This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,113
little offended. What makes you think I’m not the greater threat?”
“I know you are.” Cody’s growled response is more genuine than I was expecting. His gold-flecked eyes gleam in the lights as we step inside the door. “I’m not a fool, Tessa. I may have walked a foolish path once, but I leaped off it when I witnessed its deadly consequences.”
We enter a room with the same grandeur as the exterior: marbled floor, golden pendant lights hanging from the ceiling, and waiting to take my coat is a butler, who arches his eyebrow at me when it’s clear I have neither a coat nor a bag to hand over.
The woman I glimpsed before is gone.
Music floods in from both sides of the house—a thumping beat from the door to the right and classical music from the door to the left.
Cody steers me toward the room with the classical music. “I’m sorry about your father.”
I should play disdain, hide my true feelings, but I can’t. My reaction is instinctive. I flinch away from Cody, snarls rising to my throat, hot rage shooting through me. “You… have no right to speak of him.”
Cody lets me put distance between us, but despite my warning, he continues. “Your father was a good alpha. A good man. I don’t know if he realized the extent of the bad blood between my father and Tristan when he got between them that night. He was trying to protect you and for that, I’m sorry.”
I take another step away from Cody, a hot mess of confusion and anger rising inside me. “You’re saying your father was coming after Tristan that night. He wasn’t coming after me.”
“My father doesn’t give a fuck about you, Tessa,” Cody says bluntly. “But he should. He’s lost perspective. If he could see beyond his need for vengeance, he’d realize he’s made an enemy of you.” Cody’s smile is cold, but his speech carries an element of respect I was not expecting. “You’re an enemy nobody can afford to have.”
Cody casts his burning stare at the door as Tristan steps through it, but he speaks to me. “Tristan was smart when he took you that night. He’s a lot smarter than anyone realizes.” Cody’s focus shifts to my bare shoulder again. “You should consider the fact that he knew your father would die trying to protect you.”
I shudder as the memories of the events before Tristan fought for me flood back. There was an instant when I thought I imagined an unspoken communication pass between Tristan and my father. If Tristan knew my father would die, then my father knew it too.
My breathing is too rapid. I look to Tristan where he remains just inside the front door. His emotions are still walled, preventing me from sensing what he’s feeling, but mine are leaking all over the place. The clench in his jaw tells me I’m like a wailing storm to him right now.
I thought I knew the rules of the game we would play tonight—a game of innuendo, seduction, and lies that would lead to me ripping out Baxter Griffin’s throat like he ripped out my father’s—but Cody has snatched the foundations out from under me with his honesty after I’ve barely set foot through the door.
I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and hold it, exhaling my tension. Pink ocean… orange grass… violet sunrise… yellow forest…
It’s been nearly a week since I needed to recite lists, but it calms me now. I remind myself that I’m not fragile or vulnerable. I’m strong enough.
My goal hasn’t changed.
Baxter Griffin killed my father. He invaded Tristan’s territory and attacked innocent shifters. I’m here to end him.
I open my eyes and reach for Cody’s arm. “Well, then, now that we understand each other, let’s pretend to be friends. You can get me a drink, we can make small talk, maybe flirt a little, and enjoy your brother’s birthday party like civilized people.”
Cody takes my hand, his palm closing over mine as he draws me back to his side. His smile tells me he’ll play the charade, but his statement makes me shiver. “I’m sure we can be convincing.”
A bar is situated to the far right of the room while circular tables set out with sparkling glassware are scattered throughout the space. Pendant lights across the ceiling give a soft glow. The room is filled with shifters, who all appear completely comfortable in their suits and dresses.