Moon Dancer - Hidden Wolf 1

Finley

When Ryker's shield finally lowers, I let out an ear-splitting scream of frustration. Snowflakes whip around my head and frost explodes from my fingertips. When I open my eyes, Jagger's cat-like smile greets me from across the room.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I spit at him. "You let him leave with her!"

Jagger just shrugs nonchalantly and heads into the kitchen.

I growl and stomp after him. "What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

Jagger sighs dramatically and hops onto the counter. "A lot of things, my friend."

Anger spikes in me. I stalk forward and slam my hands on the counter on either side of his legs. "She is in danger! We can't let her leave!"

What was he not getting about this? Our mate is a Gypsy. If not Larkin, then The Society and every single pack wolf in our territory would want to cause her harm. Hell, even the fucking humans would bring pitchforks. She was our mate. And he wanted to sit back and do nothing.

Jagger's eyebrows furrow. "We're all in danger and I'm not doing nothing."

I throw my arms to the side. "What the hell do you call this?"

"Ryker mentioned that we have something to talk to Ares about." He says, a hint of his own anger coming through.

My anger stumbles and I drop my arms to my sides. "What?"

Ryker sweeps his green eyes to me. "Actually he said to beat the ever-living fuck out of him."

In a blink, my anger is rolling back through me. Ares had said and done a lot of stupid shit recently. "What did he do?" I growl.

Jagger gives me a wary look. "Not sure."

I bare my teeth at him. "Didn't think you should ask that before they up and left us?"

Jagger frowned at me. "She couldn't stay here, Finn. It's not personal."

"Well it sure as fuck feels personal! Ry just trapped me behind a shield for an hour!" I snarl at him.

A hint of a smile ghosts his lips and I clench my hands into fists at my sides.

"You're not even taking this seriously."

Jagger jumps off the counter and comes chest-to-chest with me. "Everything involving Grayson I am dead serious. You got that?"

I grunt. "You just let her leave."

"She didn't leave us. She just needed out of the house for a bit. Gray was literally in a den of lions here. Don't you understand that?" Jagger's eyes plead with me to understand. "We are literally her enemies. Our kind committed mass genocide against Gypsies. Finn. You have to understand what it's like for her. It's not personal. She just needs some time."

But one thing still didn't make sense to me. "Why aren't you with her then? Why did she choose Ryker?"

Jagger winces. "I think... I think sharing the whole mute trauma-response thing really gives him a leg up. They connected right away. He's what she needs in company right now."

I look at him, my bewilderment flowing freely through the bond. "Their trauma? If you want to talk about shared trauma-"

Jagger cuts me off. "I know, I know. But think about it. She doesn't know our story, or any of our stories really. Ryker didn't talk for years. It's not a tattoo you can hide. But even with that, Ryker is more calm and level-headed than the rest of us. It makes sense that Gray would choose him if she had to have one of us by her side 24/7. It won't always be like this."