Behind the veil

Chapter nine

Chapter nine

“Way to go Nico. Look what you did. You just had to ignore Rouge.” Angel complains for the tenth time, the sun had already fallen beneath the sea and the mer hadn’t seen a person since. Rope burn laced all of their bare skin and the temperature was dropping at an alarming rate. But that’s when the wolves started to howl. “THEY’RE GOING TO EAT US!” Kyle screams and Rouge slaps him, “shut up you cretin!” The darker haired boy growls at Kyle. Around them the bushes start to move. “Oh great were going to die.” Angel says calmly. Then four extremely attractive boys emerge from the bushes, complaining loudly, “my GOD it smells like humans and fish!” one of the boys exclaims in a disgusted voice. The mer fall silent and stare at the boys dumbfounded, “uhm.. Right, HELP US!” Kyle screams, attracting the boys attention, their golden eyes training on the netted mer. “Great job Kyle. Bring us closer to death.” Angel says to him. The four boys start walking quickly towards the net, growling, then the tallest boy pulls out a long knife with a wicked curved tip. “Oh great! Here you go Neeks! Your favorite, bloody murder!” Kyle grumbles sarcastically, earning a slap from his brother. “They wouldn’t k-kill us. We taste horrible.. Like fish!” Nico says, “true, the taste of fish IS quiet foul.” one boy says, smirking wolfishly. “Well you wouldn’t eat a mermaid or merman would you?” Angel says to the four boys. “True, too many scales. But you four dont look like merfolk. What happened to the fins?” the shortest boy questions. “Magic. Very old mer magic. Now can you get us down from here. Please?” Angel says to the short boy. “Uhm.. i don’t think our alpha would be very pleased, so i will let you down but you would have to come with us.” he replies, “oh and our names are-” he points to the tallest, “Eren,” then to the second tallest boy, “Levi,” then to the one just barely taller than him, “Chris,” then to himself, “and i’m Calum.”  “that's wonderful, NOW GET US DOWN!” Kyle shouts. Angel hits Kyle on the arm. “You could ask nicely Kyle…” Angel says with a growl. The tallest boy waves his hand dismissively and then climbs the tree, “wait don’t cut the rope it will-” Nico yelps as the boy, err.. Eren, cuts the rope suspending the net and the netted mer hit the ground, hard. Kyle screams, his left arm twisted with shattered pieces of bone protruding from the bruised flesh, he keeps screaming until he faints. Which was only about a minute. Nico’s ribs were on fire, he slowly lifted his shirt to reveal the bloody-tangle of bones and torn skin. Rouge, who landed by him, had a scared look on his face. Not just for Nico, but for himself. Half of his face was dripping with dark warm blood and he could feel the tears and scratches that ran deep through the muscles and skin on his right cheek, and the right-side of his forehead and chin, even gouges across his eyebrow and eyelid. Angel barely had any scrapes, Nico and Rouge broke her fall. Angel hurries to get off them. The four wolf brothers sigh and pull out small amber colored rocks before approaching the injured mer. Each wolf brother went to one mer, Eren kneeled next to Nico, Levi next to Rouge, Calum beside Kyle, and Chris next to Angel. The rocks glowed upon contact with the injuries as the wolves gently slid them across the mers painful wounds. The mer screamed out in pain as their wounds healed. After, what seemed like hours, the screaming stopped, and the wolves helped the other four to their feet, “sorry ‘bout that.” Levi apologizes. “It’s no problem. At least we are okay and alive.” Rouge says in a guarded tone. Levi smirks and helps Nico up, sliding his tan arm around the paler boys waist. Nico smiles and thanks Levi for helping him up. Rouge growls and sends Levi a death glare who just smirks back. Nico could feel the tension between them, feeling uncomfortable. “So uhm.. Where are we going?” Angel mumbles awkwardly. “We’ll take you to our village. It will be safe there, from the vampires.” Chris says to her. “V-vampires?” Nico and Kyle yelp. “We better get going they could show up soon.” Eren says to them. The Mer all follow the wolf brothers deep into the woods, Rouge glaring at Levi the whole time as the wolf boy keeps his arm around a weak Nico. Eren leads the way to the village. Kyle pouts and looks around, “im hungry.” he complains. “We will eat when we get there. We don’t need to go much farther.” Eren says to the whining Kyle. Kyle nods and leans against Eren, “okay.” he giggles. Eren smiles and points at the village they now stand in front of.  ‘Finally.” Rouge growls, walking up to Levi and Nico, “i can take my boyfriend now.” he growls. Levi rolls his eyes, “Sure. Whatever Rogue.” Levi says to him. He looks back and winks at Nico before walking into the village. Rouge glares as Nico blushes a bright red. Eren says to the group, “I’ll take you to our alpha, as well as to get you something to eat.”  