*Silas POV:*

The morning sun hit my face, but it brought no warmth. My wolf, *Fenrir*, was pacing in the back of my mind, restless and agitated. He had been like this for three years, scratching at the walls of my consciousness, howling for something I couldn't understand.

*She is hurting,* Fenrir growled in my head. *Mate is hurting.*

*She is a monster,* I snapped back at him. *She killed them.*

I walked through the courtyard, needing to clear my head. The scent of the garden was usually calming, but today, the air was thick with whispers. Two young pack members were talking near the fountain, unaware of my approach.

"My grandfather said the former Alpha and Luna weren't killed," one boy whispered. "He said they went into the sea willingly. That the merfolk were trying to help."

"Shh! Do you want to die?" the other hissed. "Alpha Silas will rip your throat out."

Rage, hot and blinding, exploded in my chest. *Lies.* The merfolk were deceitful sirens. They lured sailors to their deaths. They had lured my parents to that boat, and neither had ever returned.

I needed to vent this anger.

"Bring the prisoner to the Storm Room," I Mind-Linked my Head Warrior.

Ten minutes later, I stood in the dungeon's special interrogation chamber. The walls were etched with runes to conduct electricity. For a wolf, lightning was painful. For a creature of the water, it was agony beyond comprehension.

They dragged Marina in. She looked pathetic. Her skin was greyish, her long hair matted. She wore rags that barely covered her thin frame. Yet, when she looked up at me, her eyes-the color of a tropical lagoon-held a defiance that maddened me.

"Where are they?" I roared, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her against the conductive wall. "Where are the bodies of my parents?"

She choked, clawing at my hands. Her skin was cool to the touch, and again, that cursed static electricity zapped my fingers. It felt good, addictive, and I hated myself for it.

"I... cannot... say," she gasped. *Her eyes bulged, veins popping in her neck as if an invisible hand were strangling her from the inside.*

"Liar!"

I slammed my hand onto the activation rune.

Bolts of blue lightning arced from the walls, spearing through her body.

Marina screamed. It was a sound that tore through the air, high and piercing. Her body convulsed, her back arching off the wall. The smell of ozone and singed flesh filled the small room.

*Stop it!* Fenrir howled in my mind, slamming against the mental barrier I put up. *You are killing her! You are killing US!*

I ignored the wolf. I cut the power. Marina slumped to the floor, smoke rising from her clothes. She was trembling uncontrollably.

I crouched down, grabbing her jaw. "Tell me the truth."

She was sobbing silently. Her hand went to her chest, clutching something beneath her rags.

"What is this?" I ripped the fabric.

Hanging around her neck on a piece of seaweed twine was a pearl. But not a normal pearl. It was a deep, swirling blue, pulsing with a faint inner light. It smelled of the ocean depths and... of me.

"No!" she shrieked, finding her voice. "Please! That is for him! For my Mate!"

My blood ran cold. She had a mate? A jealous fury I couldn't explain seized me. She was a prisoner. She belonged to *me* to punish. She had no right to love anyone.

"You have no mate," I snarled. "You are a soulless beast."

I yanked the necklace from her neck. The twine snapped.

"Silas, don't!" She lunged for it, but I was faster.

I dropped the blue pearl onto the stone floor. It bounced once, chiming like a bell.

"Garbage," I spat.

I brought my heavy combat boot down.

*CRUNCH.*

The pearl shattered into iridescent dust. The light within it died instantly.

Marina froze. She didn't scream this time. She just stared at the blue dust, her expression shattering. It was as if I had stomped on her heart.

Then, tears began to flow from her eyes. But they weren't water. As they rolled down her cheeks, they hardened and turned red. Blood pearls. They clattered onto the floor, *tap, tap, tap*.

The sight of her utter devastation, combined with the confusing jealousy, made me irrational. I grabbed her face, forcing her to look at me. Her eyes were full of such pure, unadulterated hatred that it stunned me.

"I hate you," she whispered.

The words triggered my dominance. I wanted to break that hate. I wanted to own it.

I smashed my lips against hers.

It was a brutal, punishing kiss. I expected her to taste like swamp water. Instead, she tasted like sea salt and sweet nectar. The *Sparks* exploded between us, a supernova of sensation. It felt like coming home. It felt like... *Mine*.

