Into the Fog (Fisher's Bay 1) ✅

Reality Check

Remy held his breath, watching Nadia closely. She had frozen where she stood, her mouth slightly open as she blinked slowly. For the longest time, she didn't say anything. He couldn't exactly tell what was going through her head, but he was pretty sure she didn't believe him at all.

Who would?

But there was no denying there was something different about her. When he first met her on the beach at the bonfire, her scent was overwhelmingly human. But after she came out from the shower just now, the stench of saltwater cleared away, he could tell that something had shifted.

There was a hint of something in her scent that hadn't been there before.

It was what he had initially smelled on the beach at the gathering. The scent that he had only gotten a small hit of before it disappeared and conjured the memory of that little girl from all those years ago.

He felt it deep in his bones. Somehow, Nadia had been in Fisher's Bay when they were children and they had met. Perhaps there was something that called to him back then, even though he hadn't shifted yet. Like a part of him knew that they were destined to be fated mates even then.

"I... what?" she finally said, shaking her head. "Not human? How can someone not be human?"

"Fisher's Bay isn't a normal town," Chloe said gently.

"I could have told you that," Nadia retorted.

"What she means is... none of us are human," Remy said.

"Oh, well, what are you then?" Nadia asked dryly. "Let me guess - vampires?"

"Fuck no," Tate snorted.

"Oh, okay, so you must be werewolves then," Nadia replied, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Well..." Chloe said, shifting her weight around.

Nadia burst out laughing, tossing her head back. She sounded near delirious. While it was a welcome change from how she had been when Remy first arrived - which quite honestly had scared the shit out of him - he wasn't taking this as necessarily good. Granted, they all knew that this would be neither easy nor quick.

"You're shitting me, right? You three are werewolves. Oh my God, I had no idea this town was that weird," Nadia said, now bending over, she was laughing so hard. "I've wandered into a frickin' Twilight movie."

"Technically we're shifters. And I'm a bear. I mean, I'm into guys. But also," Tate said, motioning towards himself and then made a swiping motion with his hands shaped like paws as he growled.

It wasn't anything like he sounded when he let his bear take over. In fact, if this were any other situation, it would be downright comical. However, Remy didn't appreciate it.

Nadia, however, paused for a moment with a perplexed look on her face before bursting out into laughter again. Chloe smacked Tate in the chest.

Remy sighed and glanced over at his two best friends. Looked like it was going to take a more hands-on approach. Which he knew was coming. He just wasn't eager to scare the shit out of Nadia.

"Your grandmother, she was something different, though. She's what we call merfolk, though she preferred Havsfru. That's what they call themselves," Chloe said, taking a step towards Nadia, seemingly eager to keep trying this route.

"Wait, like The Little Mermaid? So I'm a mermaid?" Nadia asked, now laughing so hard she was wiping tears from her eyes. "Awesome. Though you could have fooled me. I've always been shit at swimming."

"We're serious, Nadia. And you're only part merfolk. Your grandfather was a wolf," Chloe insisted.

"Lovely. I'm half wolf and half mermaid," Nadia said, still chuckling. "I don't even know how that works. Shit - I don't want to know how that works."