Page 30 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

That was another reason I didn’t need to be around him. I would never taste his lips. Ever.

Hoping he hadn’t seen me, I turned to go back inside.

"What are you doing out here alone?" he asked as he stepped from the tree line.

I scowled at him. "Minding my own business, unlike you." I wished there was a privacy fence around the pool so I could’ve hidden, but shifters instinctively knew how to swim, so drowning wasn’t a hazard.

“Noted.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and stopped about five feet away from me. He still had on the same clothes from this afternoon, but he looked a little worse for wear. "You kicked that bear shifter's ass. But I wouldn't get too cocky. You probably couldn't do it again."

"Why, because I'm a girl?" Malice dripped from each word.

Griffin chuckled. "The guy wasn't expecting you to fight back, so you had the element of surprise."

What an arrogant bastard. Granted, I already knew that about him from earlier, but his smugness seemed to get worse each time I saw him, and that had been only twice so far. What would happen next time? Maybe he'd try to prove his point by tossing me in front of a car.

"We could fight now." I'd kick his ass, and that would be the end of it.

Hopefully.

"You think you could take me?" He touched his chest with a huge-ass smirk. His eyes flicked to my mouth, and I licked my lips in response.

Agh, I had to stop. I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin. "I know I can." Especially with the moon shining on me, I could kick his ass with my eyes closed.

"You want to shift into our wolves?" He grabbed the hem of his shirt, ready to remove it.

That was a big fat no. If I shifted, he'd probably know what I was. "Nope, I don't need my animal to make you scream like a girl."

"Well, all right then." He charged at me without warning, fighting dirty.

I wasn't surprised. He moved to wrap his arm around my waist, and I spun to the right out of his reach. He ran past me and almost fell since he had planned on my body to stop his momentum.

He huffed and faced me as his hazel eyes glowed. "You were lucky."

"You keep saying that." I couldn't help but antagonize him. His first move told me everything I needed to know about him as a fighter. He was strong, but he relied on his strength to win. Besides that, he had no form, no fighting technique, and bad general awareness of how to move. Maybe Shadow City had gotten spoiled since they had guards. This alpha was focused more on political studies and alliances than maneuvers, though I imagined with the proper training, he could be a force on the battlefield.

Rolling his shoulders, he stretched his neck side to side like that would make a difference.

I leaned back on my feet like I didn't have a care in the world. I enjoyed goading him. My body warmed, but I pretended it was from the brawl and not due to the handsome man standing in front of me.

"For what it's worth, I was trying to go easy on you, but not anymore." He shook his hands out at his sides and wiggled. "It's on." He lunged at me, dropping as he kicked out one of his feet with the intent to make me fall.

Wanting to end this, I let the moon charge through my blood and jumped over his leg. I landed behind him and dropped my elbow so that it touched the back of his neck and shoulder but didn't press down hard. "If I wanted to, I could knock you out. You still think I was only lucky earlier?"

He turned, and his chest brushed my side.

Goosebumps spread all over me as my body sizzled.It has to be the moon, I lied to myself. But the lie was pointless. This strange feeling had to do with the sexy guy right in front of me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was my fated mate. But a jerk like himcouldn’tbe that.

His head lowered to mine, and I didn’t want to move. Something coursed between us and made my head fuzzy.

That was what I needed to snap out of whatever spell was captivating us. I took three large steps away from him. The warmth vanished. "What are you doing here?"

"I went for a slow run and was heading back home." He nodded to the white house next door.

His words didn't make sense for a moment. "Wait, you're Killian’s neighbor?"

"Right next door." He gestured to the house with all the beer cans littering the yard. "Did yourboyfriendfail to mention that? I’ve lived next door to him for two years now."

"Why would he?" Normally men who had overinflated egos were short by shifter standards, so with Griffin’s height, I wasn't sure what his excuse might be. Maybe small-dick syndrome. My gaze dropped to his crotch, and I could see the outline in his blue jeans.

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