It was time to head to Meridian Academy. Revera City lacked an airport so the only option was to take the bus to Ursula City's airport. Brock was standing and fidgeting at the bus station with Mimi, the white cat girl. He was already blushing as Mimi whispered something in his ear. Then Kael and Rul showed up. The minotaur carrying multiple suitcases and the fire dragon needed only a backpack and the lit cigarette in his mouth. Anna and her mother were next.
"Your turn to say goodbye sweetie," Sarah squeezed her daughter one last time, "Remember to use protection."
She said that just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Anna's cheeks reddened and she playfully pushed her mom, "Mom! Seriously?"
Her mom smirked, "I'm all for team Ryna but no kids yet. I'm far too young for a grandchild."
She hugged her mom goodbye and the group waited for Ryker, who seemed to be running late.
"He's not here yet," Anna mumbled, a knot of anxiety tightening in her stomach.
When Ryker woke up this morning, an unknown maid had greeted him with a breakfast in bed. Liv wasn't happy that a random woman had invaded Ryker's room without her permission. Long story short, the house was covered in ice.
To make matters worse, his phone kept going off and he had to go pick up a certain water princess.
"Why are we going to the beach Ryker?" Maddie asked.
Ryker was driving them. Fenia the wolf was sitting in the passenger's seat, wearing seatbelts for the first time, Liv was next to her pouting, obviously upset at the canine.
"You'll find out," he said, not revealing the surprise. He found a nice parking spot at the Revera beach.
Getting out of the car, sand getting on his shoes and into his socks, he was standing on the beach, searching for her.
And then a giant grey sperm whale, practically bigger than the house he lived in, emerged out of the ocean. Water was blasted into the sky. Waves crashed onto the shore, drenching a few tourists who were minding their own business, spending time with their family.
Alya was waving at them, standing on the whale's head. Then she started to swim to the shore. As soon as her body reached the sand, her long beautiful tail vanished, her legs taking their place. She wobbled for a bit before finding her footing.
"Hello future husband!" she giggled, and hugged Ryker tightly, her arms squeezing him like a snake, sneakily sniffing him.
Liv's mouth was slackening with utter disbelief. Maddie sighed while Fenia ears were twitching with excitement, expecting drama.
"No. Absolute not," Liv removed the homewrecker, stepping in front of her, "Who in the fresh hell are you?"
Liv's patience was wearing thin, her possessiveness now a flashing red sign that was ready to blow.
Alya pouted, "I'm Alya. I'm his fiancée," she stated this as if it were an unassailable universal fact.
Now Liv knew how important mermaids were to the balance of power. The Kraken family's neutrality was the fragile thread holding the oceanic tensions between East and West from snapping. But her brother was more important than all of that global nonsense.
"He's mine. We are bonded," Liv pointed to the bite mark on her neck, a primal brand.
"You can be the second wife," Alya said with a bright, devastatingly cheerful smile, and she presented her neck to Ryker, showing the pristine skin.
"Mark me too," she invited.
Ryker grabbed Liv by her waist like a child would grab their teddy bear, "Okay... we're late," he said trying to end this quick but it seemed it had just begon.
The awkwardness in the backseat was suffocating. Liv and Alya sat on either side of Ryker, a united front of territorial hostility. Maddie had to drive because the vampire and the mermaid wanted him next to them. Fenia sat in the passenger's seat, her silver tail thumping a happy, chaotic rhythm against the glove compartment. The wolf was enjoying the drama a little too much for Maddie's liking.
A few minutes later the car pulled up at the bus station. Brock took notice first.
"They're here," Brock said, pointing.
Anna waved happily, ready to greet Ryker with a hug but stopped. She froze. An unknown mermaid stepped out, a wolf with mismatched ears and worst of all... Liv looked defeated.
The group exchanged a bewildered look.
"Who's this?" Anna asked, her green braids swinging. Mimi was now on her tiptoes, trying to get a better look, her whiskers twitching with intrigue.
"Did he just summon two woman out of thin air?" Kael asked as he watched the car pull up, the dragon squinting.
"I think he did," Rul replied, his deep, gravelly voice filled with astonishment.
"Hi I'm Alya! You must be Anna, the dryad," the mermaid said, extending a hand. Her cheerfulness was so bright and unnerving it was like staring into the sun.
"Hello?" Anna managed to shake her hand, her gaze flicking between the newcomer and Liv's defeated expression and Ryker's wide-eyed panic.
"I'm Ryker's fiancee," Alya added, her voice as light and casual as if commenting on the weather.
Liv let out a choked sound, a noise caught between a growl and a sob.
The silence that followed was absolute. A bus bearing the crest of Meridian Academy, a rose encircled by dragons and serpents, hissed to a stop, its doors folding open.
They all entered.
Maddie was sitting next to Fenia, Kael next to Rul, Anna next to Liv in the row ahead with Mimi and Brock. Alya had somehow managed to secure the seat right next to Ryker.
She was playing a game on her phone, the cheerful chimes a surreal soundtrack to the frozen tension in the passanger vehicle.
The only reason Liv didn't jump over the seat and claw Alya's eyes out was because she didn't want to anger Valerica, her aunt. Killing a Kraken's granddaughter would likely end with her entire family at the bottom of the ocean.
"You know we're not engaged right Alya? I only gave you my number," Ryker whispered, trying to reason with the girl who was now trying to feed him some kind of salty ocean candy she'd pulled from her bag.
She bit the chips, "I know! But destiny is destiny," she leaned her head on his shoulder, "And I can't wait to start our family."
Then she pulled up Mernet on her phone. She showed Ryker her username. It had already been changed to "Alya Larduca."
She had a new profile picture of them on the beach that she photoshopped.
Before he could fully process the sheer audacity, her phone vibrated. A message. It was from her grandmother.
"Oh look baba said congratulations on our engagement!"
From behind them Fenia burst into uncontrollable laughter. The sight of the world falling into a possible world war because of a teenage crush was a comedy she'd pay good money to watch.
"We should send her a selfie," Alya said, shoving the phone into Ryker's face.
He had absolutely no idea how to handle this girl.
"Wait let me take the picture," Fenia shot up, took the phone from the mermaid's hand before Ryker could protest.
Alya was hugging him so tight he couldn't breath, her pink eyes gazing with pure love at the phone, but Liv and Anna who were watching, were looking at Ryker with narrowed eyes, clearly not happy with his actions. The cake on top was the shadow of a wolf sitting on Ryker's shoulder. It was a taunt to Lorelei from Fenia.
"Say cheese," she said before snapping the picture.
Alya sent it to her grandmother with the message.
"Isn't he the cutest? I love him so much."
Then she leaned in to give Ryker a kiss on the cheek.