Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
I stepped in to stop Killian before he punched Julius and made things worse. Since my friends and I weren’t all one pack with mind-links, no one but Griffin realized that Julius was the only reason I wasn’t dead. “Stop, please.” I winced, preparing for his inevitable reaction. “He saved me from being hit by a bullet.”
“So he could hand you off to God knows who!” Killian didn’t budge. “This asshole better be glad that you and Rosemary want him alive, or I’d rip out his throat right now.” He turned to Julius. “Who is after Sterlyn?”
I understood why he was reacting this way. He was the first person I’d met in this group. He’d found me floating on a log in the flood-swollen Tennessee River, asleep after nearly drowning while running from the men who had decimated my pack. He’d pulled me out and taken me in. We’d become close in that short amount of time while we were pretending to be a couple; he felt like a missing part of my family I’d never known about until that fateful day. Because of him, I’d met Griffin, my fated mate and the love of my life. “Look, he’s a silver wolf, which means I’m not alone.” I didn’t want to spill my guts in front of Julius, so I was choosing my words carefully. “But I agree.” I spun around to Julius. “Who are you working for?”
Julius glanced at me, and something unreadable crossed his face. He knew we had a connection, but I didn’t want him to know how much that affected me. He said, “If you take me with you, I’ll consider telling you.”
“Not good enough,” Griffin rasped as he punched Julius in the eye and dropped him back to the ground. “We want to know everything you know. Now!”
“Girl, this asshole doesn’t care that he’s silver.” Sierra shook her head, looking disappointed. “They’re still coming after you, and he’s helping them. Don’t go making me think you’re not as smart as I thought. I’m not sure my heart can take it.”
“He’s coming with us.” Rosemary nodded, backing me up. “And I’ll keep watch on him the entire time—but one way or another, this asshole will tell us everything.”
Killian growled, low and threatening. “He’s coming over my dead body.”
“Well, that can be arranged,” she retorted. “I agree with Sterlyn. We can’t kill him, and he admitted to knowing he’ll be dead if we leave him behind. So, if he comes with us, he’ll have to answer our questions, or I’ll kill him myself once we get settled.”
“Dude, why am I the only one getting all up in arms?” Killian asked as he turned to face Griffin, looking for an ally. “She’s your mate. Don’t let me be the bad guy.”
“I’m not thrilled about any of this.” Griffin rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. “But Sterlyn wants him to come with us, and if that’s what she wants, then so be it. The closer we keep him, the more easily we can keep an eye on him.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Killian’s mouth almost hit the ground. “What, is she your alpha now?”
I’d never seen Killian act this way, and his words cut deep. I tried to hold in my hurt, but it flowed into my bonds with Griffin and Julius, which pissed me off even more. I marched over to Killian and slapped him, stealing some power from the moon to make a point.
His head snapped back, while Sierra gasped.
Emotions were becoming charged, and horrible things were going to be said if I didn’t keep a level head. “You’re being an asshole. How dare you speak like that to your best friend, who would do anything for you and me?” I glanced at my mate, who gave me a tiny nod. “But it doesn’t matter. You’re outvoted. And even if you don’t like that answer, I don’t care. He’s coming with us. We’ll keep him under watch the entire time if that’s what it takes.” I stared Killian straight in the eye, ready to make him submit if that was what it came down to. I never liked playing the alpha card, but I’d do whatever was necessary to do what was right. And everything inside me told me Julius coming with us was just that.
Killian rubbed his cheek and grimaced.
“Sterlyn’s right,” Griffin said as he took my hand, scowling at his friend. “If she hadn’t slapped you, you’d be dealing with me right now. You don’t get to disrespect her that way, even if it’s because you’re afraid of losing her.” I ’ m actually kind of disappointed that you beat me to it. I ’ ve been wanting an excuse to punch him ever since I learned you two weren ’ t romantically involved, but I’ve been trying to be the bigger person.
My heart warmed, and some of my anger disappeared, nearly making me chuckle. I was afraid that we’d fight over Julius, but once again, Griffin proved that what I needed was the most important thing to him. I love you.
And I love you. He squeezed my hand affectionately. If I hadn ’ t proven it before, this should damn well show you how much.
The man had taken a bullet for me. You have nothing to prove. I kissed his lips, pouring my love into him.
“Really?” Rosemary wrinkled her nose. “They’re doing that even at a time like this?”
“Have you ever been in love?” Sierra countered. “You know what? Never mind. It’s obvious you haven’t. There’s always time for kissing.”
Rosemary was right, though. We needed to get a move on. Despite me wanting Julius to come with us, I didn’t trust him, so we needed to spend a few minutes making sure bringing him wasn’t putting us even more at risk. “Are you part of anyone’s pack?” He’d seemed surprised earlier that I could hear his thoughts, but I couldn’t assume that meant he wasn’t linked to anyone else.
“No, I’m not.” Julius met my gaze as if he didn’t have anything to hide. I watched for any signs of abnormalities beyond the horrible sulfuric smell of a lie, but nothing seemed out of sync with his natural inclinations.
Dad had taught me that over ninety-nine percent of society couldn’t hide the obvious stench of a lie, but there was less than point one percent that somehow could manage to mask that standard tell. However, no lie was completely perfect, and the slightest change in heartbeat or breathing for a split second—or even an abnormal swallow—could give it away.
