Page 53 of Selkie AU: Beyond the Storm

“No!” I yelled, launching myself toward him, desperate to stop him from doing what he was about to do. I wasn’t fast enough, and he disappeared beneath the surface before I could reach him.

Hands pulled at my clothing as I pushed my way to the ledge, ready to jump in after him.

“Don’t be foolish, human. The goddess will protect him. I can’t say the same for you,” said Milo’s grandmother.

I didn’t have the faith in their goddess that they did. I couldn’t trust anyone or anythingto keep him safe. The man I loved was in danger, and I’d get him out myself.

I yanked out of her grasp, only for more hands to grab at more clothing.

“Stop him,” Et’el barked, and then even more hands were grabbing at me.

I couldn’t pull free from them all, but panic had me thrashing in every direction as I attempted to anyway. “Milo!” I called for him. “Let go of me!”

A white head of hair broke the surface, but it wasn’t him. A terrified looking woman quickly scrambled up onto the little space that remained in the boat.

“The Aarlinuk!” she sobbed. “They’re here. One had me. He said he was going to eat me. I thought I was going to die, but Milo stopped him.”

My throat closed. Air evaded me entirely as I thrashed twice as hard. These Aarlinuk,orca peopleMilo had called them, were enough to terrify the selkies. They threatened toeatthem for fuck’s sake. It told me all I needed to know. Milo was in very real danger.

“Please.” My voice escaped me, rough and broken. “Please, I need to help him.”

“Trust the goddess. She wouldn’t—” Et’el tried again. I didn’t care.

“I said let me go!” I screamed louder. I didn’t care about any goddess. Only the man under the surface who had taken my heart with him.

The popping of stitches didn’t bother me as my clothing started to tear from how hard I was pulling against the many hands restraining me.

“Get him away from the edge,” Et’el ordered.

Inch by agonizing inch, the hoard of selkies pulled me further away from the ledge, and I sobbed as I used all the strength I had to fight against them.

“Stop it, human!”

“No! Milo!” I gasped.

“Youcannothelp him!” she snarled, standing in front of me, blocking the path while her people refused to let me go. “The Aarlinuk are top of the food chain in the water, even more than you humans with your tools and inventions. If you jump into that water, you will be less than useless.”

“I don’t care. I can’t leave him alone!”

Et’el sighed. “You would really put your own life in danger just to help him?”

“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.

“Even if the odds of dying were far higher than succeeding?”

“Yes,” I answered again immediately. “I can’t live if it isn’t with him. If he dies, I die.”

Et’el gave me a scrutinizing look.

“Please,” I cried, tears streaming down my face, mingling with the cold sweat that had broken out all over my body. “Please, let me go. I don’t care if it’s dangerous. He shouldn’t face it alone. I need to help him.”

“Aanaa?” asked one of the selkies holding me down.

“I see your bond, Rowan. I understand your feelings,” she said, her voice softening. “You are his mate, and that is deeper than life and death.” Hope blossomed in my chest and the tension eased as I prepared for them to release me so I could get to Milo. “But I know my grandson,” she continued. “And I know he wouldneverwant his mate in danger. I’m sorry. You cannot go to him.”

Hope was dashed, and pure anguish replaced it. “No!” I screamed, and my voice carried over the surface of the water, my chest colder than the ice it echoed off. “Milo!”

I couldn’t exist without him. Not for a single day. Not a single hour. Not even a single minute. He was everything to me. I didn’t care how much danger it would put me in if it gave him even a fraction of a better chance at surviving. If all I could do with my life was ensure he could live his, it would be more purpose than I ever could have dreamed of. But I couldn’t help him, they wouldn’t let me.