Chapter 31

Luna and Kai lay on the rock trying to catch their breath and staring at the stars.

“What just happened?” She turned on her side to see he was no longer in full kraken form. But even though he was in half shift, the blue glow still emanated from his skin. He reached out and touched her with a tentacle, his eyes shining. She shifted onto an elbow and stared down at his groin. Damn. His mating arm had disappeared, but his human cock was still inviting and delicious.

But, wow! What had just taken place between them… that was next level.

Even now her pussy spasmed with the aftershocks of how he’d stroked inside her, pulsing those suckers perfectly on her G-spot as he pounded into her. How amazed she’d been that her human body had been able to take that thick mating arm. That she’d accommodated Kai with barely any discomfort, thanks to the lubrication that flowed out of his suckers and the orgasms—almost too many to count—that he’d given her before he entered her.

He’d sure found places she’d never thought could be stimulated, had brought her pleasure she’d not thought humanly possible. It certainly had not been administered by a human. Her body would be sore tomorrow—she’d be walking back to Motham like she’d been on horseback for days. Luna snorted a giggle at the image.

Kai gazed at her out of soft, orgasm-drunk eyes. “What are you laughing about?”

“I just… I never, ever, ever could have imagined sex like that.”

“Luna, do you realize how important that was?”

“I think I get that. Because whatever happened Kai, it was the most amazing experience of my life.”

“I have attained Metan with you.”

Luna gazed down at his beautiful face, still deep blue from their coupling.

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“That you are my mate. That I am committed to you until the day I die. That you are the one I will sire younglings with. I’ve known it from the moment I set eyes on you, but now we’ve proven it.”

She stared at him, speechless.

Suddenly Kai’s features darkened. “Fuck it Luna, get over this intimacy block and tell me you feel the same.” Oh boy, her guy was angry, and she fucking loved it.

“I do, I do. Oh Kai, I feel the same. I want you to be my mate. But how do we even begin to make this work?” The enormity of it nearly took her breath away. The whole breathing thing, and bearing Kai younglings? It was mind-boggling.

Kai sat up, rumpling his hair with his hands and looking a tad wild eyed. “I guess I will have to live on land with you. There is no other choice. You can’t live with a diving mask your whole life, you’d go crazy. And I… I’ll adapt. I mean, I may not be able to use my tentacles as much, they’ll weaken, but hey, two of them don’t work that well anyway, so shit, who cares? I’ve heard of krakens going onto land, renouncing kraken ways to be with someone they loved. I mean, not often, but… I can’t be without you, not now…”

She put a finger to his lips, silencing him. “Kai. Stop. I won’t allow you to shrivel and become less of who you are because of me. My boring life here, it would kill you.”

He glared at her. “I swear if you turn me down, I will stalk you, and that is so against my beliefs, but as the gods are my witness, I will, Luna.”

“Stalk me!” She widened her eyes in mock outrage, but her pussy clenched. Ooh, how she loved this mad, bad possessive kraken. She dragged his face to hers and kissed his beautiful features. “It’s okay, it won’t come to that. I think there’s another option. I’ve been trying to pluck up the courage to tell you since we left Merinda. When I was swimming with Tom, he showed me… he has gills, Kai. Behind his ears. He can stay under water as long as he likes.”

Kai pulled away, blinking. “Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“Did he tell you how he got them?”

“He didn’t know. And I was too chicken to ask Brooke.”

“Why?”

“In case you didn’t want me… when it came to the crunch.”

“From the moment I met you, you’ve been the only one I wanted.”

“Me too.” She smirked a little. “Except I fought it.”

Kai rolled his eyes. “You fight everything, babe.”

“True. Past tense though. You’ve changed that, my lover.”

They sat in silence, his tentacle looped around her, gently stroking her hip bone. “I’ll ask Brooke when I go visit Tom next,” Luna said.

“No. This can’t wait, Luna. We have to find out. Hey—” He hesitated, biting his lip. Then his face lit up. “Brooke told me to go see Waldo.”

“Why?”

“I admitted I had feelings for you.”

“You told Brooke about us?”

“You try not telling Brooke when she puts her mind to finding something out.” He huffed a laugh. “She challenged me to admit my feelings. And then she said that we should go see Waldo. That must be it. There’s no one else who would know how to fit gills to a human.” Kai jumped up. “If we go now, we’ll be at his rooms before daylight. We can wait outside until he gets there.”

