Mate Cruise book 7 Seraphine 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️

This is Book 7 in the Mate Cruise short story series but can be enjoyed as a standalone novel.

Content Warning: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

This book contains explicit sexual content, including frequent and detailed intimate scenes. It also contains lots and lots of naughty cheating, emotional manipulation, violence, and other mature themes. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 1

“The Freak Table”

POV Seraphine

“You know, for a nerd, you take forever to pack. It’s not like you need makeup and fancy dresses,” my annoying older brother, Cassian, teases me.

“I can’t find my favorite stuffy. I can’t leave without it.”

I’m more upset about spending two weeks on a cruise where no one is going to pick me, and my brother and his friends will tease me relentlessly.

“Seraphine, you’re 21. You’re going to have to let the stuffy go.”

“Atlas won it at the fair for me. It’s important.”

“We all know who won it for you. If you haven’t noticed, he doesn’t give a shit about a wolfless girl. He’s moved on, and so should you.” My brother rolls his eyes and heads to the car with his suitcase.

“We have to leave now if you’re going to catch the boat, Seraphine,” Mom says.

“I can’t find my stuffy.”

Mom immediately starts looking around for it and pulls it out from behind my bed.

“Don’t forget your good glasses and your favorite socks, sweetheart.” Mom bends down and gives me a tight squeeze.

Mom takes my suitcase, and I take one more look at my room before my parents turn it into their own personal gym.

I have to stay on the ship until I find a mate. Maybe there are wolfless nerdy men there too.

Tears stream down my face as I say goodbye to my room.

Goodbye, my little goldfish. I hope Mom and Dad take care of you.

I gently tap Alice’s fishbowl.

My brother cuts my goodbye short.

He throws me over his shoulder, grabs Alice, stuffs me in the back of the car, and hands her to me.

“I don’t think you’re allowed to bring a pet, sweetheart,” my father says.

“It’s a fish. She’s going to be traveling around on a boat in the ocean. If they don’t want Alice, they can dump her in the water and set her free,” Cassian says.

“Alice is a cold-water fish. Dumping her in the ocean would kill her!” I yell.

I’m shocked he remembered Alice’s name. Maybe he’s going to feel homesick too.

He takes a selfie of his muscles.

I was wrong. He’s ecstatic about getting away from my parents’ rules. They don’t approve of his lower-ranking girlfriend, Sophie. Now he’s being sent off with me on the stupid Mate Cruise.

“It’s really just where everyone screws their brains out, parties too much, then dumps whoever they liked at the start of the cruise for someone else on the last day.”

Most come back a few times since each cruise has a new selection of mates to choose from.

It’s a long drive to the port. I pass out in my brother’s lap and wake up with my pigtails out and my hair sticking up everywhere. He must have used a lot of hairspray.

“Jackass,” I hiss.

My parents try their best not to laugh at me.

Mom tries to brush it out, but it’s like cement.

Our parents stand in line with us for our turn to walk through the portal that takes us to Portal Port.

Dad gives us each cash to spend, and the minute he’s distracted by a cotton candy vendor, Mom hands us credit cards and tells us she’ll be monitoring them.

My brother grabs our suitcases, and we make a break for it.

We stop suddenly in front of the boat when my brother lays eyes on Sophie all dressed up. He’s speechless.

I drag him away from her.

“Not while our parents are watching, you idiot.”

We head to registration, and they send us to the main office.

The dragon delta looks us both up and down, paying extra attention to my hair.

“Seraphine, I understand you haven’t shifted yet.”

“I’m 21. It’s probably not going to happen, sir.”

“Sometimes being around other powerful creatures causes those who haven’t shifted to shift. Report to the head alpha on your floor if you start to have signs of shifting.” He hands me some paperwork about shifting.

“You are welcome to change floors once you shift,” the delta says.

“Um, why would I do that? I’m a wolf.”

“You’re a wolf? Are you sure about that? You weren’t adopted? Is there any other species in your family background?” he asks.

“We don’t really know our family history. My parents’ families were wiped out during a pack war.”

The delta bends down to my level, which is pretty short. I’m five foot nothing.

“You’re not a wolf, Seraphine,” he whispers.

He stands back up. “You two are dismissed.”

What? He just blows up my world and says I’m dismissed.

My brother leads me to my room, and I plop Alice on my nightstand.

“Alright, if anybody asks,” my brother says.

“I don’t have a brother.”

“That is correct. If you get beat up for being a nerd, that’s on you.”

I spend the next hour getting the cement out of my hair.

My hair is already red with frizzy curls. Now it’s just pure frizz, and it looks like my asshole brother swiped my frizz-control spray.

Instead of my usual pigtails, I go for two tiny buns to maintain frizz control.

I stick on my favorite glasses with my favorite green shirt and shorts and follow the signs into the dining room area.

I find my name at a table in the back.

Someone was kind enough to write FREAK TABLE on my placement card.

Don’t have to guess who that is.

I recognize Susie and Kiwi from high school.

“This is so depressing,” Kiwi says. “We survived high school, then college, only to be dropped back into high school again. We’re the nerds, and the popular hot guys are over there.” She points to my brother’s table.

My brother shows off his muscles for the girls at his table, and Atlas sits a few seats down from him with his dreamy brown eyes, long blond hair, and sun-kissed skin.

I wish I was sitting next to him.

“Are you seriously still hung up on Atlas?” Susie says.

“I still have the stuffy.” I look down and try not to chew on my nails.

The head alpha wolf, Tristan, sits at the table with his beta, Eldon.

Beta Eldon gets up and introduces himself to the room.

“Centuries ago, humans nearly wiped out wolves, dragons, and countless other species,” Beta Eldon explains.

“Fated mates became incredibly rare, and most people never even recognize theirs when they meet them. The Mate Cruise was designed to help us find a chosen mate.”

“Any questions?” Eldon asks.

No one replies.

“Seraphine Raven, please report to my office after dinner,” Eldon requests.

I nod.

Beta Eldon sits down, and everyone starts to eat.

“What did you do to get a personal meeting with the beta?” Susie asks.

“I’m wolfless, and the delta dragon said with all the powerful men on the ship, I could shift.”

“And?”

“We’re not allowed to shift for the whole cruise. Clearly, he wants to go over what I’m supposed to do if it happens.”

“You’re 21. Do you really think you’re going to shift?” she asks.

“I’m meeting with the hot beta. Who cares?”

“Good point,” Kiwi says. “Can we come with you for moral support?”

“You can try.”

I don’t want to argue about it. I hate arguing. My brother does enough for both of us with our parents.

I like to stay low and out of trouble.

“We should go to the boat deck after. Free drinks the whole trip.” Kiwi lights up.

“After I meet with Eldon, I’ll find you guys.”

“So is that you saying we shouldn’t come? Hey, check it out,” Susie says, getting distracted. “Atlas keeps looking over here. Maybe it’s your new hairdo.”

“He’s probably looking at someone else.” I shrug.

“Definitely checking out your hair,” she laughs.

When we finish dinner, I head to Beta Eldon’s office, but Atlas gets in my way.

“Cute hair,” he says with his hands in his pockets, not making eye contact.

Is the guy I’ve wanted forever hitting on me?