Page 51 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

In order to prevent the fight from continuing, I jumped on her back and placed my teeth at the back of her neck, pressing them into her fur, though not enough to draw blood. If she moved, she'd cause herself injury.

Apparently, that wasn't a deterrent because she thrashed against me, determined to get up. The metallic taste of her blood hit my tongue.

She wasn't thinking clearly and probably didn't even feel the pain. I'd hoped this would be easy, but clearly, I'd been mistaken.

"Luna," Griffin yelled. "Stop it!"

She didn't even pause because she was too desperate to hurt me.

I was going to have to knock her assout. There was no reasoning with her in this state. I jumped off her back, and she got to her feet immediately.

The pool gave me an idea, and I ran toward it. I heard Luna follow, stumbling the entire way. I forced myself to slow down so she wouldn't catch on to my plan. Granted, in her state, that was unlikely, but I knew not to underestimate my opponent.

For the first time in weeks, my mind cleared, and I was able to focus. That would've been nice earlier today with Rosemary and the drawing—and knowing what had caused the change would also be nice.

I'd focus on that later.

When I reached the deep end of the pool, I pivoted and spun out of the way.

Luna tried to stop, scrabbling and teetering on the edge for a second before her body fell over. Her eyes grew huge as she smacked the water, causing a huge splash to hit me and soak my fur.

She came up for air, doggy paddling in the center of the pool. But she treaded water and then sank instead of swimming to the side.

The back door to Killian's house opened, and he ran outside. "What the hell is going on out here?" He first looked at Griffin then me in my wolf form. "Uh..." Concern flicked into his eyes. "Dove, what's going on?"

Like I could answer him in animal form, but his message was clear. Why was I in wolf form in front of Griffin and Luna, of all people?

Luna whimpered, taking his focus off me. I glanced into the pool to find her struggling to stay afloat. I hadn't expected that. I’d figured she could get out—she’d been aware enough to attack me. Her head went under the water again, and it was clear that she wouldn't be able to tread enough water to get to the top.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

"I've got her," Killian yelled as he ran to the pool and jumped in.

As he swam to her, she didn’t rise above the surface. I ran to the edge of the pool, whining. The whole point was for me not to kill anyone else, and yet, here she was, almost drowning.

"Hey, he has her." Griffin kneeled beside me. The myrrh scent that was all him filled my nose. Between that and his touch, my wolf and I calmed down. I leaned into him, needing to feel him closer.

Killian wrapped his arms around Luna, keeping her head above water.

My body sagged, and my lungs filled with air once more.

I didn’t like her, but that didn’t mean I wanted her dead.

The sound of an engine grew louder, and Griffin released me. "We need to get you shifted back to your human form before anyone else sees you."

That was easier said than done, seeing as my clothes were in tatters.

"Come on." Griffin rose, grabbed my sheath and bag and waved me to follow him.

He opened Killian’s back door for me. Rushing inside, I ran to Olive's bedroom door, but reality hit me. I'd locked it earlier so that Killian wouldn't barge in and find me gone. At the time, it had seemed like the smart thing to do, but not so much now.

"What's wrong?" Griffin winced as he gestured to Killian's room. "Go change. Hurry before they come looking for us."

Ugh, this would cause so many questions, but my hands were tied. I trotted to the bedroom I was staying in and whimpered, looking at the top of the door frame where I knew the little metal emergency key was located.

"Whoa! Wait." Griffin's forehead lined with confusion. He followed my gaze to the top of the doorframe then snagged the key and unlocked the door. As he entered the room, he glanced at the skewed sheets on the bed. "You're staying in Olive's room?"

And the questions had already started. I should've put a spare set of clothes in Killian's bedroom in case something like this happened. But I’d never dreamed ofthishappening. At least, I didn’t have to attempt to explain it right then since I was in animal form.

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