Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
My wolf surged forward, but this time, for protection instead of trying to take control. I allowed the shift to happen as Luna charged at me. My skin tingled as my fur sprouted, and I quickly removed the sheath seconds before my clothes ripped apart and fell from my body.
I hated shifting and ruining my clothes, but she would have an easier time hurting me if I didn't shift too.
"Luna, stop ," Griffin growled as he stood protectively in front of me. He spread his legs in a fighter pose and tensed his shoulders. "Don't make me force you with my alpha will."
Her wolf made a choking noise that must have been a laugh. She obviously didn't think he had the balls to force her to stop. Given the way Griffin allowed Dick to treat him, it was no wonder she didn’t think she had to listen to him. She continued to advance, clearly not concerned about his unveiled threat.
"Fine," he growled as he crouched.
The dumbass was going to get hurt, which infuriated me. If that bitch injured him in any way, I'd kill her. My wolf howled in agreement.
Luna ran around him and lunged, but in her drunken haze, she miscalculated, and her teeth snapped at Griffin's shoulder instead of me. He held his arms out as if that would prevent injury, but all he did was give her a better target for her teeth.
If my father was here now, he'd have been horrified at how clueless these two shifters were in the art of battle. At least, this time, my head was in the game.
In a bid to keep from adding another kill to my list and end up on the bad side of one of Shadow City’s council members, I head-butted Griffin's ass, causing him to stumble out of the way.
"No!" he yelled. "I was handling it!"
If he'd let me focus, I would take down the drunken psycho in seconds.
A snarl ripped from her as she opened her mouth wider, going for my neck. I stood on my hind legs and let her fall, missing her mark completely. She managed to catch herself with her front paws, but they gave out, and she tumbled to the ground.
In order to prevent the fight from continuing, I jumped on her back and placed my teeth at the back of her neck, pressing them into her fur, though not enough to draw blood. If she moved, she'd cause herself injury.
Apparently, that wasn't a deterrent because she thrashed against me, determined to get up. The metallic taste of her blood hit my tongue.
She wasn't thinking clearly and probably didn't even feel the pain. I'd hoped this would be easy, but clearly, I'd been mistaken.
"Luna," Griffin yelled. "Stop it!"
She didn't even pause because she was too desperate to hurt me.
I was going to have to knock her ass out . There was no reasoning with her in this state. I jumped off her back, and she got to her feet immediately.
The pool gave me an idea, and I ran toward it. I heard Luna follow, stumbling the entire way. I forced myself to slow down so she wouldn't catch on to my plan. Granted, in her state, that was unlikely, but I knew not to underestimate my opponent.
For the first time in weeks, my mind cleared, and I was able to focus. That would've been nice earlier today with Rosemary and the drawing—and knowing what had caused the change would also be nice.
I'd focus on that later.
When I reached the deep end of the pool, I pivoted and spun out of the way.
Luna tried to stop, scrabbling and teetering on the edge for a second before her body fell over. Her eyes grew huge as she smacked the water, causing a huge splash to hit me and soak my fur.
She came up for air, doggy paddling in the center of the pool. But she treaded water and then sank instead of swimming to the side.
The back door to Killian's house opened, and he ran outside. "What the hell is going on out here?" He first looked at Griffin then me in my wolf form. "Uh..." Concern flicked into his eyes. "Dove, what's going on?"
Like I could answer him in animal form, but his message was clear. Why was I in wolf form in front of Griffin and Luna, of all people?
Luna whimpered, taking his focus off me. I glanced into the pool to find her struggling to stay afloat. I hadn't expected that. I’d figured she could get out—she’d been aware enough to attack me. Her head went under the water again, and it was clear that she wouldn't be able to tread enough water to get to the top.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
"I've got her," Killian yelled as he ran to the pool and jumped in.
As he swam to her, she didn’t rise above the surface. I ran to the edge of the pool, whining. The whole point was for me not to kill anyone else, and yet, here she was, almost drowning.
