28

I tapped my finger on the ID and grimaced. “Dove Davis?”
“Yup.” Killian nodded and waggled his brows. “Double Ds, right there.”
The sexual innuendo rang clear. “That’s why you picked Davis?”
“Think of it as an inside joke.” His smile was full of pride. “I mean, it’s not like you have to pull that out whenever you meet someone.”
“Even if I did, I’m pretty sure most wouldn’t think about boobs.” At least, I hoped not.
“Come on, let’s go.” He took my hand and led me to the truck. “Before you’re late and Carter shits a brick.”
“Wow, your eloquence is on point today.” I stuck out my tongue, trying to keep the conversation lighthearted.
When we got settled in the car, Killian pulled out of the parking spot and glanced at me. “You do realize that the longer you stay rogue, the more your mind will slip.”
“I know, but what am I supposed to do?” I stared at my hands. “It’s not like finding a pack that works for me is a simple thing to do. I’m an alpha.” I wouldn’t be able to submit to another alpha. Dad was the alpha when I was born, and he was also my parent, so accepting his authority over me hadn’t been an issue. But I was born to lead, which made this whole situation complicated. I wouldn’t be able to join a pack unless I could be the alpha. My wolf wouldn’t let me, and there wasn’t going to be a current alpha who would stand down… especially for a girl. Male alphas tended to frown upon women in leadership roles, although that made me even more determined to prove myself.
I got that Killian didn’t want to be an alpha-at least, not yet-but I didn’t want to take over his pack. That wouldn’t feel right. I could tell he was meant to lead.
“Why am I not surprised by that? That does make things way more complicated. Maybe we should try running together,” he suggested.
“No!” I said quickly.
His face fell, and his hands fidgeted on the steering wheel.
Great, I’d hurt his feelings. I hadn’t meant to. Rosemary already knew the truth; maybe I should let him in too. “There’s another reason I can’t run with you or join your pack.”
”And what’s that?” His forehead lined with confusion. He was making it abundantly clear that he wouldn’t be dropping it, and in fairness, with the way he was helping me, he had a right to know. “Can you not shift or something?”
“You have to swear that if I tell you this, it stays between us. No one else can know. Not Griffin. Nobody.” The last thing I needed was Griffin or Luna finding out unless they had to be let in on my secret later. Or if Rosemary figured out who I was and told people.
“If I haven’t proven my trustworthiness by now, I’m not sure what else I can do.” Killian scowled.
Fair enough, but I’d known him for only two days. It was kind of insane to think about revealing what I was to anyone after living my entire life in secret, but all I got was good vibes from him. I’d have to go with my gut.
“Have you heard of silver wolves?” Maybe he could figure it out on his own instead of me having to say the actual words.
“The race of wolves that once served as the protectors of Shadow City and were connected to the moon?” He nodded. “Atticus raised Griffin on stories about them. They sounded badass. It’s too bad that they died off. I heard that they were powerful.”
“Well, they all did die off-two days ago. Except for one, who managed to escape.” I said the words quietly, bracing for his reaction.
He blinked a few times, staring straight ahead as the words settled over him. He inhaled. “You’re a silver wolf?” He turned to face me. “How the hell is that possible? Your race left the city over one thousand years ago and vanished.”
There had to be a piece of the story missing. “Atticus knew my dad, who was the alpha of our pack. My dad even visited the city at least once because Atticus wanted us to come back.”
“Why did your ancestors leave?” He rolled his shoulders. “Did whoever attacked you know what your pack was?”
“All I know is that we left because things were taking a turn, and our race was being used for corrupt things.” Dad never got into specifics. He’d said he’d tell me more when the time came for me to lead the pack. But that wasn’t relevant now. “And the people who killed my pack knew. They attacked on the new moon when we’re at our weakest and more in line with the strength of a normal wolf shifter. What I can figure is that they wanted to capture me alive so they could take me to someone to make babies with him.”
“Why would anyone want to be forced into a mate bond?” He lifted a hand. “Not that you aren’t gorgeous. I’d be all up on you if you didn’t remind me of my sister.”
For once, I was speechless. A car blew a horn, startling me. Both Killian and I looked out the windshield and found ourselves barreling down the wrong lane right toward a huge SUV.
“Fuck!” Killian yelled as he jerked the steering wheel hard to the right.
My breath caught as my head snapped sideways. I closed my eyes, bracing for impact, and forced my body to relax, remembering one of the training exercises Dad made us do regularly. When your body was relaxed, you didn’t get as injured as if you tensed up. That was one reason that drunk drivers so often walked away from an accident without injury.
After a few seconds, nothing happened, and I opened my eyes to find Killian wiping his forehead then clenching the wheel extra hard.
He glanced at me. “Are you hurt?”
“Eyes on the road.” I snapped, not wanting to experience that again. “If you can’t stay focused, we can chat later.”
“I’m fine now.” He patted his chest. “I knew you had secrets, but I would’ve never guessed that.”
No one would. “To answer your question, any child I bear will be a full-blooded silver wolf.”
“How is that possible?” He grimaced. “I mean, wouldn’t that be only if you mated with another silver wolf?”
“Let me repeat.” I chuckled. “Any child I bear will be one hundred percent silver wolf. It has to do with our connection to the moon.”
“How could you know that unless…” He trailed off. “Did your pack mate with normal wolves? Have you not been hidden all this time? Why haven’t any of us heard you exist?”
He was asking a lot of good questions that I’d never thought about before. “Yes, sometimes, although we did stay hidden as much as possible. We integrated into society to find our fated mates- no one outside our pack was allowed to be brought home unless they were a pack member’s fated mate. Because of that connection and the need to keep growing our pack, those were the exceptions. However, we’d go to the grocery store and school like any other wolf would. We just didn’t shift with outside wolves or invite them to our homes. We kept a safe distance from them.”