Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Dick tugged at the lapels of his black suit as he marched toward the rental car. The windows were dark, so he couldn’t see in. His salt and pepper hair was over-gelled to the point of looking greasy, and he ran his fingers through his dark scruff as his ebony eyes squinted, like that would help him see inside.
Dumbass. He didn’t have X-ray vision, just wolf vision.
“Whoever the hell it is, get out of the car,” Dick growled, his face squinched. “Now.”
You better roll the window down before this gets out of hand. This entire situation was odd. Why were there so many cars out there? And the fact that Dick was here in the middle of the night didn’t add up.
Griffin rolled the window down, and when his face came into view, Dick’s eyes slightly widened as his musky sandalwood scent floated into the SUV.
“Griffin?” Dick asked, sounding truly shocked. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh...I go to school here and needed to get my car. I left it here today.” He arched an eyebrow at his fatherlike figure, then looked at a guard who’d joined Dick. “Is there a problem?”
“Of course not, sir.” The face of the guard stretched into a smile. He extended his hand to my mate. His black clothes were crisp with no signs of wrinkles, and his matching black hat sat on dark chestnut hair that spilled from the edges. The hat was marked with a crescent of two buildings and an upside-down paw print above it, the logo for Shadow City. “My name is Lars. We’ve been searching for you.”
“For me?” Griffin tapped his chest. “Why?”
“Because Carter called, informing us that Dove disappeared,” Dick said, as he gestured to me. “And then you couldn’t be found.”
“Did you expect him to just sit back and twiddle his thumbs when his fated mate had gone missing?” I asked. I bet he hadn’t. In fact, I’d have wagered that he’d hoped that Griffin got hurt along with me. I mean, here he was, in the middle of the night, dressed to the nines. He’d put time and thought into what he wore on campus, which signaled some kind of power play. “Would you wait around if your mate went missing?”
“Probably,” Killian chuckled, causing Dick to flick his gaze to the back seat. However, Killian didn’t miss a beat as he continued, “They’re chosen, anyway, so they don’t have as strong of a connection.”
I bit my cheek, desperate to find a way to keep my smirk from spreading. Killian had pretended to justify why Dick wouldn’t feel as passionate about his wife by effectively reminding everyone that he had a chosen mate rather than a fated one. Every shifter knew that a fated mate made a person stronger in a way that a chosen mate never could. He’d weakened Dick’s status compared to Griffin’s with me by his side.
“That doesn’t make a difference.” Dick’s nostrils flared as he glowered. “I’d...” He trailed off.
He and his mate barely get along. Griffin linked. They’re good at pretending, but behind closed doors, they’re awful. They live next door to my family in Shadow City, and we can hear them yelling through the walls. But Dad and I never confronted Dick about it.
That was information that I could hold close to use when it might be advantageous. Sometimes, keeping the tidbits quiet helped make a bigger impact later when you needed it. For now, Killian had sufficiently called Dick out, and I didn’t want to anger the beast more than he already was. He might explode…
Hmm…that made it so much more tempting.
“Well, he’s here,” I said. If we kept pushing Dick, he could play the victim, claiming that he’d stormed the halls, looking for their alpha, and all we’d done was show up and insult him. He’d use whatever he could to cast Griffin in a bad light to prove that he wasn’t fit to actually lead. “And thank you for your concern. It’s nice to know that Griffin has people who have his back.” I smiled sweetly because I knew Dick understood that I hadn’t been referring to him, but rather to myself and Killian. He’d soon learn he wasn’t the only one able to play the nice guy.
“Of course.” He forced a smile, but all it accomplished was making him look constipated.
“So, what happened, sir?” Lars took a few steps closer.
If we wanted to sniff out who was behind all of this, we’d have to be vague and keep our ears alert. That way, if anyone knew more specific details, we could identify them. I needed to be careful and make sure I didn’t say anything that could be a lie. “We’re not sure, exactly,” I said before Griffin could answer Lars. “Someone put a bag over my head, so I couldn’t see much, but I know my kidnappers drove me about an hour east from here. Luckily, these two guys”—I beamed at Griffin and then Killian—“found me before anything truly horrible happened.”
“Oh, man.” Lars’s sea-green eyes sparkled with admiration. “You’re lucky that they found you in time. Do we need to go check out the area? And what’s with the rental car?”
