as hers.

Every moment his eyes strayed from her, the cooler her body became. Without their game to drive her, the music lost some of its luster.

Meriwa tried not to think about how hollow her victory felt now that she no longer held his regard. Shrugging, she turned away.

But only for a moment.

It was impossible not to watch them. She did so under the fan of her lashes.

This new male that had appeared was…different. She couldn’t put a finger on what it was about him that unsettled her so, but it was undoubtedly there. He was of a height with her rival, though perhaps a little leaner in the shoulders. Looking at him made her feel strange, like the smoke around her was thickening somehow. Until it was just on the verge of making her choke.

She cleared it, brow puzzled.

Grey eyes flickered towards her, twinkling in amusement as his mouth twitched. Like he knew exactly what was happening to her.

And that, still, she watched him.

He took a drink from his cup, leaning deeper into the tree as he crossed his arms and ankles.

She could tell that he too was still very aware of her.

The new male had a deeper skin tone, looking like polished bronze in the firelight, black hair lying thickly around his collarbones. So, pitch dark was each strand that it ate up any light that dared touch it.

She could only make out his profile, the strong line of his slightly hooked nose and the severe press of his mouth, tight in the corners.

Like he hadn’t smiled in years.

He was talking at the first male, mouth moving quickly in agitation. Every so often, his teeth would glint in the firelight. Her rival paid him little mind because his attention kept straying towards Meriwa, who was still dancing like she wasn’t watching them.

After a moment, the second male barked something she couldn’t hear and followed the line of his friend’s gaze.

Straight to her.

His eyes stole the breath from her lungs, making her feel like she was caught under an ice floe after a dive that stretched on too long. Black eyes, shot through with glowing lines of yellow and orange – like there was a fire within them. Within him. Or perhaps someone had hollowed him out and filled him up to the top with writhing coal embers.

No memories flooded through her, no visions. Nothing that would tell her what this thing was.

Fear gnawed at her belly. A sense of deep cold stealing along her limbs to curl inside her chest.

That gaze left her feeling frigid for all the fire that snapped within them. How could that be?

More than any other moment tonight, she wanted to go – to run as fast as she could – to the beach and find her pelt. Could this creature, whatever he was, find her beneath the waves?

If he knew the line of her thoughts, he didn't give any indication. The only expression on his face was a slight downward bow in his mouth. His lids narrowed at her and he turned to the other man, saying something too quick for her to try and make out.

The first male shook his head.

They continued this back and forth for a time. She could tell that the dark male was growing increasingly agitated, fingers digging into his cup.

After a while of getting nowhere, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the night. So quickly did he fade away that she wondered if even the light of the goddess avoided him.

She shuddered.

Before realizing that she'd been left alone with the grey-eyed male.