She was going to find this person.

  Whoever it was.

  Kraken shifter or not, they needed to be brought to justice.

  That's what she told herself. It was all true, but as Olivia’s tentacles pulled her along, she couldn't ignore the other reason.

  She didn't want Mike too close to her in this form. She didn't want him to see her like this.

  When they were preparing to go in the water, before she shifted, she’d gotten a good, long, sweet look at the perfection that was Mike’s abdomen when he took off his shirt. She’d somehow expected it would be scarred, like his face, but it wasn’t. She tried to look away before he stripped out of his jeans, but he’d caught her eye when he stuck his thumbs into his waistband, teasing her. And her traitor eyes had flown to that waistband and caught a glimpse of his penis. It was something she regretted very much because now she couldn’t get that image of large thick perfection out of her mind.

  Mike and Chase were both incredibly sexy men, and somehow they were saddled to her.

  A monster, complete with tentacles.

  Olivia grabbed a seashell, pretending to admire it before stuffing it into her little bag. She was supposed to be pretending to be a collector, gathering this thing and that as she followed the trail.

  Olivia had no fantasies about being anyone’s first choice.

  She’d dated non-shifters but didn’t want a life where she’d never be able to be herself around someone she cared about. The shifters she’d dated had been disgusted by her kraken form.

  Then there was the one oddball who was a little bit too into the idea of tentacle porn. She didn’t want to be someone’s kink. She wanted something real.

  Her struggle was finding someone in the middle. A mate who wouldn’t run the first time they saw her transform, but also a gentleman who didn't get so excited at first glance of her tentacles that they pitched her an idea of working in pornography together.

  She recalled the proposition of a sixty/forty split. Cheap bastard.

  It didn’t matter how uncomfortable she might be, and it wouldn’t matter if she told them that Mike would have to swim deeper. The ATTF cameras were capturing everything she did. They were all seeing everything.

  The monstrosity that she was couldn’t be unseen.

  She was never going to live this down.

  The only thing she could do was keep going in her wide circle, enjoying the sights, searching for anything out of the ordinary. She would do the job she'd volunteered for, without focusing on how her two new mates must think she was a freak.

  She was beautiful; the most lovely creature Chase ever had the pleasure of seeing.

  “Did you know a kraken shifter could keep a halfway form like that?"

  Chase shook his head. “Before this mission? Nope." He left it at that. He was too busy focusing on the monitors in front of him to want to get into any light chitchat.

  Not that Carol seemed to notice. The woman sharing space in the van with him seemed to be in a mood to talk. "I've never seen a kraken shifter before. Apparently, she wouldn't shift all the way when doing the pool exercises with the swim team. Do you think that's weird?"

  "What? No. Why?"

  “I don't know." Despite the discussion, Carol wasn’t taking her eyes off the monitor. Chase couldn't tell if it was because she was just doing her job, or because she was fascinated by seeing a kraken for the first time.

  Maybe it was a little bit of both.

  "It's just interesting, you know? Like, when I found out you were a half harpy, that blew my mind. I hadn’t met a guy harpy."

  That made sense.

  Whenever a new shifter entered the scene, especially one that was more on the rare side, people got curious. The first time he found out that Mike was a goblin shark? He’d never even heard of a goblin shark. Learning there was such a thing had piqued his curiosity.

  Some shifters were rarer than others, and they were bound to draw the attention of the more common shifters.

  As for him? He stared at the monitor, captivated by her. She looked like she was flying through the water, as graceful and gentle as a mythical fairy. She was clearly in her element, a woman of the water.

  His surveillance wasn’t picking up any other activity, at least nothing large enough to cause alarm. Olivia and Mike were still the biggest fish in the sea.

  She was safe.

  Chase exhaled deeply.

  That was his woman in the water. His woman who had volunteered to help find a killer.

  She was that amazing, and more than ever, Chase wanted to brush his fingers through those strands of red hair, to touch her porcelain skin.

  How sensitive would she be to his touch?

  The more he thought about it, the more it irked him that he had to share her.

  Because as much as she belonged to him, she also belonged to that stupid goblin shark circling in the water below her.

  “Hey, new question, kind of perverted,” Carol said. “You think Mike can see her lady bits down there? I mean, are her important parts on the bottom, or like, does a hole open up on her backside?”

  He didn't want to hear this. “What the hell, Carol?”

  “I just mean, well, you know? When is squid or an octopus grabs pray, they bring it to the center of the tentacles. That's where the mouth is. So does she have two mouths right now, or is that her privates?"

  Chase groaned and rubbed his eyes. "This probably isn’t work-appropriate topics of conversation."

  “I know! I don't want to think about it either. But I can't get my mind off it. Think I should ask her, you know, like woman to woman? Because the idea of someone going after her and thinking they were going to hit the honey pot, and instead they get a dick full of teeth…” Carol broke off into laughter.

  Chase was really starting to get a headache. It annoyed him to think about Mike, in his shark form, swimming down below and constantly looking up Olivia’s skirt.

