Chapter 14

14

“Assigned mate,” I corrected Samantha and finished off my drink. I held up the empty glass to the bartender and he nodded, understanding I wanted a refill.

She shrugged. “Same thing.”

“No, it’s really not. You see, he chose me,” I said, feeling extremely defensive and petty.

I barely heard her growl, but her lips twitched in a snarl and I felt it rumble through the bar top where our hands rested. Yep, that made her mad.

“You’re keeping him from performing his duty,” she said. “Don’t you have any conscience?”

“If you really want to get fucked, there are plenty of men around here,” I said and waved my hand around at the hundreds of men in our vicinity.

“You’re no match for me, shark , so just give it up. Tonight, I’m going to convince him to leave you and the pathetic losers he calls friends. So, enjoy your last few hours with him.” She tossed money on the bar top, grabbed her drink, and sauntered away.

I did have to admit, she looked good, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. Plus, one pretty face wouldn’t steal him away. There were lots of gorgeous women in our city that he barely spared a glance for.

Jong-hyun stepped up next to me, scowling. “Who was that? Why are you upset?”

How could he tell I was upset?

“No one of consequence,” I said and smiled at him. “Did you win?”

He nodded and ordered a drink before turning to face me, cupping my face in both hands, and rubbing his cheeks against mine. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” I answered immediately.

The bartender set our drinks down and Jong-hyun paid for them. “I have to go to another match. Wait here for Min, okay?”

I saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

He kissed me lightly on the lips and rubbed the tips of our noses together. “Be careful, but take no crap. You understand?”

My smile widened impossibly large as I looked at my sweet, soft-spoken man and knew he fully supported and accepted me. “You got it.”

After he walked away, Tiffany and Lana rushed closer.

“Was that one of your men? Is something wrong?”

“Who was that girl who was glaring at you? She looked angry.”

I waved away their concern. “It’s okay. Yes, that was one of my boyfriends. He was just checking on me. That woman was just someone who doesn’t like that I’ve taken so many eligible bachelors out of the dating pool, so she’s inconsequential.”

“Girl, if all your boyfriends are as hot as that one, I might be mad at you, too,” Lana said, and she and Tiffany laughed together.

“Want to do shots?” I asked them, to which I got wide-eyed exuberant nodding.

I caught Jong-min watching me, so I held up my shot, smiled at him, and downed it.

That got me an eye roll, which was better than a worried scowl, so I’d take it.

Samantha thought she could scare me off, but she had no idea the lengths I’d go to for my men. If she wasn’t careful, she’d join Koia in losing an arm … or more.

“How long are you in town? We should do something together,” Lana suggested.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It depends on how well the guys do.”

“Well, here’s my number,” she said and Tiffany wrote hers down as well. “Text us if you want to hang out or do something. We’ll even sneak away from our men to go have some girl fun if you want.”

Aside from Theo, Zara, and Zyra, I didn’t have female friends, so it was a bit odd to have found girls who wanted to be friends this quickly.

“You sure you want to go out with a shark shifter?” I asked and smiled so they could see my teeth.

Both of their mouths dropped open simultaneously and they asked me at least a dozen questions within five seconds that I couldn’t hear all of, let alone answer.

“Yes, these are my shark teeth, no I can’t shift them to human shape. It’s my one negative as a shark shifter. That’s why I usually smile with my lips instead, so I don’t scare people. I was worried I’d scare you.”

“Scare us? No way! That’s so cool,” Lana said and leaned forward to look at them better.

“Do you have a special toothbrush for cleaning them?” Tiffany asked.

“Are your boyfriends worried about you biting their you-know-what’s off?” Lana asked.

I laughed loudly, earning a glare from the bartender, but I ignored him to answer the girls. “I’m very careful of their you-know-what’s, and no, I just use a regular toothbrush.”

For the first time, I didn’t find it irritating or upsetting to answer a human’s questions about my teeth. Was I maturing?

They asked me more questions about my shifting abilities and I answered them all right up until Jong-min finished his game and came over to me.

“Oh my god, you’re dating twins?” Lana asked, mouth agape.

“Hot twins,” Tiffany breathed.

“Yes, I am,” I answered and turned to him. “Congratulations on winning your game.”

He dipped his head. “Thank you. Are you ready to get something to eat? You’ve been drinking quite a bit without consuming any nutrients.”

“You could just say you’re hungry and know that I’m likely hungry, too,” I countered and pouted at him.

He tapped the tip of my nose. “Flower, you are very predictable. Now, let’s go before I have to carry you out.”

“Text us!” Lana said as I waved to them and let Jong-min lead me away.

Once we were a good distance from them, he turned and asked, “Who was that woman that upset you earlier?”

“The female werewolf who is assigned to be Reed’s mate,” I answered.

He stopped walking, looked at my face to see if I was being serious, and cussed in two different languages. Immediately, he pulled out his cell phone and sent out a few text messages.

“She’s going to try to seduce him tonight,” I added.

“She will fail,” he growled and stomped towards the restaurant we were meeting the others at.

“Am I prettier than her?” I asked, not actually needing to hear the answer to know he thought I was, or really caring.

“Without question,” he said without turning to look at me. “I only noticed her because you were scowling at her and your teeth got longer.”

My teeth got longer? He’d noticed that from where he’d been across the room?

“She called you guys losers and it pissed me off,” I admitted. “I don’t care what she says about me, but her insulting you guys was what upset me.”

“The wolves have a habit of talking poorly about anyone who are not wolves. It’s part of why I dislike them and was so resistant to Reed in the beginning.”

“Well, if she were smart, she’d be trying to win you all over as well instead of alienating his best friends,” I said.

“She’s clearly not as smart as you,” he said.

For some reason, that made me even happier than him telling me I was prettier than her.

“Are you trying to seduce me right now? Because it’s totally working,” I said breathlessly.

He chuckled, turned around, stopping us at the entrance to the restaurant, and pulled me flush against him. “Tonight, I will show you exactly how I feel about you, since I was unable to do so last night.”

“Why tonight? Why not right now, in the bathroom or elevator or hallway.”

He smiled, one of his rare true, wide smiles, and kissed me deeply. “When we get back home, I’m going to take you to my favorite location and there, I will make love to you under the stars until you are unable to walk the following day.”

“Min, you’re not making me any less horny,” I said and waved my hand at my face, which was definitely blushing.

“Come, let’s eat,” he said and tugged me into the restaurant where the others waited for us. “Later will come fun.”