Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The silence in the room almost overwhelmed me. I hated being the center of attention, but in this unfortunate situation, that was exactly what we had to be. It was important for the others to know we had the guts to lead, to prove that we were serious and would take down any adversary.
We needed to portray confidence and solidarity.
Griffin took my hand as we stared down the council together, practically daring them to challenge us.
I will die to protect you , he linked with me before adding Killian to our bond. Kill, Sterlyn just informed the council who she is.
Of course, she did , Killian deadpanned. I thought we were keeping that shit secret.
Secrets never stay buried , I told him. The truth could take centuries to come out, but eventually, it always caught back up to people. This was something I’d come to learn ever since Dad passed. And by hiding, we were giving our enemies exactly what they wanted. Leverage. Control. The only two things that could make Dick hard. Obviously, his mate didn’t give a shit about him. She would’ve happily stayed here while Dick roamed the world outside.
I’d been so stupid. I should’ve shouted my heritage from the rooftops instead of keeping the secret guarded.
Killian burst into laughter through our bond. Damn, I ’ m so glad I can link to you two. Sterlyn has a way of making me smile that no one else can.
Everyone but Rosemary. I’d seen the way they looked at each other, but both of them were too damn stubborn to admit their feelings.
Watch it. Griffin growled, teasing, but it fell flat because of the severity of the situation.
Whatever, man. Killian sighed exasperatedly. She ’ s my sister. Let me know if you need me. You coming back today?
No, it ’ ll be tomorrow. We had to stay here and make sure that Dick actually left. If we left the city ourselves, it could make us look weak, even though that wasn’t the case.
“That was unexpected.” Alex chuckled, bringing me back to the present. He sat back in his seat as he steepled his fingers and looked at me. “And silver wolves are still alive. Who would’ve ever guessed that?”
A murkiness swirled inside the vampire prince. He considered me as if he were at a crossroads where he could go evil or good. Most of the council members had corruption rolling off them—all except for Rosemary’s parents, Ezra, and Alex. Each member was out to get something for their race or perhaps even for their own personal gain.
“Definitely not me.” Erin’s nose wrinkled with disgust. “We’ve done just fine without them. There’s no need for them to return now.”
“I have to agree.” Azbogah sneered. “But at least her coming here has helped accomplish something. I can finally finish what we started all those years ago. My judgment still stands that the silver wolves should die.”
“Not so fast.” Yelahiah moved partially in front of me with a wide stance. “When you came to Earth, you forfeited being the judge, which means that your opinions don’t carry weight anymore.”
There was so much tension and hatred brewing between the two of them. Even if I hadn’t known the history, it was clear that something had happened in the past.
I couldn’t help but wonder if everyone knew why Azbogah wanted us dead. He knew we contained the power to rally the races and ensure the angels never gained control again. But this was a piece of information that could hurt us if shared. We needed more alliances before the members got nervous, thinking whatever plans they had would be thwarted. These people didn’t want to unite the land—they just wanted to gain power of their own.
“Opinions?” Azbogah's jaw twitched. “What I say is the law.”
“No, it’s not.” Pahaliah shook his head as he pushed his seat back. “Your influence has been fracturing, and the whole point of this council is for everyone to have a voice. I agree with Yelahiah. No harm can come to Sterlyn.”
Griffin’s hand tightened on mine. We need to get out of here before things get worse. You being here is going to make others act irrationally out of fear.
That didn’t make sense. Why would they fear me? I was here to make things better. We can’t . That wasn’t how an alpha handled problems. Everyone needed to take a step back and think things through. “Why is it so important to kill us all? We’ve been living for centuries, and now that you learned we survived, you’re determined for us to die again?” I wanted Azbogah to admit to everyone that we were part angel. It seemed that our heritage had always remained a mystery, and there had to be a reason. But I was already rocking the boat enough. I’d leave it alone…for now.
“Wolves aren’t meant to have powers beyond that of any shifter.” Azbogah shook his fist at me. “The fact that you do means that something got perverted. Your kind should never have been created in the first place. The only way to purge the world of silver wolves is to kill each and every one of you.” A scary grin flitted across his face as if he relished the thought.