  That lucky bastard.

  And Carol was looking at him.

  He tried not to growl at her. “What?”

  She shrugged, turning back to her monitors. “Nothing, nothing. You just look like you're about to rip the console off the wall.”

  He realized his claws were out, so Chase quickly put them away and relaxed his shoulders. “I'm fine. I wasn't going to rip anything off the wall.” Though it did feel as though he came close to doing just that.

  She raised a brow at him, that damned little brow ring glinting as she turned away to look at her screens. She reached a hand noisily into her potato chip bag and started crunching down on them.

  Likely filling her mouth with snacks instead of saying what she really thought.

  “What?” Chase growled.

  She shrugged, smacking loudly. “Just that you’re refusing to talk about how the three of you all… connected. You know, in that way."

  He sighed. “So what? We are. And that doesn't change anything. This is a professional setting, and nothing is going to happen until the mission is over with."

  "That could take years. No offense, but you’re asking a lot out of yourself, you all are. Holding back from jumping into the sack is just going to make your instincts redirect. You know, like you gotta get that passion out somehow, and redirecting it into fighting Mike is a bad alternative.”

  He couldn't believe this was what it was coming down to, but he had to admit that he wanted somebody to talk to. Since Carol had offered her ear, he might as well take her up on it.

  “Mike and I will not be doing any fighting, and this mission won't take years. Not now that we have Olivia here. We’ll draw out the killer, put the guy away for good, and then we can celebrate by having a massive orgy.”

  “Orgy?" Carol looked back at him and smiled. "Are you planning on inviting more people?"

  "Shut up." Chase crossed his arms and stared at the screen. "That's not what I meant."

  “Okay, but if you ever change your mind, I'm always here."

  "I'll keep that in mind."

  Carol wasn't done. "All I'm saying is that you have a pretty nice body. Don't think I never noticed it, and even when you get those giant scary talons of yours out, you still look like you'd be a lot of fun. Add in another guy—”

  “I get it. You don't have to say anything more. If Mike and I ever feel like sharing Olivia with you, we’ll give you a call."

  “Share Olivia? God no! Are you kidding? I was talking about you and Mike. I'm pretty jealous of her."

  Chase was genuinely starting to get embarrassed. “Fine, fine."

  On the bright side, the conversation had taken his attention away from Mike looking up Olivia’s skirt.

  It was almost as though Carol had been distracting him.

  He couldn't believe he was about to say this. "Hey, Carol?"

  "Yeah?"

  “Thanks," Chase said, but then he felt the need to tack on, "I'm not inviting you to be shared between Mike and me, however."

  "Spoilsport."

  He shook his head. “I think there's only one woman for me at this point."

  But something new had bubbled up from Carol’s comments. There was jealousy, but it wasn’t about Mike and Olivia.

  It was about Mike and Carol.

  Just as Chase knew that Olivia belonged with him, he felt it in his bones that Mike was theirs too. Olivia was the only woman allowed to touch Mike. Chase felt an unexpected possessiveness, sure that he didn’t want Mike to ever be with any other person outside of their threesome.

  5

  “Ten days, and we have nothing. How is that possible?” After proving she could handle herself, the ATTF and FPU green-lit the mission and sent them off to Scotland, where they set up base camp in the local Paranormal MI5 office.

  Olivia didn’t appreciate the looks of sympathy that Mike and Chase gave her. Not when everything was as screwed up as it was now.

  “These things take time,” Mike said, reaching across the table and taking her hand.

  Chase inched his chair closer to hers. She thought he was going to take her hand, too, but he didn't. Stopping himself before his fingers could brush hers, he set his elbows into the old, wooden table in the break room, their coffee getting cold in front of them.

  “Olivia, these things aren't like what we’re used to seeing in the movies. They take time.”

  “I know that, but we've been going out every day so far.”

  She knew it sounded so incredibly whiny, but she couldn't help it.

  She wanted this done. She wanted to know if it was another kraken shifter out there and put him away.

  Mike took in a deep breath. “Sometimes, these things can take years. You being here does help a great deal, but there's no guarantee we'll slam dunk this in a couple of days.”

  “I know.” It wasn't just that, and she was pretty sure both men knew it.

  It was a multitude of things. The curious glances she got from employees around the building didn't help. Everyone from the woman who answered phones, to the kid who worked the printers, glanced in her direction whenever they passed by.

  Sitting in the tiny room designated for breaks was no different, and she could see those glances whenever they walked by.

  Chase also noticed. He got up, a low growl rumbling in his chest as he grabbed the door and slammed it hard enough that Olivia was surprised the glass didn't shatter.

  A conflicted part of her enjoyed that Chase and Mike were looking out for her, but another part of her didn't want to come off as though she needed the protection.

  She said nothing when he sat back down.

  She felt his irritation. She knew it was genuine.

  A mate was always looking out for the best interests of his partner.

  In this case, she had two mates, and both men were not only protective of her, but because of the mission at hand, they had yet to touch her in ways that didn't involve the innocent hand-holding Mike was doing now.

