Page 68 of Chasing Tail
“I was there when the three of you gathered a crowd to rescue that pup. I heard what Callum said about people being able to marry who they wanted. I was hoping you’d pick a succubus, Beck. She’s pretty, and there’s no one like her here, but it’s a little unfair she gets here and hogs all three princes.”
Taron and I both bared our teeth at her, but it was way more effective when Taron did it because of his shark teeth. Nissa jumped back and shrieked.
“What is he?”
“Come on, Nissa. I’ve played with you and an incubus before. Taron is a part of this. He’s from the ocean too. You’re terrified of sharks, so you might not want to make him angry. He’s territorial around his people. We’re his people now. You don’t love me anyway, Nissa. I read your star chart night I fed you chocolate covered strawberries. You’re meant to be with an Ares, and that’s not me. You’d get bored with me, eventually.”
Taron and I were both trying really hard to play nice. We both knew Beck was letting her down easy and telling her he wanted to be with us. I was just as territorial as Taron was, and Beck wasmine.I really didn’t want to hear about the things he did with her before he met me. I didn’t know what a chocolate covered strawberry was, but I wanted to stab her a little that Beck fed her some.
“I think I met him, but he’s rude and constantly starting fights.”
“And you need a man who can handle being married to a succubus who will keep you on your feet, Nissa. You’re bored if you don’t have a challenge.”
“I’ll take the challenge you just brought me. I’ve never dressed a mermaid before, and she’ll need something for your party if she’s going to be on the arm of all three of you. It has to be perfect.”
“And comfortable?” I asked.
There were a lot of things I didn’t understand here, but there were plenty of things I did. Everyone wore clothes here, and the more important you were, the more ornate your clothing was. That meant a lot more uncomfortable in my eyes. Topaz tormented the evil queen with her dresses. I just wanted to be able to breathe properly and not fall flat on my face.
“You’re the only mermaid in this kingdom. I can’t dress you like anyone else. It’s going to be an entirely new design. It’s going to be comfortable and beautiful.Everyoneis going to want one.”
“Will I be able to breathe and be able to walk without tripping?”
“It’ll be perfect. Talk to Topaz. I design her entire wardrobe. The king thought only the druids were capable of making clothes fine enough to dress the royal family, and he never even suspected a succubus was clothing his children.”
“Thanks, Nissa. I already gave you Kishi’s measurements. Taron fits my clothes just fine. Can you make him something too?”
“As long as he keeps those teeth away from me. That was terrifying, and I was in a pub when a vampire was dumb enough to hit on an Alpha’s mate right in front of him.”
Taron gave Nissa this smile that was nothing but creepy. I knew full well he wouldn’t bite her, but he needed to scare her a little. We were both a little mad she tried to assert dominance and take Beck. It wasn’t a big, violent show like we were used to, but it was still there.
“No biting,” Taron said.
Nissa looked like she didn’t trust him. He was doing an excellent job of making her think that too. He had no intention of ripping her apart with his teeth, but he was just standing there looking creepy and letting her think that. Fuck, I loved Taron. Beck knew it too and swatted at his arm.
“Quit messing with her, Taron. Nissa is a good person and the best designer in this entire kingdom. She didn’t mean it when she said that. Nissa knows I’m not her soulmate.”
“A rude bear shifter with a bad temper and a drinking problem is, but I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about that.”
“Conrad is a teddy bear when you get to know him. So give him a chance, Nissa.”
“I did. And I keep going back, even if he keeps me awake with his snoring and drinks all my ale before breakfast.”
Nissa was complaining a lot, but she had this tiny smile on her face like she secretly liked all that. I wasn’t furious about what she said to Beck anymore. I just hoped she figured out things with that bear because it sounded like she was fond of him if she would just admit it to herself.
“Thanks, Nissa. These two have been cramped in my house while we figured out how to expose our father. We’re going to give them a tour, then take them to the shifter party.”
“Conrad is taking me when I close up shop. I guess that’s one of his perks. I get invited to shifter parties. He said they have a piganda deer roasting. The bears are bringing barrels of their best honeyed ale, and the cats are bringing all the pies they are so good at—the sweet and the savory. Youneedto feed your ocean friends one of their fish pies if you haven’t already.”
“I like pie,” Taron grunted.
So did I, but neither of us had it with fish before. Callum put his hand on my back and steered us out of the shop. I wanted to see everything his kingdom had to offer, but I was also very excited about the upcoming parties.
I adored parties back home. I couldn’t wait to attend one on land. I liked the shifters I’d met so far. It sounded like they partied harder than sea otters. Otters were mostly annoying, but they threw frequent celebrations over the most trivial things, and it always tended to get really wild. Something told me the party in the forest was going to get like that too.
I wound my arm through Callum and Forrest’s. We had clothing sorted for the royal party, and I got this feeling Nissa would do what she promised and make it comfortable.
“Show me your kingdom! Then Taron and I want to see if your shifters can party like the otters.”
