Page 209 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

Griffin’s shoulders slackened like the wind had been let out of his sails. “Uh…yeah. That sounds good.”

I hated that it had takenthisto get Cyrus and me heading in the right direction concerning our relationship, but at least we were finally getting there. “Is that okay with you, Killian?” I hated not to at least ask, since Killian had his own pack duties to contend with.

“It’s fine.” Killian hugged me. “Honestly, at this point, we all need to work together, right? Just one large pack.”

“That’s right.” He understood what I’d always wanted. Just because we were technically three packs didn’t mean we couldn’t work closely together.

Snarling came from the woods, and Alex walked out carrying Luna. Her eyes locked on me, and she thrashed, trying to get free and foaming at the mouth with desperation.

She still wanted to kill me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“Don’t worry.”Alex beamed at me. “She’ll ride with us. She won’t harm you.”

Luna twisted and writhed some more, but he didn’t even seem bothered by her efforts. She could have been a baby doll for the amount of concern he gave her, which seemed to infuriate her more.

Of course, Alex and Matthew would be heading back to the city with us. They were two of the vampire representatives, after all. There couldn’t be a council meeting without them, or at least not an official one, from what Erin had said before.

“Thank God.” Rosemary sneered. “If I had to ride in the back seat with her, I’d wind up slicing her to make things even.”

“You do realize she didn’t injure you, right?” Sierra arched an eyebrow and wrinkled her nose. “Ignore that. I have no clue why I’m taking up for her. Slice the bitch.”

“Because you enjoy arguing with me about everything.” Rosemary sighed.

“To the point of siding with a psycho,” Killian jumped in, taking up for Rosemary. He took a step closer to the angel whiletsking at Sierra. “Maybe you’ll reconsider in the future.”

“Yeah, do you think that will actually work?” Sierra stood tall as if she were proud of having no filter. “I say what I think, and there are times when even I’m surprised by what falls out of my mouth, which is saying something.”

You guys are weird.Cyrus chuckled through the link, though not using the mocking tone I’d grown accustomed to hearing from him.It’s like no matter what gets thrown at you, you all bounce back together…like family.He sighed, and sadness trickled to me.I’m jealous of that.

Well, I have a feeling that you’ll fit right in soon enough, I replied. The truth of the matter was that I wanted him to be part of our team. He was important to me and the only immediate blood family I had left.If you’re open to it.

The image of Bart’s body flashed into my mind, making my smile fall.

“We’d better go before Erin and Azbogah get tired of waiting.” Griffin took my hand and turned, opening the door again to head back inside the house.

A council meeting seemed like a terrible way to end the night, but if we didn’t show up, it would cause more drama. Things were already tense between Griffin and me and most of the others on the council. That was probably why they wanted to talk to us.

“You guys go. We’ll take it from here,” Killian said as he patted Cyrus’s shoulder. “We’ll get the packs handled and bury the dead while you’re gone.”

“We’re leaving,” Matthew said as he pulled the keys from his pocket. “And we’ll meet you there.” The corner of his mouth tipped upward like he was up to something.

Alex winked at me as he followed his brother, clamping his hand over Luna’s mouth to keep her quiet.

Not even bothering to give the prince a reaction, I focused on my friends. “Let me know if you need anything.” My voicesounded thick with emotion. I wanted to help pay my respects to everyone who’d given or risked their lives for us tonight, especially Bart.

“We will.” Sierra hugged me tightly. “Just go take care of things. This will all still be here when you return.”

My side had mostly healed, so her touch didn’t hurt, and I was able to hug her back before stepping past Griffin. She was right. It would take time to heal and mourn the dead.

Rosemary’s breath caught as she turned, once again reminding me of her injury.

“Why don’t you heal yourself?” I asked and paused inside, waiting for her and Griffin to walk through. “Or can you not do that?”

“I can, but it takes even more magic.” She gently touched her chest just above her stomach, and the clean shirt she’d changed into clung to her from fresh blood. “I need to recover from healing Cyrus, but I’ll be able to do it closer to Shadow City.”

At least there was that.

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