Rowan's POV
I was sitting on my bed, curled up against my boyfriend, Rylan, trying to study Eng Lang together without much success.
The text we were analysing was an ABC interview with Margot Robbie which had absolutely no metaphors in it anywhere. They were pretty much the only piece of metalanguage I knew, so this was proving to be a big issue.
I also couldn't figure out what on earth the interviewer's purpose was when he asked '@@@@@ h-h-how's that (...) baby uh (..) going/?' completely unprompted. I mean, why would anyone say that?
"I'm ninety percent sure he's a massive creep," Rylan confirmed to me, also trying to figure out the same line. He was supposed to have been finding case studies for the both of us but he had already finished so he was helping me out with my AC instead. I nodded along to his statement.
"When do you think Ravan will get here?" I asked.
Against my back, I felt Rylan stiffen and when I looked up, there was a light pink hue dusting his cheeks. For a moment, his embarrassment confused me, it reminded me of how he acted when we first realised we were mates. Suddenly, our connection through the moon goddess caused the realisation to kick in.
"Oh. Oh. You actually like her??" I turned around to look up at him properly and his face scrunched up in distaste.
"Yes? No? I don't know!" he spluttered out, clearly frustrated. I could feel his tension through our bond, the one we also both shared with Ravan.
"She is your soulmate too," I pointed out. "It looks like the moon goddess was right after all."
My tone was light and teasing but Rylan just slumped into the pile of pillows we were leaning on and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes with a resentful groan.
"She's so irritating, though! You're the only one I want to be in love with but I have all these inane feelings for her, too!"
I grinned and nudged my head into his shoulder playfully. "Oh, the woes of true love!" I said with mock melancholy.
"Ugh, I hate this so much," Rylan grumbled and I laughed at his pain for a bit before another realisation hit me like a truck.
"Wait.... We're going to have to tell her about the soulmate thing. Plus, the... other stuff..." I said. Rylan took his hands away from his face to look at me properly, and I saw my own dread reflected in his liquid metal eyes.
"Do you think she already knows about omegaverse? Maybe then we won't have to explain so much?" I hedged, but Rylan shook his head.
"No, we owe her the full truth; about me being a werewolf, the mating rituals, the moon goddess, all of it. I know you already thought it was unfair that we didn't tell her from the beginning, and if you're really going to make me confess to her then she needs to know what we have all along."
I turned the dilemma over in my mind but knew in my heart that there wasn't really a decision to be made. I loved Ravan with everything that I had in me and I couldn't keep hiding such a large part of myself from her, even if it meant we were going to have to have a really awkward conversation.
"Just not yet, she's going through a lot right now. This will just terrify her more than me being a mermaid did. Plus, we have to do our exams as well," I said.
River's POV
I leaned back in my makeshift wooden throne, much less impressive than my brother's official counterpart, but a symbol to the acolytes lounging in the chairs encircling it nonetheless. These select few were my most loyal followers, but it seemed my trust had been misplaced.
"It has been several weeks and still none of you have managed to terminate the target!" I snarled, revelling in the fear I smelled wash over the room.
I didn't even need to raise my voice to elicit such a reaction, and the heady sensation of overwhelming power went straight to my head. This was what it was to be the alpha, to be so completely and utterly in control.
"Well..." one of my disciples who hadn't yet picked up on the vibe of the room piped up. "We've tried hitting him with falling objects but he keeps dodging..." he finished his statement with a befuddled shrug.
I let a low, menacing growl rise up in the back of my throat and watched the terror grow in his eyes. With a self-satisfied smirk, I stopped and settled back into my throne smugly. "Obviously you aren't trying hard enough. Would it kill you guys to actually think for once? Goddamn idiots..."
There was a nervous chorus of "sorry, alpha"'s and I turned my attention to one of my more competent henchmen, Arorough Wolfthorn, who was running her fingers through her long, flowing, knee-length black and red hair thoughtfully.
"What happened to your poison?" I demanded. "You promised me it would be potent enough to react with the target's biology and destroy them!"
"It seems my first brew had some small complications. I can assure you that my next will be successful," she said with a sinister chuckle. I wasn't a big fan of her evil laugh because it was better than mine but I let it slide because she was the only witch available to my cause.
Instead, my piercing gaze was drawn to one of my supporters lounging bisexually in his chair, running his tongue over his vampiric canines idly. I had no idea why he was like this and it honestly weirded me out most of the time but, like Arorough, he was indispensable to my cause.
"What of your mission?" I asked. "You and your sister better have something more for me than stalking her on Instagram."
"Calm down queen, I got some major tea to spill this time, promise," he grinned and pulled out a notebook, which he handed to me. It was sealed with a pretentious wax seal, which I would break later to read the vital intel it contained.
"GENDERED TERMS ARE FORBIDDEN!" I barked aggressively at him, and he shrunk into his chair. Satisfied that I had intimidated him enough, I continued in my usual softer, calmer tone.
"This is useful... but you still haven't gotten her away from Rylan," I pointed out slyly.
Obviously I hadn't been harsh enough earlier because he folded his arms boldly before replying.
"Ummmm, maybe if you were better at skateboarding menacingly? I don't think she's smart enough to pay attention to all our threats, we need to kill her."
I let out another growl. I refused to let them kill her, it wasn't her fault that her stupid mate killed my mate. Rowan would pay, my disciples knew that.
"No. If she isn't leaving, focus on the other target." I murmured.
I stood up from my throne and sauntered haughtily through the door on my right, leaving them to figure out a way to comply with my demands.