I pulled back, horrified. My heart was racing. My wolf was purring.

*No.* This was some siren magic. She was trying to bewitch me.

"Get her out of my sight," I panted, wiping my mouth as if to scrub away the taste of her. "Throw her in the chemical vat. Let the acid wash the filth off her."

I turned and stormed out, leaving her lying amidst the blue dust of her hope and the red pearls of her sorrow. But even as I walked away, my lips burned with the memory of her.

*

*Marina POV:*

I woke up to the smell of rotting garbage.

My skin felt like it was on fire. The "chemical vat" Silas had thrown me into was a pool of diluted industrial cleaners used for the lab equipment. It had burned the outer layer of my scales and skin, leaving me raw and weeping clear fluid.

I was lying on a heap of refuse behind the Pack House kitchens.

*Marina... it's okay... I'm here...*

A soft voice drifted through my mind.

"Silas?" I whispered, hope fluttering in my chest like a dying bird. Had he realized? Was he using the Mind-Link?

A sharp kick to my ribs shattered the illusion.

"Wake up."

I groaned, curling into a ball. Emily stood over me, wearing pristine white heels. She held a plate of food.

"You must be hungry," she said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Silas said you're not allowed in the house anymore. You're a Rogue now. But I'm a benevolent Luna."

She tossed the plate onto the dirt. It was chunks of raw, pinkish meat.

I was starving. My body needed fuel to heal the acid burns. I reached out with a trembling hand and took a piece of meat. I brought it to my nose.

The scent hit me instantly. It wasn't beef. It wasn't venison.

It smelled like the deep currents. *It smelled like kin.*

"Eat it," Emily commanded.

I took a bite. The flavor was rich, salty, and horrifyingly familiar.

"Do you like it?" Emily giggled. *"I had the scientists extract the hydration glands from a scout we caught. I think it might be your cousin, Triton. Don't worry, he's still alive. Barely."*

I froze. The meat turned to ash in my mouth. My stomach heaved violently. I vomited the flesh onto the ground, retching until bile burned my throat.

"You monster!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face.

"Oh, look," Emily sneered, stepping back. "You got puke on my Louboutins."

She signaled to a guard I hadn't seen. "Teach her a lesson."

The guard stepped forward and kicked me in the stomach. I curled up, gasping for air, protecting my head.

"That's enough," Emily said after a minute. She crouched down, careful not to touch me. *"I need a favor, Marina. My skin has been looking dull lately. The serum Silas takes... it makes him strong, but I want to be timeless."*

She pulled a syringe and a bucket from her bag.

"Fill it," she ordered the guard.

The guard grabbed my arm. He found a vein that hadn't collapsed yet and inserted the needle. My blood-my Essence-flowed into the tube, filling the bucket.

I felt cold. So cold. The *Wolf* inside me-the spirit of the ocean predator-was fading. I was hollowed out.

Emily hummed as she watched the bucket fill. "You know," she said casually, "I need more power. The White Wolf legend says that if you consume the heart of a Royal Mermaid, you gain their immortality. I've been trying with the commoners, but their Essence is weak. That's why I need the White Pearl."

My eyes widened. She wasn't just cruel; she was hunting us. She was the one orchestrating the attacks, not Silas. Silas was just her weapon.

"You won't find it," I whispered weakly. "Only the Queen carries the White Pearl."

"We'll see."

When the bucket was half full, she stopped. "That should be enough."

She left me there, bleeding and broken.

I lay in the dirt for hours. As the sun began to set, I heard a sound. A soft, gurgling cry.

I dragged my body across the gravel. My fingernails tore, but I pulled myself toward the back of the laboratory shed.

Through a grimy window, I looked inside.

Horror, cold and absolute, washed over me.

Hanging on meat hooks were the bodies of three merfolk. Their tails had been skinned. But in the corner, in a small glass tank filled with dirty water, was a small figure.

He was huddled in the corner, his silver tail dull and bruised. He was tiny.

"Orion," I breathed.

It was my little brother. He was only ten. He hadn't even learned to shift legs yet.

He was alive.

*

*Marina POV:*

Adrenaline, sharp and desperate, flooded my dying system. I didn't care about the pain. I didn't care about the silver burns or the fading mark.

