The night reeked of blood and salt.
Waves slammed against the jagged cliffs, spraying silver foam into the midnight air. The full moon hung high above, pale and merciless, casting light across the battlefield that stretched along the rocky shore. Broken spears jutted from the sand, the bodies of wolves and Mer warriors scattered among the tide.
Dominic Veylor stood at the cliff's edge, towering over the carnage. He was a man built of iron and dominance—tall, broad-shouldered, every inch of him wrapped in the aura of command. His black hair was damp with seawater and blood, his amber eyes glowing with the restrained fury of his wolf. Around him, his warriors shifted restlessly, but none dared step closer. Their Alpha's mood was a storm in itself.
He should have felt victory. The Merfolk had been driven back into the waves once more. The shore was his tonight. And yet… something gnawed at him, something restless that refused to quiet, even with blood still fresh on his claws.
Then he felt it.
A ripple. Not of water, but of fate. The air thickened with a strange, electric pull. His wolf surged within him, claws scraping the inside of his skin as though desperate to break free.
And the sea parted.
She rose from the water like a vision carved from the moonlight itself.
Seraphina Nereida. Daughter of the Mer King. The ocean's heir.
Her long dark hair clung to her shoulders in wet strands, dripping over skin that shimmered faintly with iridescent scales. Her eyes—gods, her eyes—were the deep, shifting green of the abyss, glowing faintly as if the sea itself lived within her. Her lips were full and parted, her breath uneven from the power she wielded just to stand before him.
She was not a trembling girl. She was a weapon. The ocean curled behind her as if it bowed to her command.
And she was his mate.
The bond slammed into Dominic with brutal force, so sudden his knees nearly buckled. Heat flooded him, sharp and dangerous, coiling low in his stomach. His wolf howled, clawing against his chest, urging him to claim her, to mark her, to sink his teeth into the soft place where her neck met her shoulder.
Dominic's jaw tightened. No. This was wrong. She was the daughter of his enemy, the bloodline he had sworn to wipe from the earth. And yet his body betrayed him, every nerve alive, every breath filled with her intoxicating scent—salt, storm, and something sweeter, like forbidden fruit.
Seraphina's gaze locked on his. Her chest rose and fell, her lips curving in something between a sneer and a challenge. She felt it too. He saw it in the way her pupils widened, the way her fingers flexed at her side as though resisting the urge to touch him.
"Alpha," she said, her voice low, melodic, threaded with power. "You tread too close to waters that do not belong to you."
The sound of her voice was a blade drawn across his skin. His wolf shuddered in recognition. Mine.
Dominic's throat burned with a growl he didn't release. He took one step forward, boots grinding into the wet stone. "I take what belongs to me."
Her chin lifted. Brave, foolish. "I am not yours."
The lie curled between them, brittle and trembling. Even the sea seemed to hush at her words.
He moved faster than the wind. One moment he stood yards away, the next his hand closed around her wrist, dragging her against his chest. She gasped, her body colliding with the solid wall of muscle and heat that was him. The scent of her washed over him, drowning his resolve.
Dominic bent his head, his lips a whisper from her ear. "You feel it. Don't deny it."
Her breath hitched, and for the barest second, her body softened against his, betraying her own hunger. Then she twisted, sharp as a blade, trying to wrench free. "I feel nothing but disgust for you, wolf."
His grip tightened, not enough to bruise, but enough to remind her of the power he held. His amber eyes burned into hers, a clash of dominance and defiance.
The bond snapped like lightning between them, and for a moment he saw a flicker of her truth—desire buried beneath her rage. It nearly broke him. Nearly made him lower his guard, pull her closer, taste those lips that trembled with fury.
But Dominic was no fool. Desire was weakness. And weakness had no place in war.
With a shove, he released her, sending her stumbling back a step. His lips curled into a cold, dangerous smile. "Then you'll learn," he said, voice deep as thunder, "that disgust is not strong enough to keep me from what's mine."
Her eyes blazed, fury sparking in their green depths. "I will never be yours. I would rather drown in my own ocean."
Dominic's chest rumbled with a laugh, dark and merciless. "Careful, little siren. You've already drowned in me."
The words struck them both harder than he intended. For a breathless moment, silence stretched, thick with tension. The waves crashed harder against the shore, echoing the war waging inside them both—between hate and hunger, rage and lust.
Behind Dominic, his Beta shifted uneasily. "Alpha," he murmured, bowing his head, "what should we do with her?"
Dominic didn't look away from Seraphina. The answer was already clawing its way up from his chest.
"Take her," he said at last. His voice was iron. Final. "She's mine."
Seraphina's eyes widened, fury and shock flashing across her perfect face. "You dare—"
But before she could finish, two of his warriors closed in, shackles in hand. She fought them, wild and furious, her magic surging as water lashed from the sea to strike at them. Yet Dominic's command was law, and even the ocean's heir could not withstand the combined strength of wolves.
Dominic watched her struggle, every ounce of him torn between pride and a hunger so fierce it nearly undid him. His wolf snarled, demanding he tear the others away from her, demanding he be the one to pin her down, to claim her, to make her yield.
But Dominic's pride was stronger. He would not touch her. Not yet.
As the chains closed around her wrists, Seraphina spat her fury at him, her voice carrying over the roar of the waves. "You will regret this, wolf. The sea will swallow you whole!"
Dominic stepped closer, towering over her, his gaze sharp as a blade. He reached out, his finger tilting her chin upward so she was forced to meet his burning eyes.
"No," he murmured, voice low enough only she could hear. "You will regret denying me."
For the briefest heartbeat, the world stilled. Her lips parted, her breath shallow, her pulse hammering against his touch. Desire flickered again in her gaze before she wrenched it away, hiding it beneath her fury.
Dominic's chest ached with the effort it took to step back, to let his wolves drag her toward the waiting ship. The bond throbbed in his veins, burning him alive, yet he buried it under layers of steel.
She was his enemy. His prisoner. And soon, his kingdom's pawn.
But deep inside, where even an Alpha could not lie to himself, Dominic already knew the truth.
The war had changed tonight.
And the woman he swore never to love… was already the only one he could not resist.