Page 15 of Taken By the Leviathan King

“What... what was that?” I breathed, staring at my transformed limbs in disbelief.

Krak’zol moved closer, his gaze intense. He reached out, his webbed fingers tracing the glowing scales on my arm. His touch sent a jolt of energy through me, a shockwave of awareness that made my heart race.

“The bond,” he said, his voice a low rumble that seemed to vibrate through the very water around us. “It is stronger than I anticipated. You are tapping into hydrokinetic resonance—a power that allows us to manipulate water on a molecular level. It should not have manifested for weeks, perhaps months. The bond is accelerating the process, weaving our life forces together, amplifying our individual abilities.”

I stared at him, my mind reeling. “What powers? What are you talking about?”

He didn’t answer, only continued to study me with that unsettling intensity. I felt exposed, vulnerable, like he could see straight through to my soul.

“Krak’zol—”

My words were cut short as a tremor shook the training chamber. The glowing fish in the walls flickered, their gentle pulsing disrupted by a sudden, violent surge.

“What’s happening?” I asked, instinctively moving closer to Krak’zol.

His eyes narrowed, his senses on high alert. “Rynor,” he growled. “He’s attacking.”

Even as he spoke, a section of the chamber wall exploded inward, sending shards of living coral flying through the water. A figure emerged from the breach, sleek and serpentine, with scales the color of congealed blood.

It wasn’t Rynor himself, but one of his elite assassins, a scout sent ahead to probe for weaknesses—and, I suspected, to test me. Rynor knew about the bond; he was trying to gauge my abilities, to see if I was a threat.

Instinct took over. I threw up my hands, creating a shield of water, just as I did moments before. But this time, it was different. The water didn’t just deflect the attack—it exploded outward, a concussive wave of force that threw the scout backward, slammingitagainst the opposite wall.

The creature recovered quickly, its eyes burning with hatred. It lunged again, and this time, Krak’zol moved to intercept it.

But I was already moving, too.

It was like we were dancing, a deadly ballet of predator and prey. We moved in perfect synchronization, anticipating each other’s movements, our bodies flowing together like two currents merging into one.

I used the water as a weapon, creating blades of compressed fluid that sliced through the water, forcing the scout to retreat. Krak’zol’s tail lashed out, a blur of motion that cracked against the creature’s scales, drawing a hiss of pain.

We fought together, seamlessly, instinctively. It was like we’d been doing this for years, not minutes. The bond between us was a tangible thing, a conduit of power that amplified our strength, our speed, our ferocity.

The scout was skilled, powerful, but it was no match for the two of us. We drove it back, forcing it to retreat through the breach it created.

As the creature disappeared into the darkness, I turned to Krak’zol, my heart pounding in my chest. My body hummed with residual energy, my scales still glowing with that strange, inner light. A young Leviathan guard swam past, offering me a respectful nod and a brief, admiring glance at my glowing scales. Krak’zol’s tail twitched, a barely perceptible movement, but I felt the sudden tension in the water around him, a possessive ripple that sent a shiver down my spine. The guard quickly averted his gaze, swimming away with a hasty bow towards Krak’zol.

He looked at me, his eyes filled with a mixture of pride and something else... something that made my breath catch in my throat.

“You fought well, little warrior,” he said, his voice a low rumble that sent shivers down my spine.

I wanted to retort, to tell him I wasn’thislittleanything. But the words died in my throat. The fight had changed something between us, deepened the connection that I’d been trying so hard to resist.

I noticed a small cut on Krak’zol’s arm, a thin line of crimson against his dark scales. Without thinking, I reached out and touched it, my fingers tracing the edges of the wound.

He went completely still, his muscles locking beneath my touch. His eyes darkened, his pupils dilating until they almost swallowed the silver.

“Imoogeen,” he breathed, my name a raw, guttural sound that sent a wave of heat through my core.

I didn’t know what I was doing, what I was feeling. All I knew was that I needed to be close to him, to feel the steady beat of his heart beneath my fingertips.

As if of their own volition, my fingers continued their exploration, tracing the contours of his arm, feeling the play of muscle and sinew beneath his scaled skin. His scent, that intoxicating mix of salt and iron, filled my senses, clouding my thoughts.

“You’re healing,” I murmured, noticing that the cut was already closing, the edges knitting together with astonishing speed. It was another sign of my changing physiology, another step further away from my humanity.

“We heal quickly,” he said, his voice rough, strained. “Especially when...”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but he didn’t need to. The unspoken words hung in the water between us, heavy with unspoken meaning.Especially when bonded. Especially when touched by our mate.

---