Page 95 of Fallen from the Stars

The answer came far quicker than he’d anticipated — it had been the day Vasil and a party of kraken had been attacked by human hunters. They’d returned to the Facility and brought Kronus to the infirmary so his wounds could be tended only to discover several females and younglings sick; they’d been poisoned while the males were away.

Melaina had been one of those affected. She’d been much smaller than she was now, and the moment he laid eyes upon her — curled up in that big bed with her features contorted in pain — some part of him had known. Some part of him had recognized her as his blood, as his offspring. His hearts had stilled, and for an instant, the world had seemed to spin around him uncontrollably. But he’d shaken it off and said nothing because that was what had been expected of him. That was what a dutiful kraken did.

“More than two years,” he replied, brows furrowing. He’d wasted so much time already.

“What?” Theo raised her head, hair tumbling over one shoulder, and glared down at him. “You knew fortwo yearsand did nothing? Said nothing?”

“I do not know what I am meant to have said, Theo.”

She sat up, crossing her legs as much as his tentacle would allow. “Anything!”

Vasil met her gaze, refusing to release his hold on her. “She has a life. A family.”

“Two years…” Theo shook her head. “At least she has you now. Better late than never, right?”

“She does not know.”

The fire that flared in Theo’s eyes at that moment burned hotter than anything Vasil had ever seen.

“Youstillhaven’t said anything, Vasil?Doneanything? Do you haveanyidea what I would have given for my father to have known I existed? How many times I wondered if my life would have been different if he’d been in it, if he’d come to save me from that shithole? Fromher?”

Vasil wanted to tell her he understood, that he knew exactly the things she’d felt and experienced, that he’d felt the same way at some point, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her. The way things had been could not be changed. Vasil had never known his sire and had never cared to know because it was never of any importance.

Butnow…

Everything was different.Everything. Though it didn’t alter his past, itcouldalter his future.

“She has always had her mother. Rhea is fierce and devoted, and Melaina will be strong. And she has had a male in her life, as well. Randall. He is a good man, and she adores him.Heis a father to her. What place is it of mine to disrupt what she has?”

Theo stared at him, her eyes glassy with tears; he couldn’t tell if they were fueled by anger or sorrow. Perhaps both.

“She’syourdaughter, Vasil.Yours. She deserves to haveyouin her life, too. To know.”

Randall’s words from the beach on the night the star had fallen came back to Vasil.

You’re just as much a father to her as I am.

It’s not too late to be part of her life, Vasil. It’d do both of you some good.

For most of his life, Vasil had been focused on the concept ofplace— what was his place as a kraken, as a male, as a hunter? How could he perform his duties and benefit his people? How could he avoid causing trouble, avoid violating the way things had been done? He’d been passive because that had seemed the best way to maintain the kraken way of life. Leave leadership to the more aggressive males, those who were driven to it. Ask no unnecessary questions.

Follow. Survive.

But none of that applied anymore. Working with the humans of The Watch, the kraken no longer needed to struggle for survival. They had abundant food. They had new lives, newhope, and a chance to explore the side of themselves they had so often denied — theirhumanside.

Randall had been right.

Theo was right.

“I will speak with her when we return,” he said. He slipped his arm around Theo’s shoulders, drawing her down against his side. “I will give her the choice, as I should have long ago.”

Theo cupped his cheek, turning his face toward her. She smiled. “You have made your mate proud.”

He settled a hand on her face and stared into her eyes — eyes which seemed to hold unlimited depth and beauty, as boundless as the stars from which she’d fallen. “I will have earned that pride when I do as I have said.”

She snuggled against him. He tangled his tentacles with her legs, craving the touch of her skin, needing as much contact with her as possible. She sighed, relaxing in his hold. Vasil closed his eyes.

Fear dwelled in the recesses of his mind — fear of rejection, fear that Melaina would denounce and resent him because he’d not gone to her sooner. Though he knew that fear was irrational and unwarranted, it persisted; Melaina was strong, but she was also kind, warm, and forgiving. She was old enough to know the traditions, even if she was not yet old enough to fully understand them.

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