Page 10 of Shark 2

Running out of the house might have been childish, but even this predator knew when to flee.

I jogged all the way to the pier, but instead of diving into the water, I sat on the end of the pier and dangled my feet over the edge, kicking them back and forth. Folding my arms atop the wooden plank in front of me, I rested my head on my arm, and let out a long sigh.

Leather boots stopped beside me. “I haven’t heard that type of sigh from you in a long while,” Silver said. Slowly, the old ogre sat down beside me, dangling his legs like mine.

“You remember when we used to come talk here?” I asked him, staring out at the surfers enjoying the waves.

“Aye,” he replied. “You thought you’d live the rest of your life alone and never find love.”

I laughed humorlessly. “Looks like that might still come true.”

“Because of those wolves?” he asked.

Flipping my head to my other arm, I looked at him with raised brows.

He smiled, the piercing on his broken tusk rattling as he smiled wide. “I’m a bartender, which means I hear a lot and see a lot. More than most people realize.”

That information was getting filed away for further discussion later.

“I don’t know that much about their pasts, even still, but apparently he was banished and now they’re rescinding it so he can come back, claim a mate, and have a litter of pups,” I explained.

“The werewolf population has been on a decline the last decade,” Silver said and rubbed his jaw while he looked out over the ocean.

So, it was true.

“It’s hard when your blood comes calling, shouting out for help, even when you’ve already written them off,” Silver said. He tapped his broken tusk. “I’ve dealt with it a time or two myself, so I can understand his conflicting feelings.”

“How do you know he has conflicting feelings?”

He scoffed and looked down at me. “Anyone can see that boy cares about you, Kass. He’s been head over heels, following you like a starved puppy given a treat, since he saw you. It weren’t no surprise that you started courting. I mean, he went into the fracking ocean to try to save you.”

“We have a connection, one I don’t really understand, but maybe it’s better if I let him go. I don’t want to stop him from being able to return to his pack.”

Silver draped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me once. “Child, you’re not stopping him from anything. The fact he hasn’t left yet is proof he cares about you. You cannot make the decision for him, so the best thing to do is treat him like nothing has changed. Continue going on your dates and making goo-goo eyes at each other. It’s up to him to decide what to do.”

“Well, now they’ve been invited to a poker tournament in the desert and they invited me to go. A week in the desert, away from the ocean. I’ve … I’ve never been away from it before.”

Silver frowned, dropped his arm, and looked down at the water before us. “I can’t say for certain how you’ll feel, as I’m not a shifter, but I think you’d be able to handle it. It likely won’t be comfortable, but you could survive it. You have both gills and lungs.”

“Do you think Theo will survive?” I asked with a smirk, totally kidding.

He laughed and shook his head. “She’ll be drinking at my bar every single night, there’s no doubt, but that overly dramatic mage will survive you being gone for a week. Besides, you’ll still have phones to contact each other, remember? Ain’t like the old days when I’d be separated from friends and family for a month on a mission with no contact.”

“Do you ever miss the older days?” I asked. Silver rarely talked about his past and I was incredibly curious about it.

He folded his arms across the board one above mine, being so much taller than me, and grunted. “There are lots of things I’d like to forget about, but there were also a lot of good things and good times, even in bad situations. I loved fighting and I was damn good at it, but losing others was hard.” His eyes darkened and he said, “I’m glad I snuffed out the evil that had plagued my homeland before I left, even if I lost part of my tusk and soul to do it.”

“Your soul?” What did he mean he lost part of his soul?

“That’s a story for another time, Daughter. One that will require me to be drinkin’.” He stood and dusted off his clothes. “You’re going to be alright and even if things get tough, you’ve got me and the girls to help pick you back up.” He held his hand out to me and I let him pull me to my feet.

I hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, for taking in this orphaned shark.”

He patted my back. “Go on home. No more running from life, you hear?”

I saluted him as I walked backwards. “Yes, sir!”

“You come by tomorrow evening, okay?” he called as he turned and headed towards his bar.

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