Page 38 of Kept By the Kraken

Penelope’s shaking voice calls through the bond. “Bjorn, you can’t hurt him. Come back to me.”

I squeeze the man tighter, increasing the pressure.

My Wildcat tugs on me, a sharp twitch in the bond that matches the pinching sound of her voice in my head. “Now,mate. I can feel your resistance, but a disappearance is too risky, and you’re not allowed to kill my ex. Only rough him up a little.”

Her ex? That makes the need for vengeance rise. We are at war, my Beast and I, though for once, we’re on the same side. We want to obey our mate’s demand. At the same time, we need to protect her, keep her safe. I already disliked her ex. Now I want to make sure he never puts his hands anywhere near her again.

I let this happen, let him get close to her.

The fear that I am losing her is not something I want to live through again. I can’t lose Penelope; I would never recover. She has brought her sunshine-soaked curiosity into my world, and I never want to lose her light.

Her voice shakes in the bond when she speaks again. “I know you’re scared. Come back and we’ll solve it. Together. But this isn’t the way.”

My hold does not let up, but I rise from the muddy bottom of the bay, surging through the water until I’m floating near the surface.

Penelope huffs. “Bjorn, don’t make me wrestle a kraken.”

The sound of Penelope’s exasperated determination tugs me the rest of the way to the surface. She would wrestle a kraken shifter and I have a feeling that I’m about to see her do it.

When I poke my head out of the water, she’s standing on the dock, arms crossed, glaring at me. I do not relinquish my hold on her ex, but my lips twitch in amusement at the stubbornness etched on her face. She’s pissed and I want those fierce lips on mine.

Her eyebrow lifts.

Despite how cute my mate is when she’s ready to battle, her safety is serious. “Penelope, he laid his lands on you?—”

“He did. The asshole.”

My chest rumbles and anger rushes through me again.

“But you’re not in a shifter world anymore. I want a life exploring with you, not a life on the run. So, you’re going to have to let him go.”

“Sweet Violet—” I plead. He can’t put his hands on her and be allowed to live.

“They’ll come for us. It could expose your secret. Or I could go to jail for murder. Or?—”

I sigh and heave the man from the water with my tentacles, dropping him onto the dock. If I’m too rough, I don’t plan to apologize.

I could make him disappear. This is not a problem. The problem is my mate. Life was easier under shifter law. I’ve been a ghost in the human world, surviving but not living for too long. But I’m going to live in Penelope’s world now. Or at least we’re going to find some compromise between the two. I would do anything to protect her. I guess this is one of those things.

Climbing from the water, I shift, returning to my human skin. As soon as I stand, I’ve got my arms full of my mate. I hold her for a long moment before pulling back to check her over. She’s sporting a bruise on her cheek and her nails are a mess. My instincts flare, pulling me back toward the man.

Penelope squeezes her arms around me, latching on like a mollusk and climbing me until I pick her up. She squeezes her arms around my neck. “Thank you for protecting me.”

“He’s still there! And I was late. He hurt you.” I pull back enough to look at her face, my thumb tracing along the puffy skin of her cheek. My heart twinges with sadness and shame.

“No, you don’t. This was on him, not you.” She clasps my face, her eyes pleading with me. “You weren’t late. The fact that he will live but I’m safe means that you protected me. All the rest, that’s his fault, not yours.”

“He never should have gotten this close. I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” I murmur, leaning my forehead against hers and breathing her in, letting her scent calm my raging desperation.

She’s safe.

“I know. I was scared too, but I’m okay. We’re okay,” she says softly.

We stay like that, dripping wet and clinging to one another until my world tilts back into balance.

“What did he want?” I ask, needing to understand what happened.

“Money. My trust fund was frozen by my family when I left. At first, Daniel tried to win me back, and when that wasn’t working, he thought I could help him get the artifact so he could sell it.”

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