Sharkbait Down Under

Vicki Corcoran’s POV

Deep Creek, South Australia

People say that all parties center around the kitchen, but no one at our housewarming wanted to be there. Not with everything else around; they’d take a plate and sit on the window seats overlooking the ocean. Others went to the pool or downstairs to watch the fish swim in the aquarium. I’d been circulating throughout our home all night, greeting people and socializing. It was after ten at night, and I was up on the roof. Nicholas was taking me for a moonlit spin on the dance floor.

“This night has been perfect,” I told him as I leaned my head onto his broad shoulder. “The party went without a hitch, and we caught a break with the weather.” It was cooling off now, just below 20 Celsius, as I got used to the whole Metric thing. There was a light breeze off the water and a few high clouds in the sky. The railing around the roof had downward-pointed LED lights that illuminated the edge gently without spoiling the view. There were only three other couples on the dance floor and a dozen more drinking at the tables. “I need to tell you something,” I whispered in his ear.

“You’re pregnant,” he whispered in my ear.

I stopped dancing, stepping back from him in shock. “You knew?”

“For a week or so. The nose knows.” He pulled me back in and started dancing with me. “I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I just…”

“You couldn’t say anything until you were farther along because you’re afraid you’ll lose this one too,” he told me. Damn, he was good at this mate stuff. “You’re right. Many couples don’t announce it to their friends and family until they make it through the first trimester. I think in this case, you should announce it now before the party breaks up.”

“Why?”

“First off, people already suspect because the scent is faint around you. Still, you’ll never have this group of people in one place again. If you wait a month, they will never be able to congratulate you in person. Our Pack can use this, too. Heirs settle a Pack and give them hope for the future.”

He was right. “How should we do this?”

“Our parents should hear it before anyone else. Ask them to come up here.”

I sent them a mental summons and asked them to bring Linda, Amy, Makani, Fiona, Carly, and Noelani too. Those girls had helped me through my miscarriage, and I wanted them to be among the first to know. I led Nicholas to the edge facing the larger of the two coves; with the band taking a break, you could hear the surf below along with the noises from the party and the pool. Soon the group gathered around, and Nicholas held me from behind with his hands around my stomach. “I have an announcement to make,” I said as their faces lit up in anticipation. “I’m pregnant. Eight weeks along.”

The screams from the twins caught everyone’s attention, and I got pulled from one hug to another as we celebrated the news. Only Mom stayed back since she already knew. Amy whispered in my ear when she got her turn. “Don’t say anything, but we’re pregnancy buddies this time around. I found out just before I left home.” I hugged her extra tight; she was a great Mom, and I was thrilled for her and Kai.

The bartender poured champagne and sparkling grape juice, and they toasted my news. “I have to tell the others,” I said. We repeated the scene in the great room, pool, and Sharkbait’s Cave. My Pack was thrilled with me joining the worldwide WolfyBabyBoom. The new couples from the SWIM had wasted no time in adding to our numbers. Mates, transfers, and babies had swollen the Southern Cross Pack to over a hundred and twenty now.

Families had moved into eight of the ten homesites that were part of our zoning, and another five lived in nearby towns. Our Pack was coalescing into two areas; many remained northeast of Melbourne, while others relocated between here and Adelaide. A number now worked for the Sharkbait Foundation or Sharkbait Productions, including a dozen Mermaids.

Nobody knew Master Caroline was such a philanthropist until she left most of her estate to the Sharkbait Foundation. Master Cyprian was unapologetic about the eighty-seven-million-dollar bequest to my charity they’d inserted into her will, along with large donations to other conservation organizations. “It was a good move, Vicki,” he told me. “By donating the fortune to charity, it changes the picture with the Government. Foundation lawyers will go to court to get the money, and since no bad guys benefit, the Justice Department isn’t as interested in seizing the accounts. It stopped the Federal investigations into Caroline’s finances that were looking for drug ties. It forces the next Master to rely on his existing wealth, giving a clean transition to the new leadership. And it’s good for you.”

We put the money to use. The Sharkbait Foundation had a strong educational and conservation focus, expressed through research, documentaries, and advocacy for marine preserves. The tagging programs I’d started in high school were still going strong; the data allowed us to target areas like mating and nursery grounds for the sharks. The Sea Scout, now based out of Cairns by the Great Barrier Reef and staffed by a crew of mermaids, had become a premier research vessel in Australia. After our reality show fell apart, I’d produced four documentaries on Australian sharks in the past year. When not filming our shows, we worked with university scientists and other organizations to use the Sea Scout’s unique capabilities.

