Page 103 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

Despite the thought being hypothetical, flames of jealousy flickered through me. I hated that Luna had gotten her claws into Griffin for so long. We hadn't seen her since the night she’d shown up drunk at his house, but she had clearly intended to hurt, if not kill me. Had I not caused her to fall into Killian's pool, there was no telling how that confrontation would've ended. Granted, she'd almost drowned because I hadn't realized she was that far gone until it was too late. Killian had jumped in and saved her.

I ran through the last section of trees. Looking at the bodies littered across the ground made my heart hurt, and somehow looked even more gruesome than I remembered. So many of these deaths could've been prevented.

Squatting next to the closest two bodies, I pried the guns from their cool hands—I could already detect the faint smell of decay. Holding my breath, I turned and handed another gun to Griffin while keeping two for myself.

Griffin’s fingers brushed my bullet wound.

Blood had soaked through the green shirt in that spot, and there was still an ache, but it was dulling. Silver wolves healed faster than any other shifter, and even faster than vampires when they drank blood. With a wound this deep and irritated, it'd probably take a day or two for it to be completely healed, but I should be able to move without wincing by tonight.

Maybe you should rest.Griffin's eyes deepened to a brown.You can head back to the Navigator while I get them out.

No way in hell would I let that happen. They were still grossly outnumbered, and even though Griffin was an amazing shot, I couldn't, in good conscience, run to safety while the three of them were in danger.I'm fine. I promise.I kissed him, takingan extra moment to reassure him. He had been almost panicked with worry ever since I got shot.It's already not hurting as bad.I slowly peeled the shirt away from the wound.See, the bleeding has already slowed.

In other words, you're refusing to stay behind.Griffin huffed as he caressed my face.Fine, but if it starts hurting worse or bleeding again, promise me you'll let me take the lead.

Promise.I couldn't deny him that, as long as I was there with him.

The air remained sulfur-free, which caused him to relax marginally.

Now, let's go.I was chomping to get away from all the dead people, as well as check on Killian and Sierra. If I wasn't worried about their cell phone distracting them or giving away their location, I'd have been texting them now. But we had to go in blind.

We sprinted through the woods in the direction of the cave.

The sound of shots firing echoed all around. I hadn't even noticed that it had been quiet until then. Maybe they weren't in over their heads yet.

I held my arm close to my side, attempting to ease the jarring of my steps. I gritted my teeth, trying to make sure that Griffin couldn't feel my discomfort. I planned on keeping my promise, but the pain wasn't unbearable…

At least, not yet.

Ten distinct scents hit me when we intersected the route the enemy had taken to reach our friends. I sniffed and tapped into my wolf so I could maintain a decent speed. Soon, Killian's and Sierra's scents mixed with theirs, which wasn't surprising. The enemy had been tracking them after all.

Unlike what I'd told them to do, Killian and Sierra seemed to have run in some sort of random pattern. There were sections where their smells veered off in two different directions. Killianmust have been trying to confuse the enemy on where their end goal was by having them run in circles.

The tactic was smart but risky. They were lucky that the others hadn't figured it out and caught them before they got to the cave. But it must have bought them some time, and was probably the reason the fight had just started.

We need to move quietly.The men stalking them would be more focused on what was in front of them instead of behind. They'd expect their friends to have taken us down.Where's my knife?I stopped and faced Griffin.

Here,he linked and handed it to me, along with the sheath.

I squatted and fastened the sheath around my ankle, already feeling more like myself. For some reason, this knife always made me feel safer. More grounded. Maybe because it had been my grandfather's.Okay, we should take out as many as we can without shooting.

Your shoulder,he growled.

I'll use my left hand.We'd been trained to use weapons with both hands, just in case our dominant side was injured. There’d been so many times I'd thought Dad was being dramatic, but all of those lessons were coming in handy now.It won't be a problem.

I wished I could tell my dad I was sorry and that he was right. I'd been so disrespectful at times—rolling my eyes and complaining to Zoe about how stupid it all was. Had I known what our future held, I would’ve taken it all more seriously.

Pivoting in the direction of the cave, I took off slowly. The sheath rubbed my skin a little more than normal because I was barefoot. Not only had my clothes ripped off my body, but so had my shoes. I was able to move more silently than I would have with the rubber soles of my tennis shoes, but I had to take Griffin's footwear into account as well.

Gunshots kept firing, which brought me peace of mind. If the enemy continued to fire, that meant Killian and Sierra were alive. They hadn't been taken out or hurt yet.

"What's the plan?" a guy asked, from not even a quarter-mile ahead. "They've got coverage, and every time we try to move so they're in view, they shoot. I don't know how the hell we're going to get to them."

Thank God my plan was working. Sometimes, even the most well-thought-out plans went awry.

A row of thick bushes appeared a few feet away, and I got down on my hands and knees and crawled toward them. Griffin moved beside me, following my lead, and soon, we were peeking through the branches.

Two enemies were standing about fifty feet away near a large redwood.

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