“Then how are you mentally stable?” Even during the short time I’d been rogue, I’d shown signs of going insane.
“Why wouldn’t I be mentally stable?” He shrugged, his brows furrowing. “Is that some kind of wise crack?”
Sierra gestured at Julius. “He obviously isn’t mentally stable since he’s working with sick assholes.”
His eyes darkened. “And you guys are so outstanding. I mean, you just killed a ton of men yourselves.”
“To protect ourselves,” I countered. This was once again turning into a highly volatile situation. “What I meant is, since you aren’t part of a pack, how are you able to keep a sane mind?” I had to give Sierra some credit. He had obviously been manipulated, given how much hatred he held, but I didn’t think it was his fault.
He chuckled darkly. “I’ve always been alone. I grew up that way. I haven’t known any different.”
Appeased, I turned my attention to my next task. This one would get the reaction from Griffin that Killian had given me. “Carter’s brother is downstairs in the prison. We have to free him, too.” The teen, Randall, had been taken hostage for leverage to force Carter to set me up to be kidnapped.
“Let’s go.” Griffin tugged me toward the car. “It’s bad enough that we’re taking dipshit over there, but now we’re going to stay here even longer to rescue Randall and risk backup finding us?”
“That person is your responsibility because he’s part of Killian’s pack.” Granted, Killian was Carter’s direct alpha, but their pack protected one side of Shadow City. The very city that Griffin was supposed to be leading. “Killian’s pack is our responsibility, and it’s time we start acting like one pack and not two separate ones. Would you leave Killian behind?” A lot of the Shadow Ridge wolves felt slighted by the Shadow City packs…or that was the rumor I’d heard at the coffee shop. They were good enough to live outside the city and protect Shadow City supernaturals, but in return, the Shadow City wolves acted like they were above the Shadow Ridge pack. Now that Killian was taking over Shadow Ridge and Griffin was leading Shadow City, it was time to act like one pack again.
“You know I wouldn’t,” Griffin huffed, realizing that I’d already proven my point. “Fine, but dickhead here is going to go with Killian to get Randall instead of Killian having to stumble around, looking for the keys or a way to get him out.”
“No, it’s too risky.” The best thing was to keep Julius right in front of us where he couldn’t pull some sort of trick. “The keys to the jail cell are on the table. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out.”
“All right, I’ll go. I’m linking with Randall so he doesn’t get scared,” Killian said as he ran off to the house.
I turned to Sierra and Griffin and said, “You two head back to the car.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for incoming vehicles. I’ll be two miles southbound, so you shouldn’t have any issues with hearing me if I see something.” Rosemary took off into the sky, heading toward the road.
“They’ll be here shortly,” Julius growled, clearly annoyed. “We need to go or we’re going to get caught. I offered to come with you all because I thought I’d get away from here faster, not be stuck waiting for my imminent death.”
“With Rosemary gone, I’m staying here with you.” Griffin crossed his arms, refusing to leave. “Sierra, hurry and go get the car.” After almost losing you, I can’t leave you right now. And that way, two of us are watching Julius.
His words softened me. He’d already agreed to so much, despite not being thrilled about it. Okay.
“Uh, why me?” Sierra asked and pointed at him. “You have two legs.”
“You know Griffin would never leave here without me,” I said. Sierra also wasn’t the best fighter, so for her to not be in front of the house if their backup rolled up would be ideal, but I also didn’t want to offend her. She’d been loyal and jumped into danger to help and be part of the team. Disregarding her would be a mistake. “We need you to get the car ready so we can get the hell out of here if things go south. Or worst case, you’ll still be free and can get help if the rest of us are caught.”
“Oh, okay.” Sierra nodded, and her back straightened. A glint of determination darkened her irises to charcoal. “I can do that.” She pulled the keys from her pocket and headed toward the car
I kept my gaze on Julius to avoid looking at the bodies that littered the ground. If I paid attention to them, I’d have flashbacks of my own slaughtered pack, and unlike these people, we hadn’t done anything to warrant an attack.
When Sierra disappeared back into the tree line, I stepped toward him. “Now tell me who’s after me. Who are you working for?”
“Why would I tell you now?” Julius sneered. “You could just leave my ass behind. I need to make sure you’re invested in keeping me around.”
Griffin clenched his fist. That jackass.
Yeah, I couldn’t disagree with that sentiment. “We could still leave you here. Maybe you should give us something so we know your knowledge is worthwhile.”
He smirked arrogantly. “Yeah, I’m not falling for that.” There was so much animosity wafting off him, it was almost suffocating. I had no clue what I could’ve done to make him hate me so much.
The problem was that Julius knew he had us. We couldn’t risk leaving him behind in case he actually did know something. And even if he didn’t, I couldn’t turn my back on one of my own. It would’ve been so much easier if I’d never found out he existed.
The front door swung open, and Randall and Killian ran outside.
Randall’s shaggy brown hair clung to his face, sticky with greasy sweat, and when he saw us, his moss-colored eyes widened in horror, emphasizing the light purple bruise around his eye. “He’s still here.” The spicy smell of fear emanated from him.
Then Rosemary’s scream filled the air. “Incoming!”