Mer-Made for Each Other: FUC Academy

By LUCY FARAGO

Journey hasn't dipped her free-spirited tail in the ocean since fleeing Edima. When the antiquated Mer agree to discuss an alliance with FUC, the runaway bride can't hide at the Academy anymore. But while she trains cadets in uncharted waters, hers aren't the only secrets to surface.

As heir to Edima's throne, Valtteri's humiliation at being left at the altar still stings. He should forget his ex-fiancé but as lies begin to unravel and waters clear, are he and the headstrong beauty made for each other?

She went on land to hide from her prince but how long can they hide from their love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: LUCY FARAGO
• Release date: Sep 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201724825

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Journey hasn’t dipped her free-spirited tail in the ocean since fleeing Edima. When the antiquated Mer agree to discuss an alliance with FUC, the runaway bride can’t hide at the Academy anymore. But while she trains cadets in uncharted waters, hers aren’t the only secrets to surface.

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As heir to Edima’s throne, Valtteri’s humiliation at being left at the altar still stings. He should forget his ex-fiancé but as lies begin to unravel and waters clear, are he and the headstrong beauty made for each other?

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She went on land to hide from her prince but how long can they hide from their love?

Does this premise and world seem familiar? That’s because it is based off the Eve Langlais Furry United Coalition. Eve Langlais has invited her author friends to come and play in her world. To find out more, visit Worlds.EveLanglais.com.

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1

If the morning didn’t stop kicking Journey in the ass, she was going back to bed.

I’m really sorry, she said, on bent knee, gathering the books she’d just caused Mia to spill. I wasn’t watching where I was going.

Given her meeting with Director Cooper, her brain had been too busy trying to figure a way out of her we request, but you don’t have a choice assignment.

Don’t worry about it, Mia said, attempting to balance the rest of the books over her extended belly.

I didn’t hurt the babies, did I? Could she be more careless?

Mia snorted. This belly has taken out walls. One pint-sized woman isn’t going to hurt them, she assured her. I’d have moved out of the way, but I thought for sure you’d seen me. Kind of hard not to, these days. She laughed.

Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. Somewhere she hadn’t planned on returning to…like ever.

You look like someone just told you the last pecan tart, which you’d saved for when you could prop your swollen feet up after a long, long day, had been eaten by your ill-mannered husband. Mia had spoken with a calm that, for anyone who knew the lynx shifter, meant run.

Journey got to her feet and, after realizing Mia had taken out every book in the Academy’s library, decided she needed to step in. Here. She reached for the remainder of the stack off Mia’s belly. Give those to me.

I can carry a few books, Mia argued.

Sure. Journey grinned, not wanting to offend her hormonal friend. But if we run into Loki, you’ll need your hands free.

Mia shrugged and handed over the books. Walk me to my office and we can discuss this impending doom.

Shouldn’t you be teaching a class? Watching newbies try to scale a wall with the same Spiderman-ease Mia possessed was like watching Bambi on ice, except one was cute and the other comical. Another reason she loved it here and didn’t want to leave. Last year, a job offer to replace FUCN’A’s forensic linguistic specialist had been a lucky break. Working as a field agent was good, but reconnecting with Mia was better for her.

Thankfully, Mia never asked why Journey chose to stay on land, something the Mer never did. How exactly did one admit to being a runaway bride?

They’re at the pool finishing scuba certification. And given my delicate condition… Mia patted her stomach as they began walking. Loki thought I should sit this one out.

Since when do you listen to your husband?

The couple had a passionate, if not bizarre, relationship, like him being dumb enough to get between a pregnant lynx and her pecan tart. They fought all the time…and seemed to make up even more. They were crazy in love. And she meant crazy, like in a straightjacket kind of way.

If I curb his enthusiasm to spoil me rotten, who’s going to fetch my peanut butter and sardine sandwich in the middle of the night?

Thankfully, Journey didn’t have a gag reflex. Is that a lynx thing? Or are you trying to get the Siberian to toss his cookies? She’d heard of men experiencing morning sickness, but trying to induce it would be…funny as hell.

Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

If Journey, herself a sea dweller, thought sardines on anything was vile… It had to be a cat thing. Still…yuck. Vegan, remember? And why do people say stuff like that? I don’t have to eat garbage to know I’ll never understand why raccoons enjoy dumpster diving. Land dwellers had the oddest sayings—and eating habits.

No, really, Mia argued with a straight face. "The sweet peanut and salty fish are yum."

Yeah, if that was the case, we’d have peanut plants on the ocean floor. They didn’t, thank you very much.

Mia laughed. You sound like your father. Then she mimicked him getting his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. If peanut butter was meant to be eaten with fish—smack, smack— we’d have peanut plants on the ocean floor, she said, her nose in the air.

Now it was Journey who laughed. I don’t sound like him. Anymore. The Mer didn’t use slang. The first time she’d heard someone call a person salty, she’d looked for bite marks.

They reached Mia’s office, and once inside, Journey set her bundles down in two neat piles. Wanting to enjoy what could be her final days of sunshine, she went to the window overlooking the now empty combat field.

How is the old fart anyway? Mia asked, sitting on the edge of her desk, oblivious to the previously neat piles of books she’d just knocked over. "I can’t remember the last time I saw Duke Linard."

Mia wasn’t Journey’s father’s favorite. He’s fine, she said, not really knowing whether he was or wasn’t. It’s been a few years, just before I took you cave diving off the coast of Mexico.

It was the same trip where she’d encountered the dick-head—whose name must never be spoken. A month later, she’d been naive enough to fall for his bullshit. Two months and four days later, she wanted to filet the slimy bastard, simmer his sorry ass over an open flame, and then serve him up with butter sauce to the orcas.

But who was counting? Thankfully, the jerk-off had stopped harassing her.

She’d wondered if that disastrous affair was the reason she’d said yes to a date with the then-stuffy Valtteri. He’d been so opposite to that player. Never did she think it would lead to a proposal. Her, becoming queen? What a joke to think that could ever happen.

Journey blinked with Mia’s loud snort, and she tried to remember what they were talking about.

"You had an unfair advantage. Next time, we go mountain climbing."

And let you have the unfair advantage? Journey laughed. Besides—she pointed to the very large belly between them— your hands will be full. One baby was bad enough, but triplets? Who had Loki pissed off for him to receive such nasty karma? Three babies. She cringed just thinking about all that responsibility.

Mia patted her stomach. These pups will be climbing long before they can even walk.

Oh, I get it. You want babies to show me up? She could just see it now, three little demons, tails wagging as they left Journey in their dust.

Mia shrugged. If they’re anything like their father, you’ll have to teach them to swim. That Siberian hates water. You’ll be even. Now, sit. I’ll make us a tea, and you can tell me what knotted your tailfin.

Can those things hear? She nodded to the round mound of soon-to-be creepy-crawly, vomit-spewing, diaper-filling carpet-poodles.

What is with you and kids? Mia wrapped, or tried to wrap, protective arms over her litter. I remember a time when you couldn’t walk past a baby without stopping to look.

You’re doing it again. Journey put her hands on her hips, unimpressed with her friend’s ability to read her mind—literally.

Sorry, Mia apologized. But the look on your face… These are my little harbingers of doom. What happened that you don’t like babies?

Journey let out a long sigh. Mia was right, of course. What kind of friend was she? It should be me apologizing. I’m sure they’ll be perfect little bundles of joy. She smiled, trying really hard to mean it. Why would anyone want to be a parent? Her mother sure as hell hadn’t. And look at all the headaches she’d given her father. Why pass that gene on to a sweet, innocent baby? It was hard to believe she’d actually ever considered having children. Love made people do crazy things.

Oh, I sincerely doubt that. They are half Loki’s. Mia laughed, and she swatted Journey’s arm playfully. Loki has no idea what’s coming his way.

