Sora’s face lights up, her eyes gleaming. “I’m looking forward to it, Rey,” she tells her. “Thank you again for your help.” With a final wave of her tail, she swims off, leaving us to enjoy the rest of our meal.
As we dig into our food, a sense of satisfaction washes over me.
As I watch Rey devour her Fusion MerSushi rolls with an unabashed enthusiasm, I am struck by her stunning appearance. There’s a radiance to her, a light that seems to brighten our surroundings. But I can’t shake the nagging worry that nips at my thoughts.
Is it true that she doesn’t mind that I’m a Kraken instead of a human?
I’m constrained by the water’s embrace, unlike her. There are activities, simple things that humans can do that I simplycannot. But there are also things I can do that they cannot, my tentacles providing me with a strength and versatility that few species can match.
Rey catches me staring, her eyes wide and curious. “Zethe, is everything okay?” she asks, the sushi momentarily forgotten.
I shake my head gently. “No, nothing’s wrong,” I assure her, my voice as soothing as I can manage. “I was just watching you… wondering what was going on in your mind.”
Her eyebrows draw together in confusion. “About what? The food, the resort… us?”
I take a moment before responding, my eyes seeking hers, trying to decipher the emotions swirling within her deep brown irises. “Us,” I finally admit, my voice barely more than a whisper. “How do you feel about being fated to a Kraken?”
“I’m not frightened of monsters,” Rey begins, her gaze roaming over my aquatic form, “but I’ve never been involved with one.” As her teeth gently nip at her lower lip, my aquatic heart thumps a little harder. “However, I am… attracted to you, Zethe. And I’m eager to know you better.”
“What would you like to know?”
She hesitates for a moment, then meets my gaze with a vulnerability that takes my breath away. “Are you… all right with me being your fated mate? I mean, I can’t breathe underwater or swim like you do. I don’t have tentacles…”
Her words hang in the air, each one a testament to our differences, a reminder of the vast gap between our species. But to me, they don’t seem like barriers, but challenges to overcome, opportunities to grow together.
A smile pulls at my lips and I move a hand to my chest, over the beating pulse of my heart. “Rey”—I shake my head, dismissing her worries—“none of that matters. Female Krakens are fierce, territorial… often hostile. Your gentleness, your warmth, it’s a welcome change. And you don’t need to livebeneath the waves or match my speed in the water. Just your love for the ocean, for life near the water, that’s enough for me.”
She seems to relax a bit at my words, a smile tugging at her lips. “I don’t require much, Zethe. I detest the cold, the snow… I’m a creature of warmth and sunlight. I’ve always missed being outdoors, back when I was cooped up in the city, hunched over a computer for hours.”
I let out a low chuckle at her words, the sound rumbling from deep within me. “Well, you won’t have to worry about that here,” I tease her. “There’s plenty of sun and relaxation to be had.”
Her laughter is a soothing melody to my ears, her joy contagious. “This place is like paradise,” she admits. Her gaze sweeps over the other patrons of the restaurant, taking in the diverse crowd of monsters. She bites into her sushi again, then turns her attention back to me. “So, are there female Kraken on the resort? Zoe mentioned that there are many Kraken lifeguards… is it hard working with them?”
I consider her question, acknowledging the curiosity behind her words. “Everything you’ve read in your human textbooks about female Kraken is true,” I begin. “They are indeed more aggressive and highly territorial compared to us males. But they become calmer outside of the mating season, and especially once they’ve found a mate.”
I make a sweeping gesture to encompass the entire resort. “At present, we have two mated Kraken pairs working here at the resort, along with the twin chefs,” I explain. “However, there are no single female Kraken around. They tend to remain in deeper waters, away from the crowd, until they are ready to seek a mate.”
The tension visibly drains from Rey’s form as my words sink in. Her shoulders slump down from their guarded position, and she breathes out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad,” she admits, a softsmile playing on her lips. “I had this silly worry about having to fend off some aggressive female Kraken for you.”
I chuckle softly at the image, reassuring her immediately. “There will be no need for that, Rey. We are fated mates. No one else could ever compare to you, and for me, there is no one else but you.”
Her expression morphs into a frown, and she reaches for her drink, taking a long, slow sip. “Unfortunately, I’ve heard that before, and yet they all end up doing the same thing,” she mutters, her tone tinged with hurt. “They never understood how many hours of work projects require, especially when there is a deadline. So they all… just leave.”
A pang of concern pierces through me at her sudden shift in mood. I lean closer, extending a gentle tentacle to tilt her face toward me. “I am not them, Rey,” I assert with a firmness that leaves no room for doubt. “Whoever caused you pain, I am not them.”
I know what it means to be lost in one’s work, to be so consumed by responsibility that sleep becomes a luxury. I know the exhaustion, the drain it has on the spirit. “I’ve been there, too. Working long hours, sleep becoming more of a dream than a reality.”
“But you,” I say, my voice dropping to a whisper, a solemn vow shared in the intimacy of our shared space. “You have nothing to fear from me. You’re mine, Rey. The moon in my sky, the tide in my seas. I am here to stay.”
My gaze holds hers, unyielding, allowing her to see the depth of my sincerity. “And if it takes the rest of my life proving it to you, so be it, because there will be no one else to take your place as my fated mate. The Moon Goddess didn’t bind our souls together on a whim. There’s a reason for our connection, and I intend to explore it, to cherish it.”
The sight of her brushing away a teardrop hits me like a tidal wave, as a surge of protectiveness I’ve never felt before crashes into me.
Her voice is no more than a whisper, a soft breeze against the roaring storm inside me. “I believe you.”
Nine
Rey