As I was accepting congratulations from people in my Sharkbait Cave, I scented Consuela enter the room. I looked at her and smiled as she rushed forward. “I just heard,” she said as she embraced me. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you. How was school?”

“Clinic practicals ran late, so I missed most of your party. It’s good to see people again.” Consuela’s position was unique; although she’d only been a vampire for a few years, she was more controlled than most and retained more of her humanity. She’d joined Alessandro’s coven but wasn’t comfortable in Sydney. She lived in downtown Adelaide and went to school for her medical degree under my supervision. I trusted her, and she’d found a home in my Pack.

Master Alessandro approached with Becky on his arm. “Consuela,” he greeted her warmly. “Still coming back to Sydney next week?”

“Right after my exams,” she replied. Master Alessandro’s allowance for Consuela to stay in Adelaide still required her to return to Sydney every month. Young vampires needed training, and she was still in his Coven. “Are you still getting calls about me?”

“The other Masters have gotten the message now,” Alessandro said. Some older Vampires wanted Consuela for their own, but she was not available. Alessandro wouldn’t let her be abused and used again. “Mexico City isn’t happy, but in Australia, we are out of their jurisdiction. Master Cyprian made that clear.”

I heard a commotion upstairs. “Vicki, there’s a situation up here,” Dorothy said.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s Luke Miller. He’s scenting and running around in a panic.”

Luke had turned eighteen two months ago, well after the international Scratch n Sniff, and hadn’t found his mate at the North American Alpha Summit. “Keep everyone clear. His mate is here somewhere.”

I was trying to think of who in my Pack it might be when I heard a commotion from the stairway. “Stand back and let him find her,” Leo yelled from upstairs. I saw Luke rushing down the stairs, still wet from the pool and wearing his swimsuit. His nose was high, and his wolf was forward as he tried to find her. Glowing eyes swept the room, looking for the source of that smell he craved.

Master Alessandro moved me behind him, not wanting a pregnant woman to be near a wolf seeking his mate. Rational thought could go out of the way, and bystanders could get hurt.

The guests remained still, moving apart and towards the walls out of the way. They didn’t have to worry; his wolf had found his other half, and he ran forward and swept her up, burying his nose in the side of her neck. “MINE,” he growled lowly as we looked on in shock.

“What?” Consuela was confused as Luke set her back on her feet. She didn’t get to say more as Luke started kissing the hell out of her.

I could see her relax into it and stopped Master Alessandro before he moved to separate them. “Wait,” I said. “She’s not fighting him.”

“Werewolves and vampires cannot be mates,” the Master said. “It’s never happened before!”

“You’ve got a front-row seat at history,” I replied. “Luke’s wolf knew his mate at first scent. She was human not long ago, and werewolves have had human mates.”

Hammer and Susan came down the stairs along with the other Masters and Alphas. Luke and Consuela didn’t notice as they continued to kiss and hold each other. Luke whispered something in her ear, and she nodded. Before we could stop them, Luke’s elongated canines flashed white and he claimed Consuela by biting the left side of her neck where it met the shoulder.

“NO!” Master Cyprian couldn’t stop it now; Luke was drinking her blood, finally licking the wound clean as his teeth went back to normal. We watched as Consuela’s teeth extended into points; Luke bared his neck to his mate, and she bit deeply into him and drank. When she’d taken enough, she withdrew her teeth and closed the wounds.

“Will that even work?” I asked the question, but no one could answer. Our first clue came with the healing or lack of it. When vampires fed on humans, their saliva healed the wounds almost instantly, with no bruises or scars left behind. Together with their ability to affect memories, it allowed them to feed off humans and not leave evidence behind. Vampires had super-fast self-healing, so everyone expected the neck bite that Luke gave her to disappear within a minute.

Neither occurred the way we expected. Consuela’s neck closed up, but the faint scars left behind pronounced Luke’s claim to other werewolves and supernaturals. Luke’s puncture wounds healed, leaving the same scars behind on her mate.

Their activities were getting more sexual by the moment, so I asked Dorothy to show the pair to the one spare bedroom we still had upstairs. It didn’t matter if we thought it possible; Luke and Consuela were mates, and they had only one thing on their minds right now. Consuela wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her up the stairs to bed.

“Alessandro, the bartender,” I said quietly. Not everyone at my party was supernatural, and this young woman had just witnessed a werewolf and vampire claiming each other. He nodded, understanding he’d have to remove the memories. “Everyone else, please join us in my conference room.”

