Bite Me Harder (Guardians of the Deep 2)

“They’re a rough bunch,” he added, “but Kane kicked a few of their asses in human form. You were right. Evelyn has a lot of them in her gang and they seem pretty fearless.”

“Fearless is good,” Thane said. “That means they don’t know what they’re facing.”

“And they make mistakes,” Faith added.

“Maybe,” Rafe said. “But they definitely outnumber you. Even with Cobalt on your team."

“And me!” Sylvia shouted.

“And Sylvia too, of course,” Rafe added. “Even with everyone you have here, you’re outnumbered.”

“We’ve beaten worse odds,” Faith said.

“My point is,” Rafe said, “you need more sharks.”

“We could call for backup,” Thane said. “Maybe reach out to some of the Maori over in New Zealand, but I’d have to go there and recruit, and the festival starts the day after tomorrow.”

“You don’t have time for that,” Rafe said. “But you do have time to make me one of you.”

“No,” Kalina said, sitting up. “No, Rafe. Not under these circumstances. Maybe after…”

“After what?” Rafe said sternly. “After the war is over and you may get killed? Fuck that. Turn me. And I have a few friends like me, wanderers, surfers who love the ocean more than life itself. I know they’d do this in a heartbeat.”

“This kid’s nuts,” Thane said.

“I’m not a kid,” Rafe said, standing up and backing a few steps away from Kalina.

“Do you even know how we turn humans?” Thane asked. “Do you know the process? I mean it makes sense for you, maybe, with Kalina, but what about your buddies? Are we supposed to lend you our women?”

“How many guys are we talking about?” Faith asked.

“Three,” Rafe said.

“I don’t see how that would be a problem,” she said.

All the women laughed and a few of the guys chortled. Penny had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter. Sylvia stood and gave Faith a high five.

“I’m just sayin’!” Faith announced.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Thane said. “We’re not creating a litter of tiger shark puppies before a major brawl.”

“Coby taught me to fight in one day,” Sylvia said. “If Faith is down, I don’t see why not. I could show them what I was taught and I’m sure some of the others wouldn’t mind lending a hand.”

“Could be cool to have a few new brothers to chill with,” Kino said. “And our numbers have kind of dwindled if you know what I mean.”

“With Rafe, his three friends, Sylvia and Cobalt, and potentially Kane on our side, we could kick some serious ass,” Ruby said. “I’m not going to say it’s the perfect plan or that I even like it, but it’s not like the old days when nobody knew we existed. Sure, we’re elite, but right now we can’t afford to be preserving our numbers. They’re right, Thane. We need an army. Rafe and his friends would make what…?”

“Four new sharks,” Rafe answered.

“No,” Kalina said again softy into her lap, already defeated, but making everyone aware that she was opposed to the plan.

The meeting ended without a final agreement or disagreement. Thane had let the idea linger as if allowing his people to make the decision on their own. Faith was all about it. Rafe told her where she could find his friends and she dove into the ocean as if headed to an all you can eat buffet. He didn’t really expect that she’d go through with it, but the idea made him laugh. He could practically see Beanie’s face when this sexy as hell goddess stepped out of the ocean and told them their buddy Rafe had mentioned that they might want to fuck her so they could become shark shifters. If they were high at the time, they might freak the fuck out thinking they’d been sold some funky weed. If they were sober, they wouldn’t know what to think. Would they turn her down? Of course not. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d shared a woman.

Chapter 24 – Kalina

“Are you out of your mind?” Kalina asked as she grabbed Rafe’s face and kissed him hard. “This isn’t a game. I would turn you into one of my kind in a heartbeat, Rafe. For the love of God, I want to be with you every second, but not like this. I don’t want you to learn to

swim and fight and go into a battle in two days.”