He was lying about being Nautilus's descendent, but... there wassomethingunique about him.
"Let's take this to shore," I said.
Zakariel spat out a mouthful of saltwater. "Gladly."
When we reached the landing, I shifted and hauled myself onto the ledge. I didn't offer Zakariel a hand. If he was so special, he could do it himself. Still in his wolf form, he clambered up on the rocky outcrop, then shook out his pelt and shifted.
Fuck. I hated the way my breath caught when I saw his human form. He was slightly shorter than me--not a surprise considering most people were--but he was by no means small. His toned, streamlined body glistened with water droplets, which also clung to his damp black hair. The same mismatched black-and-yellow eyes and the silver streak that ran down his wolf's chest were present in this form, too.
Zakariel smoothed back his hair, but that didn't stop a few stray silver hairs from springing back out stubbornly.
"Not the nicest swim I've ever had," Zakariel muttered.
My eye twitched. Even if he was pleasing to look at, that didn't negate my anger towards him. "State your purpose."
Zakariel didn't reply. Instead his unusual gaze drifted up and down my body in a deliberate motion. I froze.
Without thinking, I shoved out the heel of my palm and caught him in the solar plexus. Zakariel let out a choked sound and staggered backwards.
"What was that for?" he demanded.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Check me out."
Zakariel smirked, and I realized a moment too late what I'd said. "Well, that'snotwhat I was doing in the first place, but if you insist."
"Shut up," I snapped, my heart racing. "If you don't tell me why you're here right now, you'll regret it."
Why was my heart pounding? I wasn't nervous and I wasn't scared of him.
Zakariel's smirk vanished and he regarded me with a neutral expression, like he was gauging how serious my threat was. In the end he decided to answer me seriously. "My granddad disappeared. Like I said, he's a water spirit. The one who reigns over this place." He gestured out towards the coast. "I know you don't believe me, but it's the truth. Take it or leave it."
I ground my jaw. I was distracted by my strange reaction to Zakariel's gaze on me, but I had to focus.
I'd heard enough lies out of alphas mouths to know one when I heard it. So why did it sound like Zakariel was telling the truth?
"Are you seriously telling me Nautilus is your grandfather?" I asked.
"Yeah." Zakariel shrugged. "I mean, I'd love for him to show up and confirm it, but that's kind of the problem right now, isn't it?"
I sighed. He was right about that, at least. The fact that he was aware of the issue told me that, if nothing else, he at least had a closer connection to the water than I'd originally assumed.
"How are you related to him?" I asked.
"Well, he's my Pops's dad--Pops is my alpha father."
"Your alpha father is a wolf?"
"No, he's a shark. Dad, my omega father, is a wolf."
So he was the product of a mixed shifter couple? At first I hoped that could explain his strange abilities but I knew children of interspecies couples didn't work that way. They only inherited one form, not any special powers.
"Then who is your grand-omega? The mate of the water spirit?" I asked.
Zakariel snorted in amusement. "There is none. Grandma is a human woman."