My stomach revolted. Could he have partnered with Dick and planned my pack’s slaughter? But if that was the case, then he couldn’t have known that they had meant to spare me and use me to breed more of my kind. He wouldn’t have been okay with that if he believed everything he said. And I hadn’t smelled a lie.
“Well, there’s only one way to make that call, because the council was formed for situations like this.” Yelahiah scanned every member of the council as she continued. “A vote on whether the silver wolves should be protected.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Griffin spat as he spun toward her and glared. He growled as he took a menacing step in her direction. “My mate’s life depends on a vote?”
Be careful , I warned. I didn’t like it either, but this was how Shadow City operated. The last thing we needed to do was piss them off even more—they’d be out to kill Griffin as well. I had to trust that Yelahiah knew what she was doing. Don ’ t insult them, or we ’ ll be on even more dangerous ground.
This is your life , Sterlyn. Griffin’s shoulders bunched. Not some vote on what movie we ’ re watching tonight.
I almost smiled despite the seriousness of our situation. Sierra always made us vote on what to watch because there were three women to two men. Needless to say, she got to watch whatever she wanted each night because Rosemary and I didn’t want to hear her whine about girl solidarity.
I get that, but if you act out now, they won ’ t keep Dick out of the city. Even worse, they’ll probably put him back on the council. He ’ ll pretend to play by their rules. I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake, but regardless, the suggestion was out there, and I could already tell that Azbogah approved by the corner of his lips tipping upward. If they agree to kill me, we ’ ll go from there. We couldn’t think about the worst-case scenario and be defensive until we knew we needed to be. Otherwise, we’d be creating a problem that might not exist.
“Fine.” Azbogah pressed his lips into a line and nodded. “That is an excellent idea. All of those in favor of killing the silver wolves, say aye.”
“Aye!” Erin shouted with such enthusiasm.
Wow, that was eager. I had no clue what we’d ever done to her, but she was going on my keep an eye out for list. Maybe Griffin had been right, but it was too late now.
Diana raised her hand. “Aye.”
“Agreed.” Gwen rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “No way in hell am I talking like that.”
Azbogah scowled but didn’t say anything. Most likely because she’d voted in his favor.
Then silence descended, which didn’t make sense. I figured the vampires would jump at the chance, too, but both men glanced at the floor as if they would rather be anywhere but here.
“What the...” Erin leaned over the table in Breena’s direction. “Girl, if you don’t—”
“Fine.” She blew out a breath, making her bangs puff out of her eyes. “Aye.”
“Wait.” Rosemary jumped to her feet, not able to remain silent any longer. “Does that even count? She got bullied.”
“Rosemary, shush,” Yelahiah scolded. “We’re in the middle of a count.”
“Who else?” Azbogah asked through gritted teeth. “Including me, that’s five in favor. Only two more votes needed for a majority.”
No one made a noise beyond their breathing.
“Only two more votes are needed.” Azbogah rubbed his fingers together and tapped a foot on the ground. “You have to say aye for it to count.”
When everyone remained quiet again, I was ready for the dark angel to throw a tantrum. Maybe roll around on the floor like a toddler. Given how his face twisted, that might not have been a crazy possibility.
“I’m thinking the final tallies are in.” Yelahiah beamed as she patted my arm. “Which means Sterlyn and her wolves are protected.”
“For the time being,” Azbogah retorted.
Thank God. Griffin wrapped an arm around my waist. “I think we’ve done enough for today, don’t you agree?”
“For once, I agree with the pup.” Alex twirled a finger. “I second that. The meeting is adjourned.”
Everyone got out of their chairs and segregated into their own races except for Azbogah and Ezra.
I glanced at the other wolf shifter, who seemed to avoid my gaze.
Odd.
Let ’ s get out of here. Griffin placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me toward the door. The longer we hang around here, the greater the chance Azbogah will try to pull something.
He didn’t have to encourage me—I wanted to get out of there just as much as he did. Should we talk to Ezra?
No. Griffin didn’t even bother looking back. He likes to hang out after these things. I’ll catch up with him later.
Ulva opened the door, waving us through. Her irises had deepened to more of a cobalt, revealing her own worry.
