Chapter 18

18

I awoke with a start, jerking upright in the bed.

I lay on Grant’s bed in the hotel room, but there was no one with me. Reaching down, I probed at my back and stomach, but there was no pain. Thank the stars for my fast healing.

“How can you even question who hired the assassins?” Grant snapped from the adjoining room. “There’s no doubt it was the werewolves.”

“We don’t know that for certain,” Reed replied, but I could hear the uncertainty in his tone.

“Who else would hire assassins to kill her? She doesn’t have enemies here, except your pack,” Grant said and growled.

I walked through the adjoining door, and four heads swiveled in my direction.

Jong-hyun rushed over and grabbed my hands in his. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you and –”

I leaned forward and kissed his lips. “Is Lana okay?”

He nodded. “She and Tiffany are safe.”

“That’s what’s important. Thank you for getting them to safety.”

“How are you feeling?” Grant asked as he walked to me and lifted my shirt to look at my stomach.

My skin was unblemished.

“I’m fine. Completely healed.”

He exhaled loudly and pulled me into a tight hug. “I was so worried.”

“Did you extract the poison from me?” I asked Jong-min who sat on the edge of his bed scowling.

He nodded once.

“Thank you.”

“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?”

“Actually, we’d finished it right when the bomb went off,” Jong-min said.

My eyes widened. “Who won?”

Grant raised his hand with a sheepish smile. “I did.”

“Congratulations!” I shouted and jumped up to hug him.

He laughed and squeezed me back. “Thank you.”

“That was a big pot to win, wasn’t it? What are you going to do with it?”

“We’ve been discussing what to do with the money if any of us won since we got invited, actually,” he admitted. “We were thinking of going on a trip to another country, but we weren’t certain if you’d be able to handle the flight. I guess now we know you can.”

“Flying is not fun, but I think I’ll be able to handle it, especially if it’s to go on a fun vacation with you guys.” I smiled broadly at them all, but they didn’t really return the smile.

Were they thinking about whether the trip would include Reed still?

I knew I was.

Someone knocked on the door. Grant walked to it and looked through the peephole. “Room service sure is fast here,” he said and opened the door.

The instant the door opened a smidge, the person on the other side kicked it all the way open and stormed inside. It was one of the suited men who’d tried to kill me.

Grant grabbed the guy by his jacket and started to throw him back out of the room, but four more men rushed inside.

Jong-min and Jong-hyun jumped to their feet, getting between me and the men. They moved so well together, in sync with each other with each punch, kick, and turn.

Now that I was prepared and not blindsided like yesterday, I stood and shifted into a half shift to give myself better defense from their blades and claws. My head shifted partially as well, my teeth lengthening to the length they’d be in my shark form, and I knew I looked really creepy with such a wide mouth and smile, but it was easier to bite this way.

Grant, Jong-min, and Jong-hyun fought against the men, but the fifth one, one of the ones who had stabbed me yesterday, got past them.

I smiled wide, showing off my teeth. “You won’t catch me distracted this time, asshole.”

His body shuddered and fur sprouted along his arms and head as he took a half shift. His fur was brown with black spots and his head was a weird combination of feline and canine. He made that cackling, laughing sound and snarled at me. “You’re going to die today, shark.”

“What the heck are you?” I asked as I dodged his claws and punches.

“Hyena,” he answered with the weird laugh again.

“The heck is a hyena?” I demanded and punched him in the stomach.

He let out an “oof” from my punch and drew a dagger. “Just let us kill you so we can earn our money.”

“Pass,” I said, spun behind him, and bit into his neck, killing him.

I let his body fall to the floor and turned to see that the others had defeated their opponents as well.

“Are you injured?” Jong-min asked.

“No, you?” I asked.

They all shook their heads.

“I’ll call security,” Jong-hyun said and walked to the nightstand where the phone was.

“Well, I guess we can go out to eat now,” Grant said as he looked at the dead assassins. “They’re not going to come after Kass again.”

“Let me brush my teeth first,” I said as I tried not to throw up. “Hyena tastes really weird.”