Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
My traitorous legs moved in his direction. Out of all the scenarios I’d imagined, Griffin being home wasn't one of them. He'd been gone for weeks, and all of a sudden, he reappeared tonight? Figures. That’s my luck lately.
At least, he couldn't fight worth a damn, and the moon was already charging me. I'd kick his ass to get away if it came to that.
Not bothering to acknowledge his existence, I pressed forward, despite everything inside of me screaming to run to him and kiss his sexy mouth and touch his hard, muscular chest.
My weird attraction to him took my breath away. The time we’d spent apart from each other had only made this irrational desire even stronger. And those emotions I felt for him on top of the chaos already swirling inside made my throat dry as tears burned my eyes.
I didn't want to leave him either.
Stupid douchebag, always showing up at the worst times. Fate had a way of torturing me.
"Dove," he said, and it sounded like a warning. His feet hit the ground, coming after me. "Do not ignore me."
He moved faster than I expected him to, as if he was equally eager to get to me. But that had to be because he wanted to torment me or insult me further. My stupid legs didn't move any faster, almost as if they wanted him to catch up to me. Soon he grabbed my arm, forcing me to turn toward him.
I went to punch him but stopped short as his hazel eyes distracted me. They glowed, his wolf bleeding through and making him look even sexier. It took every ounce of my strength to keep myself from jumping into his arms.
"Does Killian know you're out here by yourself in the middle of the night?” His words held such concern. "I have a feeling he doesn't." He pushed the bag off my shoulder.
"He's not my dad—" That one word combined with Griffin's touch released the sob I'd held back, and the tears fell freely down my cheeks.
The sorrow of the past two weeks settled hard inside my chest. I hadn't truly broken down; I’d tried to focus on staying alive. But as of tonight, I'd genuinely lost everyone I cared about, one way or another. I couldn't even say dad without breaking down.
"Hey," Griffin said softly as he brushed tears from my face. "What's wrong?"
My skin warmed and buzzed wherever he touched me, and somehow, the bastard calmed me enough to get a handle on my emotions and stop crying.
His tenderness caught me off guard, and the urge to flee, to escape whatever influence he held over me, returned. I liked it better when we were fighting. I could channel the hate to ward off the tug toward him.
"I need to go." The longer I stayed, the harder it would be to leave.
"Tell me what's wrong." His words held a plea. "Or do I have to call Killian?" His nose wrinkled.
Dammit, if he called Killian, he would figure out I was leaving and ruin my escape. "Please don't. I'm doing this to protect him." I didn't want to give too much away, but I needed Griffin to let me go.
"How is running out late at night protecting him?" His brows furrowed, and he looked back at Killian’s house.
"I thought you couldn't wait until my ass left him." I bit out the words, trying not to let him see how much it had cut me.
"You know I was being a jerk." His phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket and rejected the call. "Regardless, you can't do that to him. You have to at least say goodbye. Do you know what you disappearing would do to him? He's already lost too many people in his life."
I didn't need this ass clown trying to make me feel bad. He treated people like shit, and he had the audacity to lecture me? I’d already struggled with this decision, so I didn't need him laying it on me too. "People are hunting me. I care about Killian too much to let him get caught in the crossfire."
"The bear shifter would've attacked anyone close to us that day," he growled. "You don't need to feel bad about that."
"I wish it was just him." If I had only one person to worry about, I wouldn't be so nervous or scared. I'd kicked that bear's ass that day all on my own, and I'd been holding back.
"What are you trying to say?" Griffin leaned toward me.
If I wanted to get out of this gracefully, I'd have to bare my soul to him. "I met Killian only a couple weeks ago." I stopped, needing to prepare myself for the inevitable questions that would come.
Much to my surprise, Griffin didn't rush me. Instead, he patiently waited for me to continue.
"In reality, he probably saved my life." And I’d never even thanked him for that. Another thing I didn't handle correctly. "I almost drowned when I tried to escape a group of men that had chased me from my pack home."
"Drowned?" His body tensed as a low snarl rumbled. "Why were they chasing you?"
