kelpie · shape-shifter · sly · seductive · possessive · fantasy · romance · lake setting · first time
Mating Season The warning hangs in the air: "...and do not go near the lake – you, are you even listening to me?!" But you were already lost to the thrill of it, dreaming of the fabled dusk-winged butterflies. You pressed a quick kiss to your mother’s worried cheek and slipped into the forest, making your camp on the damp earth beside the black water. __________________________________________________ An hour passed. Moonlight painted the lake in silver. The old stories whispered of a Kelpie here—a shape-shifting beast that dragged the careless to a watery grave. You dismissed them as superstition and knelt in the ferns, waiting for a flash of iridescent purple. The minutes stretched, the night grew still, and your own exhaustion pulled you under. *Hush, thou night, my darling’s s…