Page 40 of Shark 2

“You don’t need to thank me for that,” he said.

I walked up to him and sat on his lap. “You used your magic to heal me, so yes, I will thank you.”

He hugged me and kissed my cheek. “When you fainted, I was so worried you wouldn’t wake up.”

Smiling up at him, I said, “I’m not going anywhere, Tigerlily. You’re stuck with me.”

“Tigerlily?” he asked and his brows furrowed.

“We tried to get to you sooner, but the crowds were moving in all directions and it was hard to push against them,” Reed said. He stood by the window, one hand pressed against it and his head hanging down.

“You protected me,” I said. “That’s all that matters.” I walked up behind him and reached out to touch his shoulder, but he spun around and grabbed me in a crushing hug.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered into my hair. “Twice.”

“Twice?” I asked as I hugged him back.

He nodded with his face buried against my neck. “When you started to break our bond and then when you fainted.”

Oh, right.

“I’m safe and sound,” I said. “Not even a scar.”

He gripped me tighter and pressed his lips against the side of my neck. “I’m sorry, Kass.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what he was apologizing for, but I rubbed his back while he held me and said nothing.

His phone rang, ruining the moment as he stepped away to answer it. “Hello? Yeah, I’ll be there soon.”

“Where are you going?” Grant asked.

“The pack summoned me to give them my answer,” he replied looking down at his phone.

“You’re going to leave to meet with them now? After everything that happened?” Jong-min snapped. “Kass has assassins hired to kill her.”

“The alpha has ordered me to come,” Reed said softly.

Grant growled. “He stopped being your alpha when they banished you!”

Reed took a deep breath and walked out of the room without looking at any of us, leaving us standing together in stunned silence.

Needing to break the tension, I said, “I’m hungry. Healing takes a lot of energy out of me and requires a lot of calories to replenish that usage. Can we go eat somewhere?”

“We don’t feel comfortable taking you out of the room while the assassins are still out there,” Jong-min said. “We will order room service instead.”

“Here.” Jong-hyun held out the room service menu. “Order whatever you want.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I looked over the menu. My stomach rumbled loudly, gaining their stares.

“Let’s just order two of everything,” Grant suggested and picked up the phone to call it in.

Jong-hyun sat on the bed beside me and picked up one of my hands from where they rested on my leg and linked it with his. “Are you certain you’re healed?” The soft tone of his voice worried me. He was clearly still blaming himself for what had happened.

I squeezed his hand and smiled cheerfully at him. “I am certain.”

He nodded and stared down at our joined hands.

“What happened with the final game?” I asked. “Did they postpone it?”

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