Page 182 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

That was something my father would say. Despite Atticus and Ulva being chosen mates, she was strong, which must have been one reason he’d selected her.

“Okay.” He nodded. “Fine. I just hate for you to watch someone else you love get hurt.”

That was an odd thing to say.What do you mean?

She and Dad were at Dick’s having dinner when he died.Griffin scowled.She saw the entire thing.

They’d been eating at Dick’s? That was a little convenient.

“I understand, and I love you for it.” Ulva headed toward the hallway, leaving the two of us behind. She spoke quietly, but I was able to hear her with my silver wolf ears. “Maybe if I’d been more involved and paying attention, he wouldn’t have died in the first place.”

I wanted to ask her what she meant, but I was pretty sure she didn’t know I was a silver wolf with extra-sharp hearing. If she had, she probably wouldn’t have said the words out loud at all, assuming Atticus had shared with her what he knew about my kind. I bit my tongue, but only because I wanted to protecther. The more she knew, the greater the chance she would be harmed.

“Night, Mom,” Griffin called out as he winked at me. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” she said with longing in her voice.

Once the door closed behind her, Griffin returned to me with a salacious smile. “Now, let’s go have some fun.” He bent down and threw me over his shoulder, and took off to his room.

However, I wasn’t able to laugh or fully enjoy the moment. My mind kept replaying what Ulva had just said.

Ulva metme in Griffin’s bedroom the next morning with a black suit in her hands. “This should work.” She placed the clothing on the bed, along with a lavender lace shirt.

The suit bottom was a skirt instead of pants, but I didn’t want to complain. I didn’t have my own clothes here, so I would graciously borrow whatever she was willing to loan me. “Thank you.”

Griffin was on the balcony, waiting on me to finish getting dressed. He’d pouted when I made him leave the room, but after last night, I didn’t want to be naked in the bedroom with him while his mom was here. I needed at least a day’s buffer before that could happen again.

She turned to leave the room but paused. “I want you to know I meant everything I said last night.” She looked over her shoulder, locking gazes with me. “I already see a difference in him. Before you, he never would’ve been brave enough to face the council like this.”

“I’m doing nothing.” She must have been able to see that. She didn’t need to give me credit for something Griffin was doing onhis own. “He didn’t even ask if I thought we should run. He’s making these choices, not me.”

“Oh, I know.” She pivoted and tilted her head. “But you helped ground him. He was struggling, messing around, just trying to get by. You stepped into his life and gave him purpose again.”

“Maybe, but he’s made me a better person, too.” I was meant to be a warrior, and that would never change, but he’d made me softer. Not in a weak way, but the opposite. I was able to open up to Rosemary because of him…and see things in the ways that my father had because of him. “I guess that’s why we’re fated mates.”

“They’re meant to bring out the best in each other.” She nodded. “And being locked in here, the wolves and the other races have lost that way because we were rarely able to find ours anymore. But things are changing, and people fear it. You and Griffin will be an excellent example of a positive change resulting from rejoining the world.”

“I have a hunch that the people trying to blame Griffin for the crystals are the ones who want to close the borders again.”

She nodded. “You’re exactly right. Several council members think we have the strongest supernatural races within these walls, and we shouldn’t have to deal with petty problems caused by shifters who weren’t worthy to live here to begin with.”

“Sterlyn. Mom,” Griffin called out. “We’ve got to go, or we won’t get there early enough.”

“They’ll crucify him if we can’t figure a way out of this.” Ulva frowned. “We can’t let that happen.”

I placed a hand on her arm and leaned forward, dropping my voice. “So...there’s only one thing we can do.” I arched an eyebrow. “We take them down. Are you in?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The car rideto the council building was made in complete silence. Griffin tried to appear upbeat, but he wasn’t fooling either Ulva or me. He drove his Navigator through town, attempting to keep me out of the view of others as much as possible. The fewer people who saw me, the less likely they were to guess my heritage. We passed only one other vehicle, which was heading out of the city.

Griffin’s leg bounced the entire way, despite the forced smile he wore.

Fortunately, Ulva and I were in agreement. No matter what, we were going to make sure that Griffin didn’t take the blame for the trouble with the crystals. Still, we were working with minimal information, and I prayed that Rosemary had been able to wrangle details out of her parents.

After a few minutes’ drive through the heart of downtown Shadow City, the capitol building came into view. It covered an entire block, a white rectangle with a cathedral-like roof. The walls reflected the ever-shifting lights, making it seem as if the building changed colors constantly.

Griffin turned into an uncovered parking lot on the right side of the building. “Here we are,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion.

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