Page 164 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

My uncle’s eyes twinkled. “A good mate always stakes his claim when it comes to other men.” He laughed good-naturedly and took Griffin’s hand. “My name is Bart Knight. It’s nice to meet you.”

That was when it hit me. I’d had no clue what my uncle’s name was. At least Griffin got it out of him before I had to ask.

“And I’m Killian Green.” Killian didn’t budge, just stared each of the wolves down like he expected them to attack at any minute. “The alpha of Shadow Ridge, so if anything strange goes down, my pack will be here in minutes.”

“Noted,” Bart replied as he shook Killian’s hand. “Which means you are Cyrus.” Bart turned his attention to my brother,using his birth name. “I don’t know how you two found each other, but thank God you made it out alive.”

I cringed, waiting for the explosion, but nothing happened other than Julius stiffening before nodding his head.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Julius tilted his head and sighed. His demeanor reminded me of Dad so much that it hurt.

“Well, these are my men.” Bart waved his hand at the fourteen people standing behind him. They were all over six feet tall and about as burly as Griffin and Killian, except for the one other guy who’d spoken earlier. My uncle gestured to him. “This is my beta, Darrell Hart.” He did seem to have more confidence than the other thirteen.

“It’s nice to meet you all, and I’m sorry to say that we don’t have a ton of time to stay here,” I replied. “We have to get back to Shadow Ridge before people get worried.”

Even though we weren’t trying to hide that Griffin was the Shadow City alpha, I wasn’t going to offer that piece of information unless we had to. If Bart had split from our pack because of rumblings of Shadow City opening its doors, that could mean that he wouldn’t be as forthcoming with Griffin in our presence—or potentially, even me—since we were mates. I wanted to see what information they had before risking them not sharing it with me.

Surprisingly, Julius hadn’t ratted us out. My guess was that he was afraid we’d force him to leave before he got to see everything and that I would inform Bart and the others of exactly what his dear, sweet nephew had done. We both had leverage over each other, which worked for the time being. I hoped that one day, we could move past all that.

“All right, let’s get moving.” Griffin took my hand and led me to the door. “We do need to hurry.” His expression remained indifferent, keeping his unease hidden from everyone but me, but it flowed through our bond.

I swung the sturdy red chestnut door open, trying to push away the suffocating sense of nostalgia.

The living room remained untouched from the last time we were here. The beige cloth couch still sat centered against the tan wall, with Dad’s brown leather recliner in the corner. Mom’s favorite orange-red throw was folded on the couch from when Sierra had slept there.

Sadness tried pushing through once again, but I couldn’t appear weak, especially in front of these other silver wolfmen. I needed to be a confident alpha so they wouldn’t second-guess my abilities more than they already did because I was female.

Dread filled me as I stepped on the dark walnut floor, and Mom’s lavender scent caused my eyes to burn. God, how I missed her.

When I reached the center of the room, I blinked a few times to hold back tears before spinning toward the men marching in behind me. “So, here we are.” Luckily, my voice sounded strong and didn’t break.

Griffin winced as he sensed all the emotions raging inside me. He moved to stand next to me and reached for my hand, but I stepped back, which made him miss. Hurt etched on his face at my rejection.

I’m sorry.I hated that I’d made him feel that way and embarrassed him in front of the others, but I didn’t have a choice.If you comfort me, I won’t be able to hold back my sadness. I feel safe with you, but I can’t let my guard down in front of these strangers. Silver wolves or not.

As long as that’s the reason.He rubbed his hand on his pants leg.

As arrogant and vulgar as he’d acted the first day I’d met him in the coffee shop, I’d never have expected him to be insecure, ever. But there were hints like these that proved he still needed to realize the strength he had inside him. I was determined toget him to see the man he was.I promise. Don’t make me punish you for doubting me,I teased, trying to make him smile.

As Bart’s fourteen men began to enter the house, Bart commanded, “Stop. Spread out around the house and keep watch. Alert us of anything out of the ordinary.”

Darrell’s forehead pinched, showing he clearly didn’t like being sent outside. Those two must have shared almost everything together, so not being privy to whatever Bart wanted to show me must not have sat well with him.

“Now.” Bart’s voice was laced with alpha will.

“Yes, Alpha.” Darrell grimaced and turned, the last one to leave.

The door shut loudly behind them, and Bart nodded toward it. “Why don’t you three go out there and help keep watch while Sterlyn and I have a few minutes to talk.”

“Not happening,” Griffin growled, shaking his head. “I’m her mate. I’m not leaving her side.”

“And same.” Killian marched over, flanking my other side. “Where they go, I go.”

“Interesting.” Bart tapped a finger against his lip as he faced Julius. “Why is Killian protecting her and not you?”

Silver wolves were intuitive, so the fact that Bart already caught on to my strained relationship with my brother didn’t surprise me. I’d have been more worried if he hadn’t.

“He’sher brother,” Julius spat and scowled. “Not me.”

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