Sirens

Chapter 8

Calix's POV

My fist clenches as my phone rings again. A few months ago, I made the mistake of nearly sleeping with Jessie after the ball and drunkenly giving her my number. Now, she won't stop texting me.

Then it rings again and that's when I decided I've had enough with her.

I pick up my phone and angrily punch in the text.

I am done with you. Do not text me. Do not call me. Do not write me letters or show up at my home. If you go through with any of the above, I will personally see that my Kappas put you in your place for harassing me. Goodbye and do not bother me again.

I slam my phone down on the table and let out a frustrated sigh. I suppose it's the Moon Goddess's way of punishing me for almost sleeping with someone other than my mate. 

All these problems could be solved if I could just find her.

I've been to eight balls this year. Eight fucking balls, and I still can't find her. I've seen thousands of women flock towards me, but the only one I want isn't one of them.

At this point, I don't care if she's low-ranked, or even a human. I just want somebody to love. I went to the Grand Temple to get some insight on it, but the priests only said the Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways.

A knock on the door snaps me to attention. "Who is it?" I demand.

"It's me, Alpha King." It's my Beta, Brannum. He usually doesn't come around at this time of day, unless there's something urgent.

"Come in." One of the large walnut doors to my office swings open. It shuts as quickly as it was opened. Brannum approaches my desk and sits in one of the chairs in front.

"What brings you here?" I ask.

Brannum shifts slightly and looks around like he's expecting someone to pop out of the shadows. "Is there anyone else in here?"

I stare him down. It's unusual for him to be this cautious. "No. Now, why are you here?"

"I'm here on a piece of information I received from a Delta in a North American pack just last night. I believe you'll want to see it." Brannum places a usb on my desk and I place it to the side

"Why wasn't I notified about this earlier?" I demand.

"You were in a meeting with the Alpha of the Harvest Moon pack."

"What's it about?"

"For the rundown, a girl escaped from the Rose Moon pack last night."

I give him an unamused look. Humans escape from their packs all the time, but they're always caught. "And?"

Brannum sighs. "The Kappas were unable to catch her."

It's surpising to me that the Kappas were unable to catch her, but it's bound to happen every not and then. 

"It doesn't matter if they weren't able to catch her, we can notify other packs," I reply as I turn back to my work.

Brannum sighs again. "That's the problem, Alpha King. She isn't human."

I freeze and slowly set down the papers in my hands. "What?"

"It's best if you watch the security footage from that night."

I nod slowly and plug in the usb. A video pops up and I click on it. Once it loads, I see a teenage girl who looks to be about fifteen or so surrounded by a group of Kappas.

"You're surrounded, Samantha!" the biggest one shouts. "There's nowhere to go! Put your hands up and we can solve this peacefully."

The girl - Samantha - hangs her head and puts her hands up before slowly turning around.

"I don't understand," I mutter. "She seems perfectly human to me. And she's surrounded, too."

Brannum shakes his head. "Keep watching."

"She's going to jump!" one of the Kappas suddenly shouts. And so she does. The largest one roars as she dives into the water.

Samantha breaks the surface of the water a few moments later, gasping for air.

"Get the net!" the large one yells.

As the Kappas scramble to get the net, Samantha is pulled under the water again.

The net is set up further down the river, right before the rapids begin. However, the girl is still underwater.

Suddenly, something that resembles a large fish leaps out of the water and over the net.

"What the fu-"

"I know. That's what I thought when I saw the footage the first time too."

I rewind the clip, slow it down, and zoom in on the fish-looking creature this time. Once the fish-looking thing falls back into the water, I lean back in my chair.

Now it makes sense.

"So, any ideas of what the hell that was?" Brannum asks.

"She's a siren," I mutter.

"A siren? Those creatures from the ludicrous stories your schizophrenic mother used to tell?"

"Don't talk about my mother like that!" I snarl.

Brannum quickly bows his head. A moment later, he asks, "So, what should we do about the situation?"

I don't even have to think about the answer. "I want Kappas patrolling up and down that river. Send out trackers to investigate branches of water that feed in and out of that river. And place Samantha at the top of the most wanted list."

Brannum looks confused. "Samantha? Her name is Harper Reynolds."

Now I'm confused. "Then why did that man call her Samantha?"

"That man was the Delta of the pack. Harper resembled his deceased mate so he took her in."

"I see."

"Is there anything else? Perhaps something you want to do with her family?"

I nod. "Imprison them all in Exoprism. Do not kill any of them. Let's see if that lures her out of hiding. And if anyone asks, it's for not teaching their daughter to follow the rules."

"No one, other than me and you, along with the Kappas and Delta that were there that night."

"Do not speak of her to anyone, not even your own mate, of what she is. No one can know the truth about her, not even our own kind. It would cause riots. That will be all," I finish with a curt nod.

"Understood." Brannum gets up and leaves, closing the door with a quiet click.

When he's gone, I rest my chin on my hands.

Before she was murdered by the humans, my mother would tell me stories of a great war between sirens, werewolves, witches, vampires, dragon riders, and fairies.

When the war ended, vampires, dragon riders, and fairies had gone extinct. Werewolves went into hiding and witches stopped teaching their daughters magic. As for sirens, they went to live among humans with a spell placed on them that would suppress their tail and scent.

Clearly, the spell had worn off after thousands of years, revealing their tail and scent. It's also possible that because they lived amongst humans for so long, they took on the scent.

I sigh and run my hand through my hair.

If not taken down quickly, this girl could be a threat to my throne and any threat must be eliminated.