"Hey, he has her." Griffin kneeled beside me. The myrrh scent that was all him filled my nose. Between that and his touch, my wolf and I calmed down. I leaned into him, needing to feel him closer.
Killian wrapped his arms around Luna, keeping her head above water.
My body sagged, and my lungs filled with air once more.
I didn’t like her, but that didn’t mean I wanted her dead.
The sound of an engine grew louder, and Griffin released me. "We need to get you shifted back to your human form before anyone else sees you."
That was easier said than done, seeing as my clothes were in tatters.
"Come on." Griffin rose, grabbed my sheath and bag and waved me to follow him.
He opened Killian’s back door for me. Rushing inside, I ran to Olive's bedroom door, but reality hit me. I'd locked it earlier so that Killian wouldn't barge in and find me gone. At the time, it had seemed like the smart thing to do, but not so much now.
"What's wrong?" Griffin winced as he gestured to Killian's room. "Go change. Hurry before they come looking for us."
Ugh, this would cause so many questions, but my hands were tied. I trotted to the bedroom I was staying in and whimpered, looking at the top of the door frame where I knew the little metal emergency key was located.
"Whoa! Wait." Griffin's forehead lined with confusion. He followed my gaze to the top of the doorframe then snagged the key and unlocked the door. As he entered the room, he glanced at the skewed sheets on the bed. "You're staying in Olive's room?"
And the questions had already started. I should've put a spare set of clothes in Killian's bedroom in case something like this happened. But I’d never dreamed of this happening. At least, I didn’t have to attempt to explain it right then since I was in animal form.
Pushing past him, I dug in the closet, not finding a damn thing to wear.
His chuckle forced me to turn around to find my bag on the floor and unzipped. Not looking at him, I rummaged through the bag carefully grabbing with my mouth jeans, bra, and white shirt.
Once I gathered my things, I turned to find Griffin sitting on the bed, watching me. One corner of his mouth tipped upward, and he looked almost pleased.
In other words, he looked drop-dead sexy, and the tug inside me seemed to coil and tighten.
Car doors slammed shut, alerting me that the guards had arrived. Welcoming the reprieve, I rushed out the door, not wanting to attempt to try to get him to leave my room. The way he was acting, he wouldn’t budge, waiting instead for a show. So, I slipped into the bathroom to get some privacy.
My body tingled as I pushed my wolf away, and soon, I was standing back on two legs. I glanced in the mirror and, for a second, felt almost like myself, which was a welcome change. My emotions were more centered, and likewise, the dark circles under my eyes that had been there not even an hour ago had vanished. The shift and the moon must have done wonders for my mental stability. In fact, the overwhelming feelings of being alone that I’d previously entertained weren't suffocating at the moment.
I sagged against the dark granite sink and looked around the large bathroom. Beige tile complemented the light yellow walls. The tub and toilet sat against one wall, and across from the sink was a large linen closet that Killian kept stocked with towels. I grabbed a fresh hand towel, splashed my face with water, and patted it dry.
I could faintly hear the guards talking with Killian. They'd be coming in soon, so I quickly dressed.
Griffin knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you okay in there?"
His voice made goosebumps break out across my arms. Lord, I had it bad, but I had to keep my head on straight. "Yeah, I'm almost done." I put my bra on and pulled the white shirt down over my jeans. I took a moment and closed my eyes. There was no telling what kind of state Luna would be in, and I hoped that she didn't try to kick my ass again. I felt bad for dumping her in the pool since she’d obviously been even more drunk than I realized.
I heard Griffin walk down the hallway. The farther he moved away from me, the more desperate I felt to get close to him again. This couldn't continue to happen. I didn't need to get to the point where I relied on him.
The back door opened. "What the hell happened out there?" I heard Killian rasp as four sets of footsteps entered behind him. "And why are there Shadow City guards here?"