Luna groaned. “I’ve just had multiple O’s, taken a kraken’s mating arm, and you want me to walk all night?”

“I’ll carry you if need be.”

They rolled together on the rock, laughing, before he tossed her to her feet and slapped her ass. “Go grab your things. Let’s go.”

As Luna joined him moments later, Kai looped a tentacle around her shoulders. She reached up and tenderly kissed his parted lips, heard his contented sigh. And even though the sky above them was dark as they set forth, to Luna, the world was suddenly flooded with light.

She’d rarely been into the old quarter of the city, which was crazy really, considering she’d lived in Motham all her life. But there had never been time or money to spend on visiting the health centers, the food halls, and the art galleries that had sprung up here in recent years. The cobbled streets were picturesque, and even though it was early, a few eateries were opening up, the smell of freshly baked bread and roasted coffee making Luna’s mouth water.

“After we’ve talked to Waldo, we’ll stop for breakfast,” Kai said, seeing her sniff the air longingly. “Unusual for you, to want to eat?”

“Yeah, well, lots of unusual things seem to be happening to me lately, and I’ve had a LOT of exercise.” She smirked and, reaching up, kissed the striated muscles of his neck. They linked hands, earning themselves a few glances. The big blue guy and the small blonde human made for an interesting pair, no doubt. Or maybe they recognized them from the games. That was more likely, Luna concluded. Her life in the last few weeks had taken so many twists and turns, she’d almost forgotten that she’d won the Kraken Games. And then renounced her victory to the world.

They turned another corner, Kai striding so fast, her feet almost left the ground. Down a twisty narrow street they went, until Kai stopped abruptly outside a solidly built Malibar stone building, with a big oak door and the words Waldo’s Apothecary swinging on a sign above it. All species welcome was scrolled below in smaller letters.

Luna guessed that had to include humans.

But when Kai rapped hard on the door, there was no answer.

“Guess it is only 8 am,” Kai said. He let go her hand and started to pace up and down. She could see his tentacles moving below his blue skin; he was agitated.

She went and circled her arms around his waist. This time, it was her turn to comfort him. His body relaxed into her, and she hugged him right there on the street. It was different and wonderful to take this role, but since being reunited with her little brother, she’d felt so much more at ease with herself. Or was it their lovemaking last night? Magical, beyond her wildest dreams. The fact that Kai had reverted to full kraken right there in those warm pools, just for her. Had that made her realize, finally, that she did deserve love? To have someone worship her with every cell of his being, to the extent that he’d change shape and form, just for her?

“This will get sorted. I feel it, deep inside here,” she said softly, fisting her hand above her heart. He sighed, and they stood on the uneven cobblestones, holding each other close, until a deep voice rumbled, “Kai?”

Luna looked up to see a handsome man—though definitely not human. She immediately recognized him from his YouTube channel, but in the flesh he glowed with a kind of energy that was almost hypnotic, his smile gentle behind his thick dark beard, his eyes immeasurably kind.

“Waldo.” Kai’s face lit up in a beaming smile.

“My boy.” He hugged Kai, patting him on the back. “It’s been a while.”

“It has. What, ten years maybe?”

“At least. All grown up now. How are those tentacles?”

“Still painful, but I use meditation and the other skills you taught me, and I cope.”

“More than cope. You competed this year in the games.” He looked at Luna. “And hello to you, Luna Storm.”

“Oh, you know my name?”

“Naturally. It’s been all over the media.” Somehow, she sensed Waldo would know who she was, regardless.

“Come, come inside.” The mage unlocked the big oak door and ushered them in. “My first patient doesn’t arrive for an hour. I felt an urge to get here early and now I know why.”

The moment they entered his consulting room, Luna felt at ease. Maybe it was the thick wool rugs and big sofa with richly colored cushions, the rows of books on the walls, the dark wood cabinet full of potion bottles. It felt like a healing space.

“Ah,” Kai said softly, “I remember this room so well. You haven’t changed anything.”

“My patients like me to stay consistent.” Waldo smiled. “Please, be seated.”

Luna sank down next to Kai on the big leather sofa and Waldo sat in a deep red wing chair opposite, crossing his legs. His costume was strange even by Motham’s standards, with its long black double-breasted tunic and the balloon leg pants underneath. He wore pointed boots embroidered with threads of gold and silver. His long fingers were covered in rings, with black and white opals that caught the light and reflected shards of green and blue and purple.

Waldo cut quite some figure.

Perusing them out of obsidian eyes, he finally asked, “So what has brought you two here, to see me?”

