Page 132 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

I needed the damn bag off my head. I tried climbing to my feet and pushed my pride aside as I fell.

"Wow." The deeper voice sounded unimpressed. "She outsmarted you once? Why aren’t there holes in the bag for her to breathe? And how long have you left the bag over her head?"

"He left it on her the entire way," the wolf gloated. "And he said she didn’t need air."

Footsteps moved closer, and I could hear the new guy squat in front of me. His hand grabbed the bottom of the bag, and he removed the material from my face.

I sucked in a breath, trying to clear my head, but when I looked into this new person’s face, my heart and lungs stopped working.

Squatting before me was a younger version of Dad. His silver hair was a little darker than mine, and his silver eyes were the exact shade of my father’s. That was why he smelled so familiar—his scent was a combination of Mom’s and Dad’s. Just like mine.

There was only one explanation as to who he was…but it was impossible. "I thought you were dead."

CHAPTER TWENTY

"Oh, did you now?"The man chuckled. "You expect me to believe that?" His eyes hardened, turning a granite color.

He had to be kidding, but my mind sputtered, not quite able to catch up with this development.I think I’m looking at my dead brother. Cyrus.I had to say the words, and my gut told me that saying them out loud was the wrong move. "You’d know if I were lying."

When she’d gone to clean us both up, the witch who’d attended our birth had told my father that my brother had died…and yet, this man was standing here in front of me, and the resemblance couldn’t be denied. Something tingled inside my chest, and I had no clue what the hell it could be.

Your brother?Griffin sounded as bewildered as I felt.The one who died at birth?

The very one. I mean, I’m not absolutely sure, but he looks like Dad and smells like him and Mom. Like me.

Frosted Tips scratched his head and glanced back and forth between the man and me. "You two know each other?"

"No, we don’t," Maybe-Cyrus spat.

"I can’t keep up." The wolf kicked at the ground, making a dust cloud. His cornflower-blue eyes filled with confusion as aslight breeze ruffled his pecan-colored hair. He wasn’t nearly as large as my brother or Griffin but more slender and athletic, reminding me of Carter. "She said you were dead, so how do you two not know each other, Julius?" Scrawny looked small compared to the other two guys.

Frosted Tips crossed his thick, hairy arms over his massive chest, straining the top two buttons of his shirt where even more chest hair spilled out. Just like I remembered, his hair was an awful vanilla color on the tips, with dark-brown everywhere else. His long, dark-brown beard reached the top of his chest hair, and he puffed out his chest—which made him look nearly the size of a truck. He wasn’t much larger than Cyrus, though.

"It’s none of your damn business," Cyrus retorted, and turned his hate-filled gaze back on me. "I’m taking her inside. You two idiots keep an eye out for anything that seems abnormal. We can’t be too careful since she went and got fucking mated. Like that was actually going to save her." He chuckled nastily.

He was definitely a silver wolf…but maybe he wasn’t my brother. Scrawny had called him Julius—which wasn’t my brother’s name—and he wasn’t old enough to be my uncle. Maybe he was a cousin? Various ideas ran through my head. Negativity rolled off him, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as the bear’s or Dick’s, so maybe there was hope. "You think I was trying to save myself and that’s why I got mated?" I focused on the safest topic.

"That’s what I would’ve done." He shrugged his shoulders. "But the boss wants you whether you’re tainted or not. I mean…he doesn’t want you for love."

Frosted Tips growled. "Get one of your flunkies to stand guard. My ass—"

Julius almost blurred as he rushed the bear and punched the guy’s jaw. The force of the impact caused the bear shifter to fall back on his ass and clutch his face.

Even though it was daylight, the silver moon would soon be upon us. The power of that moon was already sizzling through my blood, so it had to be doing the same thing inside Julius.

"One more word and I’ll withhold your pay and get the joy of teaching you a lesson." Julius’s nostrils flared as he stood over the bear. "Got it?"

"Yes." Frosted Tips nodded so fast I was surprised his neck didn’t crack. "We’ll stand guard." He averted his gaze to the ground.

"If he gives you any lip..." He turned to Scrawny. "You let me or one of the guards in the house know. I will not have any of my men challenge me."

My stomach dropped. I didn’t know why I hadn’t realized it immediately—probably because of his familiarity—but this silver wolf was in charge. Which shouldn’t be possible. We were born inherently good and were protectors of good for all supernaturals. Of course, we felt most comfortable around wolves because we were part of them—but we still had the best interests of all in our hearts.

"I’m taking her downstairs before she gets even stronger." Julius clutched my arm and dragged me toward the door.

Something inside me popped as the tingling grew warm—it reminded me of when fur sprouted across my body, but inside me instead. I tried to move my hands to rub the spot, but the handcuffs restrained them.

He hissed but didn’t release his hold. Instead, he yanked harder, causing my feet to drag. I had to get my shit together if I was going to make it out of this. Maybe the connection I felt was because he was a silver wolf like me, and not because he wasactually part of my family? It felt similar to my pack bond, but more intense. Maybe because he was one of the last of our kind?

---