I stopped with the strawberry half way to my mouth, "I'm sorry what?" There was no way I had heard him correctly.
Troy gave me a shy grin, "Well, it's no big deal really. My parents are just kind of considered royalty in the mer world." He shrugged at the last part as if it was no big deal.
"What do you mean kind of royalty? How are you just kind of a Highness? I thought you said they were on a research team!" I was starting to panic.
"Shhh little fish, breathe." Troy pulled me into his lap, his touch instantly calming me. "Eat while I explain." He shoved a strawberry in my mouth effectively shutting me up.
"Okay, so you know how every pack has an Alpha?" I nodded yes since my mouth was full of strawberry. "Well it's like that for mer also, except it's divided up by the Oceans. Every Ocean has a king, so there are four kings total."
"There are more than four oceans." I interrupted.
Troy shoved the PB&J in my hands, I took that as a sign to eat and listen. "I know there are technically more oceans recognized now a days but we've been around for centuries. Long before it was decided that they would split up the original four Oceans into seven or however many different ones the humans think there is." Troy rolled his eyes at the last part. "So, there's the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Artic kings. My father is King of the Pacific. Let's be real though, my mom is the one who wears the fins in the family." He started laughing.
"Your dad is a King? How is being a King kind of royalty?" I asked him, I couldn't believe this.
"Okay fine, he is royalty. He does a lot with the research team too though so I wasn't fibbing about that." Troy defended himself.
"So if he's King, why isn't he in the Ocean ruling? Why aren't you in the ocean?" How did one rule a people if they weren't in the same place? It may answer the other question I had been thinking about, if they were meant to be in the Ocean, why weren't they there? Werewolves were meant for land so that's where we were, we weren't hanging out in the ocean.
"You'd actually be surprised to know that most mer live on land." He explained.
"They do? But why?" I asked.
Troy turned a little red, "Uh well, to raise a family is the main reason. We have to be in human form to uh, you know, make a baby."
"Oh." I'm sure I was beat red now also.
"So anyways, over the years Mer found it easier to raise their families on land. We work, play, and do things just like humans so we blend in. When mer get older and have had enough of the human world they 'retire' to the ocean. My grandparents moved to the Ocean a few months ago, I miss them but it gives me an excuse to be out in the ocean more to visit them." He smiled, I could tell he missed and loved them. I wondered if I would ever get to meet them, most likely not. Wolves could swim but not that well.
"So if you have to blend in with the human world does that mean you all have jobs?" He nodded yes since his mouth was now full. "What does your family do?"
"Have you heard of Trident cruise ships?" I nodded yes, that was one of the biggest cruise lines in the world. It was well known for its different excurses across the globe, you could go anywhere that touched the ocean. I know people from our pack have gone on their cruises for anniversaries or just to get away.
"I figured you might." Troy reached for a strawberry, "My father owns and runs the company. The cruise ships are all staffed by mer's. It gives us reason to be out in the Ocean all day, and who else better to give people a good time in the ocean besides mers? We also have cargo ships, boat building factories, pretty much anything involved with the ocean mer's have their hand in it."
"So your parents aren't only a big deal in the mer world but also the human?" I questioned.
"Yep." He popped the p. In the distance we heard the warning bell letting us know we had five minutes to get to our next class. Troy grabbed the rest of his sandwich and shoved it in his mouth.
"Look how handsome he is with his cheeks all puffed out like a cute little chipmunk." I rolled my eyes at Nan in my head.
We packed the rest of the picnic up and headed back into the school, "I can see you are freaking yourself out over this little fish." Troy was right, I was freaking out. We already had a ton of obstacles in our way, and now this? His dad was a king for goddess sake! Making him a prince, meaning not only was the leadership of my pack at stake but also the kingdom of the Pacific Ocean!
"Hey," Troy grabbed me into a hug. "It's going to be alright. We will talk to my parents after school and figure all of this out." He pulled away and smiled at me. I gave him a weak smile back.
"Oh, I know you can do better than that. Do not make me use my mer magic to make you smile." He waggled his eye brows at me.
"You can do magic to?!" Mer's got cooler by the minute.
Troy laughed as we walked into the school, "No! Well besides the water thing, that's all that's special about me."
"I think you're very special actually, you are to me anyways." I said shyly.
"I better be, you're stuck with me for the rest of your life." He winked at me as I opened my locker.
"Hey short cake, ready for Chemistry?" Jeremy asked as he walked up. "Here let me carry your books for you!" He took my books out of my hands before I could say anything. I gave him a confused look, he has never walked me to Chemistry. He's never walked me to class period! Why should today be any different?