In the back of the main floor was our home office, a large room overlooking one of the coves. It had plenty of couches and a conference table, and that is where the leaders of our world sat. Master Cyprian, Master Emily, and Becky represented the Vampires. Leo, Adrienne, Hammer, Susan, and Chairman Lars Svensson represented the werewolves, while Linda and Terry represented Mermaids. Nicholas and I had just sat at the head of the table when Master Alessandro joined us. “It’s happened, so what do we do now,” I asked.

“It’s Luna’s will,” Adrienne replied. “Don’t get in the way.”

“It’s never happened,” Master Cyprian said. “Why now?”

“Maybe Luna is trying a new thing, maybe it’s always been this way, but our kinds never interacted enough for mates to find each other,” my aunt replied. “The claims show the bond is accepted. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next.”

“She could kill him,” Lars said quietly.

“Vampires only inject venom from their claws as a defensive measure,” Cyprian replied.

“And if you have vampire blood in your body, it won’t affect you,” Nicholas said.

“Our kinds are each affected by taking the other’s blood,” Emily said. “We will have to wait and see what happens over time. She will feed off him often, I would expect.”

“And werewolves like to bite,” I said. “They need to be together, and I don’t want the first interspecies mates to end up in the Minneapolis Coven. I think it would be better for everyone to leave them here, in our Pack. Consuela will continue to train with Master Alessandro as before, and she can remain in University.”

“Luke is still in high school,” Susan said.

“He probably has enough credits to graduate, and if not, he can complete his coursework online as I did. He can start college next year with the other Pack members.”

“It’s up to them,” Hammer said. “If they want to return home to the Miesville Pack, I would ask Master Cyprian for help in defusing any issues that would come up. If they choose to stay here, then his mother and I have no objections. We know he will be safe in the Southern Cross Pack.”

“Master Cyprian?”

“I agree,” he said. “I have to say, Vicki, spending time with you is never boring.” There were laughs around the room at this. “As you say, new things are happening, and who knows what they may lead to?”

“Just wait until Consuela gets pregnant,” Susan said.

“Vampires can’t get pregnant,” Emily scoffed.

“Twenty minutes ago, we were all convinced vampires didn’t have mates,” I replied. “I won’t put Luna in a box; if she made them mates, it was for a reason. We will have to see. I will ask Consuela to research the changes that their mating has on them.”

It was silent for a bit before Nicholas spoke up. “The scratch ’n sniffs will be more interesting,” he said quietly before we all started laughing.

“Let’s go back to the party,” I said.

The band and the catering staff left at midnight, allowing the party to go Full Wolfy. The pool guests removed their suits and inhibitions with the all-clear announcement; shaggy wolves started sliding down the waterslides into a swimming pool filled with mermaids, and mated pairs took advantage of the giant hot tub. Others headed down to the beach, building a fire in the private cove, while others ran up the canyons and hills on a kangaroo hunt.

I ended up with Nicholas and my girls at a table in the pool area by the snack bar, where we were cooking pizzas in the oven as fast as we could. We were laughing as we told stories, catching up after our time apart. I had to leave and do the hostess thing after I finished my pizza.

Nicholas and I stayed near the entrance so we could say goodbye to our guests as they left. By two in the morning, everyone that wasn’t here for the night was gone. I ended up sitting in front of my aquarium with my Mom and Dad. The room dark and empty as we watched the fish swimming in the simulated moonlit night. “I love you, Dad,” I told him as I rested my head on his chest.

“I was right, you know,” he said as he pulled Mom closer on the other side.

“When?” Mom’s voice held a touch of sarcasm.

“When you were getting ready for your eighteenth birthday party, you were nervous about finding a mate that night and having your whole life change. I told you that day you were an amazing young lady. You are smart, driven, beautiful, and a natural leader. Then I told you not to be afraid of your destiny. Do you remember your answer?”

I nodded. “I wanted to choose my destiny for myself.”

“And I told you Luna laughs at your attempts to tell her what to do. You needed to trust that she has your best interest at heart and be open to what she gives you.”

“I remember,” I said as the tears started to flow.

“Luna did well with you,” Mom said. “It wasn’t easy, but you’ve got so much now. I think tonight proved Luna is not done with you yet. We couldn’t be prouder of the woman you have become. ”

“Thank you,” I said softly.

I fell asleep with my head on Dad’s shoulder in front of the sharks, just like I had dozens of times before in Leo’s basement.

THE END

Book four of the series, Missing, is next