Two
My mate watched me with bright brown, curious eyes, his dirty-blond hair falling into them in soft waves now that it was dry. He was a contradiction. He seemed afraid—as he should be, after whatever hell he”d been through—and yet... not. I didn”t know how to explain it, but centuries of experience told me there was something more to this, something more than the injuries he”d sustained and the trauma he”d been through.
We”d found marks on his wrists and ankles. Marks that had indicated someone had shackled my mate for an extended period. The thought of someone keeping my mate prisoner, of abusing him, had filled me with such unimaginable hatred… If it wasn”t for Tarika and her gentle but firm voice as she”d reminded me that my mate needed me to be steady right then, I would”ve toppled my house in my rage.
I made sure to keep my anger buried deep now, not wanting my mate to think it was directed at him. When I was in control of myself again, I took the empty soup bowl that he was still holding on to and placed it on the nightstand.
The human doctor Nala had brought over the day I rescued my mate had said he would recover, that though his injuries were many, they were mostly surface wounds, except the large cut on his leg. There were also older injuries, the doctor had said, that had healed, but not properly. Broken bones, burned skin...I knew I”d scared the shit out of the doctor when he”d told me that.
If it weren”t for Tarika and Nala”s strong siren magic, the human doctor would”ve gone home with the memory of tentacles sprouting out of my back and knocking furniture over, though thankfully they”d managed to make him forget.
”May I ask your name?” I asked as I brought myself back to the present, and my mate blinked before his brows furrowed. His mouth opened slightly, and then closed, his expression very reminiscent of the doctor after Tarika and Nala had worked their magic on him.
”Is everything okay?” I asked softly, and he shook his head, his lips turning down in a frown before he gasped loudly.
”Oh! It”s Hobie,” he said, sounding a little unsure, and I stepped closer to the bed. Was he having trouble remembering? The doctor had mentioned his head injury, but he”d said it was a surface wound too, and nothing to worry about. Was that not the case?
”It”s nice to meet you, Hobie. I”m Ebenezer,” I said, in case he hadn”t heard before. I”d known he was awake, but it was possible he”d been hurting too much to pay attention to my words. ”You can call me Eben.”
”Eben,” he said with a nod, then frowned. ”I don”t...I don”t remember anything.”
”You don”t remember who hurt you?”
Hobie shook his head, turning his eyes to his lap.
”I don”t. The last thing I remember from...from before is watching them set up the Christmas decorations at the mall near the shelter.”
I blinked. I knew enough of the human holidays, even if I”d never celebrated them, to know what Christmas was and when it was celebrated.
”Hobie...” I started, unsure how to say it. ”It”s July now,” I said carefully, and his eyes widened.
Six months weren”t much for someone like me, but for Hobie... What had happened to him? Had he been with his tormentor all that time? Had someone held him captive, and then discarded him when they no longer needed him?
”What? No...” He shook his head, dirty-blond waves flying every which way. ”How”s that possible?”
”If you need proof, my friend can bring you a tablet and you can check the latest news and the date,” I offered, knowing Hobie had no reason to trust me.
If his memory loss wasn”t caused by a head injury, then could it be from the trauma he”d been through? Had he blocked his memories to protect himself?
He stared at me for a moment before shaking his head. ”It—it”s okay.”
”Do you remember anything else?” I asked hesitantly, not wanting to push him too much. If he had a family somewhere who was worried about him, who”d been looking for him for the last seven months... ”Is there someone who might be looking for you?”
Hobie gave a sad, wry smile and shook his head, then winced. ”No, not really. I had a few friends, but we didn”t really stay in contact. We all drifted between shelter homes or lived on the street, so they probably haven”t even realized I”m gone.”
My heart ached at the easy acceptance in his voice, like he was so sure no one gave a damn about him, that no one would be missing him.
”I do remember something else, though,” he said, a curious look in his brown eyes.
