Page 25 of Clash of Kings

“It’s an honor, Dakota.” His voice was husky, and Dakota shivered. Her Wolf’s contentment morphed into elated determination. It threatened to break free, and Dakota growled in her head.

Don’t you dare fight me right now.

Do you smell him? He’s ours.

“I’d like to introduce you to my cousins, Anthony and Lydia,” he said, releasing her fingers. Dakota focused on the other strangers, doing her best to ignore her Wolf, and both placed a fist over their hearts and subtly bowed their heads. That was odd but also endearing.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Dakota said, but her eyes had turned back to Sebastian who was staring intently at her. What the hell was going on? Did he feel the same connection she did?

“Now that introductions are out of the way, shall we begin?” King asked.

Sebastian gestured for Dakota to precede him to the sitting area. There was no way she could sit beside him and keep her composure, so she opted for one of the armchairs. King took the other, and Sebastian sat on the sofa with Lydia. Sloane took up his position behind King, and Anthony did the same, standing behind Sebastian. Anthony mirrored Sloane’s stance; arms crossed with a scowl on his face. Dakota could see why Jolee was taken with the redhead. He was adorable even when serious. Her gaze fell to Sebastian who was staring intently at her. King cleared his throat, and Sebastian startled, like he’d been lost in thought.

“When I spoke to Alpha Millard, he assured me he had already filled you in on what went down in South Carolina,” Sebastian started.

“Yes, and I filled the pack in, so we are all aware,” King responded.

Sebastian leaned forward and braced his elbows on his thighs, clasping his hands. Dakota stared at his fingers until he spoke again. “That isn’t the first time humans have been made aware of shifters. Before I dive into that story, I need to tell you that wolves aren’t the only shifters in the world. My cousins and I are Gargoyles, and we have friends who are Gryphon shifters.”

King straightened in his seat. “The fuck you say.”

Anthony took a step back from the sofa, removed his black T-shirt, and a pair of large, leathery wings sprung from his back. His fangs elongated, and he held out a clawed hand. Just as quickly, he retracted all his Gargoyle parts and put his shirt back on, leaving it untucked. Dakota couldn’t breathe. Those were the same type of wings from her dream. She turned her eyes to Sebastian who was studying her. Could he be…? No fucking way.

Anthony placed his hands on the sofa behind Sebastian. “Gargoyles have been around since the beginning of time to protect humans. According to our friends, Zeus created the Gryphons for the same reason. Approximately twenty-five years ago, my uncle’s mate, Lucy, who is a Gryphon, was ‘hired’ by the GIA. As many hacker’s stories go, it was work for the government or face imprisonment. Lucy’s adopted father, Lucius, had been a geneticist who taught Lucy everything he knew. Before his death, Lucius was working on a formula to fuse Gargoyle DNA with humans. Where he got the DNA, nobody knows. With Lucius dead, the agent at the GIA he had been working with forced Lucy to continue her father’s work and tucked her away in an underground laboratory. Long story short, Lucy was rescued by her Gryphon family and my uncle. The agent, Deputy Director Phil Ramey, was killed, and the evidence destroyed.”

Sebastian sat back. “Neil Stallings, the agent who was involved in South Carolina, was Ramey’s protégé. We don’t know if his mentor shared with him what Lucy was working on all those years ago. Since the GIA hasn’t publicly gone on a ‘witch hunt’ in the past twenty-five years, we assumed that we – meaning all shifters – were safe. Now, though, with Agent Stallings being involved as well as having known Ramey, we can’t be sure there aren’t plans being put in place to hunt for us. This is the reason I decided to meet with other shifter leaders to form a council.”

“What will the council accomplish?” Dakota asked. Her focus had been on Sebastian this whole time, and when he smiled at her, she sucked in a breath. Her Wolf was begging to be turned loose, to get to the male sitting across from her.

“We want to meet with as many packs and Clans as possible, warning them to be on their guard. Since we are aware of four types of shifters, we assume there are more. We didn’t know Gryphons existed until Anthony’s uncle met Lucy. One of the Gryphons met his mate in a dire wolf, alerting us to the fact that wolf shifters were real, and another Gryphon has a lion mate. We hope in meeting with others, they will already know of different species than those we’re aware of. We need to get the word out to as many as we can. Whoever agrees to sit on the council must be willing to travel and spread the word.”

“Dire wolves are real?” Sloane asked. “I thought they were a myth.”

Lydia spoke for the first time. “They are real, although their numbers are few.”

“As Alpha, I can’t travel, but I’m willing to sit on the council otherwise,” King said.

Sebastian crossed his right ankle over his left knee, placing his hands on his leg. “Since you asked Dakota to join the meeting, we would love to speak to her about joining us. She should be able to travel, right?”

“Absolutely not.” King stood from his chair. “She has more important duties to our pack.”

“Like what?” Dakota asked. “I’m an unemployed bartender.”

King took a menacing step toward her, and Sebastian jumped to his feet, putting himself between the two wolves. King pointed at the door. “I think you and your cousins need to leave.”

“Not without Dakota,” Sebastian said.

Her Wolf howled in Dakota’s head. She stood in case she couldn’t hold her beast back.

King’s eyes flashed amber and fur sprouted along his arms, his Wolf at the surface. “I’m the Alpha of this pack, and Kody belongs to me. You need to leave, now,” he growled.

Dakota couldn’t help herself. She took a couple steps toward Sebastian and placed her hand on his back. Some tether flowed from the male to Dakota, and she nearly went to her knees. He looked over his shoulder at her, his blue eyes now almost black. Instead of scaring her, it solidified what she already knew – this male was important to her.

Chapter 12

Sebastian’s claws elongatedas his Goyle fought to break free. Looking into his mate’s eyes, Bas reined it in somewhat. Turning back to the angry male, he said, “You might be Alpha of this small pack, but I’m the King of all Gargoyles, and Dakota is my fated mate.” Dakota gasped behind him, her hand gripping the back of his shirt. King snarled, and Anthony and Lydia moved in on either side of him, ready to defend him and help kick some wolf ass.

King puffed up his chest. “Wolves don’t have fated mates, so you can fuck off out of here before I call in the pack to dispose of you.”

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