“We don’t have jurisdiction over that area,” Dick growled. “So unfortunately, we can’t check it out. The last thing we need to do is get more involved and make our city a target.”
Of course Dick didn’t want us to check it out. Every meeting with him made him more suspicious than the last.
“Are you sure the city is a target? Or is it just my mate?” Griffin asked, his brows furrowed.
Don’t push too hard. We didn’t want to alert Dick that we were suspicious of him. He needs to hang himself naturally.
Dick laughed loudly.
Fine, I’ll let him off the hook , Griffin replied. “As for the rental , we thought it’d be nice to have something different so people couldn’t easily identify us.” He shrugged and reached over the center console, taking my hand as he stared lovingly at me. “Good thing we had the crazy idea, or we might not have been able to track her, since they’d probably have recognized my car.”
“You’re going to have a hard time returning it.” Lars gestured to the back of the SUV. “You have at least three bullet holes on this side.”
An older man ran out the front door of the school, heading straight to the car, his bald head glistening in the moonlight. A brown shirt with the Shadow Ridge crest of a paw print on the front covered his large, muscular chest. He was only slightly smaller than Griffin, which meant he was huge by wolf standards. His face was lined with concern as he beelined to us. “Are they okay?”
“Yeah, Billy.” Killian’s voice softened to the tone he only used for me. “Sorry if we caused a problem.”
“As long as you three are safe, that’s all that matters,” he replied. Goodness radiated off him, especially standing next to Dick. This must be the man who’d been holding things down on the Shadow Ridge side since Killian’s parents passed.
“Well, as you can see, they are.” Dick nodded curtly at us. “So you and the other guards are dismissed.” He wrinkled his nose as if speaking to Billy was beneath him.
Billy lifted his chin, and his acorn eyes narrowed. “Shadow Ridge guards were here before Shadow City’s personnel. If—”
“Now listen here.” Dick pivoted toward the beta, looking ready to unleash the rage he was barely containing.
Do something , I encouraged Griffin. It was important for him to be the one to put Dick in his place, not me. The Shadow City guards needed to see their true leader take control. We should be one pack, not divided. I must have sounded like a broken record, but going against the established norm was hard. I finally understood how Dad had felt all those times our pack rolled their eyes at him being insistent the day would come when we’d need to fight and protect not only our own kind, but the entire supernatural world. None of us had believed it because nothing had happened for centuries. Now here I was, harping at the guys, trying to encourage them to embrace change.
Maybe nagging them was more accurate, but…harping sounded a little better.
“No, he’s right,” Griffin said. “If Shadow Ridge arrived here first, they deserve to be part of this conversation. After all, not only were Dove and I at risk, but their alpha, too.” Griffin straightened his back, his trepidation wafting into me. You ’ re right, but damn, why is this so hard?
Because it ’ s easier not to upset anyone. And I had a feeling the more we rattled Dick, the quicker he’d show his true colors. But a confrontation had always been inevitable. That man was determined to take control. He’d been going slower and easier only while Griffin had been compliant. Especially someone you grew up believing had your best interests at heart.
Dick huffed, and his jaw twitched as his composure slipped. “Now, Griffin, you asked me to handle things while you finished school and goofed off. Why don’t you stay out of this and let me take care of it like usual?”
God. He was such a prick. He’d purposely used that term to undermine Griffin in front of everyone. I opened my mouth to defend my mate, but he surprised me.
“You’re right. I did.” Griffin’s face was smooth as if he didn’t have a single worry, but the vein in his neck bulged. “And effective as of this moment, Dove and I plan to become more involved.”
You handled that perfectly. If he had told Dick we were ready to take back control, it would have pushed him over the edge, and we weren’t ready for that. Not yet. We needed to move the needle slowly and gauge the fallout. Someone as vile as Dick could cause even more chaos for us, and the others needed to see Griffin begin to take the reins so they’d feel comfortable backing him when the time came.
Dick’s mouth dropped before he closed it, and his beady eyes landed on me—Griffin had taken him by surprise. He swallowed hard and rolled his shoulders as if the suit was suddenly too much. “I think you have something to do with that decision.”
