Page 56 of Unforgivable Fate

“Careful.” Darius had moved so quickly Nova hadn’t even registered it but he now stood beside her, shoulder to shoulder, and glared at Tyrell. “That’s a Crescent wolf you’re speaking to, in the Crescent Pack Alpha’s home, and if you call our sister a bitch again, I’m going to be forced to rip your head off the same way I did Maddox.”

Tyrell did that teeth sucking thing again, narrowing his eyes as he looked from Darius to Griffin and back again, “So you’re the one that did the deed and took Maddox out of this world?”

“I am.” Darius confirmed without so much as blinking.

“Well, I guess I owe you one for dealing with that particular problem for me.” Tyrell sniffed, “So we’re going to go now.”

“I think that’s a damn good idea.” Leo had moved too, standing on the other side of Darius.

“Come on.” Tyrell motioned to his Enforcers, “Seems we’ve outstayed our welcome.”

Darius moved aside, stepping to the left, towards Leo, to give them space to move out the door. Nova stepped to the right, careful to keep herself between Griffin and the others. Tyrell reached for the door and then seemed to reconsider. He turned back to face them and there was nothing but cold hatred in his eyes again.

“If you think I’m just going to go home and let you live here with them, you’re dumber than I imagined little brother. You can hide behind them now but not forever and when you least expect it, I’m going to be there to give you exactly what you deserve.”

Nova’s fists clenched but before she could act on the instinct to punch this asshole in the face, Darius growled. It was the meanest, deadliest sound she’d ever heard. It made her own wolf shrink even further down inside of her and it must have gotten through even Tyrell’s dense skull because he held his hands up innocently.

“We’re going.”

“See that you do.” Leo snapped. “Because you aren’t welcome in Crescent territory anymore and if we see you trespassing on our lands again, you’ll be dealt with accordingly.”

Tyrell smirked and pushed out the door, his Enforcers a step behind him. The door was left hanging open behind them but nobody made a move for it. Nova was vaguely aware of Leo telling Darius to gather the Enforcers and make sure Tyrell and his people got out of their territory without making any pitstops. He said something about going to spread the word to be on the lookout for strangers within the pack. She understood why Leo had to do it and why Darius had to go too but she was more worried about her mate who had stayed mute and frozen throughout the entire encounter.

“Griffin? Griff? Honey?” She reached up and pressed his face between her hands, pulling his head down so he had to look at her. His eyes weren’t quite vacant but they were distant and glassy. She swallowed the urge to panic and kept her voice calm, “Can you hear me? Are you okay? Griffin, honey, I need to know if you’re okay.”

When he gave a small shake of his head, her heart felt like it finally started back up again. It was something. Even if it hurt, it was a response. He was still in there, just scared and panicked.

“It’s okay.” Nova kept her hold on his voice and willed him to open the bond enough to take some of her warmth, her comfort, her love. Because that was what she’d realized when she thought someone might try to take him from her. She loved this man. Loved him fiercely and she wouldn’t lose him. She couldn’t. She’d already lost too many people she loved in this life. “They’re gone now.”

Griffin shook his head again but she hushed him softly.

“They’re gone. Darius is making sure of it. They’re leaving and whatever they did to you in the past, they can’t hurt you anymore. Do you hear me? He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Griffin’s muscles trembled beneath her hands and she watched his Adam’s Apple bob as he swallowed hard. He wet his lips with his tongue. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and then, only once he had torn his gaze from her and was staring at the floor again, did he finally speak.

“You’re wrong. You don’t know how wrong you are. I spent so long running from him and I thought I was safe here but I was wrong. I was wrong and now I’ve put you and your family in danger.”

“No.”

“Yes.” His voice was clipped, “Maddox may have murdered your parents but I’m going to be the reason Tyrell comes after the rest of you. I can’t have that. I can’t let him hurt you or our family. I have to go with him.”

“No.” Nova whispered as horror sank in past her concern. “No.”

“It’s the only option. I’m so sorry, Nova. I should’ve gotten back on that bus the first day I got here and never looked back. I have to go.”

Nova’s hands slipped away as Griffin turned and walked out the door. She watched him with her mouth gaping open. He was walking away from her? After everything they’d been through, after everything they’d promised one another, he was just going to give up and walk away as soon as things got hard?

Oh, hell no. That wasn’t happening. Not today and not while she still had breath in her lungs.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Griffin was in a daze. He knew that Nova was beside him, talking to him, but all he could think was that he had to get as far away from her as possible. He had to run again, just like he’d been running for most of his life. He would have to leave this home that he had finally found and made for himself, leave the family he had only begun to think of as his own, in order to keep them safe.

It was the only way.

He’d been certain when he walked into Darius and Leo’s house that he was seeing things. He’d thought it was a nightmare, and it was, but he wasn’t asleep. This was really happening. Tyrell was really here. He’d found Griffin, tracked him down, and now he would fulfill the promise he had made all those years ago and kill him.

But if he knew Tyrell, it wouldn’t just be Griffin that he went after.