Page 43 of Shark 2

“Everything, as long as it isn’t hyena.” My face scrunched up at the memory of the taste. “So gross.”

“I’ve never had it, but I’ll take your word for it,” Jong-min said.

“I’ll get you a few things, and we can take the leftovers back to the room for you to snack on,” Grant said as he resumed looking back at the menu.

“You guys are the best.” I let a contented sigh and relaxed back against my seat. I turned to Jong-min and said, “When we get back, I’d like to visit the restaurant and speak to my adopted parents.”

He smiled. “I’m sure they will like that.”

“I’m prepared to receive an earful from Mother,” I said and smiled. “She will have so much to say to me about everything that’s happened here.”

“Theo will likely be the most vocal,” Grant said.

I cringed. “Yeah, she’s going to lecture me quite a bit. Honestly, I think one of the first things I want to do when we get back is talk to Zara and Zyra about training me.” I’d done some training with them before, but they were … intense. Now, though, I was prepared and ready for it.

“Why them?” Jong-min asked. “Why not us?”

“The more varied people I train with, the better prepared I’ll be for anything that comes at me. Clearly, my life isn’t going to stay calm and collected like I’d wanted. It’s become abundantly clear that I need to become stronger, better trained, and learn a few tricks to not only help me survive, but ensure all of you are protected.”

“It’s not your job to protect us,” Jong-min countered.

“It is, too. As your mate, I need to protect you just like you want to protect me.”

Three sets of eyes pinned me in place as I realized what I said.

“I mean, um, future mate,” I corrected and looked down at the folded menu on the table.

“Call me that again when we’re in the hotel room,” Jong-min purred in my ear.

Grant shifted in his seat and leaned across the table with eyes full of fire. “I’m tempted to bend you over this table right now.”

I threw my head back as I laughed. “You guys are so bad.”

“Your drinks,” the waitress said and distributed them. “Are you ready to order?”

Grant nodded and placed an order for everyone.

It was the first time I’d seen him order for the twins, but neither seemed concerned or irritated. Had they started doing this without me noticing?

“Are we still going to do the jewelry making thing when we get back? I want to start learning about the hobbies you guys have and doing the hobby date things.” We’d discussed it before coming here, but I still wanted to make sure.

Jong-min nodded. “I placed an online order for the supplies before we left. They are scheduled to arrive tomorrow.”

I clapped my hands together and smiled wide. “Awesome! I can’t wait to try to create some jewelry.”

“Does it hurt to pull your teeth?” Jong-hyun asked, a worried frown on his face.

“Not really,” I said and shrugged. “If I really want to start a business of it, I’ll go talk to the Chums and see if they’ll give me teeth they lose, too.” Cap’n Two-Teeth’s Chums, were a ragtag pirate crew of shark shifters with a gambling and alcohol problem. Cap’n Two-Teeth was an old great white shark with one eye, a hook stuck in his dorsal fin, and only two teeth left in his decayed gums. Normally, he should have grown the teeth back, since great whites often shed teeth, but he’d pissed off the wrong selkie who had been owed a favor by a sea witch, and now was cursed to only have two teeth at any one given point. The crew were loyal to him without question and I loved them a ton. They’d gotten me through a lot when I was younger and I also needed to visit them more often, rekindle our friendship. Maybe I’d start going on swims with them again, like old times.

“Are you and Theo okay? I know you were upset about her choice of boyfriend.” Jong-hyun looked at me curiously, a slight frown on his handsome face.

“Yes, we’re okay. I voiced my concerns, so if she still wants to stay with him, then perhaps he really has changed.” I highly doubted it.

“Hey guys,” Reed said, and sat down beside Jong-hyun. “Sorry that took me so long.”

We all stared at him expectantly, but he just smiled and waved down the waitress to place his order.

“Bro, spit it out. Are you going back to your pack or not?” Jong-min demanded once the waitress left.

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