20

This guy wouldn’t go down without a fight.
As he stood and faced me, I could see the spot where my foot had connected with his jaw. For the first time, I got a good view of him.
It was the guy who’d entered the bar behind Griffin and Luna.
His hair was dyed an awful ash blond, except for the dark brown sides. His long beard hit the top of the collar of his black shirt, connecting with the chest hair that spilled there. His hairy arms were almost as thick as his beard. I already suspected he was a bear shifter, and his grassy scent confirmed it.
“You’re going to pay for that.” He snatched my arm again and dragged me toward the exit.
Bear shifters were strong, but their arrogance worked against them.
“Let her go,” Griffin commanded, alpha will lacing his words.
He was a fucking moron if he thought that would work on a bear, and massively egotistical if he thought that the bear would listen to him in the first place. He had no authority over them.
Confirming my suspicions, the bear shifter didn’t loosen his grip on me. Instead, he tightened it and dragged me harder.
I might not have had a knife to my neck anymore, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t at risk of being taken. Doing the first thing that came to mind, I stuck my fingers into one of his knife wounds and made my hands like claws, breaking through fat and muscle. The wound needed to get worse, so I dug my fingers in hard, trying to get his brain to register the pain. With all the adrenaline pumping through his body, he probably hadn’t even noticed he’d been stabbed.
He swung his free hand, aiming for my face, but I easily blocked it.
Dad had been right all along. If we didn’t know how to protect ourselves, we were screwed. I wished I could take back all of those times I talked smack about him or complained.
Because of him, I still stood here, surviving.
As I straightened, I pulled my hands out of his side and round-kicked the asshole in the stomach.
He fell against the brick wall.
“We can take it from here,” Killian said as he got closer.
Oh, hell no. This was all me.
I scooped the knife from the floor as Killian and Griffin reached me. They grabbed the guy by the arms as I ran behind the bear shifter and placed the knife against his throat. I leaned in and saw blood well from beneath the blade. “Who are you, and what do you want from me?” “Go to hell.” He spat in my face.
Nope, that wasn’t acceptable. I elbowed him hard in the temple, knocking him unconscious, and let him crumble to the floor. “Stupid prick.”
“Uh. Wow.” Killian snorted as he and Griffin released the guy, letting him drop to the floor. I used the sleeve of my dress to wipe away the spittle. I wanted a shower now.
Sierra gasped, “She’s freaking badass.”
“Badass?” Luna scoffed. “Men are supposed to be the protectors, not us. That was extremely unladylike.”
Oh, wow. Her beliefs were archaic. Good thing I wasn’t raised that way, or I’d be captured or dead by now.
“Hey, are you hurt?” Killian rushed over to examine me.
“Look at her neck,” Griffin said through clenched teeth. “The bastard cut her. I’m going to make him pay.”
“I’m fine.” Both of them were being a little too much. “Besides, I knocked him out cold.
Everything will be okay, but I want answers.”
I glanced down at my dress and cringed. Not only was I wearing this godforsaken thing, but I didn’t have my knife on me because of the outfit. I needed better clothes and pronto.
Footsteps pounded in our direction. “What’s going on here?” a deep, raspy voice asked. “Daddy!” Luna sounded relieved. “A man attacked Dove.” So good ol’ Dick Harding was here.
“Dove?” A tall man stepped into the hallway, and his ebony eyes landed on me. He ran a hand through his shortish salt and pepper hair. A frown marred his chiseled face, which was covered by dark brown scruff. “You’re new in town.”
“Yup.” He was more focused on me being new here than the guy lying on the floor? That was a bit strange. “I am.”
“I swear, Griffin.” Dick looked past me to the bear shifter and shook his head. “We’ve got to do something about this. Obviously, people are growing more wary of letting residents out of Shadow City, and now you’re trying to get me to promote letting people in. That’s such a horrible idea for this reason here. Yet another attack targeting wolves.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it even if I wanted to undo Dad’s decision.” Griffin kept his attention on me. “The entire council voted, and there was a majority.”
My brain struggled to catch up. Nothing they were saying made sense. “You’re part of a council?”
“Yes, he is,” Luna said and stepped over, placing a hand on Griffin’s shoulder. “He’s the alpha of
Shadow City.”
Laughter almost bubbled out of me. This had to be some sort of sick joke. From what I’d seen, he was more interested in getting into various women’s pants than being a leader. Maybe his goal was to be a lead douchebag?
Griffin stepped away from Luna, making her hand fall. He cleared his throat. “My dad was the alpha, and he passed away right before the college was built. The alpha power and title fell to me, but Dick has gracefully stepped forward to help lead the city while I attend college and get my priorities in order.”
Things clicked into place, and I groaned. I hadn’t realized that I’d been holding out hope that Shadow City’s new alpha would be my ally. Griffin wouldn’t help me. At least, I understood why Luna wanted him and was willing to do whatever it took to lock him down. Hell, almost no one would turn him down. From what Dad said, the city had become the home of some of the strongest supernaturals he’d ever seen, and Atticus had been a beacon of power. If that was the case, that meant that Griffin was one of the most powerful wolves in the world, and snagging him would set his mate up for life.
Killian squatted next to the bear shifter and dug through his pockets. “He has no ID on him or anything.”
“That’s consistent. It has to be so no one can identify the attackers if something goes wrong.” Dick sighed, but it seemed…off.
What he said had merit, but for some reason, I didn’t buy it. This bear was cocky. He’d honestly thought he had me. He wouldn’t think to leave his stuff in his car or wherever, so there had to be another reason he carried no ID. I kept my mouth shut, though, since I wasn’t alone with Killian.
“Harold.” Dick faced the front of the restaurant and clapped. “Take this jackass who attacked this poor girl to Shadow City jail. He’s been roughed up enough, so try not to injure him much more. We need him to be able to talk.”