Page 6 of Shark 2

He spotted me quickly, shifted into his human form thirty feet up, and did a superhero landing on the beach ten feet away from me. “Are you okay?”

I sighed and put my arm over my face. “I think the Pixie Lite and stress of the situation prevented me from shifting back. I ran here to see if it would help.”

“Are you hurt?” he asked and sat beside me, keeping only his feet in the water.

“No.”

“What did they say to upset you guys? Reed wouldn’t talk to us.”

“Did … did he leave?” I asked, my throat constricted as I asked and it became hard to swallow.

“Leave? He left the bar to try to find you, we all did. Kass, what’s going on?”

“They rescinded his exile and told him he has to return to claim his mate,” I answered, dropped my arm, and looked at him with tears in my eyes. “Is he going to go?”

Grant’s eyes widened and he stood. “Shit.” He turned towards the city and pulled his cell phone out, calling someone. Whoever answered, he didn’t bother with formalities, just said, “I found her. Meet at the house. Tell the others.”

His response was not instilling confidence in me about the possibility of Reed leaving.

“Grant, if he leaves … will you three go, too?” I got to my feet and brushed the sand off, once again glad I could shift my scales to look like clothes when necessary. Grant and the others could magic clothes on themselves. I was trying to do it, but was only successful on rare occasions.

Grant put his phone away, turned around, and hugged me. “I’m not going to abandon you, Kass. Never. Come on, let’s go home and talk to Reed.”

3

Grant and I were the first ones home, which gave me time to shower and dress.

It also gave me time to stress even more, which I did not like.

I sat on the couch in the living room, my legs folded up beneath me and one of Grant’s big hoodie sweatshirts on for some comfort.

Jong-hyun and Jong-min came in together, heads leaned close as they whispered. They sat on the couch opposite me, deep frowns on their faces.

“Where’s Reed?” Grant asked as he sat beside me. He made sure our legs touched, giving me comfort through touch, and giving himself comfort as well. Shifters were big on physical affection for comfort.

“Here,” Reed answered as he came in through the back door behind me.

Reed and Grant were the first I had developed a connection with. They were the ones who had made me feel most welcomed in this quartet. Losing one of them would severely damage our connection.

“What happened tonight?” Jong-min asked and sat up straight.

Reed sat in the reclining chair to my right and ran a hand through his hair, disheveling it even more. “My pack came for me.”

“We’re your pack,” Grant snapped.

“Easy,” Jong-min whispered.

“I’m sorry I ran off,” I said quickly. “The drink hit me harder than I realized and I wasn’t able to shift back and it freaked me out.”

Reed wouldn’t look at me, his eyes focused on the coffee table before us. “They’ve lifted my exile.”

“Good for them,” Grant said. “You warned them that when you left, you would never return.”

Reed raised his head and narrowed his eyes. “So, you’re telling me that if your flight came for you, you wouldn’t consider leaving?”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Grant said. He growled deep in his chest and stood. “The three of you are my clan now. Those bastards may share bloodlines with me, but they don’t care about me. They only care about what I can or cannot provide them.”

So, Reed was considering leaving.

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