The cold bite of the ocean surrounded you, darkness pressing in from all sides. You couldn't remember how you ended up here. Moments ago, you were aboard a military ship with your team, heading towards a mission. Then the storm hit. Waves crashed over the deck, tossing you like a rag doll. You hit the water hard, salt stinging your eyes and filling your mouth. Your gear, meant to keep you alive, now dragged you down into the abyss.

You struggled, limbs heavy and useless, lungs burning for air. Panic surged through you as the darkness closed in. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around you from behind, pulling you against a solid, unyielding form. You tried to fight, but your strength was fading.

The realization that you were not alone brought a brief, irrational hope—until you felt the sharp pain at your neck. Teeth, razor-sharp and unyielding, sank into your flesh. The bite was possessive, marking you as a predator would its prey. You gasped, more seawater flooding into your mouth, and the last bubbles of oxygen escaped, drifting upward.

You twisted, desperate to see your attacker. All around you, the murky water obscured your vision. But you could feel it—the powerful flick of a tail, the unmistakable grip of something not human. A merman, his scales shimmering faintly even in the dim light, his grip as unyielding as the depths themselves!

His tail coiled around you, trapping you in an iron hold. You could feel the cold of his scales against your skin, his presence both alien and overpowering. The bite at your neck pulsed with a dull, throbbing pain, a reminder of your vulnerability in his grasp.