Page 69 of Kringle and the Kraken

Okay, I guess on a technicality, what was Levi’s was mine, sowewere giving the guys a kraken sighting.

I steered Marvin’s boat a little bit farther out, heading for the spot Levi and I had agreed upon. I wondered if any of the guys would recognize where we were.

Pete was making notes in a leatherbound journal and tracking our coordinates with our KELPS chapter’s handheld chartplotter. His readers were perched on his nose as he scribbled in the journal, then flipped back to other pages to review previous notes. I had a feeling he was piecing it together, and his sudden shout of triumph made me smile. I pulled us into position and let the boat idle.

“Kris, these are the same coordinates as the last kraken sighting in Lifeboat in 1897,” he exclaimed.

“Are they? I hadn’t noticed.”

Stan slapped my arm. “You planned this on purpose, didn’t you?”

I shrugged. “It was Levi’s idea.”

“I can’t believe it’s his grandfather in that old photo,” Abe said, emotion thick in his voice. “I never thought I’d see a real live kraken. I don’t believe this is happening.” The night Levi and the rest of the town had revealed themselves, Abe had sat alone and cried because seeing a kraken and meeting other sea monsters had been his lifelong dream, one he’d never thought he’d realize.

George put an arm around him and guided him toward the bow of the old fishing boat. Levi had texted me five minutes ago, letting me know he was getting in the water. We both thought it would be more fun for the guys if it was a surprise when Levi would appear.

I had to admit I was pretty excited too. Sure, I had seen Levi in his kraken form already, in all its iterations, multiple times, but I hadn’t yet seen him in his full kraken form now that he had the leviathan powers possessed by all haven town leaders. I’d tried to reconcile the drawings I’d seen of the leviathan with what I knew Kris looked like in his full kraken form, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around what he would look like, and like the guys, I couldn’t wait to see.

“Look!” Bill pointed to a spot in the distance where the ocean was churning, white water erupting in the middle of the sea, and I held my breath.

Levi’s tentacles broke the surface first, and I noticed his color had darkened a little, and there were new bumps and ridges along his tentacles in this form that weren’t present in his other forms. His massive head emerged from the water next, his eyesglowing yellow. A new ridge of pointed scales ran down the back of his head, and I could swear he was larger, his tentacles stretching out even longer from his body than they had before. He opened his mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and let out a mighty roar that made the boat rock and the guys cheer. He dove under the boat, and the ocean went still and silent, but I knew what was coming. We’d discussed this next part at length because he wanted the guys to get an up-close view of him, but he also didn’t want to accidentally harm anyone.

When his first tentacle rose out of the water on the starboard side of Marvin’s boat, water cascading onto the deck, I heard one of the guys yell that this was the greatest day of his life. When seven more tentacles joined the party, popping up around the whole perimeter of the vessel, several of the guys wiped at teary eyes.

“You can touch him if you want.” I moved toward one of the tentacles and pressed my palm to one of the exposed suckers that was at least double the size of a dinner plate. “Levi and I talked about it, and he said it’s okay.” Most of them moved to the sides of the ship, taking Levi up on his offer. This was the first time I’d touched Levi in this form, and I was surprised to note that the flesh under my fingers felt rougher than his suckers did when he was in his human form and let his tentacles out to play.

But I understood why.

This Levi was the fierce protector. He was made to keep his territory and his people safe, and it made my heart—and other areas—clench knowing that only I got to experience the pleasure his tentacles could provide.

Tom and Joe snapped pictures of everyone touching my kraken, and I took a group picture with Levi’s tentacles twisting in the background.

My mate dropped his tentacles back into the water, making the boat rock, and swam around for a little while showing off,then he dove deep letting his tentacles trail out behind him until he faded into the distance. The KELPS members on the boat crowded around me. Some of them still had tears in their eyes as they each shook my hand or pulled me into a hug, showing their gratitude for the day. All they could talk about on the way back was how amazing seeing Levi had been.

Levi met us on the dock, fully clothed.

“I don’t even have the words to thank you for that.” Pete wiped happy tears from his eyes, then held out his hand, and Levi shook it before pulling the older man into a tight hug. He did the same with each of the guys as he helped them off the boat, and they walked past him up the dock, heading to where they’d parked at the marina.

He jumped up onto Marvin’s boat, and we worked together to secure it. The day after tomorrow it would be dry docked for the rest of the winter, and the timing couldn’t have worked out better.

On the dock, Levi grabbed my hand. “Are you ready to head home?”

The sun was just starting to set, and I nodded. “Definitely.”

The next day we were going to be splitting our time between celebrating the last day of Poseidonia with Marvin and Clara and the Kringle family Christmas pajama party—Kyle had gotten to pick this year’s theme—but tonight was just for us.

“Should we grab something for dinner on the way home?” I asked as I turned my truck out of the marina parking lot, heading toward town.

“Uh, why don’t we get home first, then we can decide.”

I shot my mate a quick look. He was staring straight ahead, obviously not making eye contact. He was up to something. “Are you sure? I know you’re always starving after being in your full form, and I promise you tomorrow’s festivities are not for the faint of heart. If you thought my siblings were bad before, you’venever seen them when bragging rights and presents are on the line. They are vicious.”

Levi laughed. “I’m not worried. I think I can take them.”

“Oh, you sweet summer child. They are going to eat you alive. You’ve read the texts in the group chat. You know they’ve already banned the use of extra appendages in all the games.”

“That’s true and probably only fair, but I have a secret weapon.”

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