Page 80 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

Being told what to do rubbed me the wrong way, but I pushed my annoyance down; she’d come and helped me when no one else had been able to find me. I followed her instructions—alerting Griffin to the plan—then paused, trying to determine the best course of action.

"Why are you here?" I finally asked, rather bluntly. The few times I'd been direct with her, she seemed to appreciate the straightforwardness, so I'd go with that.

"Let's see." Rosemary pursed her lips. "A girl went missing on Shadow Ridge University's campus in broad daylight."

"A wolf." If she thought just telling me facts that I already knew would halt my line of questioning, she would soon learn otherwise. "Not an angel."

"What?" She gasped and placed a hand on her chest. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Seriously." I wasn't in the mood for witty banter. "This is the third time you've helped me, and I have no clue why." When someone had spray-painted a silver wolf on the brick wall outside my place of employment in an attempt—a successful one, I was still annoyed to admit—to draw me out, she'd gone back to Shadow City to figure out who knew about me. She’d helped us fight the attackers yesterday and had healed Griffin from a near-fatal gunshot wound, and today she’d helped me with the bear shifter and was now escorting me to my mate.

"Maybe I want to stay on your mate’s good side." Rosemary kept her gaze forward, not meeting my eyes.

"Bullshit." I was done playing games. "You insult him at every opportunity, and you don't seem impressed with wolves, in general. What do you get out of helping me?"

She chuckled, her irises lightening in the sunlight. "You're right. I think Griffin is a tool. He's caused a lot of problems for Shadow City because of his reluctance to take his father's place."

"Among the wolves?" Apparently, there were random attacks on wolves pretty consistently. I had been the target of one such attack at Dick Harding's bar.

"No, not just the wolves." Rosemary inhaled sharply. "There's an order to the city. Each race has a handful of representatives, but the city itself has an overall leader. Griffin is supposed to be that leader but has refused to step up, and it's caused discord among all the supernaturals. It's just been messy."

"Which brings me back to my question." I arched an eyebrow.

"There are a few reasons." She wrinkled her nose. "And at this point, I don't want to explain them to you."

"Then why should I trust you?" That was the real question I needed answered. I didn't sense bad vibes from her, but I didn't necessarily get warm fuzzy ones, either. She was strong, which I respected, but I needed to understand where her loyalties lie.

"I know one of your secrets, so I guess it's fair that you know one of mine." She stopped and faced me. "But this stays between us, do you understand?"

"Of course."

"I grew up believing that the silver wolves were dead." She nibbled on her bottom lip. "But Mom would tell me stories of the past and about this special race of wolves."

"You grew up hearing stories about us?" That was a little surreal.

"Yes, and each story centered on the fact that silver wolves were special. And that if they were still alive, we would be doing anything we could to protect them like we should have done before." She shrugged. "So I figure, if Mom believes that angels should have helped the silver wolves, then there has to be something to it."

"So, you told her about me?"

"No, I did not." She shook her head and picked up the pace. "There's enough going on with the angel members of the council—I didn't want to add your secret to it. Mom already has her plate full. Right now, only the handful of us know, and it should stay that way."

I was okay with that. The fewer people who knew about me, the easier it would be to determine who might be working against me. "Well, thank you."

"You're welcome." She gestured to the right. "The lake is there."

Lapping water affirmed what she said, and I scanned the murky lake water, looking for any signs of people out here besides us.

The rest of the trek was made in silence, and soon, a familiar Navigator came into view.

My heart rate increased as my legs took on a life of their own. The connection between ustugged, and Griffin climbed out of the car, staring straight at me.

My breath caught as his hazel eyes met mine, glowing with his surging wolf. His sculpted face held a strained expression, and his honey-brown hair looked completely disheveled. He rushed toward me and caught me, lifting me up against his six-and-a-half-foot frame. He pulled me into his arms as his scent of myrrh and leather comforted me. His scruff brushed my face as he kissed me.Thank God, you're okay. I was so damn worried.

I eagerly responded to his kiss, trying to calm him down.I'm fine. We're back together now.

Rosemary cleared her throat. "You two aren't alone."

"Clearly," Griffin grumbled as he pulled away. He ran his fingers down my cheek and checked me over for injuries. "Thank you for finding her."

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