Chapter 1

“Isla, you’ve made your point. Get out of the water before you freeze.”

Adrian’s voice carried over the wind. He was the pack’s revered Alpha heir and my fated mate. Even before taking over the pack, he could make other wolves submit.

He stood on a rock a few feet away, holding Claire’s pink cardigan.

I looked down. Beneath the water, faintly glowing silver-blue scales were creeping up my calves. A deep, grinding pain spread through my legs. I bit my lip and limped toward shore.

The moment my foot touched the rough rock, pain tore through my sole. I almost lost my balance, cold sweat running down my back.

“Why are you limping?”

Noah, the pack’s future Beta and my childhood best friend, frowned and stepped forward to help me.

He had always been gentle with me, slowing his steps to match mine or shifting into his wolf form and crouching so I could climb onto his back when I was too tired to walk home.

I reached for his hand.

But he hesitated. “Isla, please. You don’t have to do this to make us feel guilty.”

My hand froze, halfway between us.

“We told you why we gave the pearls to Claire,” he continued. “Her wolf is weak. Standing in the water won’t change that.”

I couldn’t believe this was how he saw me. I let my hand fall.

Caleb, the pack’s future Gamma and my older brother, moved in front of Claire. He had a quick temper, but always protective of me.

Now he stood between us.

“This isn’t like you, Isla.”

I stood still, my hands trembling with anger.

“You promised. All of you.”

He sighed. “Come on. The curse isn’t real. It’s just superstition. But Claire’s condition is real.”

I stared at my brother.

“If you want pearls, we’ll buy you more,” he added.

More pearls. As though all they’d given away was a piece of jewelry.

Claire peered around his shoulder, her eyes wet.

“I’m sorry, Isla. I didn’t mean to upset you. But the healer said the pearls would strengthen my wolf.”

She glanced at Adrian.

“And Adrian agrees. I wouldn’t have taken them if I’d known you’d be this upset.”

“They weren’t his to give you.”

Her face crumpled.

“Then maybe I can get them back up.” She raised her fingers to her mouth.

Adrian caught her wrist before she could put them down her throat.

“Don’t. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“But Isla…”

“I’ll talk to her.”

He kept hold of her hand as he turned to me.

“Is this what you wanted? For her to make herself sick?”

“I didn’t ask her to do that.”

“Then tell her she doesn’t have to.”

I looked at him. Claire had swallowed the pearls he had promised to keep safe for me, and now he wanted me to comfort her.

“Adrian, those pearls were mine.”

“And I said we’d replace them.” His tone hardened. “She’s trying to apologize. Don’t be so difficult.

I looked from him to Caleb, then Noah.

These were the three people I had believed loved me. They had given away my only chance to stay, and now they were waiting for me to tell Claire she’d done nothing wrong.

I watched the waves carry away the velvet pouches that had held my pearls. My mother had placed them in my hands when I was fifteen.

She had been too ill to sit up, so I’d leaned close while she explained the curse and what would happen when I turned eighteen. “The pearl must be offered before your eighteenth birthday,” she had told me.

After she died, I told Caleb. Then Noah. Adrian was the last. None of them had doubted me.

Caleb closed his hand around his pearl and promised to keep it safe. Noah told me he would be waiting on these rocks before I arrived.

Adrian looked so worried when I told him.

“What happens if you don’t get the pearls back?”

“I’ll become a mermaid. I won’t be able to return to land.”

He carefully tucked the pearl into its velvet pouch.

“I won’t let that happen.” He kissed my forehead. “I promise I’ll give it back to you. I can’t lose you, Isla.”

Now he dismissed the curse as nothing but a rumor.

“Do you remember what you promised me?” I asked, staring into his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Then why did you give it to her?”

“None of it is real.” He let out a breath. “Claire already checked. Her wolf is weak, Isla. She needed those pearls.”

“And you decided I didn’t.”

“You’re making this about who we care about more,” Noah said. “Claire has no one else. Can’t you let this go?”

Caleb nodded.

“Isla, I grew up in the same house you did. Mom never showed any sign of being a mermaid. Neither have you.”

A wave broke against the rocks behind me. The spray touched my calves, and the pain eased just enough for me to straighten. Beneath my skirt, I could feel the scales spreading, the skin tightening around my legs.

I had wanted the curse to be just a story, too. But the pain was real. So were the scales. For a moment, I reached for the hem, ready to show them the proof.

But I didn’t.

They had already decided I was lying. I wasn’t going to bare my legs and beg them to believe me.

“All right.” I gave a bitter laugh. “I’ll let it go.”

Adrian’s shoulders relaxed. “That’s my girl. I’ll have a pearl necklace made for you. You can choose whichever you like.”

He smiled, relieved. To him, the curse was just a silly story, and I was still the girl who would forgive him once he bought her pretty things.

I turned toward the path home. Each step hurt more than the last, but I kept walking. I had reached for Noah’s hand once tonight. I wouldn’t reach for any of them again.

By the time I reached my room, I could barely stand. I locked myself in the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub, letting cool water run over my legs until the pain eased.

I couldn’t tell what hurt more, the curse changing my body or knowing none of them had chosen me.

But it no longer mattered.

I heard Adrian enter the bedroom.

“Isla, are you done? I warmed some milk for you.”

His voice came through the bathroom door.

“We may have been a little harsh tonight. But Claire does need help.”

He paused.

“I’ll cancel the pack training tomorrow. We can go into town and have your dress made for the Luna ceremony. You’ve wanted us to go together for months. Let me make it up to you, all right?”

I shut off the water and wrapped a towel around myself. In the mirror, my face was pale. Silver-blue scales covered my calves.

I said nothing.

“Isla?” The handle turned twice.

“No, Adrian.”

“Come on. You’ve wanted it for months.”

“There’s nothing I want on land anymore.”

In three days, I would return to the sea. I had no use for a dress to wear as any werewolf’s Luna.

Once I left, I would never return to shore.