Tails and Tentacles (Miracle: Salvation Isle #5)

3. CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

“Dada.”

Happiness bloomed within Channing as he watched his daughter, Selah, play at the edge of the ocean with absolute glee on her face as she splashed in the water. That she had instantly reached for him to play with her increased his pleasure at her calling his name. Mostly.

He’d read the books. ‘Dada’ was one of the easiest sounds an infant could make, so it wasn’t exactly surprising that she said it. Still, not only was she able to say it, but she seemed to recognize it was who he was.

“You like the water, precious?” he cooed, even though he already knew the answer. Tad might have been a rat shifter, but his sweet Selah was a seahorse through and through. The little spit of land he’d chosen to take her to was a sea grass bed where, if she shifted, it wouldn’t be dangerous. Hopefully.

Probably.

Between the sea grass and the shallow water, she should be safe, but there was never a guarantee. Keeping close since she had yet to even attempt to shift and not wanting her to fall over and drown, he kept a close eye on her and stayed as close as possible without crowding her ability to play.

“Splash, splash,” he said as he slapped a hand on the surface. Selah giggled as he slapped her hands down into the water. The drops that covered her head and face didn’t bother her in the slightest.

Grinning like an idiot, it was hard for Channing to regret one good thing that had happened since he’d stupidly hooked up with Tad. He’d been a na?ve fool back then, but how was he supposed to wish any of it had been different? If it hadn’t been for Tad, he wouldn’t have Selah, the joy of his life.

“Do you want to go for a swim?” he asked.

Her arms shot up for him to pick her up and take her deeper into the water. She was a natural. Not that he expected any different, as she was a seahorse. Scooping her up into his arms, Channing carried her deeper into the ocean. He never went beyond the point that he could still stand, but he allowed Selah to splash and float around him.

Whenever she tired he’d scoop her back into his arms and bob in the water with her. His smile turned into a huge grin when she tilted her head back and trusted him to keep her floating on her back.

She should have been a sea nymph. Then again, in some regards, seahorses were a close second. He wasn’t entirely certain why, but he also didn’t question it.

“Do you want to go under?” he asked, as he always did whenever he pushed her head under the surface.

The first couple of times she cried, but in the last three months Selah craved dipping her head under and peering into the depths of the ocean. Sort of. She refused to do it if Channing wasn’t holding her securely in his grasp.

Not that he could blame her. Even as a sea shifter, it wasn’t always easy to transition from the land to the water. He’d heard many other water shifters would teach their children in the bathtub. It was something Channing could have done if he’d had a bathtub.

But he didn’t. His only ‘shower’ was a hookup to the sink in the all-purpose bathroom faucet. He’d been lucky to manage that when he had no actual income.

It had taken months for him to wash up on this island’s shore. Even though it had been terrifying to be adrift in the sea, pregnant with no land mass in sight, Channing had been eternally gratefully that his best friend, Braydon, had shoved him as far as possible from the great white shifters that had been bearing down up them.

When Braydon hadn’t returned, Channing’s heart sank. Fearing he’d died, the only thing that kept him alive was the need to find somewhere where he could shift to a human and deliver his child. Talk about a daunting task.

At the time Braydon had shoved them both into the sea, Channing had been four months pregnant. As one of the few males who could conceive, his condition had been fairly obvious. There wasn’t just a ‘baby bump’ but it also wasn’t as if he could hide it behind clothes.

He’d assumed the biggest issue after Braydon had shoved him off the boat away from the humans would have been not being detected by non-shifters. Boy, had he been wrong, especially after he’d been separated from Braydon.

What had caused the most problems was when he was in the middle of nowhere with no obvious land nearby. He was a seahorse, the most he could travel was about 1-2 miles per day, depending on currents. That slow speed, although there had been some storms that allowed him to travel faster, meant he was never certain where a land mass was.

That he’d even found one had been a miracle, especially since by the time he’d reached the seven-month mark in his pregnancy, being in his animal form had been excruciating. At the same time, landing on a small, remote island with maybe two thousand people put him in a situation that had put his child at risk.

He had no clue how he’d been lucky enough to reach an island where there was a ‘mystic’ who had claimed his having a baby was completely normal, even though it had never happened there before. Talk about good luck. It was almost as if fate had taken pity on him for once.

The humans on the island might not have exactly welcomed him with open arms, but they’d provided a place for him and Selah to live and let him do odd jobs to earn his keep. Otherwise, they left him alone and expected him and his daughter to stay away from them. It was lonely at times, but at least he could safely raise his daughter.

Channing only wished they’d had some way to communicate with the outside world. He hated that Braydon’s nieces and nephews were most likely still on that island digging for uranium. When he’d asked how they’d gotten running water if they never left the island to learn about plumbing, they’d claimed people from other places would come to talk to them every couple of years. It had been these people who had given them the knowledge.

If only they knew when those outsiders would be returning. Maybe then he could find out if Braydon was still alive. And if not, tell someone about what had happened to the shifters in his hometown. It wouldn’t be much, but he owed it to Braydon to get his nieces and nephew away from those monsters.