I smashed the window with a rock. The glass shattered, slicing my arm, but I didn't feel it. I climbed through the frame, falling onto the concrete floor of the lab.

"Orion!"

My brother looked up. His eyes were wide with terror. "Rina? Sister?"

I scrambled to the tank, plunging my hands into the water to hold him. "I'm here. I'm here."

"Well, isn't this touching."

The door to the lab swung open. Emily stood there, flanked by Silas.

Silas looked around the room, his nose wrinkling at the smell of blood-my kin's blood. He saw the bodies on the hooks. *He frowned, looking at Emily with confusion. "Emily? You told me this facility was for synthesizing the cure, not... butchery."*

*"It's research, darling," Emily said quickly, her voice tight. "Necessary sacrifices."*

She looked at me, then at Orion. Her eyes gleamed with greed. "A royal whelp. He must have a pearl."

"No!" I threw myself in front of the tank. I dropped to my knees, pressing my forehead to the dirty floor. "Please! Emily, Silas! Take me! I have the White Pearl! It's inside me! Spare him! He is just a child!"

I lied. I didn't have the White Pearl. But I would say anything.

Emily stepped forward, a knife in her hand. "Move aside, fish."

"Please!" I grabbed the hem of her dress.

"Don't touch me!" Emily shrieked. She raised the knife.

Orion, seeing his sister threatened, surged up from the water. He was small, but his teeth were needle-sharp. He lunged over the rim of the tank and bit Emily's hand.

"Ahhh!" Emily screamed, dropping the knife. "It bit me! Silas! The monster bit me! My baby! The stress!"

*Silas moved instinctively to shield his pregnant mate, stepping between them. "Orion, back down!" he roared, using the Alpha Voice to subdue the room.*

*But Emily didn't wait for Silas to handle it. Her face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. She snatched a heavy iron pestle from the nearby workbench.*

*"You filthy little parasite!"*

*"Emily, no!" Silas shouted, reaching out.*

*He was too late. Emily swung the iron bar with supernatural force.*

*It connected with Orion's skull with a sickening *crack*.*

*My brother didn't even cry out. He just went limp, sliding back into the dirty water. A cloud of silver blood instantly bloomed in the tank.*

"NO!" The scream tore my throat apart.

I crawled to Orion. I gathered his small, broken body into my arms. His eyes were open, staring at nothing.

He was gone.

I looked up at Silas. *He stood frozen, his hand still outstretched, staring at the dead child. The horror on his face was genuine. He looked from the boy to Emily, as if seeing her for the first time.*

*"You..." Silas stammered. "He was a child, Emily. You just... crushed his skull."*

*"He attacked me!" Emily shrieked, clutching her hand, though the bite was barely a scratch. "I'm pregnant, Silas! I protected our heir!"*

*"He was ten years old!" I wailed.*

Emily slumped against Silas, clutching her belly. "Oh, god, Silas! The baby! I think... I think I'm losing it!"

"Guards!" Silas roared, shaking off the shock, his duty to his unborn child overriding the horror of the moment. "Get the doctor for Luna Emily!"

"And her?" a guard asked, pointing at me.

Silas looked at me. I was rocking my dead brother, covered in his blood and mine.

"Leave her," he said, *his voice hollow.* "She's done."

He scooped Emily up and ran out.

I was alone with the dead.

I looked at my wrist. The wave mark was gone. There was nothing left but pale skin.

I felt a lightness spread through my limbs. My legs began to tingle. I looked down. My toes were becoming transparent. The dissolution had begun.

*Suddenly, the lab door creaked open again. Not guards. Not Silas.*

*Two figures limped in, looking haggard and thin, wearing the tattered remains of Alpha robes.*

*"We heard screaming," the woman rasped.*

*I blinked, my vision blurring. It was the former Alpha and Luna. Silas's parents. They weren't dead. They had been kept here, in the sub-basement.*

*"Marina?" the former Alpha gasped, rushing to the tank. "Child... what happened?"*

*"He killed him," I whispered, pointing to Orion. "They killed my brother."*

*"No..." The woman covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. "We were too late. We dug through the walls... but we were too late."*

I was fading fast now. My waist was turning into bubbles.

"Tell him," I whispered, my voice sounding like wind chimes. "Tell him I tried."

*My chest dissolved into sea foam.*

*