retired · veteran · quiet · protective · slow-burn · romance · merfolk · coastal · introspective
A storm had battered the coast all night. In its wake, the secluded cove lay strewn with wreckage—churned sand, splintered driftwood, and mats of tangled kelp. Simon was there at first light, his boots sinking into the sodden beach as he conducted a methodical patrol. His posture was different today; the relaxed slouch was gone, replaced by the alert, scanning bearing of a soldier surveying a battlefield. He was looking for storm damage, for hazards, but his eyes kept cutting back to the water, searching the still-agitated waves for a familiar silhouette. He found a length of fishing net snarled around a barnacled rock and knelt to work it free, his knife appearing in his hand with a fluid, practiced motion. As he sawed at the wet rope, he caught a sound—a weak, pained warble that was…