Page 9 of Hammerhead (Kinkaid Shifters #4)

M iguel finished his shift later that day and swam back to the boat. He was looking forward to spending more time with Deidre, but there were a few questions about selkies he needed to have answered first. He suspected his questions might not be welcome with most of the male selkies, but there weren’t any other women on board at the moment. Still, he needed to know certain things before he went much further, so he decided to ask the one selkie male he knew best.

Which actually wasn’t saying much. He and his men had mostly stuck to themselves since arriving in Texas. The selkies weren’t their friends. They’d started out as their jailers, and now, they were sort of co-workers who held a supervisory role that made it hard to bridge the gap. But if Miguel was going to proceed in his relationship with Deidre, he was going to have to find a way to change that.

Tom Kinkaid was more or less the leader of this little expedition, and he was the selkie with whom Miguel had interacted the most. He was also a hard ass, so Miguel was nearly certain his questions would be met with suspicion, maybe even disgust, but he really had nowhere else to go with his queries. This was too important to approach with insufficient information. His whole future might depend on the answers to his questions, so he had to ask them, no matter how uncomfortable the situation was.

To that end, Miguel waited for Tom on deck when he jumped out of the water shortly after Miguel. Though Miguel had been working in the deep all day, he’d noticed Tom’s seal circling above more often than usual, which led Miguel to believe that Tom knew something was going on between Deidre and Miguel. He hadn’t been watched so closely since they’d first arrived, and Tom usually let his men do the supervision these days, while he dealt with the bigger picture.

But today, he’d been in the water, doing the grunt work. The only thing that had changed from yesterday to today was Miguel’s level of involvement with Deidre, so that had to be the reason. Nevertheless, Miguel decided to get at least some of the issue out in the open—and hopefully have his questions answered at the same time.

“What are you waiting around for?” Tom asked as soon as he shifted into his human form and began tugging on his clothing with angry movements.

“I was waiting to talk to you, actually,” Miguel admitted, not allowing himself to be baited into a fight with the other man. That would get him nowhere and could cause friction between himself and Deidre, which would be counterproductive.

“About what?” Tom said, shrugging on his shirt.

Miguel could feel the animosity rolling off Tom in waves. The direct approach might cause even more friction, so Miguel went a little oblique.

“I realize we’ve been working here for a while now, and I’ve never bothered to learn more about you or your people. I’m sorry for that,” Miguel said, feeling the truth in his words even as he said them.

“Buttering me up because you’re sleeping with my cousin?” Tom asked baldly.

Luckily, no one was around to hear his words, or Miguel might’ve had to make an issue of it. The tone was just a bit disrespectful of Deidre, and Miguel didn’t like that at all. He tried to tamp down his anger and remain levelheaded. He’d get no closer to his goals if he ended up fighting with the man.

“What we have, or have not, done is no concern of yours, Tom,” Miguel warned the other man, then sought to soften his stance a bit. He had to bring the emotions down a notch if he wanted to reach his goal. “Meeting Deidre has made me realize that I know very little about your people. She has made me want to know more. I do not wish to cause any misunderstandings because I don’t know enough about your kind.”

Tom seemed to think about that for a moment, then leaned back against the rail. He regarded Miguel with a jaundiced eye, but his anger seemed to be cooling.

“Why aren’t you talking to Deidre?”

“Because I don’t want to mess this up,” Miguel admitted. “She is very important to me.” He left it at that and saw Tom’s gaze grow speculative.

“How important, exactly?” Tom challenged.

“Forever, important,” Miguel said softly. “Possibly.” Tom frowned. “If your kind mates like mine does, then…maybe. I don’t know enough about how selkies do things to know for sure.”

Tom cursed under his breath, looked out to sea and then back again, shaking his head.

“You’re that serious? So soon?”

“I am thunderstruck,” Miguel said simply. “Almost from the moment I first saw her, my inner beast stood up and noticed, which it never has before. Ever. The shark has little interest in how I conduct myself on land as long as it gets equal time to swim in the deep and hunt its favorite prey.”

“Rays and skates, right? I tried to read up on your species when I heard you were being sent here for us to oversee. And you’re immune to their poisonous barbs? Does that hold true for shifters as well as it does for your fishy cousins?”

Miguel thought it only fair that he answer Tom’s question, since he was seeking answers of his own. Maybe if he was free with his own information, Tom would give him the knowledge he needed.

“We are immune to most poisons in both our forms, which is why being captured due to a poisoned arrow came as quite a surprise. And a comeuppance, you might say. I was so cocky about my immunity to poison, that I never considered magic might be involved. That witch humbled us all and made us rethink our choices,” Miguel admitted.

“Getting captured did that, my friend. The magical poison was just the slap in the ego you all needed to realize that you weren’t completely invulnerable. Every warrior needs a good kick in the ass every once in a while, to bring them back to Earth and remind them that they’re not invincible. Keeps us humble and working toward that impossible goal to make ourselves a little better each day.” Tom sighed. The tension ratcheted down a bit, much to Miguel’s relief. “Do you recognize poisons in your human form, even if they don’t hurt you?”

Miguel considered. “I know the flavor of many poisons,” he admitted. “It is something we learn from our youth because hammerheads are often tested by the other shark species for their own amusement. We are usually taunted by the great whites because of our choice of prey. They see us as weaker, though we can grow to great size, and most of them won’t mess with an adult hammerhead. We also swim together in small groups to protect each other from those jerks. They like to taunt us about our looks too, which is, of course, ridiculous. Though you know how easily children can hurt each other’s feelings. It is not easy to be so different from the others when you are young.”

“Huh,” Tom said, passing an appraising eye over Miguel. “I hadn’t considered that. Even other sharks think you look odd in your shark form?”

