Page 32 of Shark 2

I stopped with my fork in my mouth. “What?”

“Shifters must have a live mating for it to work. They cannot use artificial insemination,” Grant explained.

“Really?” I scowled. “That’s weird. Must be some stupid magic block. Magic’s frustrating sometimes.”

“You’d really have been fine with him donating his sperm?” Jong-hyun asked. “That would mean he would have children out in the world.”

“Yeah, I understand that he wants to help with the decreasing werewolf population. If I could donate eggs or something to help with the shark population, I would. I just don’t fancy the idea of him sleeping with another woman. Giving her a jar of stuff is totally different.”

I set my fork down, the discussion ruining my appetite.

Something in my chest tightened and I rubbed a hand against my sternum. What was that? Anxiety? I hadn’t felt anything like it before.

The guys resumed talking while I sipped on my drink in silence.

The feeling came again and I pressed hard against my sternum. What was this feeling in my chest? It was a heavy feeling now.

“I’ve got to go,” I said and stood.

They all turned to me with scowls.

“What’s wrong?” Grant asked.

I rubbed at my chest and shook my head. “I don’t know.”

Heading out of the restaurant, hand pressed to my chest, I moved on autopilot. My feet took me to the sitting area by the check in desk. Standing next to the windows was Reed and Samantha. Reed stepped forward and hugged her tenderly, his arms wrapping around her slowly and tightly.

The feeling in my chest increased and from the side of my eye I noticed a gray wispy magical strand. The strand tightened, like a guitar string, and thrummed as Reed leaned back to look down at Samantha’s face.

Physical pain and emotional pain burst through me and I felt my body shifting slightly, my teeth elongating and my scales forming along my throat as I continued to stare at them.

I grasped the rope between my hands and pulled it towards my face, my mouth opening.

Reed scowled and started looking around him, but Samantha grabbed his face between her hands and leaned up to kiss him.

“Kass, don’t!” Grant yelled and rushed forward.

The urge to bite through the magical strand grew so intense that if I didn’t do it, I thought I might explode in pain.

Grant shoved his arm into my mouth, causing me to bite into his arm more than the strand, so only a tiny tear happened to the strand. “Kass, don’t,” he whispered.

I opened my mouth as wide as I could and stepped back, horror causing my face to fall. “Grant, I … I didn’t mean … you put your arm. I’m sorry.”

He held his arm against his chest and shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I’m okay. I’ll heal in a minute. Look, it’s not even bleeding anymore.”

I shook my head hard and suddenly couldn’t breathe. My gills opened and closed on my neck, but there was no water for us to breathe. I needed the ocean. I needed water.

“Kass,” Reed called, his voice sounded pained.

Samantha tried to hold onto him, but he pulled away from her.

Shaking my head more, I ran towards the exit. I needed to get outside. Out of this box. Away from him.

Outside the hotel in the artificially lit up night, I gasped for breath, but my gills still couldn’t work here. There was no water here. This was a desert. A place devoid of water. I was going to suffocate.

Jong-hyun scooped me up into his arms and ran over to a taxi that was waiting to give a ride. He said something to the driver and slid me inside the back, holding me on his lap. “Breathe with your lungs, Kass. You have lungs for air, but you’re panicking. Inhale with your lungs, not your gills.”

I shook my head and clutched his shirt. I couldn’t. I couldn’t breathe.

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