  “You don't have to worry about them,” Mike said, his tone gentle. “They're just curious.”

  She nodded. “I know. They're waiting to see if I'll turn into the killer.”

  “That's not what they're doing,” Chase insisted, crossing his arms over his wide chest. The shirt he wore seemed to struggle to not have its buttons popped. “If they were, we’d put a stop to that fast.”

  Again, she was conflicted. “I don't mind it if people are suspicious of me. That's normal.” It was only a small lie, but that wasn't what had her attention. What she did like was the way Chase had said the word we.

  As though he and Mike were finally starting to see eye to eye on the whole sharing a mate thing.

  “They shouldn't be looking at you like anything,” Mike said, nodding to Chase. “Your story and alibi checked out. There's nothing for them to see.”

  “Exactly.” Chase lifted his arm over the back of his chair, leaning back a little. “If they need a reminder of that, we'll give it to them.”

  “No, you won't.” She was letting them take command because of the situation because they were agents who had years of experience, and she had only just arrived, but in this, she would be firm.

  “Neither if you are going to confront anyone else on the team over this.” She made sure to look at both of them, one then the other, when she spoke. Making sure they got the message loud and clear.

  “I'm new here, it's a risk to even have me, you're not going to jeopardize this by getting all alpha on me now.”

  “We’re your mates,” Mike said. “It’s kind of our thing to get all alpha on you.”

  “I don't care, cut it out. I'm a volunteer here. I want to keep doing this. I want to find who's doing this and put him away, and I can't do that if I'm seen as someone who needs defending from every little thing. You're trusting me to go into the water and find a bad guy. Trust me to be able to handle a little staring.”

  She didn't think she would get through to them that easily, but it seemed to be enough.

  Both men said nothing to her. Chase pressed his lips together and seemed as though he was trying his damndest to keep himself from saying something he would regret.

  Mike snarled at the drink machine in the corner of the break room. It looked almost as though his shark teeth were starting to make an appearance.

  “This isn't the only thing that's bothering you,” she said.

  If she was going to force a little honesty from these men, she might as well include herself in that too. “You're both just pissy because we haven't had the chance to fuck yet.”

  She felt the eyes of both males on her in an instant.

  Of course, she knew they felt that way. She did too. Ever since meeting Chase for the first time, Olivia had been drowning in the scent of his lust. It brought something to life inside of her that she never before realized had been there.

  She'd been prepared to hold herself off, to ignore that feeling, but doubling up that same feeling, that same instinct with Mike, and after ten days, she was a mess.

  God only knew what these two alpha-holes were thinking. She felt them looking at her and then looking over her to stare at each other.

  Mike was the first to respond. “I figured it would be less distracting to keep a distance. A physical distance.”

  Since they were sitting close enough to each other to physically touch each other right now, she could only assume he meant sexual distance.

  “Same here,” Chase said. “I wasn't about to do anything that would cause a distraction when you were both in the water.”

  “That's sweet, but it's just one more reason to have people staring. They’re curious about the strange kraken shifter, wondering if I might actually be the crazy killer, and also wondering whether or not I’ve gotten laid yet.”

  She wished she had. But, so far, she hadn't so much as kissed either of them on the mouth. And cutesy kisses on her knuckles didn’t count by a long shot, not when she could see the outlines of every muscle through their clothes. Even when both men wore leather jackets, she was somehow aware of their abs, and how badly she wanted to run her hands over them and feel each one.

  She’d seen Mike naked again, every time they went out for another exercise. Those glimpses gave her plenty to think about, but equal time was taken up in her mind wondering what Chase would look like without his clothes on. The not knowing was just as bad as the knowing.

  “Why are you both staring at me like that?” She cringed and wished they would stop it already.

  “You haven't been so open with us since we met you.” Chase leaned forward.

  So did Mike. “I always assumed you were kind of shy. Chase?”

  He nodded. “Same here.”

  The heat decided that it would be a great time to flood into her cheeks at that moment. Because of course it did. "I don't always come right out and say the things that I want, but this seems to be an important situation."

  "Are you a virgin?” She felt Mike’s hand reach around behind her and swat at the air where Chase’s head just was. The other shifter was fast. He ducked out of the way before Mike’s palm could crash land on his head.

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” Mike muttered.

  “I want to know what we’re getting into, here, all right?” Chase snapped. “You're about to take two males at the same time. I want to know what you're experience is.”

  “Fair enough.” Now it was Olivia’s turn to lean back in her seat, pretending she was so much more calm and collected than she actually was.

  In truth, her heart pounded. She knew they would be able to pick up on that, too.

  “I'm not a virgin, but there weren't many, and I've never been with two men at the same time.”

  Which made her feel kind of like a virgin since she was going to do something she’d never done before.

  It was one thing to be intimate with one other person. There was only that one person in the room with her to know about her embarrassing little quirks, to see her face as she blushed, to spread her open and take her.

  That was an intimate act that she could get around to with one person.

 

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