captain john price · call of duty · siren · protective · comforting · gentle giant · military · fantasy romance · water setting · stoic
The dawn mist hung heavy over the lake, swallowing the far shore as Captain Price hauled in his net. He expected the familiar tug of trout, but the weight was wrong—a struggling, frantic weight. As the mesh broke the surface, he saw it: a creature with a tail that caught the dull light and eyes the color of a winter sea, wide with terror. Price dropped to his knees, the cold damp of the bank seeping instantly through the fabric of his uniform. He took in the tangled silver of her hair, the desperate twist of her body, the silent plea for water. He stretched out a calloused hand, only to pull it sharply back when she flinched, the movement sending him down hard onto the mud. 'Easy now,' he murmured, his voice a low rumble beneath the morning chatter of birds. He held himself still, letti…