Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna

Viola swam in silence next to the older mermaid, her sister holding her hand as though she’d protect her if anything went wrong, even though she hadn’t sensed the danger yet, and Viola made sure to keep her guard up, sensing the mermaids were planning to keep her here.

"Your mother used to like swimming around in this direction," Natasha suddenly said, breaking the silence that had made Viola look around at their surroundings. There wasn’t much to see besides water and plants, with strange-looking creatures swimming around them.

"Won’t you ask me about your mother?" Natasha asked as they swam farther away from the cave.

Viola remained quiet, and Natasha glanced at her before continuing. "Ivy asks about her all the time. Your mother was very skilled at making medicines and all sorts of concoctions when we were little. In fact, the suppressant I fed you was made by her."

She paused for a moment, her expression softening at the memory. "She used to mix her medicines with her song of colors. In all of Aquaville, no other mermaid could sing all the colors the way she did. Yasmin tells me you sing well too."

Viola turned to the mermaid, whose face held a fond expression, as though the memories of her sister were dear to her, and Viola felt her hostility ease slightly as curiosity took over. "Did she use the song of colors to suppress my ability?"

Natasha nodded. "She made the concoction the moment we found the mark on you. Madeline would sing and mix colors, something no other mermaid could do. When she fell in love with your father...she gave herself legs with the song. She drew from all the colors to suppress your wolf and your powers too. She wanted you to grow up normal, without suspicion, and she wanted to raise you on land to protect you from Nerrisa."

Viola’s eyes narrowed as she said, "But then you took us away from her and never gave her the chance with us."

Natasha’s eyes filled with guilt and hurt as she stopped swimming. They had arrived at a strange part of the sea where several oval-shaped forms floated suspended in the water, each one held in place by thick, vine-like roots wrapped around its top, making them look almost like strange fruits hanging from a tree.

Each of the oval-shaped thing was covered in blue leaves that glowed faintly, casting a soft light into the surrounding water.

Natasha swam toward one of it in particular before stopping beside it and turning to look at Viola.

"Here is your mother’s grave." She placed her hand against it, its leaves glowing the brightest among the rest. "I have wanted to show it to Ivy, but I waited until you two were together."

Viola swam closer, standing side-by-side with her sister before their mother’s grave, and they stared at it in silence. Viola had never imagined mermaids had graves, and had never expected to be before her mother’s right now. She stared at it with a mix of emotions she couldn’t quite name, since she’d never known the woman.

"Why is it glowing brighter than the others?" Viola asked quietly, noting how dim the light on the other grave was, some of them didn’t even have the light and looked like stones.

"Her memories are still intact. I kept them for you, for someday. This is the royal grave, belonging only to our family, those of us with royal blood carry abilities that remain even after death. The blue light holds her memories of life before her death. It glows brighter because no one has come to watch it yet. We can only watch each memory once, I already watched the one of her death."

Natasha said, emotion thick in her voice. "The rest are all from before her death, I haven’t watched them. If you want to know your mother, come forward and see who she was."

Viola looked at her mother’s sister, then nervously at the glow. She didn’t know if she was ready for this, but since she was already here, she saw no harm in knowing the woman who had given birth to her. She looked at her sister, and they shared a look of understanding.

"Place your hands against her and close your eyes." Natasha explained, watching as the twins placed their hands against their mother’s preserved body, kept untouched by the leaves’ power.

Viola placed her hand against it and closed her eyes. It felt as though her hands were pressed against ice, so cold she shivered, and she felt the urge to curl her fingers away, but the light bursting behind her eyelids kept her still.

The bright light dimmed, and then she found herself watching memories, as though viewing a movie behind her closed eyes.

Two mermaids could be seen swimming and playing together, laughing, holding hands and spinning each other around. Viola didn’t need an introduction to know she was watching her mother and her aunt as little girls, who looked no more than ten.

They spun until they grew dizzy, released each other’s hands, and stumbled off in different directions, falling and laughing.

"Girls, will you stop that before one of you bursts your heads open and leads the sharks here with your sweet blood?" An elder mermaid scolded, as she arranged shells around the cave to decorate it, and the girls spoke at the same time,

"Sharks don’t come here, because Papa will kill them with his trident. Mama, you’re just trying to scare us so we don’t play." They complained to their mother.

"Go ahead and burst your head then, and see, this time it won’t be sharks but the land monsters." Their mother said as she swam toward them, seeing how scared and wide-eyed they looked. She laughed at their reaction and pulled them in for a hug. "Come here, you two."

"Mama, is it true that land monsters can come here and eat us?" Madeline asked her mother, looking terrified at the notion, since they had been taught to fear the land dwellers, especially the monsters.

"They can’t come this far down, we’re safe in our homes. The only sea creatures in danger from them are the fish, and those who break the rules and go up there, just like Azmira had and died. That’s why we’re forbidden to go to the surface, no matter what." Their mother told them, and Natasha said,

"I will never go there."

But her sister’s curiosity got the better of her. "Mama, have you seen them before? What do they look like? Are they hideous? Wasn’t Azmira scared of them when she fell in love with her killer?"

Madeline’s questions made her mother reach over and pinch her cheek.

"Silly girl, always the curious one." She smiled before answering. "To answer your question, yes, they’re hideous in both forms. They smell terrible too, and they’re hairy. You never want to see their kind. And as for Azmira, no one ever knew what went through her mind when she fell in love with one of them, but everyone knows she regretted it before he killed her."

Their mother spoke in a grim tone, her voice carrying a hint of dread. But before the conversation could continue and the curious little mermaid could ask any more questions, their father, the King of the Sea, swam into view with several of his mermen.

They were dragging something behind them.

Their mother was quick to turn to her daughters. "Go play outside, you two, I’ll call you when lunch is ready." She shooed them away, but the moment they swam out, Madeline swam back and peeked her head in to watch.

"Maddy, Mama will be mad if she sees you peeking. Let’s go play." Natasha pulled her sister’s hand, but the other twin jerked it back with a click of her tongue as she said,

"Quiet, or she’ll hear us. I just want to see. Aren’t you ever curious what they look like? Papa’s brought back another monster he’s turned to stone to keep in the prison, I want to see it." Whispered Madeline, staring at the mermen unwrapping the creature that had been frozen into a statue and would be taken to the sea prison until it got sold for decoration to the other mermaids.

The king had the power to turn land dwellers into stone if they trespassed into the deep waters.

"Where did you get this one?" Their mother asked their father as they unwrapped it.

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