Page 10 of Crossing Between

Fuck. Fuck. Fffffuuuuucccckkkk. I was fucked. I never thought this day would come, but here it was.

A mate.

I'd found my mate and she was a coworker.

A Medium. Not another Kraken. This couldn't be right.

Krakens didn't mate outside of our species.

Yet there she was. Our touch could have been static electricity except my mate mark appeared on my lower stomach.

I'd stared at it in the bathroom mirror for three hours the night before.

It wasn't enough that I was a healer, primarily a female job, that made me a black sheep in my family. They didn't care that I was also in law enforcement. Now I had found my mate in a magic human. My parents were going to throw a fit.

Frustrated, I threw myself into the pool letting my real form out.

My tentacles spread out in relief. I hadn't been able to get out of my human skin for a few days due to the case we were working on.

I didn't even have the time to partially shift as I hadn't needed to heal or fight anyone.

Kenji wouldn't even spar with me. He was so frustrated with the case he wasn't taking care of himself.

I'd need to see he ate later, even if he snapped at me.

The water felt like a lover's caress as I sank to the bottom of the pool.

This was the reason I purchased the house even though the building itself needed a lot of work, the water features in the backyard were a haven that made my soul sing as soon as I'd seen them.

If it weren't for Kenji, I'd never have been able to afford the place, but he made a great partner and roommate.

It was almost midnight by the time I forced myself to surface, pulling in my monstrous form, before swimming to the edge of the pool where I realized that Kenji sat with his legs in the water.

His white hair stood stark against the night sky as he watched me swim toward him.

His eyes were troubled as they met mine, yet that didn't stop the desire I always felt for the oni that bubbled within me to flare.

It was a good thing I was in the water as it helped hide my hardening cock.

This was another reason I was fucked with meeting my mate.

I was in love with Kenji, he just wasn't aware of it.

Life sucked sometimes.

"What's up?" I crossed my arms as I rested them on the edge of the poolside. "You look like shit."

The man ran a hand through his hair, gave an annoyed sigh when some of it caught on his horns, and kicked his feet in the water a few times before he answered.

"This case. I know we deal with murder every day, but there's something about these kills that has me on the edge.

We have another person we have to watch out for while solving the case so that's another person to keep safe.

She's already proven to be a klutz. I met her yesterday right after her face argued with the sidewalk.

" He started to chew on his index claw in agitation.

"Something just feels off about all of this. "

"Kenji, you get like this when we've been on a case for a while. You haven't released your pent-up rage in weeks. Could that have something to do with your reaction?" I couldn't resist and my hand touched his knee closest to me.

"You're probably right. I haven't in almost a month now that I think about it." His light blue eyes which seemed to glow against the night sky sparked with mischief. "You up for a sparring match, my friend?" He stood abruptly and offered his hand to me.

"When you lose, you owe me a movie night with my choice of movies." I let Kenji pull me out of the water. If I 'tripped' and ended up in his arms for just a second? I didn't do it on purpose.