"I was going to walk Annie to class, so if you'll please give me her books back we will head that way." Troy reached for my books that were in Jeremys arms.
"You don't even have the same class as us, so I will be walking her to class. Not you. Ready short cake?" Jeremy informed Troy. I looked between the both of them. A week ago guys didn't give me a second glance, now I have two fighting over who is going to walk me to class. Not going to lie, I secretly was enjoying this a little bit. I was enjoying it until I snuck a peak at Troy and saw that his eyes had turned black. I wasn't sure what that meant for Mer, but I know for werewolves it meant we were angry and on the verge of shifting. I quickly reached out and touched Troy's arm hoping my touch calmed him down as much as his did me. His eye's lightened a little bit but not enough. I stepped in between them putting my hand on his chest and looked Troy in the eye's, "Can I borrow your notes for English?" I asked, I didn't need the notes but it was enough to get Troy's focus off Jeremy and onto me.
"What?" He looked at me confused, his eyes were starting to return to normal.
"Your notes? From English?" I raised my eyebrows in hopes he would understand that I was trying to calm him down and that he about showed Jeremy what he could do with water.
"Oh, right. English notes, I'll get those ready for you." Troy smiled at me then looked over my shoulder to glare at Jeremy.
Jeremy rolled his eyes, "Great, now if you don't mind we will be leaving. Let's go Annie." He grabbed my arm gently and pulled me towards English. I removed his hand from my arm and looked back at Troy to make sure his eyes hadn't gone black seeing another male touch me. I could see they were starting to turn again.
"I'll see you in English?" I called out to Troy hoping to gain his focus.
"You'll see me after Chemistry, I'll be waiting to walk you to English since WE have that class together." He gave Jeremy a pointed look.
"Whatever, let's go Annie." Jeremy grabbed my arm again and steered me towards class. I pulled away and looked over my shoulder at Troy and gave him what I hoped was a sexy smile and wink.
"Well that wasn't very sexy but it wasn't horrible...." Thank you for the vote of confidence Nan.
"What is with that freak? He never speaks to anyone and now all of a sudden he wants to walk you to class? And he actually acted mad that I was walking you to class, like it was his job or something to walk you to class." Jeremy shook his head in disbelief.
Nan growled in my head at Jeremy referring to our mate as a freak, "First of all, he isn't a freak. He's actually very nice if you give him a chance. Secondly, in all the years we have been friends you have never walked me to class. Not once. So why are you all of a sudden wanting to walk me to class? It's not your job." I could tell Jeremy was taken back by my outburst but he crossed a line by being rude to my mate.
"Well now that you know how I feel about you, I want to show you how great of a mate I can be. I'm sorry if I was rude to your friend." He looked at me with a small smile.
"Walking me to class doesn't show me anything, it just shows that you now all of a sudden are interested because you have a chance." I snapped at him. I honestly was beyond irritated with Jeremy at this point.
"Whoa... calm down. You're right. I should have been acting this way years ago, I should have been a better friend too. From now on I vow to be that friend, and hopefully by the end of summer your mate." Jeremy said as we stopped outside of Chemistry. "I'm going to prove it to you every day until you chose me."
I couldn't even respond before Jeremy walked into class. Now I have Jeremy and Sam after me, great. I closed my eyes in frustration, what I wouldn't give to go back to boys ignoring me. If I could just tell everyone that I had found my mate I wouldn't have to deal with either of them! I walked into class ignoring Jeremy's stares and sat down in my seat, I thanked the goddess that I sat behind him and wouldn't have to worry about him staring at me the whole class. I think this will be the first time I will pay attention in Chemistry.
As he promised Troy was waiting for me after class, he reached for my books as soon as I was out the door.
"Just for the record, I am not okay with some other male touching you or your things." Troy mumbled.
"I trust you will be able to get Annie to her next class safely?" Jeremy asked Troy as he walked out of the classroom.
"I think I can handle taking her upstairs to English. But if I run into trouble I'll make sure you are the first one I call for help." Troy gave Jeremy a mock salute before grabbing my hand and walking us away.
"Are you sure you don't have a little possessive wolf in you?" I teased.
"Hmph. I just hate the hiding, as soon as we figure this out Mr. 'I'm going to carry her books' will be the first to know you're mine. Only I will be walking you to class, carrying your books, and whatever else you need. Me, only me." He grumbled and I couldn't help but smile.
"Yes dear, he will be the first to know." I told him.
"Yes dear," he repeated. "I like the sound of that."