"I jumped into the river, trying to hide my scent so they couldn't keep following me. They jumped in after me, and I found an undercurrent that helped me get away, but I almost didn't break free."
"But your pack. Why didn't they help?" he asked. "Is that why you're leaving? To go back to people who abandoned you?"
I laughed without humor. The bleak part of my soul flared. "No, I'll never go back home, but my pack didn't abandon me." I looked skyward at the moon, needing to find comfort in the one thing that I'd never have to give up. "Those men who chased me, they slaughtered my pack before running after me."
His eyes softened as he took a step toward me. "How did you escape?"
I told him the story of how I wasn't there at first and heard the screams. "You see—" I stopped short, bracing myself to spit out the truth. "My pack kept to themselves. We stayed at arm’s length from all other supernaturals to keep our identity hidden. But, somehow, some wolves got wind of what we were and that a woman had been born to be the next alpha."
"So they didn't want a woman to lead?" He shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense as to why they'd kill the entire pack then."
"No, they wanted the woman for someone." I averted my gaze toward the ground. "I'm not sure who, but it doesn't matter. They want her to have babies with this man so he can lead her race."
"Why not lead the current pack?" Griffin tilted his head. "You're holding back key pieces of information. I need to understand how you leaving right now, in the middle of the night, protects my best friend."
He was right. I was dancing around the truth when I needed to get straight to the point. "The reason he killed the pack is because none of them—including me—would ever support someone corrupt. I mean, that was the whole reason my people left Shadow City centuries ago."
"There's never been a race that left Shadow City." He glared at me.
Interesting. But then how did Rosemary know about silver wolves? "There was. Your father knew about us. He invited my father to visit around two years ago."
"Your dad..." He hmm ed. "Silver hair, like yours?"
"Yes." He must have seen Dad during his visit, but why hadn't his father told him of our existence? Had he, like my father, thought he’d have more time? Atticus’s death was starting to seem rather conveniently timed. "Your dad wanted our pack to come back and live in the city." My mind went back in time to the last time I saw my father, and I wrapped my arms around myself. "In fact, with his last breath, my dad told me to go to Shadow City and find Atticus. That he would protect me.” I took a deep breath. “That he was an ally of the silver wolves."
Griffin held himself completely still. "Are you saying silver wolves are real?" He glanced at the moon and then back to me. "And you're the only one still alive—which means you're the alpha they want.” He ran his hands through his hair, making it disheveled, which added to his allure. “But your children would only be half silver."
Our legacy was such a well-kept secret that even Rosemary hadn't known this. "No. Any child I have will be a full silver wolf. It's due to the power of the moon."
"And you're running away…because you love Killian."
"Yes. He's already done so much for me. I can't let him wind up dead like the rest of my pack." And here was the grand finale. The last bit of logic that would feed his self-serving side. "And I'll be out of your hair. You won't have to see me again, and you and Killian can go back to the way things were before my messy ass interfered. It’ll be like I never existed." Damn, saying that hurt, but I had to seal the deal with him.
"Like you never existed," he said. He scanned my face as if looking for something.
I held my head high, trying to portray confidence. "All you have to do is let me go."
"No." He shook his head. "Absolutely not."
Relief filled me. "Thank—" Wait... he’d said no. "What? Why not ? " He hated me.
"Call me selfish, but I don't want you to go." He sighed as his eyes faintly glowed and he took a step closer to me. “I can’t.”
My body warmed with anticipation as I got closer to him too. My hand itched to touch him, but I held it close to my side.
"Why not?" None of this made any sense. "You've been gone for weeks.”
"With the wolf attacks and some council decisions being made, I had to stay in Shadow City for a little while. Also, Mom needed my help cleaning out Dad’s old things. And, if I’m being completely honest, I was trying to stay away from you." He blew out a breath. "I feel something for you, and it's wrong on all types of levels."
My heart pounded. "What do you mean?" I shouldn't ask or encourage him to tell me how he felt, but a part of me had to know if what he felt was similar to what I was feeling.
"I can't get you out of my head, and seeing you try to run away—" He clenched his hands. "And the thought of never seeing you again—" He paused. "That would kill Killian."
