Claimed by the Alpha Dolphins: Part One: Bound to the Sea (a BBW Paranormal Romance)

by Lyra Fawn

  FIVE

  THE DIM PARKING GARAGE felt cool after being out on the hot sand. Due to an out-of-order elevator, Mona and Dario were forced to walk up the ramps from level to level. She suddenly remembered that she hadn’t applied any sunblock and checked her arms for any sign of burn. Normally, by now they would have already been a budding vermillion, but for some reason her skin still had its alabaster pallor.

  “That’s funny. I always burn in the sun,” she said.

  “My seed has offered the protection of the Dolphinae for the water and the sun. We do not burn. At least, not very easily,” Dario said.

  “So, because I had sex with you once, I’ve obtained these abilities for good?”

  “No, they will wear off. You see, Neptune decreed that his Descendant should stay with the Dolphinae. Naturally, if your abilities were bestowed permanently, you might stray. Neptune was very wise.”

  “Ha! Wise, my ass,” Mona said vehemently, “Sounds exactly like the sort of thing a jealous male god would invent. A very insecure, male god, I might add. Alright, so how often do we need to make love so that I can avoid sunburn and drowning?”

  “That’s a good question.” Dario looked perplexed. “It has been such a long time since we’ve had a Descendant among us, I don’t think even the elders would know for sure. I would guess at least once every five days, but it could be less. Next time we’re in the water, let me know if you start having trouble breathing.”

  “Oh yeah, I’ll do that alright,” Mona snarled. Great! She was already having a flashback to her quasi-drowning experience. She never wanted to go through that again. But apparently, she would have to make love to Dario periodically. That wasn’t so bad, was it? No, in fact, it was awesome! But she hated the feeling that she was tied to him. Even though she was supposed to be this kickass Descendant, he still treated her like she was his subordinate. A human. And moreover, an object that he could just ‘acquire’. Now her desire for him was mixed with an inclination to push him away. A crucible in her heart burned with these two conflicting emotions. She wanted to show him that she was independent. But that would never happen with her underwater existence requiring that she have frequent sex. On land, sex was a useful weapon. A tool that most women knew how to wield when necessary. Oh sure, she’d never say that out loud. And she might never have admitted it to herself before. But now that the power of refusal would no longer be available to her, she realized she would miss having a means of getting her way.

  While Mona stewed, two hulks burst from behind a pillar, tackling Dario before he had a chance to respond. Each man was a head taller than Dario and they were superhuman in size. Dario struggled and kicked with his legs to little avail. He was too far outmatched. Both men appeared to be something akin to a pro-wrestler who had somehow survived a lethal dose of steroids. Their muscles were grotesque and they appeared to have no real neck. Their trapezoids descended directly from their jaw down to their shoulders.

  “Help! Help!” Mona screamed but her words echoed off the cement walls. The garage appeared empty. As she cried for assistance, one of the men slapped her with so much force that she flew headlong into the wall and collapsed in pain.

  The other man managed to put Dario in a painful headlock. Both men sneered with satisfaction. The sight sent terror racing in Mona’s heart. They appeared to have more teeth than an ordinary person, which were squeezed onto their gums in a haphazard manner. Numerous tattoos confirmed that these were the Mordentes. And the one holding Dario had a fresh scar encircling his thick muscular neck. Was this the shark from the boat?

  The second Mordentes pulled an enormous bowie knife as long as Mona’s forearm from a sheath hidden under his shirt. “I’m going to gut you.” He sneered. “And then, I’m gonna eat your liver… and the liver of this Descendant.” He spat the final word out as if he loathed her.

  The Mordentes advanced with his knife when another form hurtled from the shadows to knock him to the ground. Lucan had heard Mona’s screams and snuck up on the attackers. He was now struggling on the ground with the creature, attempting to wrest the knife away. The Mordentes holding Dario didn’t look very concerned. After all, his companion had biceps thicker than Mona’s thighs. Lucan would be no match for him.

