Page 106 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

Together we will right the wrongs of the past.

Sincerely,

Atticus

Holy shit."I found a letter between our dads."

"Really?" Griffin looked at the paper in my hands. "What does it say?"

I read it to him, and somehow kept a level voice. "That’s insane. Your dad even referenced their children." Little did he know that their children were fated mates. I wished we could’ve seen both of their reactions when that little fact was brought to their attention.

"What else is there?" he asked.

I pulled out the next piece of paper, and as expected, it was another letter from Atticus. This one looked more recent, and the handwriting, more rushed. I read the words out loud.

Arian,

The votes have been cast and counted. The gates of Shadow City will open in a week’s time. The hope of reuniting with the supernatural races outside of this city has finally come to fruition. Even though people won’t be able to move into the city for a while—and even when they do, they’ll have to be approved by the council before admittance—we are allowed to have visitors.

I’d love for you to be my first. Your pack identity will be kept secret, but I would love for you to see how much our city has changed and that this place can be a safe haven for the silver wolves once again.

Please come in two weeks and inform the gatekeeper that Atticus has invited you. I will ensure you are ushered straight to me. Let us make this the kind of world our children can be proud of.

Sincerely,

Atticus

"Dad triedto keep a level head, but he really dreamed of our pack making a big impact on the wolf community." Griffin smiled sadly, but there was so much pride reflected in his eyes. "He wanted to help the struggling wolf packs and bring harmony to our world. He’d show me maps of the packs that we knew about prior to the border closing and share his plans with me about how he and I, together, were going to visit and help make things right since we’d been closed off for so long."

"I still don’t understand why the gates were closed."

Griffin sighed. "There was some sort of political unrest that made the city go into lockdown, but I don’t know the details. I hope Mom knows. Dad hadn’t gotten around to telling me since it seemed certain we had so much more time."

"Your father sounds like a kind and amazing person." Griffin had never talked to me about his father, and hearing him open up to me warmed my heart.

"Yeah, that was one reason his death shook me so hard." He frowned and inhaled. "We had all these plans, and the thought of doing them alone hurts a lot. Everyone thinks I’m not interested in leading, but it’s not that. I want to carry out his plans, but the thought of doing it alone… It was easier to let Dick Harding handle things while I ran off to school and fucked around."

"I know I’m not your dad, and I would never want to replace him…for many reasons." I tried teasing him because I missed seeing his handsome smile. "But I would love to carry out those plans beside you."

"Since the moment we stopped fighting our bond, I’ve felt like I’m finally ready to be the kind of leader my dad saw in me." He took my hand and squeezed lovingly. "With you by my side, I want to not only follow my dad’s plan, but make our own, too."

"That sounds amazing." And it made our current situation piss me off even more. "We have to find whoever is attacking us and kick their ass so we can actually focus on those goals."Although that certainly sounded a whole lot simpler than it would be.

Irritated, I pulled out the journal and flipped to the first page. Dad’s familiar squiggly handwriting hurt my heart. For some reason, I’d expected this to be Mom’s. But the journal was in his hidden compartment, so, it only made sense that it was his.

I scanned the first few pages, finding nothing earth-shattering. He mentioned that the new alpha of Shadow City had begun sending letters and how he was concerned that, because of his eagerness to connect, others would learn about us.

But the next entry made my breath stop. Dad described the day his brother left the pack.

He’d never mentioned a brother to me. I had an uncle somewhere in this world and had never known about him. The date of the entry was a year before my birth.

Somehow, I’d thought if I learned that I wasn’t the last silver wolf, a part of me would be relieved… I wouldn’t be alone. But this news made me feel even more hollow.

A shell of myself.

Not only was I not the last of my kind, but potentially, I had family who were still alive. Family I’d never met and had no way of finding or contacting. The thought made me feel more isolated than ever before.

The onslaught of emotions hovered over me, and I wasn’t ready to deal with them, so I flipped several more pages and paused when I saw the date of my birth.

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