Page 19 of Kraken the Seal

“Are there that many shipwrecks out there?” I asked. “I don't know anything about the history of ships or sinkings.”

“Tons of ships,” he said. “I mostly look for the ones from the 1700s, they have the best treasure,” he explained

“Not earlier?” I asked. “Wouldn't older wrecks have more valuable things on them?”

“There weren't a lot of ships in this area of the Pacific before the 1700s. If I wanted to hunt down older wrecks, I'd need to move to the East Coast.”

That was curious. “Then why are you here?”

His appendage tightened around me in a hug. “Because of you.”

I laughed, thinking he was joking. “Very funny. I mean why aren't you living on the East Coast to find the better wrecks?”

He shook his head. “I wasn't being funny, I was being serious. I didn't know you were here, but the magic did. I always felt drawn to San Diego. When you feel that kind of instinct, you don't ignore it.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he said. “I started on the East Coast, but something pulled me to California about six years ago. It was so strong that my parents followed me west.”

This felt surreal.

“I moved to San Diego from Washington six years ago,” I murmured. “After I finished my accounting degree.”

He didn’t seem surprised at all. “That makes sense. The magic would want to draw us together. When you moved, I felt it and moved too.”

All this would've happened while I was still human. Maybe our relationship would survive losing my selkie. “What if I hadn’t moved?”

“Then I’d be drawn to Washington,” he said. “Somehow, we would’ve found each other.”

“So humans can have fated mates?” I asked. “We would be together even if I hadn’t touched that necklace?"

“I knew you were my mate almost right away,” he murmured, all his appendages tightening their grip slightly to hug me. “I thought you were gorgeous when I saw you jumping off Zak’s yacht, but then we touched, and I knew.”

“The shock,” I said. “It was like a shot of static electricity when we touched.”

“Yes,” he said. “That’s one of the indicators.”

“I needed to hear that,” I said. My anxiety eased. My seal did the selkie equivalent of an eye roll, then settled back down.

“Tell me about finding shipwrecks,” I said. “Do you guess or is there a map of where ships might've sunk?”

He enthusiastically jumped into a detailed explanation of shipping routes, old maritime maps, and using his kraken form to search. It was clear that he enjoyed what he did and put effort into being good at it. I could admire making your passion into your profession.

Between being snuggled against him and the comforting tone of his voice, I drifted off to sleep. I woke to the sun low in the sky. I was tucked against Delmar with several of his tentacles holding me in place, so I didn’t roll off the bench.

The engine was quiet, and we were drifting slightly. I could see the shore in the distance. It felt strange not to be nervous aboutbeing out on the open ocean after being terrified of water for so long.

Although it had been my father’s fears handed down to me, I’d never personally had a bad experience and now there was a seal inside me that craved water. I guess it wasn’t surprising that I was getting over my fears quickly.

“I’m starving,” Delmar said, helping me sit up. “You slept through lunch, but it’s almost dinner, and I need food before I start eating one of my limbs!”

A tentacle snapped out and slapped the back of his head. He swatted the tentacle away. “Stop that! You know I’m joking.”

I laughed at their antics, which made several of the limbs wiggle with pleasure. It hadn’t been long, but I was starting to be able to read the appendages’ body language.

“I’m hungry too,” I said.

“Great, we’ll eat, then get going again,” he said.