"No more lies." Nate grits his teeth.

I ogle him without restraint and for the first time since I met him I see him become uncomfortable under my stare, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Don't move." He instructs before leaving the garden, giving me a wonderful sight of his butt... BACK I MEAN HIS BACK ! He comes back in seconds with shorts on.

"So." I try to diffuse the tension.

"How old are you ?" He starts without waiting.

'Sheesh. Way to make a girl feel old.'

"I told you already. I'm 25."

"Since when ?"

"I don't know." I shrug. "For two or three years."

'Try millenniums.' My wolf coughs.

"Show me your eyes."

I sigh and give up. My vision turns red.

"You're not a werewolf then." He concludes on his own.

"Of course I am."

"Don't lie to me. Werewolves have yellow eyes."

"Genetic mutation."

"Prove it. Turn into your wolf."

"Don't wanna." I wail like a five-year-old. "You know I'm a wolf. You can smell it." I try to convince him. "You could tell Leila wasn't one."

"But your eyes are red."

"I know, I know." I chide him.

"How do you know the other alphas ?"

"I met them during a race or another gamble."

"How do you know the kitsunes ? The vampires ?"

"I met them during my travels."

"How did you win against Daiki's powers ?"

"I got lucky." I shrug.

"Who are you ?"

"This feels like an interrogation." I grumble.

"It is." He frowns.

"Look, I can't explain everything to you."

"Why not ?"

"Because these are private matters."

"How do you want me to trust you then ?"

"I don't know." I sigh looking for a way to make him understand without giving him my true identity. "You just have to."

"You can't expect me to blindly trust you without any proof. I have responsabilities, a pack to take care of. I can't put them in danger simply because I trusted you."

'Oh no ! Hope !' My wolf interrupts my train of thoughts. 'With everything that's happening we forgot the most important thing !'

What ?

'The new season of GOT started again two days ago !'

"OH MY GOD !" I cry out and run quickly inside forgetting everything else. "Leila !" I shout in a hurry, "LEILA !"

"What ? What is it ?" She comes out of the bathroom dishevelled, a towel still in her hair.

"Where's your laptop ?"

"In my room. Did something happen ?"

She follows me upstairs as I run.

"I can't believe I forgot !" I whine.

"What ! What did you forget ?"

I reach the device and turn it on impatiently "Come on. Come on !" I grumble.

I enter the site's name as soon as the screen lights up. Leila looks over my shoulder intrigued and starts to frown when she understands what I'm doing.

"Don't tell me... no... Tell me you're not serious right now."

I don't listen to her and search frantically for the new episode. I click and click and click to load it up.

"You had me worried for this ?" She seethes.

I ignore her even more as I go down to the kitchen to heat up a big bowl of popcorn.

"I'm not here. For the next hour I'm not here for anyone !" I state matter-of-factly.

"Are you crazy ?! This is just a show !"

I gasp dumbfounded.

Just a show ?

"Do I have to remind you who wrote it ?"

"Who cares, it's still a show. You can watch it anytime you want. But now's not the time !"

"And be spoiled by the stupid humans who can't live without spoiling everything for others in their need to write down the emotions -that they have and that we don't care about- for everyone to see ?! No way in hell !"

'Youre the first one to comment on what you see.'

Don't care. I can spoil them but they can't spoil me.

"You know G.R.R Martin asks for my input for his books right ? Without me his show would have been a flop."

"Right. And Spielberg wouldn't have produced Jurassic Park and George Lucas Star Wars without you."

"I sent a few tips here and there"

Leila rolls her eyes.

"I also gave them the idea for Back to the future by the way. Actually Jules Verne had the basic idea and I took care of the science."

'HA HA HA HA HA ! You a scientist ? You mean you asked Einstein for his theories.'

Same thing.

"Now go away. I'm busy."

"You're crazy." She mumbles as she leaves my room.

For the next hour and a half I lose myself in the wonderful world of kings and dragons, of wars and treason. Let me tell you, when John Snow starts to-

'Stop spoiling them !'

You don't know what you're missing.

I decide to call it a night and go to sleep because I have a feeling tomorrow will be a drag. And I dream some more of the time we rode on the back of dragons...

The next morning I take my time getting ready. I eat a huge breakfast full of grease, I change my clothes five times, never satisfied with the outcome, read a chapter of the latest book on my nightstand -there since 1947- and go for a swim, just for the heck of it. At noon everyone is ready and impatient to get the meeting over. We are only four left, Xavier left last night.

'And then there were three.' My wolf jokes.

Who's next ?

'I'd say Leila. She won't leave again.'

I'm not so sure about that, I have a feeling there's something she's interested in in California. I'm betting on Noriko.'

'Five weeks of chores.'

I'm not playing that game with you. You burn everything down every time. That's not cleaning.

'You do exactly the same !'

It's called renovating.

'Then three days in the Amazon forest.'

Deal.

Leila contacted Pierre earlier and they agreed to meet in a neutral territory. I make one last stop in my room to retrieve my bag and a sealed little box. The ride is short and leads us to desolated barn near the shore outside of town. I can smell them before we step out of the car. At least ten of them. They came in numbers.