Miguel nodded. “They do. Great whites are especially close-minded. They are very inbred, and my people believe that their desire to breed only with each other has limited their gene pool and made them dull witted. They may look fierce, but most of them aren’t very bright. They rarely, if ever, mate outside their own species unless there is some monetary or political power to be gained by the match. Even then, they don’t often have children with their supposed mates because they would consider such children half-breeds and unworthy to be part of their Clan.”

“I didn’t know that about them. What little information we have on them is anecdotal, at best. Though your observations do explain a bit about what we’ve heard from the mer pods in the Pacific Northwest,” Tom allowed. “I’m going to pass on your information, which I think you already realize. We need all the intel we can get on those who might be on the other side of the great conflict.”

Miguel nodded. “Of course. I have no allegiance to the great whites, even though we are all sharks. The various species of sharks tend to stick together with their own kind. Especially us, since we’re seen as so different from the others.”

“I guess I can see that. So,” Tom tilted his head and met Miguel’s gaze, “what is it you want to know about selkies?”

“Do you mate for life? The legends about your people leave me wondering,” Miguel admitted with a rueful grin. “All those lovers trapped on land by their mates, leaving as soon as they got the chance.”

“Those weren’t tales of true mates, my friend, but of captives, held for their beauty and strength. Of course, they fled when they found an option to do so. Humans haven’t always been kind to my species, and since they write the stories and tell the tales, their versions of events aren’t reliable.” Tom paused, and Miguel nodded.

“That helps, but when your kind do find mates, do they mate for life?” Miguel felt comfortable enough to try again for the answer he so needed.

“Do yours?” Tom countered.

“Yes,” Miguel answered solemnly. “True mates can never be parted.”

“It’s the same for us,” Tom admitted finally, and Miguel felt a little thrill of happiness on hearing it.

“That’s great,” Miguel said, unable to fully hide the leap of joy in his heart.

“You wouldn’t be asking this if you didn’t already think she was your mate,” Tom ventured, speaking in a low tone. “But the choice has to be hers. If you are true mates, we won’t stand in your way, even if I could wish for some other outcome.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly complimentary, but Miguel understood. He and his men had come here under a cloud. Tom had a right to feel a bit ambiguous about these developments, but Miguel would win him over in the end. He just knew it.

“The mission on which we were caught was not our finest hour,” Miguel admitted. “You have reason to suspect us, for which I am sorry, but I hope you will come to see us as allies, not as enemies, in time.”

“I hope so too,” Tom said after a short pause. Then he straightened from his leaning position and offered his hand to Miguel. The two men shook hands and parted on friendlier terms.

Miguel breathed a sigh of relief. That tricky conversation had gone about as well as he could have hoped. Now he had to just broach the topic of mating with the one person who mattered most. He just didn’t know how he was going to do that, when her denial might break his heart.

Jose stopped Miguel as he was on his way to their quarters and pulled him aside for a quick talk. Miguel had noticed his brother shooting him strange looks when they’d all gone back to the boat and Miguel hadn’t followed the rest of the guys. He’d stayed on deck to wait for Tom, which wasn’t usual at all, and of course, Jose had noticed.

“What’s going on?” Jose asked, keeping his voice low.

“Nothing,” Miguel said, trying to circumvent his brother’s curiosity. He didn’t want to have this conversation with him right now, but he knew they’d have to have it eventually.

“You’ve spent time with the selkie woman. It’s the talk of the crew. Now you’re hanging back to talk to her cousin. What gives, bro?” Jose insisted.

It looked like they were going to have this conversation now, whether he was ready for it or not. Miguel took his brother by the arm and escorted him out of the passageway and into the room they shared when they were on the boat. It was small, but it was private, and if they kept their voices down, nobody would hear what they said. Hopefully.

“This goes no further because I haven’t said anything to her yet, understand?” Miguel eyed his younger brother seriously, waiting for his agreement. Slowly, Jose nodded. “All right. I wanted to ask Tom about selkies because my shark really has a thing for Deidre.”

Jose’s eyes narrowed. He knew what Miguel was referring to. He was a hammerhead too.

“Are you serious? The fish never gets involved,” Jose whispered.

“I know. But it has now, and my human side is just as involved. I think…” He trailed off and dragged one hand through his curly dark hair. Then he tried again. “I think she might be my mate.”

Jose sat down on the bunk behind him and shook his head. He looked as stunned as Miguel had been when he’d first realized what might be happening between him and Deidre.

“This is going to change everything, isn’t it?” Jose said after a moment’s pause.

Miguel leaned back against the wall of the small cabin and nodded. “I think so,” he admitted. “But I believe the changes will be for the better. If she is my mate, then we finally have proof that we can all get what we really want. A mate. A life filled with family and joy instead of always being on the move and scrambling to make a living. A renewed reason for living. A goal for the rest of the guys and you, my brother. If this works out, it’s a fresh start.”

“For you, maybe,” Jose said grudgingly. “The rest of us still need to find mates and figure out a way to settle down and support a family.”

“But you’ll know it’s possible, and Deidre and I will help lead the way for the rest of you. Her family business is branching out to do this kind of work up where they live. I bet we can all get work with them and stay together as a Hammerhead Clan. That way, we can work on finding mates for everybody. Deidre probably has a lot of female friends where she comes from. We need to branch out and try new places. Meet new people.” He paused to let that sink in for a bit before continuing. “But it does mean we’ll all have to get on the straight and narrow. No more morally gray jobs for any of us. I want to be able to hold my head up among Deidre’s kin. They are all sworn to serve the Light. Like all of these Kinkaids. If she agrees to be mine, I won’t chance losing her for anything in the world, which means I will swear myself to the Light as well. I don’t ask that of the rest of you, but I will ask that you don’t embarrass me in the eyes of my mate or her family.”

“You would really swear yourself to the Light?”