I brushed past her, and the three of us rushed through the lobby with three sets of footsteps following behind us. Someone was hurrying to catch up, which meant that another argument or threats wouldn’t be far behind.
My body was prepared for battle, but the scents of Rosemary and her family put my anxiety at ease.
“Sterlyn,” Rosemary called as wings flapped, and soon, she landed right in front of us. Her black wings feathered out behind her, giving her an unearthly beauty. She continued, “We all need to talk, but not here.”
Ulva glanced over her shoulder, back at the council room doors.
“Tomorrow, we’ll be at Griffin’s,” I replied. “That probably would be the safest place to meet. Talk then?”
She nodded. “Sounds good.”
Griffin marched past her, waving both Ulva and me on.
He wanted to get back to his apartment before someone tried pulling something on me again. The farther away we got from the council, the safer I’d be.
Supposedly.
Not with Dick still out there, but one thing at a time. I made sure my back was straight and walked out of the building like I didn’t have a care in the world.
My dad’s words echoed in my mind. Fake it if you have to .
The rest of the day remained tense. Saga called Ulva over and over again, begging her to do something about their family’s banishment. As if she could, or would, even want to attempt to talk her son out of Dick’s punishment. At first, Ulva had tried to be nice, but it didn’t take long before she made the situation perfectly clear: Dick had tried to sabotage her son, and she had no interest in helping him or the rest of his family.
Something was off about the woman, but I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be married to a man like that, someone so heartless and power-hungry. He probably stepped all over Saga and Luna, trying to use them to climb his way to the top. Perhaps that was why Luna had been so desperate to claim Griffin as her own.
Griffin snored gently next to me in his bed. It was close to two in the morning, and he’d just dozed off. His mom had been pacing the apartment for hours, adding to our anxiety. When she finally went to her room, he’d calmed down enough to fall asleep.
However, my wolf stirred inside me. She was on edge and continued to surface, making my skin tingle faintly. I heard nothing out of the ordinary in here, but maybe if I checked the entire apartment, she’d finally calm enough to sleep.
Given Azbogah’s push to murder me, I didn’t blame her for being on edge. The angel more than hated me. Actually…hate was too mild an emotion.
He loathed me.
Or rather, the silver wolves.
I was pretty sure it wasn’t personal, just my genetics.
That didn’t sound much better.
Slowly and quietly, so as not to wake Griffin, I untangled myself from his arms. He grunted and tried to pull me close again, but I rolled far enough away that he flopped over on his side and resumed his gentle snoring once more.
Whew. I didn’t want to wake him. The day had been traumatic, and even though he now hated Dick, tomorrow would still be hard on him. He’d grown up with Dick as a constant presence in his life, and I hated to consider all the possible ways that Dick had screwed Griffin’s family over. In fact, it was safer if I didn’t consider it.
I inched the door open just wide enough to slip through and padded down the hall. I tapped into my wolf, helping me to remain silent. It was strange being in Shadow City because the moon’s pull seemed to be a little stronger inside. Maybe the glass dome somehow magnified the magic. That made sense to me.
As I entered the den, nothing seemed out of place. My eyes were slowly scanning the area when hands grabbed the balcony wall outside.
I ducked behind the couch and crept over to the edge so I could peek without being seen. I could have rushed out there, but I wanted to see how many intruders there were, and how the hell they’d gotten up here.
The person grunted as they lifted their body over the side. All it would take was a finger slipping for the person to hurtle to their death unless they had wings. But if they had wings, I doubted they’d be dangling like that.
Salt and pepper hair peeked over the top, informing me of who it was.
Dick.
A memory of Griffin mentioning that Dick’s family lived next door and how he would sometimes hear him and Saga scream at each other filtered through my mind.
The asshole had somehow gotten from his balcony to Griffin’s. He threw his legs over the side and tipped onto the balcony floor on his ass.
He grimaced and slowly climbed to his feet. He tiptoed to the glass door and pulled out a set of keys. Taking hold of one, he slipped it into the lock and turned. A faint click confirmed that he’d unlocked it.
Did Griffin know Dick had the keys to his home?
The door opened, and he removed his shoes. Once he stepped inside, he pulled a knife from its sheath.
He was here to hunt, but little did he know, he was now the hunted.