Read full book on my Patreon. link- www.patreon.com/RHRose
***
Delmar knew something was wrong the moment his entered the human facility.
It wasn't just the stale scent of disinfectant or the mechanical hum of the overhead lights that made his muscles tense and his eyes narrow. It wasn't even the underlying trace of blood or formaldehyde that haunted every sterile hallway of HMORC. No, it was something deeper, an ache, an instinctive pull that coiled like a wire beneath his skin.
The scent of his people's pain lingered in the walls. It clung to the air like smoke after a fire. And yet, none of that compared to the way his mind gave warning signals every step he took into the facility.
He should've never let Kash come here. Should've tied him to the bed, locked him in his apartment, dragged him to the farthest reef where no human could reach.
The Alpha in him, the part that demanded he fight, that ordered him to protect his kind had led him here. But it was the mate in him that screamed now, screaming that he had made a mistake. That he had brought Kash into the belly of the beast.
And now... it might be too late.
Delmar slammed his body into the curved glass wall of the containment capsule they'd trapped him in. It was cramped. Claustrophobic. No space to move freely, just enough to keep him standing.
He snarled, pushing against the slick interior with all the strength his limbs could muster, but the chamber was too tight. There was no room to gain momentum, no visible seams to pry open. Only a single round viewport, barely the size of his face, offering a distorted glimpse into the lab beyond.
Delmar pressed his forehead to it, searching...
And then his heart stopped.
Lit by a cold cone of spotlight in the center of the lab was a tall, cylindrical tank. Inside it, suspended in rising water, was Kash.
Delmar froze. His breath caught in his throat like a blade. Kash was unconscious, limp, bound by metal restraints on all four limbs, suspended midair like some cruel offering.
The water was climbing fast.
"No..." Delmar breathed. "No...no...no."
The tank kept filling. The water reached Kash's chest, then his chin.
Then his lips.
Kash's eyes shot open, wide and panicked. His mouth opened instinctively to breathe, but all he took in was water. His body arched, twisting against the restraints, chest convulsing as the oxygen in his lungs was replaced with liquid.
Delmar screamed.
A guttural, soul-shredding sound that had no effects on the unfeeling human spectators.
He pounded his fists against the capsule walls, slammed his head against the top panel again and again, until the metal creaked, until his skull throbbed. On the third slam, the panel dented. On the fourth, it gave way.
He burst out of the capsule in a spray of water and broken glass, collapsing to the cold tile floor. He didn't stop to think. Didn't even blink.
Kash.
Everything else vanished.
Delmar's legs formed in jagged, uneven surges as he scrambled to the tank. Scientists shouted behind him. Guards reached for weapons. But none of them moved. None dared to stop him. They watched in stunned silence or fascination, Delmar wasn't sure, neither did he care.
Delmar leapt.
His fingers clawed against the glass as he climbed the tank, then plunged in headfirst with a splash that echoed like thunder in the lab.
He swam to Kash, hands scrabbling at the restraints, thick metal clamps bolted into the tank walls. He braced himself and yanked.
One chain snapped free with a screech of metal.
But Kash was slipping, eyes fluttering, limbs spasming weakly. His lips were parted, air bubbles rising as he continued to inhale water, still unable to breathe.
Delmar panicked. "No...stay with me," he growled through clenched teeth.
He reached for the second chain, tore at it with bleeding fingers. His vision blurred with panic rising in his chest. Kash's head lolled forward. Then...
A sudden convulsion.
Delmar flinched back, his eyes widening as something began to change.
Kash's skin shimmered, turning iridescent just Delmar's own skin. His neck flexed, and two slits opened on either side, delicate gills pulsing as they took in their first breath.
But Kash didn't stop thrashing.
He was choking, his body rejecting what it didn't understand.
Delmar swam to him, heart pounding, wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and the other across his mouth, sealing it gently.
"Shhh..." he whispered in clicks, bubbles curling from his lips. "Breathe with me."
Kash bucked once. Twice.
Then... stillness.
His eyes locked onto Delmar's.
Their hands met underwater.
