Mermaid And Her Alpha Mate

ane'

sh slices into my back, fo

l voices crack and break, a cacophony of squeals and squawks echoing around the vaulted chamber. I wish the

ks grow louder, and pearls fall l

e head Reaper praises h

r than that they belong to the Bloodstone pack. We've never seen them

running through his left eye socket; his sight solely dependent on his

ther. Tears stream down my cheeks and I howl with pain. As they drip from my face my t

esh saltwater into our tank, giving us a few moments of blissful peace in the element for which we were born. Withi

or. The chilly pool is very shallow, preventing even the young

t wasn't so long ago that Isla and I were in their position, but as the last generation dwindled away benea

iviane." Isla whispers. "Yo

n the aquatic farms until they are old enough to undergo The Cut, at

he doctors complete their Frankensteinish reconfiguration of precious bone and muscle, eviscerat

y must learn to survive in a new body, never forgetting the

been more tender than my own. I want to comfort her, to lie and pretend to be brave, but honest

" I admit, anoth

d us, collecting the pearls stolen from our bodies. The tears are harder to produce the longer we stay in captivity; ma

ully. "Maybe we both will. We can go to t

the strikes continue to fall. The idea is soot

law in our world:

. We live in pain.

arantee we have in

of all that is mysterious and beautiful in the sea. When the world was new the gods bound my people to the wat

h to break the laws of nature, to show the world that harming us would not incur some terrible celestial vengeance

the oceans: There would be no more pearls to harvest from the sandy seabeds; no more underwater waterfalls to explore; n

beauty, they did not leave enough room for strength. We were defenseless against th

arls our tears become when parted from our bodies. The pearl-farming industry exploded overnight, and mermaids went from

the Pearl Reapers, the Harbingers only appear if someone is going to be taken for The Cut. They

ushing me to her in

est in the tank now. I rub Isla's back in soothi

ere without you

mise, "One day we'll

r, and Isla sobs as we're ribbed away from each other. I reach

I don't want to make it worse for them, I don't want them to fear the inevitable any more than they have to. I try to

iggle in my captor's arms, earning a sharp smack and an order to be still. I'm cart

h thick nylon straps. I jerk against the restraints reflexively, fear spiking my pulse now that this m

as medieval looking metal tools are laid out on a tray next to me. A young nurse in green scrubs presses a gag to

ault, come freely now. Pearls clatter to the floor around me

les tense in anticipation for the pain. I feel the blades rest against my scale

things I've ever known – but this is something else entirely. This is excruciating

of blood fills the room. My head feels light and fuz

ice is a hoarse whisper behind my gag. I beg for th

my eyes, I see one of the nurses bend down to retrieve something from the floor. The doctors pause for a moment,

palm, and a roomful of gleamin

hings I see before