Werewolves and Mermaids Don't Mix

Chapter 1

Harbour's POV

"She's a witch!" I cried out, flopping next to my father on the sea frond couch, "An absolute witch!" King Neptune barely glanced over at me before replying, casually flipping through the Sea Times latest sea-paper.

"Harbour don't talk about your mother like that." He reprimanded, readjusting his glasses as he continued to flip through the latest breaking news. "She's right, you are a little rough around the edges."

"Daddy!" I gasped out, shocked that he'd actually agree with that sea slug. "First she's not my mother and second." I paused to catch my breath before continuing to spill my emotions to the unbudging King of the Sea. "Second, you are not sending me there. No way. I refuse."

A sigh bubbled through the water before he set down the sea-paper, turning to face me. "You are going and that is final." He grunted out in his I-am-the-ruler-of-the-seas-and-you-will-obey-me tone. "I suggest you pack your bags now, you're leaving in an hour with or without your belongings."

My jaw dropped as I floundered for words, staring at him in disbelief before swimming out of the room with a dramatic tail flip. Ok so maybe setting off a geyser in Daddy's and Marissa's room wasn't the smartest idea but how was I supposed to know that Marissa would be crazy enough to purposely swim through the boiling jets of water and cook half her scales off in another crazy bid to get rid of me? 

This time though, unlike all the rest, she'd won by a mile if the expression on Daddy's face was any indicator to go by. When he'd first heard of the incident from Marissa, he'd given me this look like I had actually sat my ass down in the room for god knows how long and waited for Marissa to come in before setting off the geyser and cooking her medium-rare just like the steak he liked to eat whenever he was above the water on a business trip. 

As if, I had nearly shouted at him when he'd started to silently accuse me with his eyes, I have way better things to do with my time! 

Swimming through a gently lit cave-tunnel, I was greeted with the sight of an empty cavern. Or to be more specific, my empty cavern. A small folded sea-paper scrap was the only thing that occupied my once full room, everything else completely gone including my bed. Unsure of what to do, I settled for grabbing the parchment and unfolding it, smoothing it out on the rough floor before reading the cursive writing, fury slowly building up inside me with every word I read. 

Harbour dear, I borrowed your stuff. And when I say borrowed, I mean I sold it all. I hope you don't mind and if you do, you really shouldn't because you won't be needing it.

Love, Mother.

"Bitch," I hissed out, crumpling the parchment into a ball as I stared at the blank wall shelves that once used to host my precious pearl collection. Each pearl had set me back (well set Daddy back, but that's not important) at least five hundred thousand sand dollars and boy was I pissed off. 

I'll show them, I thought, I'll show everyone what it's like to be on my bad side. And with that thought in mind I swam into daddy's room (it's also my stepmother's room but I hate her), rooted about in daddy's treasure chest (also my stepmother's) before pulling out my stepmother's barely touched MasterCard with an evil grin on my face.

A land bound mermaid needs clothes, I reasoned with a shrug before tucking the card into my top. This all could have been avoided if she hadn't been stupid enough to attach a note onto the card with the pin number written down as a reminder. 

***

A few hours later, I found myself hoisting quite a few heavy bags into the back of my dad's jeep before jumping in the front next to Jeff, my dad's (human) personal driver. As the car started pulling out of the carpark, I let my eyes wander down to the glossy starter pack Lupine Academy had provided me with. Smiling students surrounding a tall man graced the front cover, all of the females wearing the same uniform I was currently sporting.

My older sister Ariel had been kind enough to provide me with a towel and my dry school uniform on the boat anchored above the city, Poseidon bless her soul. I'd been lucky to have had enough time to wash all the sea salt off my body and hair and get dressed before the boat reached the shore.

My dad hadn't even come to the surface to say goodbye to me which confirmed that he was definitely mad with me. That had made me slightly upset and as a result, I'd forced Jeff to take a detour into the city so I could indulge in some retail therapy. The first few thousands of dollars spent on relatively affordable clothing and electronics hadn't been enough to cure my blues so I'd splurged on heaps of makeup, clothes, shoes, and a few bags from multiple designers until there was only about two hundred left in her bank account.

 I'll begrudgingly admit that setting of a geyser wasn't the smartest thing to do but that was hardly enough reason to send me away from my ocean to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere. I'd meant to block off the room for a few hours to piss off Marissa, not cook her. 

Shells, I hated my stepmother.

I let out a sigh before reaching into the back seat and grabbing the Apple bag that contained my new iPod, phone and laptop. Jeff's eye's strayed from the road to look at the bulging Apple bag, a look of bemusement clear on his face before he turned his attention back onto the road without a word. For the rest of the trip, I fiddled with my new iPhone, pimping it out with a cool wallpaper and tonnes of apps, not in the mood for making small talk with Jeff. 

A sudden sharp turn executed by Jeff brought me back to my surroundings, causing me to look up and notice the creepy looming forest we were heading through. I could only watch in fascinated horror as we crept along the winding dirt road flanked by hectares of massive oaks. The skies had grown completely dark by the time we finally pulled up in front of the school's grand oak doors, the Jeep's headlights burning two bright circles into the impeccably polished brown surface.

Silence filled the car as the doors slowly inched quietly open, only broken by the occasional hoot from some owl in the forest behind us. Once the door/gate was open, we rolled on to the school grounds quietly, accompanied only by the crunching of gravel beneath the tyres. "We're here," Jeff announced whilst parking the car before climbing out of the Jeep and rushing around the car to open my door for me. 

"Welcome to Lupine Academy Miss Neptune."