Kyle nods enthusiastically “about time!” he shouts, jumping on Eren. Eren yips and throws Kyle over his shoulder, making Kyle land on the ground and whimper. “Ow..” the mer groans and rolls onto his side, curling up. “Sorry,” Eren says apologetically. Kyle stands back up and sends Eren a wink, “i didn’t know you liked it rough.” he says smirking sinisterly. Eren blushes, “No, i just don’t like anyone jumping on me…”, “sure.” Kyle laughs and glances at Rouge and Nico sadly. “Before Kyle whines more about food, lets go get some.” Angel says to Eren. Eren replies back, “Yeah… okay. Chrisy! Take them to our alpha while i go get them a place to sleep and some food.” Chris nods and ushers the mer towards a old stone building in  the center of the village, “be respectful or else..” he warns. The mer nod as they enter the building. Inside the building was like a palace. At the far end there was a woman with golden brown hair that went to her waist, her eyes brown, closer to her irises they were a forest green. Chris started to introduce us one by one to her. “And the tall, dark, and brooding idiot is Kyle.” he concludes. “Well it’s nice to have you all here,” she says with her beautiful voice. “I’m glad that they weren’t taken by the vampires… who knows what they would have done with them.” she adds. Chris leaves the room and Kyle winks one last time at him before turning to the Alpha, “so what’s your name?” he asks her. “My name is Olivia, but i like to be called Liv.” Liv says to Kyle smiling. Kyle nods, raking his eyes down her body then winking at her, “so.. When can we eat?” he questions. “Soon…” she says as Eren dashes into the room with a basket of food, most things new to the mers eyes. “It took a  bit to get this so i’m sorry if i took to long,” Eren says putting the basket down. Nico looks at the food in confusion, “what.. Is that?” he says quietly, pointing to the dark red berries. “Those are raspberries.” Eren says to a worried Nico. “oh.” Nico answers, still confused. “The foods fine to eat. You don’t need to worry.” Liv says walking over to grab a few raspberries. Liv tosses one in her mouth, smiling at how delicious it tasted. She licked her lips, ting another raspberry afterwards. Nico hesitantly takes one and places it on his tongue, eye widening at the taste, “wow..” he says quietly. Liv looks over at Nico, then the others. “Is there a reason why you mermaids are on land?” she asks. “Bad mage is after us and my aunt sent us here.” rouge shrugs, mouth full of berries. Liv looks at Rouge. “A bad mage? What did he look like?” Liv says with curiosity. “Creepy. Black hair, pale skin, and swirly tattoos on his chest, back and torso.” he replies to her. Liv looks at him, scared. “Your not the only one who has met Damien then,” she says turning around. “What do you mean?” nico asks, fearful once again. “He sided with the vampires.” Liv says looking back at them. “With his magic alone he killed over half my pack. The vampires killed others, or turned them into…” she stops trying not to cry. Kyle hugs her, “its our job to stop him.,” he says referring to him and his siblings, “Would you like revenge?’ he asks softly, trying to get her to calm down. “I do… but he would have those monsters by his side. Vampires as well. We would never win,” Liv says crying into Kyle’s chest. “Now alpha, you aren't supposed to doubt the packs skills so greatly.” Levi says with mock disappointment as he walks over. “Because most of them are just pups. They don’t know how to fight. There isn’t enough of use to go against them.” She says back to Levi.  “so we recruit from other packs, im sure the other water mages would help, and the vampire gang across the river.. Maybe we could persuade them?” Levi asks dully, sliding his arm around Nicos waist which earns a glare from Rouge. “Remember last time we did that. They didn’t even bother helping us. The other packs don’t care about us. They only care about themselves.” Liv exclaims, helplessly. “If Damien gets his way he will control everything! Sea and land! If they care about themselves they will join the battle against them.” Levi growls. “He can’t control the land and sea if he doesn’t get his hands on it.” She responds to him. “What’s it?” Kyle asks curiously. “It is none of your concern. It is something only this pack knows about. But it’s just a legend. It might not even exist.” she says harshly, ending the conversation. Levi grimaces and Rouge turns to look at him and Nico, “now get your hands off my boyfriend.” Rouge growls, “my village my way.” Levi responds. Kyle pulls Liv away, “whats the legend?” “Something that no mermaid should hear.” Liv responds back, then looks over at Levi. “Get your hands off the boy. You can have fun later.” She says to him coldly. Levi holds his hands above his head in mock surrender and laughs, “works for me.” he states, winking at nico and smirking at rouge, “he WILL NOT be having any fun with Nico!” rouge shouts. “Looks like someone's jealous,” says Angel in a mocking tone. In a quick flash of black and pink, Rouge had Angel tackled to the floor and was growling. Angel looks at him. “You going to be mad because i said something that’s true?” she asks Rouge, “don’t mock me.” he responds, his voice deeper and his eyes even darker than usual. “Fine! Now get off me you big fish!” Angel says, trying to push him off. Coral suddenly pulled Rouge off Angel, “stay away from my sister you creep!” she growls. Liv looks over at Coral. “Who are you?” She asks as Angel and Rouge stand up. Coral releases Rouge, “im Coral. Im these dimwits older sister.” she states, her voice guarded. “That’s a lie and you know it.” Liv says to her. Coral raises an eyebrow, clearly amused. “Whatever you say dog-breath.” Live looks are her and growls. “Okay them tuna fish.” Coral tackles her quickly, punching her in the jaw. Liv smirks, shoving her off and quickly getting up. “For someone so guarded, your punches are so soft.” she teases Coral. The black haired mer glares and stands up, “fucking mutt.” she grumbles under her breath. Liv looks at Kyle. “You. Follow me.” She says before walking off. Kyle looks around before running after Liv. They reach a room, Liv shutting the door once Kyle walks in. She turns around and looks at him.  