“Have we met, Emperor?” I asked when he only stared, like he was looking for something and not finding it. “I’ve heard stories about you from my friends. Stellina, Kellin, and Lachlan. They’re?—”
“Selkies, yes,” the kraken finished. “Worrying that one of them is an Omega. I hope you’ve protectedhimfrom harm.” What was he hinting at? That I might have hurt Lachlan?
“I protect all Omegas; I’ve taught my men to do the same, or face dishonor or death. And yes, Lachlan is a good friend. He’s my best friend.”
“He’s also mated with Rada, my mistress,” Alexios interrupted. “Their bond was unintentional, I believe. As was the one she formed with his brother, Kellin.” The kraken’s edges wavered as he moved to face the Beta, like he might forget to hold this smaller form. The boat creaked; one or two nails pinged as they dropped out of the hull.
We all held our breath until he nodded. “Two unintentional mates? Explain, quickly.”
“Lachlan was taken out to sea by an unknown creature,” I said. “The thing froze the sea itself and nearly killed Lachlan. Rada went out to save him.”
“Thing?”
“Some kind of dragon?—”
“A dragon dared to touch her?” The boat creaked again, and a few tentacles emerged from the toga’s edge.
“She said it appeared as one, but we believe it was something else,” Alexios said calmly.
I went on. “The ice dragon caught her, along with Lachlan. Lachlan was dead, or so she thought. She yelled at the dragon, then stabbed it in the eye and escaped with Lachlan, though she inadvertently completed a full mating bond with him in the, ah… heat of the moment.”
“Bites, a blood exchange, and three spoken acceptances of the bond?”
I nodded. A small crack opened in the bottom of the boat, with water starting to pool at my feet. Dustin picked up the water cup Alexios had been using and started bailing.
“And the other bond?” The kraken sounded even angrier now.
Somehow, Dustin found his voice. “Well, that was because of her murderousness, your monstrosity. She can’t be held accountable for it; the Goddess made my lady as lethal as she is lovely. I’m pretty sure stabbing is one of the ways she lets a fellow know she likes him. That or poisoning. You can’t blame her for being how she was made to be, can you? No more than a shark or a stingray or one of them really bad jellyfish that wrap around your legs and make you wish for death.” The young warrior slapped a hand over his own mouth, like he couldn’t stopbabbling any other way, and gave me a helpless look. Alexios moved slightly, putting himself between the boy and the kraken.
We all jumped when the kraken burst into laughter. “You are absolutely correct, young one. I’m not angry my Empress chose more mates; I just wanted to make certain they were worthy of her this time.”
“Your… Empress?” Dustin, Alexios, and I all repeated at the same time.
“You claimed her?” Alexios’s voice had deepened. “Where is the mark?”
Lusca waited a moment, then murmured, “A very personal question. I will forgive you for asking.” His lips slid into a sensual smile, like he was remembering something intimate.
I reached for my sword… only to remember it was no longer in the scabbard.
“Looking for this?” the kraken asked, holding a hand over the side of the hull. A wave lifted my sword to him, and he gripped it by the blade and handed it to me. I knew the blade was razor sharp, but the kraken’s hand hadn’t even been scratched.
I took it and slid it back into the scabbard, my common sense returning. “Apologies, Emperor,” I managed to say through gritted teeth. “If my wife is your Empress, that means she accepted you.”
“No,” Alexios said softly. “It means the Goddess accepted him.”
We all knew what he meant; if a mate wasn’t worthy, the Goddess made Her judgment clear by closing the Omega’s entrance. I remembered the first time Ratter and I had tried to make love, and I’d felt that resistance. It wasn’t until I’d proved myself that we’d been able to claim each other in a temporary nest, though she’d refused my Alpha bite.
Had she really accepted his? I hadn’t seen any marks on her besides Lachlan’s bite and my tattoo, though there were a dozenplaces she could’ve carried it that I hadn’t seen. Verypersonalplaces.
My thoughts grew dark as the kraken replied to Alexios, “She met you after our short time together, I presume, or I would have known your name and face. She shared everything with me, in our nest.”
“Nest?” Dustin’s whisper was ignored by the rest of us.
“Short time?” I asked, bitterness flooding me. Then she had mated him. “Why did she leaveyou?”
“You assume much, little Alpha.” His lip curled. “Goran, the Warlord of All Starlak, as if that is anything to claim. I dried tears that belong to you, Warlord.” When I choked, he sneered. “She spoke of you. She told me all about the mate who let her go and left her unprotected on her journey.”
“You did the same,” I argued. I’d saved her from being burned at the stake!
