Page 60 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

“Pretty sure some desperate alpha is going to wind up showing up at my door, begging me to be his for the night,” I teased him, unable to stop myself. In this moment, I was so damn happy.

“You better make him grovel.” He sighed and leaned his forehead against mine.

The garage door rumbled open, indicating that Killian had arrived home.

"Well, it’s a good thing we didn’t take things further now," Griffin said as he pecked my lips. "I guess there’s no time like the present to inform my protective best friend I’ll be taking his sister out tonight."

I tensed. Griffin acted confident that this was all going to work out, but I wasn't so sure.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I jumped to my feet,not wanting Killian to walk in on me straddling his best friend.

Oh, dear God. That sounded horrible, and what Killian had said to me last night about Griffin not being the right guy for me made this entire situation surreal. But I’d been honest with him, and he knew that I wanted to explore things with Griffin. Granted, I was pretty sure completing the mate bond with him tonight wasn’texploringso much as committing to each other.

My gut screamed that something uncomfortable was imminent, but this was something Griffin and I should do together. Either way, Griffin had become determined that I was going to be his.

The thought both thrilled and terrified me.

Griffin chuckled as he stood next to me, taking my hand.

A pause in Killian's footsteps told me he’d figured out that Griffin was here. A low growl emanated from him as he hurried into the room and stopped short.

"What’s going on?" Killian straightened his shoulders as he stared at his best friend.

"I came over to ask Ster—Doveout tonight." Griffin leaned closer to me.

"Griffin, she’s important to me," Killian said. "I don’t want to see her get hurt."

I hated that these two were arguing over me again.

"That’s fair. And I know I’ve been behaving like an asshole, but that’s changing from now on." Griffin lifted our joined hands. "She’s my fated mate."

Killian closed his eyes and exhaled. He looked up and met first my eyes, then Griffin’s. “I can’t stand between something special like this, but no more fucking games." Killian’s shoulders sagged. “She’s lost so much already.”

"There won’t be." I straightened my shoulders, standing tall beside Griffin. I couldn’t let him be the only one fighting for us. "I told you last night that I felt the connection. It’s real."

Killian’s jaw tightened as he glared at his friend. "Remember when you told me you’re not the ‘settling down’ type of guy?"

Wow, I figured this was going to be tense, but I hadn’t expected Killian to call out his friend directly. Though I guessed I shouldn’t be surprised that he was protective of me after all we’d gone through.

"Yeah, I remember, but ever since she walked into our lives, I've been pulled in her direction." Griffin faced me. "That damntughad me going into that coffee shop the first day without Luna having to nag me. Then I saw the most beautiful girl standing behind the counter, and I froze—then acted like a dirtbag."

"I can't argue with you there." If he wanted me to comfort him, he’d come to the wrong person. He had been an asshole that day.

"He hits on every woman that way." Killian dropped his backpack on the floor and locked eyes with me. “He tries humping anything with two legs when the mood strikes.”

"This isdifferent," Griffin rasped. "When I realized what she was to you, it drove me insane. Every time you touched her, I wanted to punch the shit out of you. That's one of the reasonsI left for so long. I had a ton of stuff that I needed to do with Mom and the council, but also, I couldn't stand to see her with you, and I didn't want to be tempted to interfere. You're my best friend. If she made you happy, I had to leave in order to respect that."

Killian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Dude.”

But I wasn't sure if that was the only thing. Maybe his reasoning was a tad bit selfish. "Griffin and I decided to pursue this, but know you will never lose either of us."

"If you break up, I will." Killian hung his head, but then he stalked over and hugged me. "You're my family now, and I don't want to risk that."

Griffin growled but didn't do more than that. "Man, I wouldneverhurt her. I know I have a bad track record, but I'm serious about Dove. She’s it for me."

"If you were being all noble and left out of respect for the relationship that you thought she and I had, then why did you come back last night?" Killian released me and faced his friend.

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