'They don't trust us.'

Seems to be going around lately. I glance at Nate who is keeping a safe distance from me since this morning.

"I hear ten heartbeats." Noriko indicates. "Three men and seven women."

I smile impressed by her precision.

"Actually, it's three men, six women and a child." I smirk nonetheless.

"Whatever." She rolls her eyes.

"Why did they bring so many women ?" Leila asks frowning.

"Merpeople are a little different." I explain. "Men are mostly good at controlling the elements, water especially, whereas the women are better in close combat. Here on land the women are more useful. They can't call for a big wave and expect any results in case of an attack."

They all nod in understanding.

'Boy ! They don't know anything about anything. Don't they ever read ? Try to learn ?'

Let's just say we had a lot of time in our hands to gather all this information.

"So, what now ? We'll get to see Sebastian and happily sing 'Under the sea' ?" Nate jokes.

"Actually his name is Lionel and he's an octopus." I inform him. "And a really good pianist."

Noriko looks at me with bulging eyes and I'm satisfied with the effect my comment made.

"But no, we won't see him. He doesn't come on land."

"Then how did you witness it ?" Nate asks doubtfully.

"You need to take a boat." I stop to listen in on the people inside the barn. "Anyway, we should get inside, they are growing impatient."

We all walk to the old wooden door, cracks all over it letting us see inside. The merpeople know we're here, like many creatures they possess acute senses. The king is sitting in the middle of the room on a chair of whale bones adorned with shells and algae, giving it a weird green color. The thing is hideous and coming out of nowhere.

'They always had bad taste.'

The two men are staying close to him as a last line of protection. The women are scattered around but still in formation to attack at any moment. The little girl comes to us as soon as we step inside, holding a large piece of wood as if she was playing with it seconds ago. She walks with a little jump in her steps and an innocent face. Just as I expected it.

Don't let it fool you. She is the most powerful in this room. Merchildren are born with incommensurable strength. They are trained really early and capable of defeating merciless enemies in the blink of an eye. They are the commanders of wars. After a century or two they grow and as they turn to adults their strength diminishes and their status changes. And then they give birth to the next generations, always more powerful, always more trained.

"Hello." She says in a soft voice and the three idiots next to me smile at her almost hypnotized by her angelic airs.

I roll my eyes and clear my throat trying to get this over with. She turns in my direction to send me a murderous glare, unnoticed by the others.

Smart little demon.

"My name is Marie." She continues, bright teeth showing. "Who are you ?"

"I'm Nate, the alpha of the Californian wolf pack and these are my friends." The latter starts in a soothing voice.

I choke and start to cough unceremoniously. They all look at me weirdly.

"Mister Nate, I don't like this person." Marie whispers to him with teary eyes.

He looks at me uncomfortably, almost asking me to leave.

"Alright !" I say loudly, clapping my hands together.

We're not here to play after all, and especially not at my expanse. The stagnant sea smell in the room is getting on my nerves.

"Let's get down to business. King Angus, I'm done waiting." I speak directly to him.

I hear the sound of something breaking and as I suspected when I turn around the wooden toy in Maria's hands is snapped in two very sharp pieces currently aimed at my heart. Her frown is visible for everyone to see and the tension in the room spreading. My smirk only grows, I can't help it.

'Two chocolate boxes, she throws it at you in the next minute.'

One pair of heels from Louboutin, she waits until after the meet.

'One Saint-Laurent coat, she makes you bleed.'

Not a chance ! She's a child.

'You're right. Two coats.'

Oddly enough Nate, Leila and Noriko aren't looking at Marie as innocently as before. They each took a few steps back, away from her and watch her moves suspiciously.

"As I was saying," I keep going feigning to be annoyed by the unwanted interruption. "we have other fish to fry." I add smartly.

'I am so ashamed to be seen with you...'

"Watch your tongue wolf." Marie hisses, all pretense gone.

"I see I'm coming at the right time." Pierre declares as he joins us in the barn, positioning himself between the both of us as a shield.

I don't know which one he is trying to protect though. He bows slightly to his king before addressing us all.

"The meeting between King Angus Philippe Louis III, King of the merpeople, emperor of the Seven Seas and master of all their creatures and alpha Nate of the wolf pack of California is now commencing. King Angus will listen to your offer and make his decision accordingly." He declares formally and I only want one thing, to go back to bed. I never liked when people talked like that.

"Yadi yadi yada." I sigh.

Nate glares at me and I ignore him as I step forward.

"This is simple, really. We want you to join our side and help us fight. You are going to agree. Ergo, problem solved."

"Why should we help the people from the ground ?" Angus asks in the raspy voice of someone who hasn't used his vocal cords in a long time.

His skin is pale which leads me to believe he hasn't been to the surface for even longer.

"I say let them fight and kill each other off. Then we'll finally take back our rightful place on the ground." He concludes.

Wow wow WOW ! Hold on.

"First of all, the ground isn't yours. Never was, never will. Of course you can share it with us if you'd like but that's that." I set the record straight. "And secondly, you are the puppeteer of the seas because someone allowed you to." I remind him.

"Emperor." Pierre coughs besides me as Angus turns greener by the minute.

