Page 181 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

His face slipped into a mask of indifference.Okay, I’d have been nervous, too, but I swear there’s no reason to be. There were only two things that my parents wanted for me. The first, and most important, was finding a mate who made me a betterman.He pressed his lips to mine.And you’re even better than that—you’re my fated mate.

I inhaled slowly, calming myself. If that was his parents’ first wish, then maybe I was overreacting a tad, and freaking out would make me look bad. Dad had told me to pretend to be confident even if I was the furthest thing from it. Pretending would bleed into truly becoming secure. It was some sort of mind-over-matter trick that he was always teaching me. But he’d been right about almost everything else, so what did I have to lose?And the second thing?

Becoming the alpha that Shadow City needed.He shook his head as he dropped his hand.I always assumed he meant the alpha of the wolves, but I’m beginning to think you and he were more similar than I realized. He wanted to unite the races the same way you do and not have us all be seen as separate beings.

Be careful who you say that to.I took his hand.If you aren’t careful, Sierra will start accusing you, in some demented way, of sleeping with your father.

Since she isn’t here, you had to go there for her.He wrinkled his nose and booped mine.But don’t worry. That won’t prevent me from ravishing your body again when we get back to my room. After all, I did promise you a punishment.

My body betrayed me, and the spicy scent of arousal wafted from me.

I see you have no complaints.He smiled.

Refusing to give him any more satisfaction, I marched off in the direction of the living room. I entered the room to find an ash blonde woman standing in the center.

She ran her hands along the sides of her pewter sweater as her light champagne lips formed a warm smile. Her sapphire-blue eyes scanned me, but not in a critical way. Her gaze was more curious. She placed her hands in the back pockets of herdark jeans as she leaned on the high heels of her black shoes. “Sterlyn,” she said. “It’s so nice to finally put a face with a name.”

That was when I realized I didn’t know her name. Griffin always referred to her as Mom. “Hi.”

“Ulva,” Griffin interjected. “Mom’s name is Ulva.”

“But you can call me Mom, if you'd rather,” she said a little too earnestly.

I wasn’t sure how to respond.No, thanks, I already had a motherwould sound too rude, but I didn’t feel comfortable calling her that, either.

“Isn’t that a little forward?” Griffin asked as he placed an arm around my waist. “You haven’t known each other for a minute yet, and you’re asking her to call you Mom.”

“Ugh, you’re right.” She tilted her head back and sagged her shoulders. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I haven’t seen Griffin this happy before.”

“Wait.” He hadn’t gone back to Shadow City since we’d gotten together. “Seen him?”

“Yeah, the night he had to bring Luna here when she was so drunk.” Ulva sat on the couch. “I had to come to the gate to let her in since her parents weren’t answering their phones. She was ranting that Griffin forced her to take a cab and refused to let her inside his house in Shadow Ridge. That her mother and father wanted them to be together, and why couldn’t he just accept that? She deserved to be staying in his house with him. Didn’t Griffin know who she was and what her father was capable of?”

That sounded about right. I’d met Luna only a handful of times, and each time, she’d left a worse impression than the previous one. Granted, she’d tried to kill me on the night Ulva was referencing. Griffin had said he’d gotten her a cab, and obviously, it was true. He’d just left out the part where he’d accompanied her to the gate, but he was right. She wouldn’t have gotten in otherwise.

“He told me he was sorry to dump her on me, but he had someone to get back to before he messed things up even more.” She looked at her son with a soft expression. “And that’s when I realized someone had stolen his heart. When he informed me that you two were fated, that was just the icing on the cake. This was exactly what we’d hoped for him to find.”

Kindness radiated off her, confirming her words. I sighed in relief, realizing that she was truly a good person. I needed that; I’d been worried that there weren’t many great people in this city. “Well, Griffin thinks the world of you, too.”

“Atticus and I were more friends than lovers, but we worked, even to Saga’s horror.” She chuckled and gestured to Griffin. “That’s one reason why we only had one child. The sex was—”

“Mom!” Griffin exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Sorry, you’re right.” She swatted her hand. “I just meant that we wanted Griffin to find the kind of love that we hadn’t been able to find ourselves. It’s one part of why Atticus wanted so much to open the city. He wanted our son to find his fated mate. He’d be so happy to see that wish came true.”

My heart grew for a man I’d never get to meet. He’d loved Griffin so much. I’d known that Griffin’s mother and father were chosen mates, but I hadn’t thought about what that meant.

“So, who’s Saga?” I wanted to learn more. I wanted every single detail about Griffin and his family that I could soak up.

“Dick’s chosen mate.” Ulva smiled. “One of my close friends. The four of us grew up together, and, boy, Saga did everything she could to get Atticus for herself. But he and I were best friends, and he said he trusted only two people in his life—me, most of all, and Dick. I thought that it would cause a wedge between Saga and me, but when Atticus asked for me to be his mate, she surprisingly backed down, and she and Dick realized that they were compatible as well.” She smiled sadly. “Atticus was so relieved. He was always wary of her back then, and heprotected me, probably a little too much. He was a wonderful man and a good father.”

“Mom, I hate to cut this short, but it’s late.” Griffin made his way over to her and kissed her forehead. “Tomorrow morning is going to be nasty, so we need to get our rest.”

“You’re right. I’m exhausted.” She yawned.

He squeezed her hand and straightened. “You know you don’t have to come to the meeting, right?”

“I refuse to let you protect me like your father did.” Her face pinched as she shivered. “I wish I’d known that Dick was trying to use you as the scapegoat. You need every person who supports you there. The more people you have behind you, the stronger a leader you’ll look, and I want to see who all the traitors are.”

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