And slowly, very slowly, Kash's breathing leveled out. The gills opened. Accepted. His chest moved with unfamiliar rhythm.
He was alive.
Alive.
Delmar couldn't stop trembling. Relief crashed into him like a storm wave. He pressed his forehead to Kash's, eyes closed, chest heaving in time with his mate's breath.
But that peace lasted only a moment.
Because before them, through the murky glass of the tank, a figure came to stand.
"See, I told you," Peter's voice cut through the sound pf their pounding hearts, thick with smug satisfaction. He stepped closer to the tank, his lab coat flaring slightly as he gestured at the two figures floating within. "We just needed to drown him. Trigger the instinct. Let biology do the rest."
His smile was wide and sharp, ugly in the fluorescent light. A predator in a scientist's skin.
Delmar didn't move.
He held Kash in his arms, chest heaving. His arms were wrapped tight around his mate, possessive, protective. As if he could somehow shield him from the eyes that watched, from the twisted curiosity in the room.
He glared at Peter, every muscle in his body taut with rage. He didn't understand everything Peter was saying, didn't need to. All he knew was this man had watched Kash drown. Had planned it. Had wanted it.
And that made him a threat.
A growl rumbled low in Delmar's throat, barely audible beneath the glass, but deadly all the same.
"They're mates," one of the scientists murmured, leaning closer to the tank, her eyes wide with fascination. "The Faringue response is identical to paired Alpha . Look at the protective posture. And those tentacles."
Delmar shifted slightly in the water, drawing Kash tighter into his embrace, angling his body to block the line of sight from the panel. His gills flared with each breath, sharp and deliberate, as he silently dared them to keep watching.
"Amazing," Peter whispered, triumphant. "We have a jackpot here, people. The only hybrid to survive to adulthood and a bonded Alpha. This..." he gestured at the tank like he was unveiling some priceless relic, "...this changes everything."
Delmar's eyes never left his.
He didn't blink. Didn't move. But inside he was running all the scenarios in ways he could kill the man.
"Pull them out," Peter said finally, turning to the guards with a flick of his wrist. "Get them sedated. I want full vitals before nightfall."
The guards hesitated.
No one wanted to be the first to enter the tank.
Because even through the glass, they could probably feel the anger radiating off Delmar. Like a storm waiting for a single spark to detonate.
The low mechanical hum filled the lab as the drainage system kicked into action. Water hissed and gurgled as it was rapidly sucked out of the tank, swirling around Delmar's calves, his thighs, then his waist. The waterline sank fast, too fast.
Kash stirred in his arms, his eyelids fluttering with disoriented awareness as the last traces of water left his gills exposed. His breathing stuttered in panic.
Delmar crouched low, trying to keep his mate submerged just a little longer, cradling the back of Kash's head, pressing it to his chest protectively. But the tank gave them no shelter, no mercy. The world was being drained dry around them, and the air that rushed in felt wrong, too sharp, too cruel.
And then they came.
Boots scraped against the metal rung of the tank's side ladder. Shadows loomed over them, three, no, four, silhouettes with dart rifles raised.
Delmar's head snapped up.
Thwip.
The first dart hit his shoulder.
Pain flared white-hot beneath his skin.
He barely flinched.
Thwip.
The second struck his thigh.
Delmar let out a growl, low and guttural, as his vision swam. He reached up and yanked the darts free with trembling fingers, his body already fighting to purge the chemicals invading his bloodstream.
He glanced down. Kash was still weak, still reeling from his transformation, confusion painting his face.
Thwip. Thwip. Thwip.
More darts.
Too many.
One grazed Kash's arm. Another lodged into Delmar's side.
"No..." he hissed, dragging Kash closer, trying to shield him with his own body.
But the sedative was strong.
His limbs felt like stone. His heart pounded furiously, struggling to keep him awake. To keep him conscious for just one more second.
One more breath.
One more moment.
His eyes locked with Kash's, those warm, terrified eyes, so full of questions.
Delmar reached out and brushed wet hair from his mate's forehead.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
And then the world tipped sideways.
Darkness swallowed the lab.
And Delmar fell into it, Kash still clutched tightly to his chest.