We both knew he didn't mean Killian, but our hands were tied. He was with Luna, and Killian and I were supposed to be exclusive. "But I don't want anything to happen... to him."
"I'm the alpha of Shadow City, and if my dad would've protected you, then that's what I'm going to do." He cupped my cheek, and my skin felt like it was on fire. His touch warmed the coldest parts of me inside, and I never wanted him to pull away. "I've been putting off acting like the alpha for too long, and with you here, it's time for me to make some changes."
"I don't want you to change for me." I would never ask that of anyone. "If you aren't ready for that responsibility, then me staying here is a lot to ask."
"You didn't ask." His gaze landed on my lips. "I want to do it. Besides, I’m going to make sure that being with me is the safest place for you."
The air between us charged, and my mind yelled at me to step away. To run as I’d planned. But I was at his mercy. "How so? Someone already threatened me at the university."
"What do you mean?" His hand dropped.
I filled him in on the painting, Rosemary, and the wolf in the woods. "That's what I'm trying to tell you. I’m not paranoid. They've found me here, and that's why I need to run."
He unlocked his phone, and I saw he had over twenty-five missed calls. I hated that I looked, but I couldn't help myself. He cleared the log, pulled up a contact, and began texting. "I'm getting some Shadow City guards over here to protect you with more of Killian’s coming. We'll make sure there are four positioned around the house at all times."
My heart quickened. He was taking care of me…and that thrilled me more than it should.
From our spot in the backyard, I watched a taxi pull into Griffin's driveway.
"Oh, hell." He grumbled and lowered his head. "She's fucking insane."
"Who are you talking about?" For him to have that kind of reaction worried me, but surely the group looking for me wouldn't take a taxi and pull into the Shadow City's alpha’s driveway.
A car door opened and shut.
"Griffy!" Luna's fingernails-on-a-chalkboard voice called out. She sniffed loudly.
"Ugh, I guesss Griffy and Dove made up." The “p” popped on the last word, emphasizing her inebriated state.
"I'm so sorry about this." He met my eyes. "But you need to go back inside, and I have to deal with my drunken mess."
I’d bet he was going to deal with her. I bet he'd deal with her many times. Anger ignited inside of me at the thought. But I had no right. They were together, and sex was part of the equation.
I bet he was damn good at it too. "Yeah, okay. Have fun."
" Fun isn't the word I'd use." He winced. "She's a train wreck."
And yet, he was dating her. Some guys were attracted to people like that.
Luna stumbled in between the houses and stopped when her glazed eyes focused on me.
She was toasted, which meant she’d drunk a ton and had added wolfsbane to the mix. I had no clue why she’d let herself get this sloshed.
"You," she slurred and took a wobbly step in my direction. "Of course, he'd be out here with you." She leaned forward, one of her sharp-nailed fingers pointing at me.
Griffin stepped in front of me, blocking me from her view. "What are you doing here, Luna?"
"You din’t answer my calls." She shook the finger in his face. "Whut would my daaaddy say?"
Was she threatening him?
"I don't give a flying fuck what he'd say." Griffin crossed his arms, looking unamused. "I'm the alpha, not him."
She laughed. "For suuumone so hawt,” she continued, poking him in the chest, “yurrr stupid."
How dare she talk to him like that? I couldn't hold my tongue any longer. "Did you come all this way to insult him?"
Griffin tensed as Luna bared her teeth at me.
"Bish, doan talk to me." She waved her hand dismissively at me. "Not worth my time ."
"Don't talk to her like that." Griffin growled. "You're the one who showed up here wasted. You called me over twenty times, and I didn't answer. Maybe you should've taken the hint."
" You din’t git this way ’til herrr ." Her bones began to break, and fur sprouted all over her body.
I gasped at the nerve. Was she crazy enough to attack me in this drunken state? I didn’t like her, but that didn’t mean I wanted to fight her. I wanted her to leave me the hell alone.
Within seconds, she’d shifted into her wolf form, leaving her clothes lying shredded around her paws.
"Luna, what are you doing?" Griffin said sternly. "You need to stand down."
She shook her large wolf head defiantly and ran toward us. Her eyes were locked on my neck.
She intended to kill me.