Ahulani's POV
My name is Ahulani, the second daughter of King Haku of the Kalama Merfolk kingdom. My mother died when I was only five years old. My elder sister had been missing since I was ten. She left the kingdom and never returned, we never knew why.
It wasn’t until I was sixteen years old that my father let me leave the castle to go find her. We had heard of a rumor that she was going to a human school not far from the docks where the humans held their boats when they were not in use.
As one might have guessed I am a mermaid, although I am no ordinary mermaid. I can become human at will, meaning I do not need water to change nor to use magic. I found out I could do this at age three. My mother had come to check on me one night and found me in my crib asleep, but my tail wasn’t there, just two little legs that were stretched out.
Ever since then I’ve changed forms effortlessly, many were jealous of my unique ability. My father, King Haku, has never been on land, so he has never had legs before.
It has been a year since I started going to the school for, not only humans, but other mythical creatures as well. Such as dragons, vampires, werewolves, unicorns; anything you can think of they’re all here, in this castle like school. They call it the school of humans and mythical creatures, but the name of the school is ‘Darkwood High’.
An odd name but that’s what the name is, and I go there. My sister, Lily, graduated last year and has been going to college. When I met her, she didn't recognize me and I later found out that she had amnesia. She remembers nothing of her past, but she remembers her name and what she is.
I have two months until I find out who my mate is. I’m curious as to who my mate will be. I’ve always wondered who it will be. There will be a ball held at the school and at the castle for my birthday. Since I am of royal blood and a mermaid, everyone has been asking me questions about what it’s like to be a mermaid princess, but I always find an excuse to avoid answering them.
It's the middle of October and everyone is talking about the dance that happens every year on Halloween. I have also heard that Vlad, my bully, will be there, but he doesn't know who to take, which means every girl will try her best to get him to notice her. Thing is though, he hasn't looked at any of them since I got enrolled and he saw me for the first time.
He's the captain of the football team and their star player. I found that out when I tried out for the cheer team and got accepted. He's also the only child of King Dorian and Queen Victoria of the Moonlight Vampire Kingdom. I try to avoid him as best as I can because he has this intoxicating scent that makes me think things I shouldn't when he gets even a foot close to me.
It is hard though, since he has made it his mission to try and bully me every chance he gets. I don't let him get his way though and that frustrates him.
"Lani!" A girl yells as she rushes towards me. "Lani, have you heard about the dance? They say it's going to be an epic Halloween theme this year!" She squeals and I have to cover my ears to keep my ear drums from bursting.
"Kamea, is yelling really necessary?" I ask my best friend who has been with me since day one. It's the end of the school day and I was putting my school books in my locker before she came running and yelling.
I closed my locker door, smiling and rolling my eyes at her when she whispered an apology, "Sorry, I'm just so excited. I guess that means you can literally dress up as a mermaid this time instead of having to dress up as someone else." She said shaking with excitement. She's a beautiful girl, five-six, with brown hair that falls in perfect beach waves down to the middle of her back and eyes that sparkle like an emerald sea whenever she gets excited.
Me? Kamea says I'm a hot, five foot seven inch girl with waist length silver hair that flowed down in soft curls. That my eyes shine like pearls underneath the surface of perfectly clear blue sea waves.
I guess she was right, I never really looked at myself that way. "I guess so, I was thinking maybe I could do a pirate princess this year?" I ask, unsure of my choice in costume.
"Honestly? You should. You haven't dressed up as a pirate yet, let alone a pirate princess. Do you have a certain look in mind?" Kemea asks.
"Not really. I know what I want to be but I have no idea how I want to look." I say as we start to head towards the courtyard of the school. The school looked like an old castle that was transformed into a school. With dark grey brick walls inside and out that got darker from the weather.
"You should come to my place then and we can talk about it. You think your father will let you though? I know how he can be sometimes." She's right, my father might not let me go to her house. She definitely can't come to mine, she's a werewolf and can't breathe under water.
"I could ask, but-" My words stop short. That scent, that warmth, I would know it from anywhere.
"Ask what, princess?" Vlad whispers into my ear and I instinctively turn to punch him in the face, only to have my fist caught in his strong and warm hand. I thought all vampires were ice cold, but I learned that only nobles and royals can be hot blooded. "Whoa, that was close." He smirked at me and I did my best to not blush.
He was six foot four with red eyes like garnets and wavy black hair that barely touched his shoulders. He was hot, and one of those bad boys that liked to get into trouble unless it messed with his football career. He's also one of very few vampires that can walk around during the day.
"Don't you have practice today?" I asked turning to face Kemea but glaring at him. I needed to get away from him. His scent was making me think about things I didn't want to think about right now.
"Nope, Coach told us to go home and rest for the day, to catch up on homework. I might be a bad boy but I like to keep my grades up. What about you?" He asks raising a brow at me and tilting his head slightly to the right.
"Nothing here either. Oh wait, Kemea, I need to do homework. I can't take it home with me. If your mom says it's okay I can ask father if I can come spend the night at your place." I say focusing my attention on my best friend and ignoring the vampire prince who immediately got annoyed once my attention was taken off of him.
"Sure, mom loves having you around. I think she's making her famous meatloaf tonight." She says and takes out her phone to text her mom.
"Thank you! And I love your mothers meatloaf. All my father lets me eat is kale and sea lettuce," I say, pretending to gag. "I get that I'm a princess and a cheerleader, but he should know that swimming for an hour everyday to get home is one hell of a workout in itself."
Vlad grabs my arm and pulls me towards him, forcing me to look up at him in shock, "Are you really going to ignore me, princess?" He asks, clearly upset that I had fully ignored him to talk to Kemea.
"I was talking to her about something important. No need to be so rough with me." I say shooting him a glare and pulling my arm away from him. "Don't you have homework to do, prince?" I ask, smirking when I know I've made him angry.
He reluctantly lets go of my arm and stares at me, "I hate it when you talk back like that. You're lucky I'm forced to hold back." He says before storming off. I can't help but roll my eyes.
"Girl, if I didn't know any better I would say he's in love with you." Kemea says before walking off towards the busses.
I stared at her for a minute before sprinting to catch up to her. "You're crazy, why would you even think that? There's no way he could ever love someone like me. We come from two completely different worlds. He's a vampire prince and I'm a mermaid princess. We could never be together."
"Uh huh, you're the only one who can smell whatever scent comes off of him. All I smell from him is his cologne that he insists on wearing everyday. I'm a werewolf, we have good noses, so when I say I can't smell what you smell, that means something is up either with my nose or with you." She states so matter of factually that I can't argue with her.
"Do you think, that means he could be my mate?" I ask her as we get onto the bus we were assigned to ride.
"He might be, if you keep smelling that scent from him and if you are right about it getting stronger the closer it gets to your eighteenth birthday. He might very well be your mate.
What did you say it smelled like again?" She asked, sitting down in the very back of the bus.
"Like freshly cut leather and pinewood. Do you smell that too?" I ask, hoping she might notice the scent at least a little bit.
"No, not at all. Just his Old Spice cologne. I think he is your mate, but the only way to confirm that is on the day of your birthday when you turn eighteen." She says before the bus starts to move.
After an hour we get off at our respective stops and I tell her that I will meet her at her house if my father allows me to spend the night. My sister is in college and has an apartment which I usually stay at on school nights. She graduated last year and has been doing good for herself. I give my father regular updates on her. I can't stop thinking about Vlad and the potential of him being my mate though.
It scares me, but I have a feeling that something will keep us apart once I find out.