Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
“Eh? Talia?”, Maya asked while blinking the lake water from her eyes.
Both Maya and Kalina started swimming toward Talia and Maya asked, “Why are you here?”
“Waiting for you and Tanya.”, Talia said.
“Tanya?”, Kalina asked. “Is she coming here?”
“She got worried about you and went to find you.”, Talia said.
Kalina didn’t get it. “Why would she be worried?”
“When Jaeden said that you went diving with Maya, Tanya assumed that you went mermaid hunting.”
“Not hunting. Searching.”, Kalina corrected Talia.
Talia couldn’t believe this. Tatiana was right! “So, you went all the way down?”
Kalina responded with a stiff smile. They didn’t go all the way down, because the deeper they went, the visibility was lower, and then there was mud and kelp forest and currents, and it was getting tricky to navigate.
Thinking about how dangerous it was down there, Kalina was worried. “How long is Tanya down there?”
Talia shrugged. How was she supposed to tell time? She could only answer with, “Less than you.”
“Do you want to search for Tanya?”, Maya asked.
“No, no.”, Talia said quickly. “The last thing I need is you two going back down and then Tanya comes up and she goes after you and… when will it end?”
Kalina understood Talia’s reasoning, but… “I need to find Tanya. Knowing her, she won’t give up until she finds me. Neither of us trained physically. I got a boost in strength after Tony marked me and part of why I went down was to test my limits. I didn’t separate from Maya, but Tanya is on her own.”
“She didn’t train, but she is still a she-wolf.”, Talia said. “She won’t die from drowning.” At most, she will pass out and her body will float up. Maybe. “Besides, she is not down there for long. Give her some time.”
Kalina puffed her cheeks. “What you said is reasonable, but I hate that she got entangled in something like this because of me. If she breaks a nail or gets mud in her hair, I won’t hear the end of it.”
Tatiana was always a clean freak and Kalina knew that her sister wouldn’t just go into the murky depths unless she was really worried about Kalina.
…
…
Tatiana dove deeper with every stroke.
She was upset.
She wanted to scold Kalina for being reckless. Why the heck would she go looking for mermaids when there were obviously none?
Mermaids should be in the depths of the ocean, and not at the bottom of some dingy lake in the middle of a werewolf territory!
The sunlight was getting scarcer, but Tatiana didn’t have issues seeing in the darkness with her werewolf sight. However, there was nothing to see. Wherever she looked it was just water, and it was getting blurrier the further she went.
Great. How was she supposed to find Kalina when the visibility was lowering?
If they were part of a regular pack, they would have a mind-link, but their family is special. Their parents told them that without a pack to tie them down, they will have the freedom to choose for themselves. After all, in a pack, roles are strictly enforced. Omegas serve, warriors fight, Alphas rule. It’s simple, and Tatiana was always proud of the fact that they were different, independent… but now she really wished for a way to contact her sister!
Ah! Something touched her leg.
Tatiana looked behind and she couldn’t believe that she touched a plant. Is she at the bottom already?
At the second glance, Tatiana confirmed that’s kelp. She remembered Maya talking about a kelp forest.
From the back of Tatiana’s mind came a biology lesson where she learned some facts about kelp. Kelp has a tough and flexible stem that can grow beyond 50 meters high. That meant Tatiana was not necessarily near the bottom of the lake. How deep was this thing anyway?
Tatiana panicked when a sudden current threw her to the side, and she grabbed one kelp in an attempt to steady herself. The plant was slimy and not easy to hold onto, but there were few of them so Tatiana grabbed with both hands.
Just as Tatiana caught her bearings, another current threw her deeper among kelp and when Tatiana abruptly stopped, she realized that one kelp was wrapped around her ankle.
Tatiana looked around and her eyes widened. There was kelp everywhere!
She was prying her leg out, and her heart shook when she realized that’s not an easy feat. The blasted plant was swaying with the currents and tightening its grip!
Tatiana looked up to see the darkness. She was so deep that sunlight didn’t come through, not even a little bit, and everywhere she looked, she could see kelp.
Before she knew it, Tatiana’s other leg was tightly wrapped in kelp also!
Now what?
She tried moving her legs gently, forcefully… it didn’t work. Ripping kelp with her hands didn’t work either because it was super-slimy and slippery, and she confirmed that it’s very tough.
Tatiana remembered Maya’s words about how if something strange happens, she shouldn’t panic, and she should let it happen because it’s the mermaids. Well, if there were any mermaids at the bottom of this lake, now it would be a great time for them to show up!
The more Tatiana struggled, the more entangled she became. To make things worse, it was difficult to determine which way was up because currents moved the murky water, and everywhere she looked, there was just kelp.
Tatiana cursed her luck. Why did she come here?
Kalina told her over video chat that everything was great with Tony, but Tatiana had to come and see in person, like a nosy older sister she is.
If she didn’t come to the United States, she wouldn’t meet that dastardly hunk and her mind wouldn’t be a mess, her heart would be steady, and she wouldn’t be stuck in the kelp! It’s all his fault!
Is this it? Is this how Tatiana Wilkow will die?
The famous ‘Dama T’ whose designs grace catwalks and fashion magazines will end up as fish food.
Will she have any regrets?
Not really. Her assets and company will be equally divided among her four sisters. Mario knows almost everything about the business, and Tatiana had sketches ready for the next season. Her sisters probably won’t care about running a fashion company, but Mario would help them create the outfits for the next season and they will use the profits as a severance package for Tatiana’s employees before they shut down the company, so that will be fine.
Her parents are well, and her sisters also, so it’s not like anyone would be left in a predicament because Tatiana was gone. She was grateful that she didn’t have children or pets.