A dark olive wolf shifter about Killian’s height appeared and walked past us but avoided eye contact. He bent down, picked up the injured bear, and headed straight out the exit door.
He was gone within seconds like he couldn’t stand to be near us or was scared. So strange.
“I’m impressed that you handled him without getting injured.” Dick tightened his black tie as he addressed Killian and Griffin, ignoring my presence. “And thank God there are no other customers.
That could’ve been a publicity nightmare.”
“Actually, Dove took the guy out on her own.” Sierra smirked and gestured to me. “Griffin and
Killian didn’t make it in time.”
“Are you serious?” Dick’s gaze landed on me, making my skin crawl. “That’s interesting.”
His negative energy nearly stole my breath. But I couldn’t afford to alert him to that little fact. Dad had told me that at some point in my life, I’d meet someone truly evil. And that I couldn’t let on that I could sense their darkness because it was a trait only silver wolves had. If I gave away my reaction, I could put not only myself in danger but the people I cared about. Granted, at this time, the total of people I cared about had dwindled to one-Killian. But I had to continue to play the game until I had a royal flush. Only then could I reveal my hand. “What can I say?” I forced my words to sound light, and I smiled. If my gut hadn’t warned me, I would’ve thought he was concerned. “I believe that everyone should know how to protect themselves. Had I not been trained, this situation could’ve gone an extremely different way.”
“So true.” He smiled. “Even though men are normally the guards, not the women.”
My skin crawled from his creepy-ass smile. Not only that, but he’d chastised me yet somehow managed to make it not sound too judgy. So he was the worst kind of villain-a manipulator-which meant Killian and Griffin were clueless. “In this particular instance, it’s a good thing I didn’t need a man, or he would’ve had me out the door.” I refused to cower like Dick wanted.
Something unreadable crossed Dick’s face before his features smoothed back into place. “Well, I should probably get back to Shadow City. I’d planned on working the books here for a little while today, but that obviously won’t be happening.”
“I’ll go with you,” Griffin said as his forehead lined. He scanned me before looking at Killian. “And why don’t you take her somewhere safe?” His voice held concern, which shocked me.
“That’s a good idea.” Killian wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gestured to the exit. “Do you mind if we leave this way?”
“Sure.” Dick waved him off, but his shoulders tensed. He turned to Griffin. “Stay here with Luna and have lunch. I can handle the attacker.”
“No, I’ll go with you.” Griffin narrowed his eyes. “Technically, it’s my place, not yours. And he attacked my best friend’s g-” He cut off like he couldn’t say the word and inhaled sharply. “Dove. He attacked Dove right in front of us. That’s equivalent to him giving me the middle finger. I want to hear what he has to say.”
“But-” Dick started.
Luna touched her dad’s arm. “It’s a good thing he wants-”
He cut her off with a glare. “Obviously, I can’t tell you no, but I think it would be more prudent for you to stay here and enjoy a meal.”
Griffin pursed his lips as he considered Dick’s words.
“Yes.” Dick blatantly didn’t want Griffin to go with him, to the point where he was openly discouraging it. “Having lunch is so much more important than attending to alpha duties,” I said sweetly as I smiled and batted my eyelashes.
“Don’t worry, I’m not ready to step in permanently.” Griffin straightened. “But like I said, he attacked her right in front of me, almost like a dare. One day, I will take back the role full time, and I need to show everyone I won’t take any bullshit.”
“Come on.” Killian took my hand and opened the back door. “We’ll see you guys later.”
I let him pull me out the door, but I didn’t want to leave. Dick was attempting to make Griffin stand down, and for whatever reason, Griffin had almost allowed it. If I hadn’t butted in, I had a feeling he would have lost his nerve. But if Griffin was the true alpha and he wanted to be part of the interrogation, it wasn’t Dick’s place to tell him no or discourage him.
“You okay?” Killian asked, leading me to his truck.
“Yeah, why?” I focused on Killian. Everything inside me was telling me to go back to Griffin, which I didn’t understand. The sensation tugged and itched inside me almost to the point of being overwhelming. He had some sort of hold on me, and I didn’t like it one bit.
“Let’s see, you went up against Dick.” He chuckled. “And you were attacked.”
“What is Dick’s problem?” I tried to sound casual, but I desperately wanted to know.
“Well, he hates a woman talking back to him, but he’s a good guy other than that.” Killian opened the passenger door. “When Atticus died, the entire wolf pack in Shadow City landed on Griffin’s shoulders. He was seventeen. My pack is large, around eight hundred wolves, but he’s alpha, not only over the six hundred who live in Shadow City-but he also represents the over fifteen hundred various shifters who live outside. Not only did all the responsibility land on him, but he was grieving for his father while still learning to be a man, just like me. Dick offered to be his proxy. He’s taken on a lot of the alpha responsibilities to let Griffin have a semi-normal college experience before Dick hands the reins back to him. That’s why Griffin is majoring in political science, preparing for his inevitable role.”
So that was the angle the older man was working. I had a gut feeling he had no intention of handing the power back to Griffin. “Is Griffin not your alpha too?” If Killian’s pack were the ones protecting the city, it’d make sense that they were connected.
He chuckled. “No. With us living outside, we have our own pack. It works better that way. Besides, if we didn’t, then we’d have to get approval from the council for any decisions we-or rather, I-make. It’s easiest to stay separate.”