Kyles eyes widen, “this progressed quickly..” he mumbles. “That is not why i brought you in here.” Liv says, mumbling. Kyles face burned bright red, “i knew that.” he says quickly. “There isn’t something right about that Coral girl…” she starts off. “Coral is fine, she’s my twin sister.” he says, weirded out slightly. “Sure… She’s filled with darkness, no longer on your side of the fight. The legend spoke of a traitor. Who got pulled to the darkness. If you don’t want to believe me then that’s fine. I thought that at least one of you should know… in case she acts odd, different.” Liv finishes. Kyle just stares at her dubiously, “i can’t believe you would think Coral is like that. What’s wrong with you people?!” he shouts, turning his back to her. “I’m just following my instincts. They never failed me.” Liv says to him calmly. “I just.. Okay.. i’ll keep an eye on her okay?” he pleads. “Good. Because she could now be the girl you don’t remember,” Liv replies, Kyle nods and walks back towards the others. Nico was talking to Rouge, looking apologetic and Coral was talking with Angel and Eren. Liv walks out to the room minutes after Kyle did, seeing the comotion. Just as Liv walked out Rouge tackled Levi and started punching him brutally. Liv hurries over, pulling Rouge off and throwing him to the entrance. “What the hell!” Liv yells at him. “HE WON’T STAY AWAY FROM NICO!” he screams, rushing back to where levi layed, kicking him in the back.Liv throws him harshly against the wall. “Gives you no fucking right to hurt him!” Live yells at him again. Rouge glares at her, breathing heavily and he licks the blood from his split lip and spits at the Alpha, leaving bloody spit on her shirt and face. Liv looks at Rouge and growls, walking over to Levi and picking him up gently. “Control that fishy mutt.” Liv says harshly to the others, taking Levi to the infirmary. Kyle nods and walks to Rouge, “what the fuck man? Do you want us all slaughtered?” he asks the taller male. Angel looks at Rouge with a sad look. “Who knows, but he was only being protective,” Angel says. Rouge sighs in defeat, “the fucking mutt was going to try to claim Nico and keep him here. He didn’t say it but he was hella thinking it.” he states. “How could you know?” Angel asks Rouge softly. He just gives her a pained look and shakes his head, “i hear it. I hear what all of you are thinking as clear as you say stuff.” he turns to Kyle, “and you’re worse than i am. When are you going to tell the others about your plans to stay here? To marry the alpha?” he asks making Kyle's face turn red and his jaw drop. Angel looks at Kyle, “You like the Alpha?!?!” she yells smiling.  “SHUT UPPPPPP.” he whines and hides his face. Rouges smirk turns into a grimace. “And about Coral?” he says quietly making the dark haired girls head dart up and she questions, “what about me?”. Angel looks between Coral and Rouge, wondering what he was going to say next. Rouge just cackles and shake his head, “oh this will be good.” he walks away, going to nico who hadn’t moved from the basket of raspberries. Angel looks at Kyle, “What was he talking about?” she asks confused. He frowns, “nothing to worry about.” he replies, running off quickly. Liv was walking back, bumping into Kyle. “ouch.” he whines from falling on the hard packed dirt. “Sorry about that,” she says holding out her hand to help him up. He takes it, a blush forming brightly on his pale cheeks as he stands up. Liv looks at him before taking her hand back. “Why were you off in a hurry?” she asks. “I uh.. I think Rouge is telepathic or something.. He uh.. He knows.” he says nervously, staring at his hand. “That’s normal for werewolves.” she relies. Kyle stares at her confused, “uhm what? I think you’re confused.. He’s of mer kin. Like the rest of us.”. “Sorry to say this but Rouge is a mix of werewolf and mer. That’s why he’s telepathic.” Liv says looking over his shoulder, hoping no one was coming this way. Kyle notices her gaze and turns to look as well, “uhmm.. Okay?” he says still a bit confused. Liv looks back at Kyle, smiling a bit. “I know. It’s confusing and hard to comprehend that Rouge is a hybrid.” she says. Kyle suddenly perks up with an idea, “maybe he is protective of Nico because they are mates!” he exclaims. “Yep. That is exactly it.” She replies back with a small smile. His eyes dim again, “do you have your mate?” he says slightly hopeful. “No,” She says back to him. He tilts his head slightly, “oh, okay.” he shrugs slightly. “How do you know if someone is your mate?” he questions her. “I don’t know the answer to that,” She says sadly. He just stares at her, “how do you not know? Your an alpha.”. “Alphas have different ways of knowing who their mate is. I was never told how to know who my mate was.” Liv replies back. He looks at her with pity and then to the ground, “im sorry?”. “Don’t be,” she says waving her hand dismissively. Kyle smiles slightly before looking back up, “im hungry.”