They both started to talk at once, about how they met, about the games, the hearing with the elders. Before they’d even got on to Merinda, Waldo laughed softly and held up his hand. “Okay, I get the picture.”

Luna and Kai stopped mid-sentence.

“I already had a sense of this. Being a mage has its advantages, though it can get busy up here,” he tapped his skull, “holding so many life stories, past and current and those that are yet to present themselves.” He smiled at their surprised faces. “The dimension we mages inhabit is rather different in relation to time.” Waldo folded his hands, leaned back. “You’re in love. And you want to find a way to be together. Am I right?”

They both nodded.

“I have attained Metan with Luna,” Kai said solemnly, reaching for her hand. Luna took it and squeezed, her heart overflowing with a wonderful new sense of love and belonging.

“Then she is your mate. It’s as simple as that.”

“You’re right.” Kai cast her a grin. “He’s always right, by the way.”

Now Waldo turned his perceptive gaze on her. “And how is Tom, Luna?”

She blinked at the sudden change of subject. “He’s well, and happy.” How did Waldo know all these things? Could he see a person’s story floating above their heads, like a hologram? She guessed Waldo had faculties she would not understand. He’d healed Kai’s tentacles with magic, and hopefully, been the one who fitted Tom’s gills. She couldn’t stop herself bursting out, “I guess that’s why we’re here. Did you fit Tom with gills, Waldo?”

“Ah yes, Tom’s gills.”

“He didn’t have them as a baby. Did you… I mean, were you the person who fitted them?”

“Yes, Luna, I was.”

“Can you fit Luna with gills now?” Kai asked eagerly.

Luna held her breath.

“I can, though it’s a complex process, and it may take you longer than a baby to adjust to breathing through them, Luna. But before I am willing to do that, issues need to be resolved with the Kraken elders.”

Kai looked stricken.

“You need to go and talk to them, Kai. You need to be a warrior,” Waldo said gently.

Kai shook his head. “Oh no, no way. Done that, been there. I don’t ever want to be involved in the games again.”

The mage smiled softly. “Not a warrior in the way you are thinking. I mean, be a warrior for change.” Waldo laid out his long fingers and studied them as if the answers were contained in their bones and sinews. “Now that you have attained Metan with a human, you have broken powerful kraken traditions, traditions that have held sway for centuries. Traditions that need to be ripped asunder to prepare your people for the future. There are signs that big changes are ahead. Magic is strengthening once more on land and sea. But there are also portents of further evil afoot before all species can live in harmony. It will require wise leadership to resist this darkness. Kai, when I say you need to be a warrior, I mean it is up to you to help your people move into this new age. You have met your match in Luna—she too is a warrior for change in the human realms. But first, you will have to introduce this change to Thedaka.”

“That feels like… a big task,” Kai said.

“It is not your task alone, Kai. Behind the scenes you have powerful allies. Your mother had the wisdom to bring you to land to be healed. It was Hana as a little girl who provided the cells for Tom’s gills. The females of your clan have acted behind the scenes for centuries, in the shadows, but now they are ready to be heard, to claim their own power.”

Kai looked startled. “Was it… through the female line that?—”

“That your species were able to shift? Yes. Human males mated with female krakens many moons ago. Not, as most kraken believe, the other way around.”

Luna couldn’t help asking, “Why is Kai the one to bring about change?”

“Through your suffering Kai, you have developed deep compassion and humility, as well as inner strength. Your grandfather was not fully aware of the forces that made him choose you for the games, but he too was influenced by the changes that are sweeping through the universe. You are the bridge Kai, to lead your people into a new era. The females of your species will support you, and their time to lead will come, not so far from now.”

“Does this mean the end of the Kraken Games?”

“I cannot tell you if the games should continue. That is for your people to decide.” The mage stroked his beard. “But I can fit gills to you, Luna. Cells will need to be taken from the lining of your ears, along with the DNA from a Thedakian female.”

Luna frowned. “But… what if the Kraken don’t agree?”

“Kai has attained Metan with you, Luna. Humans and kraken bonding again was written about in ancient Kraken texts. That time has come. Now all you have to do is weave the future by taking the right steps in the present. Are you ready for the challenge, Kai?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Luna,” Waldo’s eyes were serious as they rested on her, “Stand proud and strong in the circle of Kai’s love. No more doubts. No more running.” His eyes bore into hers. “Do I have your promise?”

Luna nodded. “I promise.”