No other kraken nor creature but Vasz is permitted to enter it, though that doesn’t mean I trust my people or bandits not to try to access my den.

I hesitate before approaching the door. Cindi will find our home lacking. I had wanted to take out my finest treasures and line our bed with the softest moss. I planned on stocking up on food so there would be no reason for me to leave after we consummate our bond.

Yet, I have none of those things. All trivial matters.

My human is delicate and small. Why do I not keep healing supplies? Or bring fabrics from the mainland to keep her warm when I hunt? My siblings would never have made such foolish mistakes.

Cindi deserves better than me.

My mate’s soft whimpers spear my soul. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have been so reckless and impulsive.

The symbols engraved into the stone glow when I whisper the opening command. It groans as it slowly rolls to the side. The door slides shut behind me, encasing the tunnel in total darkness, silencing the roar of the raging storm.

I can navigate the channels with my eyes closed. It has been many years since I’ve cut myself on the jagged edges sticking out from the rocks, but I still slow, careful to keep Cindi close so she doesn’t get hurt.

The first patch of glowing algae stirs my mate. Some give off streaks of purple or green, even the occasional pink.

She peels her eyelids back to reveal her deep brown irises. The soft blue light illuminates the hard curves of her face as we pass another patch, and I slow down before reaching the next group so I can soak in every detail of my precious mate.

Her lips part, and she sits up straighter. Cindi’s gasp brings me more joy than she’ll ever know. I spent years harvesting and planting the glowing algae, keeping it alive through the Curse. My mother taught me how when I was very young, and it took a long time for me to get it right. That my mate would appreciate it makes the years of work and frustration worth it.

Cindi’s eyes widen in awe as we approach my den, where the algae is abundant and brighter than anywhere else in my cavern system. My mate is impressed by our home. Maybe…maybe there is hope.

The magic air bubble around her head dissipates when we break past the surface of the water into the cave hidden beneath the island’s cliff. Oxygen fills my own lungs, and my chest instantly feels less tight.

I carefully and reluctantly set her on the edge of the pool, missing the feel of her the second she’s out of my arms. She wobbles unsteadily for a moment, wincing when she places pressure on the hand she was clutching.

Silence floods the space between us, and I watch with bated breath as her eyes roam over our den.

It is…plain. There is nothing special about it. No king would ever live in such barren quarters. I never saw the need to improve it or have anything beyond the bare necessities. Mutants have no need for nice spaces. I moved from the palace the moment I could. My human lungs could not stand spending so much time in the water.

In an alcove on the other side of the cavern is a shrine to Edea, the Sea Goddess, with a woven basket of jewelry dropped by humans, shells, and a jar of sand from a distant island where she was last sighted two hundred years ago.

A pile of coconut shells lies in the corner, leftover from the many times Vasz has come up here and forgotten to bring them back down to his little grotto off one of the shoots from the tunnel.

There are some human gadgets around the place I thought might be useful: chains, knives, some type of metal tool, a bowl, cups, a bag I can carry across my body, fabric I’m weaving into ropes and mats, and other random bits I’ve managed to find uses for.

I didn’t dare have keepsakes of my family on display. I have enough reminders of my shortcomings, I refuse to add to them. The treasures I’ve been gathering over the years are kept in another cave.

During the day, some light trickles in through the hole on the side of the den that leads up to the land. At night, the only source of light comes from the algae threading through the crevices of the rock wall and around the pool.

Emboldened by her blatant approval of our den, I slowly move closer so she doesn’t notice.

Cindi blinks blearily at the algae residue glowing on her fingers. Her gaze swings to me. I puff my chest out and rise out of the water so she might look at me with the same astonishment. I am big, larger than every other kraken I have met.

I am an adequate hunter. I’m fast, strong. I have won every battle I’ve fought. I have access to my people’s riches, and I am protected by virtue of being the king.

I flex my muscles and expand my chest, making myself larger so she can see I am a worthy mate. Her gaze drops down to my partially curled fingers. I may have been cursed with claws, but I have honed them into a weapon. Cindi is smart. She will understand that.

But there is no astonishment, no awe or gratefulness. Everything stills, silent for a heartbeat. Then, pure horror flashes across her face.

I deflate, staggering back. She isn’t meant to look at me like that.

My mate isn’t meant to find me revolting.

What is it that she finds wrong with me? Do I lack the charm my brother had? Or the lethal tact of my sister, so Cindi thinks I cannot protect her? Is it my appearance? My size? Is she disappointed I failed to protect her? Our den?

It makes me sick to know if we weren’t destined to be together, she’d pick either of my siblings over me. Or any other human but me. Everything in my life has been by chance: the throne falling into my lap, my mother’s accidental pregnancy, even finding Vasz’s unconscious form on an island far from my lands after being attacked for the way he looks.

I am never a choice. I am an unwelcome consequence.

Given the option, my people and every person on the Council would choose another to lead them. My own mate would rather be bonded to someone who isn’t me.

The Curse requires my bride be willing, and my Cindi does not find me worthy. She will not be willing. More than anything, I know this to be true.

My hearts hollow as I watch my precious, beautiful mate scramble away from me, leaving the scent of her fear behind. Her eyes dart around the cavern, landing on the human objects placed around.

“Cindi,” I start, but nothing else comes out. The words are lost on me. What could I say in this situation? Apologize for my birth? For the decision of the Goddess to bind our souls together?

What’s done is done. There is nothing I can do to change our destiny.

One of my tentacles reaches for her.

“Get the fuck away from me,” she hisses, clambering back toward the rock wall with the human objects.

I feel sick. My own mate is frightened of me. Oh, the Council would be laughing if they saw this.

Cindi grabs what I believe the humans call a wrench.

Her eyes jump to the tunnel beside me up to land. I hold my hands up like I’ve seen the people on land do when they’re in trouble and slowly exit the pool to block her path. She’s safer from the storm inside the cavern than outside. Cindi is so small, I worry she may be swept away in the wind. “I will not hurt you, mate.”

“Stay back,” she threatens, holding her makeshift weapon with one hand while the other remains tucked to her side. My human is so precious. She’s adorable to think she is the least bit frightening.

It’s hard to focus when the fabric of her dress is sticking to her, hugging every curve. One of the ties has come undone, hanging her dress lower with the added weight. The tops of her pert breasts peak above the teal, rising and falling with her heavy breaths. My mating arm twitches when my eyes fall on the slit ridden up to the juncture of her thighs.

My eyes widen when she uses her good arm to throw the wrench at me. It hits one of my appendages, then clatters onto the ground.