I’d never had someone look at me with such disgust. It both unsettled and thrilled me. Dad always said that whenever someone met you, if they didn’t either love or hate you, you’d done something wrong because you’d blended into the background—been unmemorable. Silver wolves were about taking a stance and doing the right thing, so we should never go under the radar unless we did so purposely. Between Dick and his daughter, Luna, I’d definitely followed Dad’s advice. “Nope, this was all Griffin.” And that was the truth. I’d only grounded him, which enabled him to see what the future should be.
“Whether she did or didn’t is irrelevant,” Griffin said with annoyance. “The fact remains that it’s solely my decision to make. On that note, my mate has been rescued, and we almost didn’t make it through, so I think it’s best if we get our cars and head home. We’ll take care of the rental tomorrow.”
Dick’s jaw twitched, but he nodded, unable to do much else.
“Billy…” Killian leaned forward and placed a hand on my shoulder, effectively showing I was under his protection too. “We need a handful of guards available at Griffin’s in case something goes awry.”
Unlike Dick, Billy flashed a proud smile. “I can send them there now.”
My body tensed. Julius was there. If the guards saw him, there was no telling what kind of problems that could cause. I understood we needed protection, but if the enemy found out where Julius was staying, they could try to kill him. We had no clue yet who was working against us—we needed those answers from Julius. And the fact that there were at least two people who’d killed themselves rather than be caught spoke volumes about what his controllers would do if they got ahold of him.
The thought of Julius being injured upset me way more than it should.
It ’ ll be fine. Griffin obviously understood what was roiling inside me. Rosemary should already be there with Julius. I gave her a key this morning in case we had to split up, so no one will see him come in.
I hadn’t considered that. The enemy wouldn’t expect an angel to be flying Julius around. Having the guards could work in our favor. I heaved a sigh. We should be okay.
“If you’re okay with that plan, I’ll link them myself.” Killian rubbed my shoulder for a second before removing his hand.
“Kill, they’re your pack.” Billy patted the hood of the SUV. “You don’t need my permission to act as the alpha.”
And that was the largest difference between Dick and Billy. I already liked Billy and could easily view him as a friend or even a family member in the future.
“Lars, do you mind coordinating a few Shadow City guards, too?” Griffin didn’t even bother looking at Dick and spoke directly to the guard. “It would be good for the two forces to work together.”
“Of course, sir.” Lars's face reminded me of a kid’s on Christmas morning.
“Wait.” Dick shook his head as his hands clenched. “Why do we need to involve our guards when Shadow Ridge’s can do the job just fine?”
“Because pooling resources is always smart, and Shadow Ridge has already given lives to the cause,” I said. I hated the man. “Why should Shadow Ridge always risk themselves and their pack for both cities? Don’t you think there should be more of a partnership?”
“This is how things work,” Dick spoke through gritted teeth. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
“Excuse me.” Griffin’s voice laced with alpha will as he stared the prick down. “You will not speak to her like that again. Do I make myself clear?”
Dick grimaced and growled. “Perfectly.”
“As I was saying, please send at least two guards to help out the Shadow Ridge guards,” Griffin said stiffly to Lars. “If you have any questions or problems, link me directly.”
Lars’s head bobbed like a doll’s, and Griffin pulled forward, heading straight to the vehicles.
This whole day had been a shit show, and it still wasn’t over.
Griffin pulled his vehicle into his garage, passing three pack members standing guard out front.
The guards had officially circled the house, which both stressed and comforted me. As long as Julius didn’t do anything stupid, we should be safe. But he seemed to be a hothead, and the moon was still full, despite it descending in the night sky.
The two of us climbed out of our vehicle just as Killian entered the garage. As the door lowered, I exhaled and relaxed, feeling so damn glad Rosemary was near. We might not have made it out of that place if not for her. She was a powerful ally, and I wanted to know why she was helping us. Why would her mom be so insistent that they should help protect the silver wolves? We were missing a chunk of the story.
“I said get out of their room now!” Rosemary commanded so loudly we could hear her in the garage. “You might be a silver wolf, but I will kick your ass.”
Just when I thought I might be able to crawl into bed, there was already another fight brewing. I ran toward the interior door, needing to know exactly what Julius was snooping for. Maybe he was one of the less than point one percent of our population that could lie, but I couldn’t fathom it. My gut said differently.
There was only one way to find out, so I marched into the house.