Page 172 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

I closed my eyes to focus, tuning everyone out. I needed to get this done. I tugged on my connection with Bart…and my wolf pushed a little bit of our magic toward him.Use this to help Cyrus shift and send it back to me.Alpha will laced the words, and a small part of me passed to Bart.

“Perfect.” Bart squeezed my arm. “Take the book and go. I’ll handle everything here.”

His sincerity flowed into me, and I turned without hesitation. We had another crisis to face, and the longer we took to get there, the more Dick would take control, which was unacceptable.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The five ofus ran up the stairs and into my parents’ room. As soon as Bart slipped past the door, I pushed the chest of drawers back into place and heard a faintclick.

I still couldn’t believe I’d lived in this house my entire life and had no clue about the secret compartment. Whoever’d thought to build the entrance into furniture was brilliant, and Dad must have taken extra precautions to ensure Mom and I didn’t walk in on him whenever he visited downstairs. In fairness, he could’ve kept the journal in the hidden underwear compartment and rarely ventured down until he feared the rumblings.

“We tell no one about this door,” Bart said quietly. “This is meant only for the alpha bloodline to know, so by letting those two down there as well”—he gestured to Killian and Griffin—“I’ve already broken protocol.”

“Because your alpha asked you to.” Now that he’d come clean with us and was part of my pack, we owed him the truth. “And I’m sorry, but we’re in a rush. Griffin is the alpha of Shadow City. His father was Atticus Bodle, the alpha who contacted my dad about opening the city. And Killian is the alpha of Shadow Ridge. There’s a crisis and we’re needed. We can meet up soon, but atleast now we can communicate, as long as you all don’t venture too far from Shadow Ridge.”

“Your mate is the alpha of Shadow City?” he asked, slowly turning toward Griffin. “Are you sure magic wasn’t involved in that union? It seems awfully convenient that the Shadow City alpha is mated to you.”

“Oh, trust me.” Killian snorted. “We know. They hated each other at first, and both he and I had no clue what she was.”

Griffin growled as unhappiness pulsed off him. He didn’t like the accusation.

Now wasn’t storytime, and we didn’t have time to waste for them to brawl it out. “I’m positive, and you need to get that thought out of your head.” I stared Bart down and continued, “He’s my mate, and we’ve completed our bond. The decision has already been made and is final. That’s your one pass. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.” I touched Griffin’s arm, hoping to calm him.

Be glad he’s your uncle, or I’d kick his ass.Some of the tension left his body, but a scowl remained. “Since you’re worried about her best interests, I’ll let it go,” he told Bart, then interlaced our fingers, tugging me toward the hallway. “And she’s right. We have to get moving. Dick is asking where I am. The guards told him that we left the house.”

Of course they did. Granted, we hadn’t asked them not to say anything to Dick—that would’ve raised a lot more flags. We rushed down the hallway with Julius taking up the rear. Once he stepped out the front door, I paused long enough to lock it.

“I’ll link you the address to where we’re heading. We’re still staying close by,” Bart said, and pulled me into a small hug. “If you need us, let us know. We won’t hesitate to come.”

“We need to keep you hidden. For once, we have an ace up our sleeve.” My attention landed on my brother, and I allowed my wolf to rise, lacing my next words with alpha will. I wasn’tgoing to chance him ratting us out. Whether he liked it or not, he was both my twin and part of my pack, which was probably why he hadn’t gone insane. “You will not communicate in any form with anyone outside our pack with the exception of Griffin, Killian, Rosemary, and Sierra until I state otherwise.” I wasn’t going to allow him to backstab us. There was way too much at risk. And if he didn’t tell Bart anything that would help us, I would use my alpha will to make him talk. But I wanted him to come clean on his own. I was going to give my uncle a day or two because otherwise, it’d fracture my already broken relationship with Julius.

Julius sneered but kept his witty banter to himself.

Good. He needed to earn his place in my warm regard.

I’ll keep an eye on him,Bart assured me. His inside light comforted me.And I’ll try to reach him. Even though I wasn’t abandoned like he was, I had to leave my family behind. I can at least relate to his situation. My own father died while I was gone, and I couldn’t risk coming back here for the funeral. So I understand what it’s like to not get the chance to tell someone goodbye.

I hadn’t even considered the implications of what him leaving the pack had meant. I remember Dad saying something odd the day of Pawpaw’s funeral. Something about how he wished that the entire family could be there. It hadn’t made sense then, and I thought he’d been feeling regret and turmoil over the death of his father. Now, I understood clearly—he’d meant Bart.I’m sorry and appreciate your sacrifice. If you hadn’t done it, I might be the only silver wolf standing.Well, me and Julius, but I didn’t officially consider him a silver wolf yet. He still had negativity roiling inside him, which didn’t fit our kind.

“Let us know if you need anything, too,” I said out loud, not wanting to make Julius feel even more alienated. “It goes both ways.”

Darrell stalked out of the woods, heading in our direction. His eyes turned to slits when they locked on me.

He must have felt our new connection.

Even though I hadn’t replaced Bart as their direct alpha, there was a hierarchy to things, and I would never override Bart’s leadership unless I felt it necessary. Maybe Darrell thought I had forced Bart to submit, but I’d let Bart handle this one. The more I got involved, the more he’d believe that had been the case.

I turned, forcing my legs to move to the Navigator. As I opened the passenger door, I called out loudly enough so Rosemary could hear. She was still in the air, keeping a lookout. “Meet us in Shadow City—there’s an issue.” I climbed into the vehicle and slammed the door. Now we had to focus on getting there.

As we pulledinto downtown Shadow Ridge, my gaze landed on the enormous bridge over the Tennessee River that connected this bank to Shadow City. Its immense towers jetted toward the sky, looking graceful and reminding me of the pictures I’d seen of the Golden Gate Bridge, especially with the afternoon sun shining down on it. About a hundred yards from the city’s main entrance was the section that could be raised in order to prevent anyone from getting inside.

I’d never been inside the city, nor even on the bridge, so I hadn’t thought much about the security and the surrounding protective walls of the city. Probably because what I expected tolie within were corruption and deceit. I wanted to stay far away from it all.

“I’ve never asked, but there are always humans visiting Shadow Ridge.” I glanced at the small two-way road that ran through the heart of downtown, where humans and supernaturals alike loitered along the sidewalks and passed by the picturesque brick buildings that made you feel as if you’d gone back in time. “Why do they not ask about Shadow City?”

“It’s spelled from within by the witches.” Griffin’s finger tapped the steering wheel. He was on edge, and he’d driven faster than he should’ve to get here. “Only supernaturals can see it. Humans see the Tennessee River flowing through, and the place where the city sits just looks like water to them.”

Interesting. I figured it had to be something like that.

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