I grabbed some bath towels from the linen closet and then ran into the living room. As I expected, wolf Luna was soaking wet. Killian was carrying her in his arms past the guards as water dripped all over the wood floor.
"Here,” I said and held my hands out to take her from Killian so he could dry off.
"Uh, hell no," Griffin growled and took the towels away from me, the warmth of his body making the hairs rise on my arms as I swayed toward him. Dammit . "You're wearing a white shirt, and I'll be damned if you're giving them a show."
My cheeks burned, and I almost wanted to take her anyway to prove a point.
Almost.
But I didn't want to entertain the new men, so I let it go.
However, when Griffin took Luna from Killian, intense jealousy slammed into me. The irrational anger that surged through me when he touched her scared the shit out of me and luckily woke me up enough to keep my head in check. The girl almost died. I had to remember that.
Killian took a towel from me and dried off as I threw the two other towels onto the floor, trying to wipe up the water mess before his floors were ruined.
"What should I do with her?" Griffin wrinkled his nose.
There was only one option. "Put her in the bathtub, and I'll get her some clothes in case she shifts back."
He followed my instructions, which surprised me. Normally, he was more combative.
"Once again, why the hell were you outside when you were supposed to be safely sleeping in bed, and why are there four guards here?" Killian's dark eyes locked on me and then glanced at the four guards standing at the back door.
I sucked in a breath, remembering the scents of the guards, and was about to tell Killian what I could when Griffin joined us back in the kitchen area. He filled in Killian and the guards on my wolf stalker and everything that had been happening.
Well... almost everything. Not the silver wolf part.
"We’ll secure the perimeter," a bald-headed guard said. "No one will get by."
“Good, I’ll stay here with them.” Griffin motioned to Killian and me. “Let me know if you need anything, and I want you reporting in every hour.”
“Yes, alpha.” The oldest guard nodded and headed out the door.
When the four of them left, Killian rubbed his arms. "You were running away?" He sounded hurt as he touched my shoulder, making me meet his gaze.
"I don’t want anything to happen to you." He had to understand that. "Think about it—if someone was hunting you, and they were willing to kill me in order to succeed, what would you do? And I couldn't tell you goodbye. If I tried, I knew I wouldn't leave." I felt like a huge asshole. If he was this upset from me contemplating it, what would've happened if I'd managed to go through with it?
"It doesn't matter." Killian stepped toward me, his face set with determination. "You are one of the most important people in my life now, and I refuse to let some assholes take that from me. Do you understand?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. But I wasn't trying to hurt you." I wanted him to know that. "It was just…every time I closed my eyes, I saw you dead, along with everyone else I love."
Killian pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. "I know that feeling too, but you can't get rid of me. Okay?"
A deep growl emanated from Griffin as he stepped closer, pulling Killian’s attention away from me.
“Dude, what the hell?” Killian frowned.
Griffin must have been feeling the same thing that came over me when I watched him carry Luna away. I pulled out of Killian’s arms, trying to calm the situation.
“It’s been a long night.” Griffin rasped, as if trying to smooth out his reaction.
"Let me go get Luna to drink water and eat something, or she's going to feel like hell in the morning."
"And I'm going to dry off." Killian picked at the shirt that was plastered to his chest. "I'll change and come back out here to make her something to eat."
He had the better end of the deal. I watched him walk off, feeling even worse that I'd almost left without saying goodbye.
I’d taken one step toward Olive’s bedroom to get Luna some clothes when Griffin cut me off.
His hazel eyes glowed, emphasizing the flecks of green as he came close enough that his minty breath hit my face. "If you leave, I will find you. I will use every resource I have until you're back here where you belong." He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, which made a shiver run through me. "If you so much as breathe the wrong way, one of the guards will alert me. There's no escaping me now, Dove."
My breath hitched, and my body grew warm all over. I never dreamed possessive words would turn me on, but here I stood, wrong.