”Oh?” I asked, waiting for him to continue. I hadn”t expected him to be so... relaxed around me. I”d anticipated more hesitation, more fear. He was hurt, and I was a stranger. With his memories missing and the unfamiliar environment, I”d expected him to be wary. Instead, it almost seemed like he trusted me. Could he sense our bond on some level? I knew humans couldn”t recognize or sense their mates like supernatural beings could, but what other reason could there be?
”Yeah. I remember being in the water, and I remember being saved by a big, purple octopus. By you.” Hobie was completely certain in his assessment, and I wondered why. As a human, he should”ve felt ludicrous even saying those words, and yet he seemed to believe them.
I wasn”t going to lie to him, of course. He didn”t look scared, and he seemed to be waiting for me to say something, so I cleared my throat and asked, ”How did you know? And why aren”t you freaking out?”
Hobie bit his lip and looked away, his hands meeting in his lap. I stepped closer to adjust the IV pole so the line didn”t tug on his hand, and he shot me a smile. ”Your eyes. They”re the same. And I”m not freaking out because...well, because you make me feel safe. I don”t understand why, but you do. You saved my life, and you”ve been nothing but kind to me, though I can”t imagine why.”
Eben seemed to be having trouble with the fact that I wasn”t freaking out about him being a giant octopus. ”Would you prefer it if I freaked out a little bit?” I asked with a raised brow, and he gave a rough laugh, as if it was a sound he didn”t make often.
”No, I don”t think that would be necessary. And for the record, I”m not a ”giant octopus,”” he said, sounding offended. ”I”m a kraken.”
My eyes widened. I knew about kraken. I”d read about them in one of the library books at school before...well, before. They were great, mythical beasts who toppled ships and lived in the seas. Hmmm... I could see that, though Eben wasn”t very ”beastly.” In his other form, though? He could probably take down a city.
”Why did you save me?” I asked, the question slipping past my lips without thought.
Eben frowned, bothered by the question. Did he think I was implying he wasn”t the type to save a human? I didn”t know him well enough to make that judgment, kraken or not, but I”d meant why he”d saved me. Why he was still helping me and hadn”t dumped me on the shore of some human town the first chance he got.
”Because I could,” he said simply with a shrug. ”I don”t like unnatural deaths, and humans seem to be masters of those. You were alive when I found you, so I had to try my best to save you. Though I admit that wasn”t the reason I brought you home with me,” he said, gold eyes flashing with sincerity. It wasn”t even that his eyes had a golden color to them, or were a unique shade of yellow. No, his eyes literally looked like they were molten pools of gold. They were the strangest, most beautiful eyes I”d ever seen.
I looked around at the room I was in with new eyes. This was a kraken”s home. It was surprisingly human, though I guessed he stayed in the ocean most of the time. This house was for when he wanted to spend time in this form, his human form. I wondered how the different forms worked? How could a giant kraken fit into a small—large by human standards, but still tiny compared to his kraken form—human body like this? A question for later, I decided, as I asked the much more important question: ”Why did you bring me to your home?”
”Before I tell you, please know that if you wish to leave, I won”t stop you. My friends Tarika and Nala will take you to the closest human town and help you in any way they can. You”re not obligated to stay here, and you aren”t trapped.” Eben”s words rushed and tumbled over one another as his eyes implored me to believe him.
”I understand,” I assured him with a tilt of my lips. He seemed so concerned with scaring me, but I just didn”t feel afraid. Not of him, at least. The thought of what had happened in the time I couldn”t remember, or who had inflicted these wounds on me...yeah, that scared me. But Eben? No. He made me feel safe. Like as long as he was close, nothing and no one would be able to touch me, let alone hurt me.