You two are weird. I’ve never seen people, who claim to be in love, take such joy in tormenting each other. Although she remembered a time when she’d taken great joy in torturing Valtteri. But that involved silk ties and sturdy knots. And now, with her imminent return on the horizon, the ache that had tortured her for months after leaving, the one she’d forced herself to bury, crawled out of the ground like a dirty zombie.

Mia shrugged. It’s not as much joy as…nah, it’s joy. You just wait. One day you’ll understand. Falling in love didn’t change us. We… found an extension of ourselves. She went to the antique sideboard and plugged in the electric kettle, then opened a cupboard and withdrew two cups.

Tell me you didn’t just say he completes you. That corny bull is for movies and greeting cards. And Journey had been in love. Look where that got her. And you know the Mer don’t really marry for love. If she hadn’t fallen in love, leaving him would’ve been a lot easier on her.

All this time with us… How can you still believe that?

She grabbed a chair and thought about it. I don’t know. Because she truly didn’t. The Mer see marriage as a contract. Love, if you’re lucky—as in not her parents— comes after. And it’s a lifetime commitment. Maybe if love, she said with an eye roll, "was kept out of it, there’d be fewer divorces…or appendages accidentally being lopped off."

You know… Mia dropped tea bags into the mugs. "You never told me what, or who, makes you think everything and everyone sucks."

Not everyone, she said. You don’t suck. And it was true.

And yet you managed to stay away for, how long?

Not on purpose. I was kept really busy at court. And then there’d been Valtteri.

I have cookies. You want cookies? Mia asked, waving a box of tea biscuits. "And that’s another thing. Why did you cave?

No, thanks. And I owed it to my father to try. A penance for her many misdeeds. He loves his job—more than her sometimes—and he thought I would too. But I, unlike him, am not good at everything I do. She pointed a finger at Mia. And if you ever tell him I said that, I’ll tell him it was you who dented his ’57 Vette.

Mia laughed. He’s not still mad about that?

Mad? He added security even the queen doesn’t have.

It was only a mosquito-sized dent, but in fairness to him, he only surfaced to drive that car. If she’d known what Mia was up to, she would have, may have, stopped her. Mia had a thing for engines. If it rumbled or purred, she had to experience it, which could explain her connection to the Siberian. Exactly how did polar opposites fall in love? Journey had fallen for a man her opposite, and look how that turned out.

Anyway… Journey clapped her hands. I’m here now. How about you help me keep it that way? Maybe Mia could assist with her current dilemma. Could you use your powers for good and get Director Cooper to assign someone else to this ocean summit?

Ah, that’s what I thought. You’ve been acting…odder—she smirked— "since last week’s meeting about the summit. You don’t want to go home."

That was true. I was chosen for this assignment for no reason other than I can breathe underwater without tubes.

We all bring something to the table when we’re assigned a case. So—Mia arched her back with a grimace— spill. Who or what really drove the little mermaid out from under the sea?

Saved by a whistling kettle, Journey tried to change the subject. Can I have honey in mine? Shame bees can’t breathe water. You can keep the peanut butter, she said, stretching an arm to pick up one of the books. Baby names? You need a book to pick names?

Loki and I can’t agree, Mia said, her back to Journey as she poured steaming water into each cup.

Shocker. Laughing, she tossed it back onto the desk.

Laugh, but no way am I naming my babies after some creepy gods or star constellations that will only make people question their parents’ sanity.

Newsflash, people already questioned your sanity when you married that dog.

Ha, ha.

Having disturbed the pile, Journey straightened the books threatening to topple over yet again.

And quit trying to change the subject. Mia handed Journey one of the mugs, now steaming with delicious tea and honey, and took a seat on the very nice leather sofa Cooper had given her. Then she propped her feet on the cushions.

Deciding it wouldn’t be nice to comment on her sassy friend’s swollen paws, Journey spun her chair to face her.

"Look, Cooper isn’t changing her mind. Not only will you be able to train selected cadets in an environment few of us get to experience, but this is your shtick. Unless you give her a really good reason as to why