Page 176 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

“Now listen here,” Dick growled and marched toward me. His face turned red as his anger got the best of him. “Iunderstood exactly what you said, and you don’t know who you’re up against.”

“Up against?” Griffin asked coldly.Wow, I’ve been an idiot for so long. He’s been conspiring the entire time.“Are you threatening her?”

“No, he’s not.” Azbogah jumped back into the conversation and stepped between us and Dick. The dark angel smiled charmingly, but the emotion was absent from his eyes. He was cold, heartless, and power-hungry. “This is all a misunderstanding. Isn’t it?” He turned and arched an eyebrow at Dick.

Dick’s face turned as red as a tomato.

“I think we’re done here,” Yelahiah said sternly, but the corners of her lips lifted. “The meeting is tomorrow at nine a.m., and if this woman is Griffin’s fated mate, then of course she’s welcome to stay here. Fate trumps all laws, as it is predetermined by the divine.”

The divine? I’d have to ask Rosemary about that later.

“Well, Killian isn’t your fated mate, too, now is he?” Alex beamed at Griffin and placed a hand on his chest. “Because it would kind of make sense if he were. You two are super close, and you even went so far as to buy the house next door to his.”

Killian’s mouth dropped, and Griffin went as pale as the two vampires in the room.

Laughter bubbled out. This was the first time I’d truly seen Killian speechless, and I kind of loved it.

“No!” Killian jerked his head side to side. “Definitely not. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we don’t swing for the same team.”

“What is up with these Earthlings and their sayings?” Yelahiah sighed. “Ever since Rosemary started acclimating to the outside world, she’s come back speaking another language.”

“We don’t agree on much anymore,” Azbogah said, “but I feel the same way.”

“Thanks, Dick,” I interjected before anyone else could step in. “For offering to take Killian home. It means a lot that you care for his well-being.” I batted my eyes.

“Actually, I don’t need to go back to the bar.” Dick cleared his throat as he rolled his shoulders. “I’ll get someone to take him home, though. Don’t worry.”

In other words, he’d wanted me gone, and now that I wasn’t leaving, he wanted to stay close by. He must be worried that Griffin had brought me here, but did he expect my mate to leave me behind? Dick didn’t have a fated mate, so maybe he truly didn’t understand. But the thought of being separated from Griffin after the shit we’d been through the last few days petrified me, especially knowing that an angel was working with Dick to discredit him.

My gut informed me that Dick was making his move. Not only did he want to discredit Griffin, but I was pretty damn sure he wanted to take the alpha title away from him. Instead of challenging him the way our wolves knew and respected, he was fighting dirty. Going behind Griffin's back, trying to gain the council’s support.

The only reason I could come up with was that he knew he couldn’t win a challenge against Griffin, so he was taking power the one way he knew how.

I refused to let that happen to my mate.

Not now.

Not when he’d decided to step up and continue the plans he and his father had made together to improve things, not only for his own race but for the entire city.

Not when he and I planned to build a future in which all the supernatural races worked together to make things better as a whole.

They wouldn't take that away from us.

Killian glanced at me, seeming unsure how to proceed. At the end of the day, I couldn’t force Dick to leave, though I’d love to be able to. Somehow, he’d set Griffin up, and we had to prove it. Griffin would never do something so reckless as to leave the city vulnerable.

I had to assume Killian and Griffin weren’t linked because the knowledge of how to link between packs had been lost. One of the things on our first order of business would be to figure this pack bond thing out. Bart had been able to submit to me but still maintain dominance over his pack. I had felt it through our connection. Maybe bridging that gap would result in Killian’s pack no longer feeling like second-rate citizens.

“Someone is already here to take him back to Shadow Ridge,” Dick said authoritatively. “They just informed me that they pulled up.”

They had bypassed Griffin and gone straight to Dick despite my mate being here. That irritated me. Another issue we’d address.

“We’ll walk him out, and then I’ll take Dove to the alpha home here in the city,” Griffin retorted, making the insinuation that he was still the alpha clear.

You’re extremely sexy right now.Seeing him take charge warmed my body. He’d been getting like this more and more frequently, and that proved just how much he was changing.Maybe when we get there, you can show me your bedroom.

Hell, yeah.He intertwined our fingers and turned so our backs were to the others. The power play was clear: he wasn’t worried. However, his next words were equivalent to a cold shower.Right after you meet Mom.

Holy shit. I was heading to meet his mother. There was no telling how this was going to go.

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