  In despair, Mona crawled over and bit into the ankle of the standing Mordentes. Who’s the ‘Mordentes’ now? She sunk her teeth in with all the force of her jaw and the creature howled in pain. He did his best to kick her away, but only managed to destabilize himself. As he fell, his grip on Dario loosened enough that the Dolphinae twisted around and gave him an enormous head-butt right in the nose. Blood streamed out the Mordentes’ nostrils and he swooned. Dario head-butted him twice more in the face, knocking him out cold.

  At this very moment, the second Mordentes was gaining the upper hand in the struggle with Lucan. The knife inched toward the Dolphinae’s abdomen despite his attempt to hold back the monster’s powerful arms. Dario ran to help but arrived just as the Mordentes pierced Lucan’s flesh, running the blade deep into his belly. Lucan’s eyes went wide and he bellowed from pain.

  Dario kicked the Mordentes in the face knocking him off Lucan. With a vengeance, he leaped on the stunned creature and pounded its head into the cement floor until it was no longer moving. Mona crawled over to help Lucan. He waved her away and with a gut-wrenching cry, pulled the long knife from out of his own wound. His eyes were dim. Mona cradled him in her arms and clasped her hand to his wound, certain that he would soon be dead.

  The thick ichor that oozed from his body and through Mona’s fingers was such a dark color of red that it was almost black.

  “We have to get you to a hospital,” Mona said.

  “There is nothing they can do for him at a hospital,” Dario replied gravely. “They don’t understand our morphology. And in such a situation, a government agency will arrive to take him away for study once a report has been filed. It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened. We must leave for the Pod now. As you can see, it’s getting dangerous. There will likely be more Mordentes.”

  “And leave your friend? Are you crazy?”

  “It is unfortunate,” Dario said sadly.

  “No, I’m not going. If we can’t take him to the hospital, we’re going to drive him back to my apartment. And I’m going to take care of him.”

  “Human, you don’t understand your importance to our Pod. As my rightful queen, I demand that you accompany me.”

  “Fuck the pod! And you think just because you made love to me once that I’m going to drop my whole damn life to become your queen? I wouldn’t dedicate myself to a man who would leave his comrade behind.”

  Dario sighed and scratched his brow. Mona could tell he was not used to not getting his way. Then he walked over, grabbed the enormous knife and said, “Alright, but as soon as he can swim, we will leave. Now, I must take care of these Mordentes.”

  Right when he leaned over to slit the throat of the crippled Mordentes, Lucan croaked, “Don’t. You know better than that.”

  Dario paused and reflected before throwing the knife away angrily.

  ~ ~ ~

  MONA SAT DOWN UPON the side of her bed and admired Lucan’s perfect face while he slept. His youthful, chiseled features could have figured upon the frieze of a Greek temple. His pitched fever had subsided from the night before. After the fight, Dario had driven back to her apartment despite Mona’s continuing pleas to take Lucan to a hospital. Lucan’s wound had been so deep that she was afraid he might die in the car. Dario ignored her and carried Lucan into her house unceremoniously upon his shoulder. Once he reached the bed, he lay his companion down and said, “Now, I must go and try to make contact with the Orcae. You can take care of him if you must.” Then, turning on his heels, Dario had left her. That was only yesterday.

  She peeled the bandage from Lucan’s side to inspect the wound. Surprisingly, it looked as if it were beginning to heal. The pink fleshy folds around the stab wound appeared to be regenerating, but
some of his viscous ichor-like blood still dripped from the slit. Of course, the bandage was stained thick with the sticky substance. She was almost out of supplies and would have to make a run back to the pharmacy after the next bandage. She prepared a new gauze pad and picked up the medical tape to apply it to Lucan’s side.

  “No, you must add salt water,” Lucan’s voice cracked.

  “Oh my, you’re awake. How’re you feeling?”

  “Thirsty. Please bring me a glass of salt water and put some on my bandages as well. My wounds won’t heal correctly without it. Dario didn’t tell you?”

