Page 34 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

Everyone fell silent, and after a prolonged moment, I forced a yawn. I'd come out here to find comfort and refuge, but all I’d gotten was drama and angst. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed."

"Shouldn't you go home?" Griffin rasped.

"Dude," Killian said, "she’s staying with me for a while."

He raised both hands. "I was thinking if the bear attacked her because she was with us, staying away would be the best idea."

"I'm done having the same conversation with you over and over." I glared at him. "I've already kicked your ass, so drop it." I marched up the steps to the back porch and entered the house, leaving the two idiots outside.

When the door closed, I leaned against the wall, trying to find some sort of calm.

"Why are you being such an asshole to her?" Killian growled, and I startled, realizing I was in the perfect place to eavesdrop. I held my breath, trying to make sure I heard everything. Killian continued, "Is it because I got her first?"

"What?" Griffin said, sounding surprised. "No."

"Then what the hell is it?" Killian pushed harder.

My breath caught as I eagerly awaited his answer. I didn’t know why, but his answer was so damn important to me.

"Man, I don't know." Griffin sighed. "She gets under my skin, and I have no clue why."

"Could it be because she shut you down when you tried hitting on her?" Killian asked.

"Maybe. I don't know, man." Griffin sounded conflicted. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled she shut me down since she has you, and I would've never hit on her if I'd known she was the girl you told me about last night. I think it's partly because she appeared out of nowhere, and now she's sleeping at your house. How much do you even know about her?"

I turned toward the door, ready to go back outside to interrupt their conversation. I didn't need Griffin learning about everything. He'd use it to his advantage. My hand reached the doorknob when Killian said, "Look, I appreciate you looking out for me. And there is a reason it happened so quickly. But it's not my place to tell you. Cut her some slack."

My hand fell to my side as my heart broke all over again. Killian had kept his word, but my gut said Griffin would start digging harder. I had to make sure I didn't let anything slip.

After all, my life depended on it.

A knockon the door slammed me back to the present. I sat upright in the bed and glanced around, expecting someone to pop out from under the bed or out of the closet.

"Dove?" Killian said and knocked again.

"Come in." I pulled the covers over me for some dumb-ass reason. I had on a pair of pajama bottoms and a shirt. In fact, they were the same ones I'd worn outside during the whole weird conversation with Griffin. If I could even call it a conversation. Itwas more like rage, sexual tension, and me fighting off the urge to lick his entire body.

What the hell? Why was I thinking about licking him? That was wrong on all kinds of levels.

The door opened, and Killian sauntered in. He paused and glanced around the room, and I wondered if he was thinking about me living among his sister's things.

"Do you want me to come out instead?" I hadn't even thought about him not wanting to walk in here. He usually did stay in the hallway or in the living room.

"No, it's fine." He smiled sadly. "It's kind of nice to have you in her room. It brings a little bit of happiness to the space, the same way it felt when she was alive. Although she’d cry knowing that you didn’t approve of her wardrobe. She and Mom loved going shopping together." He chuckled.

"Her clothes are great, just not my style. Did I oversleep?" If he was anything like me, he didn't want to continue that line of conversation. I glanced at the clock on the side table and read that it was seven in the morning.

"Nope, but we need to run and get your fake ID." He chuckled. "Carter will lose his shit if you show up without it again, so let's not stir the beast within."

I'd forgotten all about that. "Yeah, sounds great." Having an ID would mean I could open a checking account and other things. "I'll get dressed now."

Within thirty minutes, we were pulling into the breakfast diner where I'd seen the auburn-bearded man yesterday. I tried to calm my racing heart, but there wasn't much I could do about it. In the past, when I got nervous, I’d used my pack link to help calm me down, but I didn't have that now. Of course, that only made me panic even more.

"What's wrong?" Killian asked as he pulled into a metered spot alongside the road. "Your heart is pounding so hard I canhear it over the music. I don't think it could race any faster without you having a heart attack."

Yeah, tell me about it."It's nothing," I said with a cracked voice as the smell of rotting eggs filled the car.

"No, seriously." He gagged at the smell. "What's wrong, and please don't lie. I haven't eaten, so it won't take much to make my stomach queasy."

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