Chapter 2

*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.

*