Eben took a deep breath, like he had to psyche himself up for it. Then, he met my eyes. ”Hobie, you”re my mate. I recognized you when I held you, and I couldn”t let you go, not again. So I brought you home instead of taking you to a human town. Like I said, I won”t—”
”Wait, wait.” I cut him off as questions started piling up in my mind. ”What does mate mean? Like, soulmate?” I tilted my head to the side. Eben stared at me for a moment, as if trying to gauge how I”d react, before nodding.
”Yes. Fate brings people together, people who are made for each other. Supernatural beings like me can usually recognize our mates through one of our senses, or through our magic. For humans, it”s more instinctual. They can”t recognize their mates, but if they stumble upon them, it”s much easier for them to form a bond with that person than others.”
I hummed thoughtfully. I couldn”t believe I was made for someone like him. Eben was...he was a being out of stories, king of the sea, and I was...well, nothing. What could I possibly offer him?
”And fated mates are always romantic partners?”
”Not always, no. Tarika and Nala—you”ll meet them soon—they”re platonic mates. They love each other dearly, but not in a romantic sense.”
I nodded slowly, processing everything he”d told me. It was a lot, to be honest, and my head was starting to hurt again.
Still, I couldn”t help asking another question. ”What did you mean by ”you couldn”t let me go again?””
Had we ever crossed paths before? I thought I”d remember if I”d seen him—in either form—but since I couldn”t remember the last seven months of my life, I didn”t have a leg to stand on. A part of me didn”t want to recall what had happened. The wounds on my body and the fear that filled my bloodstream when I thought about them made me wish I”d never remember them.
Eben blinked, then sighed, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. ”Uh, I saw you once before. A few centuries ago.”
I blinked. Then blinked again.
Maybe a nap wouldn”t be a bad idea after all...
”Centuries?” I gasped out, and Eben”s eyes widened at my exclamation.
”It wasn”t you, of course. I mean, not as you are right now. It was a previous incarnation of you. But you had a family, and you were happy, so I didn”t approach you,” he said, his eyes far away, and even though I”d just met him, I could see him doing something like that.
Eben was kind. He”d already offered to return me back to the human world—because this private space, wherever we were, seemed so far away from the town I”d lived in that it might as well be another realm—even though he”d given me up once. He was selfless, and for that reason, I wanted to care for him, to be the person who thought about him when he was busy thinking about everyone else.
There was also the fact that I didn”t really have anything to go back to. It might have been selfish of me, but I didn”t want to leave this comfortable place to bounce around on the streets again.
”I don”t want to leave.” I winced as my head pulsed with pain. ”I think I need some sleep.”
Eben gazed at me for a long moment, as if surprised yet again by my easy acceptance. Would he still feel like that if I told him my selfish reasons for wanting to stay?
”Oh, of course!” Taking a hesitant step back, he looked around the room, as if unsure what he should do. Then he stepped closer to the bed and held his hands out. ”Let me help you.”
With his help, I lay back down, and he covered me with the blanket before stepping back. He gave me a smile, then looked at the door.
Suddenly, I didn”t want to be alone. I needed to sleep, but I didn”t want to wake up alone. Back when I”d lived on the streets, I”d always slept surrounded by people, even more so on the nights I found space in a shelter. But I thought, maybe, I”d been alone these past few months, and I didn”t want to now.
”Will you—” I started to say, before cutting myself off. Eben had already done so much for me. How could I ask him for more? It wasn”t fair to him.
”What is it?” There was nothing but concern in that warm gaze of his. ”If you need something, please don”t hesitate to tell me. If it”s not something we have here, Tarika or Nala will get it.”
I blinked, then smiled. Ugh, how could I already be so taken with this strangely sweet man? Either that soulmate thing affected humans more than Eben knew, or I”d lost all sense of self preservation.
”Could you stay while I sleep?”
Eben blinked once before smiling widely. He looked…happy that I”d asked him to stay, and not put-upon at all.
He brought over a chair from the other side of the room, and he”d barely taken a seat before I drifted off, comforted now that I knew he was close by and wouldn”t allow anyone to hurt me.