Chapter 13: The call of the sea

Olivia POV

During the car ride, I felt numb. My mind kept going back to Marcus.

He came to see me.

Warmth and excitement rushed through me at his words, but at the same time, I couldn’t stop the feeling of sadness and anger.

What Lizzy had told me about him and his ways, and what I had seen myself at school ripped my heart apart. The thought of that she-wolf drooling over my mate made my blood boil as the anger present inside of me wanted—no needed—to rip off those claws of hers.

He was mine… yet he wasn’t.

The bitter truth of that reality crushed my heart because we were destined to be together. A perfect fit. But we couldn’t.

Being together put his kind and mine at risk, and how could I put my own people in such great danger for the benefit of my own happiness?

Goddess, why did you have to make him my mate, over all other Sirens I could be with without any obstacles, and I just had to end up with a werewolf, and Alpha at that.

Blowing out a long breath, I leaned my forehead on the cold window of the door. Tyson hadn’t uttered a word since he placed me in his car.

The beach, he said. Why would he take me there?

I could feel Aurora’s sadness since our encounter with Marcus. She hadn’t said a word, but I could feel her.

I closed my eyes as the drive lulled me into a dreamless sleep. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but the next thing I knew, I was being gently shaken as Tyson tried to get me to wake up.

“Wake up, princess. We are here.”

I opened my eyes and saw his smiling face, and he extended his arm for me to take it.

I took his hand, and when I stepped out of the car, I saw beautiful sand all around us, with little waves were lapping onto the few rocks that were peeking out from the ocean. Seagulls flew above as dawn was rising to color the whole scene in beautiful soft colors, making it all looking so magical.

Excitement filled me as the ocean called for me to go and immerse myself in it.

Tyson walked ahead, and I could see the excitement in his eyes when he said, “Come.”

As we neared the line that separated the sand and the water, I was surprised when I saw him taking off his shirt. Then his hands went for the buckle of his pants, and I instantly blushed and looked away.

Unfortunately, he saw my reaction, which made him chuckle.

“I’m not shy, princess, but anyway we cannot swim in our clothes.”

My eyes widened and I snapped my head to look at him to see if he was being serious. “Swim?” I asked with a little shriek in my voice.

He laughed as he loosened his belt and walked closer to me. “The ocean will do us both good, and our Sirens need that. So yes, we will dive in and shift. Just trust me, princess.”

His half-naked proximity was making it so hard to form a sentence, or even a word for that matter. Swallowing the lump that was in my throat, I reluctantly nodded.

My eyes drifted over his solid chest. He was tall, broad, fit, and had muscles that made my mouth water. He wasn’t bad looking at all, but he wasn’t nearly as mouth-watering as Marcus was. I shook my head… I would not let myself think about Marcus any more.

“Can you at least give me some privacy, please?”

He laughed and said, “Of course, princess.”

I heard him walk away and took a quick peek over my shoulder to be sure he was gone. As I tried to will myself to undress out in public, I heard the water splash behind me. I turned and saw Tyson already standing waist-deep in the ocean, waiting for me.

“Tyson! You said you would give me some privacy, turn around then.”

He laughed and put his hands up in surrender, turning his back at me. “If you don’t come in here in five minutes, I will turn around,” he warned.

Working on my clothes, I got undressed a little clumsily but at least it was fast. When I was done, I made a run for the ocean and dove in. The feeling of the cold sea on my warm skin was liberating.

As my head surfaced, I opened my eyes and saw Tyson watching me.

He started to slowly approach me, which made me nervous as hell because… well, I was naked and so was he.

“Umm… Tyson… w-what are you doing?”

“Coming closer, obviously.” He smirked.

“No, I mean, I think this is a good distance.”

He arched his eyebrow at me in question. “Are you still feeling shy, princess, or is it that us both being naked in this beautiful ocean makes you feel nervous?” he asked me with a sly smirk playing on his lips.

I wanted to punch him and erase that smirk, but that would mean I would need to get close to him, and that is definitely a big no.

“Just stay there… and take that smug look off your face.”

He stopped coming closer but kept that stupid smug look on his face.

Rolling my eyes, I looked ahead over the horizon, and we both stayed silent for a few moments.

“Are you ready, princess?”

I turned and looked at him with a smile. “Yes,” I answered.

Then I saw him changing into his Siren.

Closing my eyes, I reached out for Aurora, and I could feel the surge of energy flow through my body, bringing little shiny scales on the surface. Where my legs once were was now a long, strong, muscular light blue tail. It was interesting that the temperature of the water didn’t feel as cold as it did before I shifted.

My arms only slightly changed. They still looked almost like human arms, yet they weren’t quite the same. My senses were sharper as I dived deeper under the surface, moving fast, feeling so light and free.

As I swam, I felt a presence coming towards me from behind, and when I turned around, I saw shiny greenish-yellow scales swish past me. I tried to hear his movements or see where he went, but I couldn’t hear or see anything with as dark as it was this deep down. Plus, the underwater reef was not helping at all.

Swimming slowly ahead, I extended my arm to touch the seaweed and was startled as something suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. I found myself colliding with a strong chest and arms wrapped securely around my waist.

He laughed as I screamed at him while hitting his chest with my fists. But it didn’t do any damage and he didn’t even budge.

“You jerk! You scared me, you almost gave me a heart attack!”

Tyson’s laugh was loud and echoed all around us.

I wanted to be mad at him, but his laugh was contagious and I started to laugh myself.

“I am sorry, princess, but I just couldn’t help myself. Plus, you are so adorable when you’re mad and pouting.”

I smacked his chest again and he continued to laugh.

Finally, as his laughter died down, he looked at me with his playful eyes. “Come.” He led the way; I had no idea where we were going.

As we swam deeper into the ocean, I saw all kinds of different ocean life. When I came upon a fallen rock, I saw a red starfish to my right and noticed that she looked strange. Then I saw her struggling because her leg was stuck under the heavy weight of the rock.

Tyson stopped when he saw me turn towards her. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“I have to help her.”

He looked at me confused as I swam towards the reef where the poor starfish was stuck.

“Help who?”

“Starfish.”

He didn’t say anything else, just watched me.

When I got to the starfish, I lifted the rock and threw it aside, releasing her. Luckily, she was fine, and she was able to walk away and hide.

I looked at Tyson with a huge, happy grin on my face. He was looking at me strangely, but as soon as he saw looking at him, the emotions on his face quickly vanished.

He swam close to me as he took my hand. “Come now.” With a sweet smile on his face, he gently pulled at my arm, and we swam ahead.

The day was beautiful, and the swim was liberating and just what I needed to clear my mind from all the drama.

Later in the afternoon, Tyson drove me back home. My parents gave me a look that made me red to the roots of my hair.

As soon as I got to my room, James couldn’t even give me a minute to change before he barged right in.

“So how was your date?”