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A vicious, ugly blade cut into him—jealousy, possessive and consuming. But he breathed past it, somehow, waiting.
“Colby grabbed the guy. Meridia’s people intervened. The human wasn’t hurt, but... ”
Red washed over his vision. “Did Colby lay a hand on Zee?”
“You know better.” Boone’s mouth went flat. “But it doesn’t matter. Zee was apparently in such bad shape that she was in physical pain by the time Colby dragged himself off the floor. The only thing that centered her, according to him, was Meridia grabbing her and holding tight.” Gaze sliding away again, Boone swallowed. “Colby’s best guess is that she’s in deprivation, probably hasn’t had physical contact from anybody in years, other than hugs and shit from the few Atargarians she considers friends.”
“That’s not possible,” Niko said.
“That’s what I told Colby.” His mouth tight, the other man continued. “The Therians in the region won’t go near her. Word got around that you... ” Boone’s cheeks went red. “You’d staked your claim.”
“I broke things off!” Niko shouted, feeling sick inside even though the thought of anybody else touching Zee enraged him. Even now.
“But you never told anybody she was no longer yours,” Boone told him softly. “You never rescinded your claim, Niko. Who the fuck is going to risk a Prime’s rage over a woman?”
Niko shoved the heels of his hands to his eyes, blood filling his mouth as his fangs grew and sliced into flesh he hadn’t allowed to shift. He pulled them back, not trusting himself even with the taste of his own blood.
“You’re telling me she’s been without a pack, and without physical contact from another Therian since she left North Carolina,” Nikolai said quietly as his memory played back every cutting, cold word he’d thrown at her, while the taste of her still lingered on his tongue, addictive... rich... and entirely too delicious, too exotic... too... other to belong to a Therian. “For ten years, she’s been alone.”
“Actually, it’s more than just Therians. There was a rumor about an Atargarian. At least I thought it was a rumor, but Phoenix confirmed it. She’d been dating the guy and they were in Boston. A Therian coyote saw him and attacked. Blood was drawn, both of the males wounded. Two more dominant male Atargarians intervened and separated them, told the coyote not to show his face in the city again. Apparently... Well, there’s a number of Therians who can’t go near Boston or the Cape anymore.”
“Are you telling me she’s gone without any kind of contact?”
“It’s not like we’re pen pals,” Boone said, his face still red. “But from what I’ve been able to put together, yeah.”
* * * * *
MERIDIA RARELY BANNEDanybody from Atargarian territory.
There were those who would abuse people living in the domain her father had decreed was hers until it was time for her to ascend as Prime, but she dealt with such in more final ways; the way she saw it, if somebody was stupid enough to mistreat someone knowing the region was under the protection of the Regnar, then they would be stupid enough—or cruel enough—to do it again.. Unless they were removed from the playing board, so to speak. So, she removed them. Permanently.
Humans were the only exception—she turned them over to the human authorities.
Those authorities knew better than fuck around when it came to serving out justice to somebody who’d harmed those under her protection. It didn’t matter if that person was human, Atargarian, Fae, Nightdweller, or even a Therian wolf who had likely once more retreated inside herself.
But while Colby Winters hadn’t directly harmed Zee, he’d damaged her all the same.
It wasn’t just the denial of physical contact—something that Meridia knew Zee was starving for, in the very basest sense of the word. He’d also brought the memories.
She was tempted to ban all Therians from her territory.
She might yet do so, although it would require a discussion with her Prime. As much as her father loved and doted on her, he required she be a leader first, and a daughter second. Although she saw no reason why he’d say she couldn’t ban Therians from the Cape.
None of them really needed to be here anyway as far as she was concerned.
If official business arose, then exceptions could be made at that specific time. Beyond that? The whole mangy lot of them could go rot. Zee, of course, would always be welcome.
Still brooding over it, she dove beneath the waves, her tailfin slapping hard against the surface of the water in a sign of agitation. One of the seals that lived in the waters brushed against her and she traced her fingers down his side but shook her head in his silent request to play.
He faded away into the inky blackness of the night-dark ocean. She swam on, deeper and deeper, her mermaid form strong and lithe, scything through the water with ease.
One of the larger denizens of the ocean approached, a humpback. She blew out a stream of bubbles in consternation. The big mammal gave her a sidelong look and settled in to keep pace with her. The easy peace from the animal many called a guardian of the oceans undid some of the knots in Meridia’s gut and she shot the whale a playful look before releasing the coiled strength inside her.
They raced. The whale soon fell behind, his mass too much for him to travel at a high speed, but they continued to play, Meridia darting back to circle around and around while he tried to tuck her under one of his fins.
She didn’t let herself linger though, scenting the change in the waters that told her they’d circled back around. Swimming over to the whale, she laid a hand on his head.
“Thank you.” The mer could communicate with many of the more advanced water animals and while the beasts didn’t understand words automatically, creatures like dolphins and whales did know emotion.
