Page 25 of Ensnaring the Siren

Settling among their old treasures and childhood memories, Delphine lightly touched Nireed’s shoulder, getting her attention. “Are you okay?”

“Not really.”

“What happened? Are you two fighting over a Surface Dweller?”

Nireed wavered her hand. “Not in the way you mean. Aersila only has eyes for Aquilus.”

Melusina snorted. “Not that she does anything about it.”

“She’s been through a lot.” Her sister pined for Ryn’s adopted father from afar, too hurt and scared by the past to take a chance on something new. It didn’t matter that he only had eyes for her in return, turning down all other mating offers, waiting on a slim maybe.

“What’s the fight about then?” Delphine pressed.

“She thinks he’ll side with the fishermen and hurt me, but that’s not what my instincts tell me. He has a protective nature. He cares deeply about his people, but he’s also sympathetic to the danger our pod is in.” With a sigh, Nireed explained the circumstances around meeting Reid, and every encounter since, sparing no details. “A part of me fears Aersila is seeing something I don’t.”

“Or she’s wrong.” Lounging against their old fort, Melusina flicked off a barnacle. “Seems more to me like she’s misplacing her fear for herself onto you. She’s never met him, so how would she know?”

“He does sound like he could be a worthy ally.” Picking up one of their treasures from the silt—a crown made from twisted cutlery—Delphine shook it clear of debris, then placed it on her head.

Nireed wrung her hands a moment before confessing, “My scales parted for him.”

“Oh.” Delphine’s brows ticked up a fraction, but a slow, wicked grin spread across her lips. “How exciting.”

“You should go for it.” Melusina crudely thrusted her tail upward. Both friends fell into a fit of bubbling giggles.

When the water cleared from their laughter, Nireed said, her cheeks hot, “He didn’t see, he doesn’t know. He can’t know.”

Both friends frowned, replying with a simultaneous, “Why not?”

“Because I’ve eaten men like him, and he knows it. He’ll never accept me.”

“You don’t know that…” Delphine began, but Nireed wasn’t done.

“What if this kicks off a mating frenzy? I don’t want to just accept whoever will have me.” It was a heat, a lust, that overtook the senses and drove one wild with need to fuck. To propagate. And because her people were sensitive to each other’s emotions and scents, it was a catching predicament. When one of them began feeling its effects, the rest were sure to follow.

Melusina and Delphine exchanged looks.

A mating frenzy was how Undine had gotten pregnant last year. Many in the pod for that matter. And while that was perfectly fine for them, Nireed wanted so much more. She wanted someone to look at her like Killian looked at Lorelei, or Aquilus stared longingly after Aersila, never knowing if she’d ever reciprocate his feelings.

She wanted to be loved. And she felt nothing for any of the pod’s three remaining unattached males. One of which was Aquilus, so he didn’t count. The second was Cyrus, the reckless, barely old enough male who challenged her authority anytime she was hunt leader. And the third, while willing to do the rounds with multiple partners, was so notoriously terrible at mating, Undine was trying to convince attached males to loan out their services from time to time. A battle she was badly losing.

The ratio had always been low, but it was even lower now with Nautic’s killings.

“It’s not so bad,” Delphine said. “It starts as a convenience, but it gets good quite quickly. Zavier didn’t stop until well after I started showing.”

“Never stopped is more like it.” Melusina smirked. “He visited you right up until Celia was born. And is still coming around.”

Delphine giggled.

Both had dedicated mates and little ones at home, but as far as their pod went, Nireed wasn’t the exception. Many others who could carry babies were unpaired—Aersila and Undine being other notables. While the latter had a baby, it was the result of a temporary arrangement early on in their community’s reunification, before the father entered into a dedicated pairing with another.

“Is there a way to stop a frenzy?”

Now her friends looked startled. Had anyone ever tried? The need for numbers was at the forefront of all their minds in their pod’s never-ending fight for survival.

“He’s agreed to help us stop the fishermen killing our kind,” Nireed continued. “I won’t jeopardize that alliance by making a fool of myself.”

“What if he’s not opposed?” Melusina’s hands moved with passionate poignance. “You say he’ll never accept you, but hasn’t he already begun to? Surface Dwellers don’t touch us unless they want us—otherwise, they’re too scared they’ll get their hand bit off. That’s why your scales parted. Your body knows it even if you don’t.”

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