  “He’s not the most attentive person I’ve ever met,” Mona said as she rose to head for the kitchen.

  “No, I guess he isn’t,” Lucan groaned.

  She returned with gauze soaked in salt water and a glass full of the same. Lucan drank it in nearly one gulp. It was very difficult to get the gauze onto his body because the medical tape would not stick once wet. She had to ask him to sit up while she wrapped a stretch bandage around him. As she pulled the bandage tightly into place, she couldn’t help but admire his physique. He was virtually hairless and that made his muscles even more pronounced. She had the desire to run her hands across his tight pecs. He had a wonderful, tantalizing scent that aroused her. She felt a slight tingle between her legs. Stop, Mona thought. I can’t let myself get carried away by every attractive shape-shifting dolphin in the sea.

  “Thank you.” Lucan smiled warmly. “I’m grateful to be in your care.” The salt water appeared to be doing him a world of good. He was every bit an alpha as Dario and had proved his bravery by coming to their rescue. Yet, he seemed unconcerned with attempting to display invulnerability. While Dario was aloof and commanding, Lucan was open and emotive. They were both princes among the dolphinae, but the two alphas could not have been more different.

  “You were merciful to stop Dario from killing those two Mordentes,” Mona said as she finished with the bandage.

  “Wisdom and mercy are two different things. On land, men’s laws often conflict with our interests. You have police and courts of law here. If Dario had killed the Mordentes, it’s possible that he would’ve been caught and tried. Prison is like a death sentence for a dolphinae. To be taken from our element for so long would make a dolphinae’s heart as black as one of the Mordentes’.” Lucan groaned and lay back upon his pillow. He closed his eyes, still exhausted. “We don’t dare take the risk of imprisonment. In the sea, there would have been no quarter given.”

  SIX

  MONA PREPARED A TRAY bearing marshmallows and the triple order of sashimi that she had ordered to go. Lucan had a bottomless stomach for seafood. Every day, he gorged on multiple cans of tuna and at least four plates of sashimi. He sneered down his nose at all the other food she had tried to offer him, declaring it ‘only fit for humans’. But there was one exception. Marshmallows. While she was feeding him sashimi by hand the first day they spent together, she teasingly popped one into his mouth. He immediately developed a craving for them.

  They had grown close and the mutual attraction was becoming too much to bear. On Monday, Mona had called into her job at the library and told them that she had stomach flu. Using her few remaining sick days, she was able to attend to Lucan’s every need. Well, not every need obviously, she thought wryly. Each night, she tossed and turned on the couch, restless as she remembered his amorous gaze. Her brain was also imprinted with the image of that obvious bulge in his bed sheet formed by a very ready and anxious part of his anatomy.

  His returning strength brought out a vivacious friendliness. He had a curious soul and asked her endless questions about her terrestrial life. Somehow, Lucan had a knack for making their time together memorable. They played cards together. She read to him. In retrospect, nothing they had done together was out of the ordinary. But his good humor and his little wisecracks created a mood that she relished.

  Conversation came easily and Lucan told her stories that revealed what life was like in the Pod. Scientists would have referred to it as a ‘super pod’ since it was composed of numerous smaller pods creating an aggregate of hundreds of dolphins. These smaller pods owed fealty to Lucan’s ruling aristocratic bloodline. In fact, he and Dario were princes among the Dolphinae. However, Dario’s family ruled a super pod who called themselves the ‘Atlanti’ and were based off the coast of Spain. They were the sworn enemies of Lucan’s Pod, known as the ‘Herakli’ based off the coast of Italy. Because they often went ashore upon the countries closest to their respective territories, they had learned to speak those languages. This explained their accents, but Mona had also been curious as to why they spoke English. Lucan explained that the smaller pods which made up the super pod often migrated round the globe. English was the international language and the Dolphinae had learned to adopt it as well.

