George scoffs. “Not surprising. You’re really confirming all my beliefs right now.”
“What would those be?” I ask, blinking at him again and keeping my face blank.
“Those kidnappers should have finished the damn job,” he mutters. “Like they were told to.”
“What did you say, George?” I ask innocently.
“Never mind,” he answers, grabbing my arm. “Come over here into the side street, so we can talk privately.”
“Oh, okay,” I reply, letting him pull me aside. “Do you have a plan to protect me? Is there danger?”
“You might say that,” he growls. A red flush is creeping up his neck, and I can see rage flickering in his eyes.
He’s a real piece of work, this one.
“Thank you, George,” I say eagerly. “I can’t thank you enough for helping me right now.”
“Sure,” he mumbles, looking around to make sure the street is empty. “Now we can really talk.”
“Yes!” I exclaim. “Good. We need to. You were talking about the royal line earlier, and keeping the council pure. I want to help however I can.”
“You can help by fucking disappearing!” George hisses, grabbing me by the throat and shoving me against the wall. “I was loyal to Cliff. We ran the pack for over thirty years together. Everything was going great until you came back!”
“George—”
“Shut up! I can’t believe Galen is even interested in a disgusting mutation like you!”
Geez, George, tell me what you really think.
“Let me go—”
“No! I’m going to protect the pack’s legacy in Cliff’s name! With you gone, Galen will be forced to take another mate. A better one befitting his status.”
I struggle against the wall, clawing at George’s hand. He’s obviously gone off the deep end, and I hope my backup gets here soon.
“First you, then the brat,” George mutters. “He’s attached to that little lump of deformity, so he’s got to go, too.”
“You mean this little brat?” a high, light voice speaks from behind George, and he lets go of me to spin around.
“Nico!” I scream, seeing him standing alone in the middle of the street. “What are you doing here? Get back!”
“I’m here to rescue you, Mom,” Nico says, smiling. “It’s okay, I got this.”
George growls, shifting as he takes a step towards Nico. He’s old, but he’s also big, powerful, and a very experienced hunter.
Nico stands calmly in the middle of the alley, not looking the slightest bit afraid. He waits until George is very close, then shifts into his wolf shape.
Pure, white light glows around Nico’s body as his wolf shape takes over and grows, quickly becoming much bigger than George’s form. The old wolf tries to back away, but Nico roars and lunges at him, both of them going down in a struggling heap.
“Nico!” I scream, taking a step towards the fight.
Suddenly, Galen is there, right in front of me, pushing me back. “No, Clara, they’ll tear you to shreds!” he shouts.
“But Nico!”
“He’s doing fine,” Galen says.
“How could you let him go?” I yell.