"Sure. It's just a title." I agree, shrugging.

"This fight doesn't concerns us." The king refuses stubbornly.

'Maybe it's time to elect another king...'

Well, I knew he was going to be difficult. Merpeople never make things easy for anyone.

I feel like being stubborn too could work but I'm not sure we can afford the time, and I'd avoid the headache. Win-win. I open my bag and take out the small box inside. It doesn't look like much, it's old and its design simple, but it's made of the bones of a dragon, which is why I chose it seeing as it seals magic pretty well.

"I'll give you something you really want and in exchange you'll lend us your warriors." I offer.

This time it's his turn to smirk and it's an ugly sight.

"Young lady, there is nothing in this world you could give me that I would be interested in."

'Wanna bet ?'

"You're probably right." I shrug. "Then I'll just keep it."

"Wait. Show it to me." He demands intrigued as I am about to put the box back in my bag.

"No, you're right, it's nothing you could ever want."

"Just show it to me already." He grumbles.

I open the lid slowly to reveal a small trident, not bigger than my little finger. The power emanating from it however sends chills along my arms. It's been a while since I used it.

'Last time didn't end that well.'

And that's why we agreed to only use it once each century.

"Why do you have that ?!" The king roars in rage as everyone freezes in the room.

"Stumbled upon it." I answer innocently, after all Marie isn't the only one who can play that game.

"THIEF !" He cries out his skin becoming translucent and his features contorting into hideous lines.

He has nothing left of the beautiful mermaids that could lure sailors into the sea, only the flesh-eating monster is left behind.

"Hey there, hold on." I try to reason with him.

"I should have known this was a trap !" He begins ranting. "This was stolen from my great-great-great-grand-father. My father told me the story his father told him, one his own father told him and so on and so on. The story about the raven haired demon who seduced the King of the sea and convinced him to show her the weapon that controls the five elements. The wicked devil stole it and disappeared into the night.

Who seduced who here ?! I simply took it because the brat in charge at the time was making waves three buildings tall right and left and it was a pain.

'And you forgot to give it back.'

And I realized making big waves was fun so I kept it.

'At least you're honest with yourself.'

Leila looks at me with a knowing look, perfectly aware that I am more than capable of doing something along those lines.

"Look, I don't really care how you lost it, I'm offering to give it back. Now if you don't want it I think I'll just keep it." I suggest.

"Marie." Angus growls.

"Yes my Lord." She smiles ready to kill me.

"If you make one more step I'll rip your throat out. And then I'll take care of your king." I warn her showing sharp canines with my own smile.

"Let's just all calm down for a second." Pierre interjects. "My Lord, Hope is willing to give you the trident back, there is no need for blood to be shed."

"She needs to pay for stealing it in the first place." Angus refuses to see reason.

Fine by me.

"She can't be the raven haired demon. No wolf lives that long."

Actually...

"Fine." The king mumbles disappointed and so is Marie.

And so am I !

"Do you agree to lend us your warriors ?" I remind them the parts of the deal which seemed to be forgotten or smartly avoided in all the chaos.

"Yes, yes. He waves his hand dismissively his gaze fixated on the trident.

"You won't mind signing a binding contract to this effect ?"

"Sure." He agrees and signs the papers I give them in a haste.

I don't push it and hand over the box without complaint.

Aren't you forgetting something ?'

What ?

'I don't know, maybe the fact that you broke it. That it doesn't really work anymore.'

Oh that. Nah, I'm good. They'll just think he sucks at it.

"Alpha Nate, we will lend you poor inferior beasts our hand in the coming war." Angus declares.

That's it, I'm ending him.

"But never forget that we are not allies. You have persecuted us for far too long and today we gained back our freedom. We will take back what is rightfully ours."

'Poor man. It's going to break his heart when he realizes it works just enough to boil some tea..' My wolf sighs.

Who cares.

'I do. He's ugly and unlucky. Nothing is going his way.'

You and your weird compassion.

"Well then, it was nice to meet you. We'll wait for you in California." Nate says in a diplomatic way before we excuse ourselves and leave.

Marie and two other merpeople accompany us outside and she only needs a fraction of a second to throw herself at me with a wooden blade still in her hands. I bend to the side to avoid the hit and grab her ankle to bring her down on the grass immobilizing her with a tight grip around her neck. I can feel Leila behind me who took care of the other female and when I look around I see Noriko bent over the male who is quailing on the ground under the incessant electric shocks. I concentrate back on the commander as she struggles in vain to get out of my hold.

"Big mistake Marie." I scold her. "Did your daddy never tell you not to attack someone bigger than you ?"

She glares at me but gives up her efforts.

"Now, I didn't miss your killing intent. You were definitely after my blood. So it would only be fair if I did the same." I decide. "What will it be ? An arm ? An eye ? A leg ? Your tongue ?" I smirk and she shivers.

"Hope that's enough." Leila speaks calmly.

I look at her in surprise and see her worried eyes follow the frame of Nate's body. His eyes are relentlessly going from one color to the other, flickering briefly to yellow before going back to green and a frown is etched on his face.

What's going on ?

By the way, I just won a new pair of shoes...