  Moreover, the competition between the Atlanti and Herakli to find a Descendant had pushed them to spend an increasing amount time on land. According to Lucan, this search was so important that all healthy members of the Pod were required to spend a portion of the year actively participating in the hunt. Learning about the effort they had put into finding her unnerved Mona. Why was she so important to them?

  It turned out that a Descendant was the key to resolving the centuries-long conflict between the two rival Pods. According to legend, it was necessary for Dolphinae princes to breed with a Descendant at least once every ten generations in order to keep the royal blood from becoming diluted. Without the blood of a Descendant, they risked degenerating into ordinary dolphins incapable of taking human form. Princes had the right to mate with all the other females of the Pod and did so copiously. This meant that the genetic gift of the Descendant would be passed to all.

  From the beginning, the first male offspring of each Descendant was destined to become the royal heir. Then generations ago, a Descendant gave birth to identical twin males. When they came of age, each claimed to be the legitimate heir. The once united Dolphinae broke into two competing clans. Members of the community chose to follow one brother or the other. Total war soon ensued.

  While Lucan described the conflict, Mona heard the Orcae mentioned and wanted to know more. He explained that the Orcae were killer whales with an ability to shift, but they generally loathed going upon land. Until the rift, they served as vassals to the Dolphinae. They refused to take one side or the other and claimed their independence from both until a true heir would lead again.

  At this point, Mona asked, “So why did Dario leave to make contact with them?”

  “He must’ve thought that by letting the Orcae know the Descendant had been found, he would be able to convince them to join the Atlanti.” Lucan added a number of strategic and diplomatic details about the ensuing war that were impossible for Mona to follow. The end result was that the casualties on both sides led to an enormous population decrease making the Dolphinae vulnerable to predations by the Mordentes.

  He summarized his history by telling Mona, “If the Mordentes are organizing as we believe, a divided Dolphinae would have no chance of survival. Even if we are united again, we will require the renewed allegiance of the Orcae. They are powerful fighters. Without them we are too far outnumbered.”

  “You’re telling me that without an heir provided by a Descendant, the Atlanti and the Herakli will remain divided? And these killer whales, the Orcae, won’t intervene when the Mordentes destroy your race?”

  “Which is why Dario and I made a pact. Our suspicions about the Mordentes are not shared by our elders. We opted to search for you together while we surveilled their activity. However, our families would expect us to fight to the death to claim you.”

  “Well that’s one thing I’m relieved about then. I would hate to be the cause of either of your deaths.”

  The muscles in Lucan’s jaw tightened. “Only one royal family can prevail. Dario’s claim on you means that my subjects will join his Pod. My royal family and I will be sentenced to death.”

  Mona’s he
art sunk. She knew it was true from the cold manner in which Lucan had described his impending fate. But why? Why couldn’t the two clans be united as allies? Why did one side have to vanquish the other?

  She couldn’t help sharing her feelings. In response, Lucan’s voice strained under the explanation that obviously weighed heavily upon him. Ultimately, there could only be one prince. One alpha who would rule. According to custom, two pretenders to the throne were supposed to have engaged in a fight to the death to claim her. But their forbidden friendship in exile had led to the pact, an agreement that the one who recognized the Descendant first would take her as his right. The other would have to acquiesce.

  After their discussion, Mona spent hours pondering the problem. Even though the circumstances were beyond her control, guilt overwhelmed her. Why did I have to be the Descendant? Now her unrequited love for Lucan simmered beneath her growing fear. Suddenly the price for her newfound ability seemed too high to pay. She would never forgive herself unless she found an answer.

  If she chose Lucan as her lover, Dario would be sentenced to death in his place. And knowing Dario, he would not back down from his claim upon her. He would insist upon the traditional duel to the death rather than return empty-handed. She could not stand the thought of losing either Dolphinae. Despite Dario’s imperious attitude, she missed him ever since he had left to make contact with the Orcae. Rightly or wrongly, she was attracted to his personality. Moreover, he had given her two memories that would stay with her till the end of her days. The first was her rebirth as a Descendant, while the second was a night of passion that eclipsed anything she had known before.