Chapter 19

19

Grant stayed back to talk to security and the cops, and to make sure the bodies were cleaned up before we returned.

I’d done a mouth wash after brushing my teeth to get the hyena taste out of my mouth. I wasn’t sure what it was about his blood, but it tasted foul.

“You sure you aren’t injured?” Jong-hyun asked for the fifth time.

We sat down at the table the ma?tre d’ escorted us to and I leaned over to kiss Jong-hyun’s cheek. “The idiot tried to stab me with a knife, but didn’t know my skin is super hard when I’m ready. The only reason I got skewered before was because they surprised me. How was I supposed to know that the explosion was a diversion so the assassins could come after me?”

“We’ll have to start putting barriers up all the time,” Jong-min said. He released a long and loud sigh. “You’re so much trouble.”

“You love me,” I said with a wide smile.

His brows furrowed. “I never said I didn’t.”

“So, we fly out tomorrow, right?” I asked.

They both nodded.

“It’ll be nice to be home.” I was certain I was going to get an earful from Theo when she found out everything that had happened.

Silver was likely going to chastise me as well, but he’d give me a free drink while doing it.

Jong-min nodded. “Yes, it will be nice to be home. I miss my bed. This one is too hard.”

I looked over at the grumpy male and asked, “Why didn’t you say anything? You could have tried one of the others.”

“It was not unbearable, plus that would have inconvenienced everyone.” He shrugged. “I’ve slept on worse.”

“I thought you were going to say slept with worse,” I muttered.

He laughed softly, reached over, and linked his fingers with mine in my lap. “I’m a jerk, but not that much of a jerk.”

“Debatable,” I whispered and he squeezed my hand.

“Sorry that took so long,” Grant apologized as he joined us. “Did you order yet?”

We shook our heads.

“Did they give you any trouble?” Jong-min asked.

Grant picked up the menu. “No, they have cameras that clearly showed we were attacked, and they have the video of the same men trying to assassinate Kass yesterday. Cut and dry case. They’re moving us to a different room, though, because the cleaner group isn’t available today.”

“Good evening, can I get your drink order?” a petite vampire with long, blonde hair asked. She wore a tuxedo and had adorable fangs that peeked out when she smiled.

“I wish I looked adorable like that,” I whispered as I looked down at my menu.

Jong-min squeezed my hand and I flinched, realizing he had heard me.

The guys ordered their drinks and Jong-min ordered mine for me. I liked it when they ordered for me because oftentimes, I wasn’t certain what I wanted and instead of contemplating for several minutes, they could order for me and if it was something I didn’t want, I’d just order a new item.

“I’ll be back to take your meal order once your drinks are ready,” she said as she bowed at the waist, and floated away.

“You’re far more adorable than her,” Jong-hyun whispered as he leaned over, his warm breath blowing hair away from my ear.

“Thank you,” I said and set my free hand onto his leg. He linked our hands together, so I now sat with my hand held by each of the twins. Twin heaven.

“Do you know what you want to eat?” Grant asked me.

“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.

He scowled and looked up at us. “Oh, um, well …” He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled nervously. “I actually challenged the alpha to a fight and won, so technically, I’m alpha of the pack now.”

“What!” I screeched.