“Dada,” Selah screeched with a splash of her hand against the water as if she were trying to get his attention.

“What is it, my precious?” he cooed to her as he continued to bob in the water with her.

That was all it took to make her happy once more as she squealed in delight. Stilling when the hairs on his body stood on end, Channing looked around. He was positive danger was near. Not seeing anything on the beach itself, he knew his animal sensed it was in the water. Moving quickly, he waded back to shore, not breathing normally until he left the water completely.

Selah cried and tried to kick her way out of his arms to go back into the water, but he wasn’t about to loosen his grip on her. He had no idea what had spooked his seahorse, but Channing trusted him implicitly to know when a predator was nearby.

Yet, even though he usually would have picked up his beach bag and headed back home, he stood there just beyond where the waves lapped along the shoreline and stared out into the ocean. There was no doubt something dangerous was out there, yet…

He scanned the water, trying to find any hint what else had his seahorse refusing to stay in the water. There was a sense of…anticipation was the closest word he could come up with, even though it didn’t describe the sensations that were rolling through him.

His heart pounded even though he didn’t believe he was in any danger now that he was no longer in the water. His breathing quickened. Something was calling to him, keeping him rooted where he stood.

“Shush, Saleh. I’ve got you, but we need to stay out of the water at the moment.” Like that was really going to pacify her. To prove it wasn’t, she screamed and pointed to the water as if she was ordering him to take her back into it.

The moment she stopped wailing to take a breath, Channing heard it. The whistle of a dolphin. Could it be…? Squinting, he gazed farther. Instead of a fin though he saw… Cocking his head slightly, he stared hard at the sight trying to make heads or tails of it.

Skimming the surface of the water was a large blob with—were those tentacles? Yet they didn’t seem to move. More like they were holding onto something. That just didn’t seem right, yet the closer it got, the more he was positive there was an octopus riding the surface of the ocean.

That had to be the strangest thing he’d ever seen. Why it was causing his seahorse to dance around in glee, he had no clue, nor was he certain it mattered when he glimpsed a huge fine further out in the water.

Shark.

By the size of that fin, he was guessing a great white. Was that why the octopus was headed toward the shore? Had the shark been chasing him? Terrified to be caught up in some sort of attack, Channing did what he had to, to keep his daughter safe.

Scooping up the beach bag he thankfully hadn’t unpacked yet, Channing ran across the sand for the edge of the village that was tucked amongst the trees further inland. His seahorse danced wildly in his head, trying to stop him from fleeing. Why? Channing had no clue, nor was he going to listen to his other half when it might put his daughter in danger.

A distant shout spurred him to run even faster. Saleh sensed his anxiety and clung tightly to him as she cried. He hated he was making her afraid, but considering he’d been kidnapped, chained to other shifters, made to mine uranium, and nearly died, convinced him there was no such thing as being too cautious.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” he crooned somewhat calmly, even though terror was swamping him as the voice that had been shouting from the water seemed to get closer.

The fear was a living, breathing thing within him even after he’d reached his small bungalow. Pushing inside, he dropped Selah into her playpen and whirled around to push the couch against the door. He wasn’t certain it would help, but the island wasn’t big enough to hide, especially when it involved shifters.

He was unable to hear what was happening outside since Selah had tilted her head back and wailed as if the demons of hell were on her heels. Not that she could walk, but figuratively.

Picking her up in his arms, he held her tightly. “I got you, baby. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” If only he believed that was possible, Saleh might have believed him. As a seahorse shifter, he wasn’t exactly strong enough to fight off most humans, much less other shifters.

That was especially true of an octopus, dolphin, and don’t even get him started on the great white. He didn’t stand a chance. Hugging his daughter even tighter, Channing prayed to whoever might be listening to save her, even if he died.

Too consumed by what might happen, Channing hadn’t realized his seahorse was once more dancing happily until there was a soft knock on the door. Shocked to hear it when he’d assumed whoever had been chasing him would try to knock it down, Channing stilled. That’s when everything hit him.

The scent of shrimp and something spicy hit his nostrils, which triggered his recognition of his seahorse spinning in glee. Uncertain of what was happening, Channing froze completely.

“Channing,” a strange voice floated through the door to wrap around him sensually, sending shivers along his body.

Huh?

“I know you are frightened, but I swear, I would never hurt you,” the stranger assured him. “I know you have no reason to trust anything I say after all you’ve been through, but I’m hoping you’ll take a moment to sniff me. I’m your mate and I’ve been searching for you for a very long time.”

Channing felt his heart skip a beat at the admission. Stepping closer to the door, he took a deep breath. His seahorse literally did flips in his mind in excitement. Could it be true?

His heart sped up and his palms were suddenly damp as he took another step toward the door. There was only the couch that separated him from it at that point as the cushion pressed against his legs.

“Dada,” Selah whimpered as if she wasn’t certain if everything was okay or not.

His eyes widened as he stared at the most important person in his life, his daughter. Channing felt a fresh fear. Would his mate even be able to accept him when he was the father of a child that wasn’t his mate’s?