Hopeless Love

19-A New Alpha

As gross as this is, the blood on our faces had gotten wet with morning dew and dried again. That made our faces stick together. I woke up at the same time as him. He slowly peeled his hands off my neck and we started the slightly painful process of getting our faces unattached. We went and bathed after that. It was good to see his face clean again and to be clean, even though his eyes were puffy and I could still almost feel the blood on my skin.

When we were both clean, a council meeting was called. We walked to the meeting hand in hand. I didn't even have to squint when we got to it. My eyes had adjusted since I was here for quite a length of time; compared to the time I had spent in other places anyways.

"You know, I knew you were really tough. You had to be to have survived in the wild for twelve years. But I never knew that my girlfriend was such a badass," Sebastian whispered to me. I blushed. No one had ever said that to me.

"What do you mean," I whispered back inquisitively.

"Well, I overheard what some of the others said. They were talking about how you killed the majority of those zombies, and how you were farthest out when...you know. And you were covered in blood from head to toe when you made it over to me. You were like completely red," he murmured in admiration. I blushed more. I would have thought something like that would make him like me less; he seemed to like me more if anything.

We entered the tent and sat on one of the benches close to the front. The oldest council member was temporarily in charge.

"Welcome, mermaids and sphinx of the Pod of the Yin-Yang Streams. We suffered a grievous loss yesterday. Our dear alpha, Moriah Gratonad, was killed yesterday in the Battle of Life and Death. We mourn her still, but her body is gone to the ocean as many have gone before her. She spoke to me a few days ago, saying she had dreamed her death dream. She said it was her wish that her son lead after her. We are here to decide who will lead us now that she has left us. Anyone who wishes to challenge her chosen successor may approach now and give their piece," the old woman said. She sat down, and I realized it was the woman that had cut my hair the day Ari came back for the first time. I wondered idly if he was still doing okay with Larentia.

I turned my attention back to the front as my gaze followed Sebastian up to the front. He sat on a stool and pulled his lute out, laying it across his lap. He waited for something to happen. I watched with interest as I had never seen a new alpha of any community being chosen.

Someone came up. It was a young woman, probably from the freshwater pool since I didn't recognize her. The dim light in the tent threw off broken patterns like a brook trout.

"I, Salko Golga, challenge the chosen successor," she said. She held up her pocket harp and started playing. I closed my eyes and looked at the scene she wove in wonder. It left an impression of peace and prosperity on my mind. However, I was not anywhere in the scene she presented.

Sebastian sighed and started playing. I closed my eyes to watch his scene unfold. It was surprising, to me at least. It started out peaceful, as it had been yesterday, and then the horde returned. And I saw a small figure dash into the horde of zombies. The poor creatures fell left and right. I saw a bull gore Moriah and heard a shriek as Sebastian fell and went to her. I witnessed the small figure pause at the edge of the horde, a circle of slaughter behind her. She turned and sprinted to Sebastian and witnessed her comforting him. Time sped forward and the small figure was protecting the Pod once again. I couldn't tell against what, but I could see that she was ready. She took it down as mermaids watched in awe. Dozens of scenes flew threw my mind, and every one of them was of the small girl protecting the Pod. I smiled when I realized it was me.

Sebastian put his lute back across his lap, looking down at his hands crossed on top of it. "We are safer with her," he whispered. "Salko wants her gone. But what if something else comes. We can't beat almost anything on our own. We can only repel things. We need Jet," he finished. He had spoken softly but everyone could hear him.

Salko did not explain her piece. She simply sat on a stool next to Sebastian, silent and gazing at the grass below her. Something was rippling through the bond, a soft murmuring of names. Voting, I realized. Who, a soft voice asked me. Sebastian, I murmured in my mind.

And then it was done. The votes were tallied and double counted to be sure. Sebastian was the winner. He took some oath and came back hugged me. I smiled and he kissed my forehead.

"So what happens now Mr. Alpha," I asked jokingly. He laughed and continued walking. I followed.

"Well, not much really. My mom was alpha so we don't have to reconnect me, since I was connected as an alpha anyways. I mean, I could move us somewhere else if I don't feel that we are safe here. I won't do that though. I really just have to decide whether we are safe here, serve justice, and decide whether new mermaids can stay here or not. And meet with other alphas when something super important happens," he explained. I nodded.

"So, I have a question. Do other groups have pack bonds as well? And if so, can anyone just talk to anyone from other groups? Like with your mind," I asked.

"Yeah, other groups have pack bonds too. The only one that can talk mentally with other groups is the alpha or people with authority to talk mentally with the other. I wondered for a second why you asked. I forget that you didn't always live here," he explained. I smiled and nodded at his forgetfulness.

Lucitania flew up and landed on my shoulder. She had something in her hands. It was a small bag shaped thing with a really small octopus thing in it. I looked at her, the question clear on my face.

"I went on a trip after the battle. I went to the sea, as I felt a pull in that direction. I looked in the tidal pools and found this kraken egg. Sebastian, I think it is meant for you. You don't have a kraken, but you should because you are alpha now," she said. Her voice was like silk on my ears, and I shivered. I was still not used to it.

He nodded and accepted the egg. He went and put it somewhere. I didn't follow because it was probably a personal thing that mermaids were supposed to do alone. I knew the majority of mermaids had pet krakens, like the majority of sphinxes had pet gryphons. I was special though, because I had a fairy queen as a result of not growing up in a town.

Krakens were really cool actually. They could fit into any body of water. It didn't matter how big they were or how small the water puddle was. It was a good thing they could do that, because otherwise we would have been out of space in the pools and rivers.

He came back and we went to sleep in his tent after eating roasted fish. We were still tired from yesterday. He cried more tears as he went to sleep. It would probably be a while before he would stop crying. And I was going to support him as long as he needed me by his side.