Chapter Twenty-Five
Dylan
Of all the places I’d imagined Allie asking me to stop, a rundown trailer tucked away in the backyard of a house in Hayward was not on my list of possibilities.
“Why exactly are we here?” I asked Allie as we walked through the back gate, which looked like it was going to fall off its hinges at any moment.
“Who’s that with you?” called out a gruff male voice from the shadows of the trailer.
“My friend, Dylan, drove me today,” Allie explained as she approached cautiously, making me worry more than a little about who was at that trailer. “Look down,” she warned me, and it was then that I noticed her gaze was directed at the ground, as well.
“You know I don’t like strangers,” the man said as he stepped out of the shadows. The man was tall and wide through the shoulders and chest, giving him an intimidating appearance. He’d also apparently given up on shaving or cutting his hair, but thankfully, it smelled like he still bathed. It was hard to miss the way the sleeve of his shirt hung empty on his left side.
“Stop being such a grump,” Allie admonished as she walked right up to the giant and hugged him without making eye contact.
His burly arm wrapped around her, and he let out a rumbling sigh. “I heard someone’s been killing your kind, girlie,” he said. “You might want to find a better bodyguard than a pretty warlock.”
Allie finally looked up at the gruff man and smiled. “He is too pretty, isn’t he?”
“Only way he’ll be much protection is if your attacker challenges him to a beauty pageant,” the man said with a smirk directed at me. That’s when I decided this downcast eyes thing Allie suggested wasn’t going to fly. I’d never been good at acting submissive.
“I saved her life last night, so I think I can keep her safe,” I said, realizing how childish I sounded after the words left my mouth.
“Puny little thing like you?” the guy asked.
“Knock it off, Gryphon,” Allie warned. “I know it’s close to the full moon, but you’re old enough to control yourself better.”
That confirmed my suspicions about his guy being a werewolf. While there were some varieties of demons that a smart person didn’t make eye contact with, the werewolves were the biggest threat when their dominance was challenged. As a rule, werewolves didn’t live on their own because they were social creatures who needed the support of the pack. Unfortunately, some packs cast out those with injuries, which explained why Gryphon was living alone, and probably why he’d let himself go to some extent.
“You’re right, girlie,” Gryphon said with a chuckle. “Back to my point, the pack does some security work, and they could watch out for you.”
“I’m fine,” Allie assured him. “Dylan’s not as weak as he looks.”
I might have taken offense to what she’d said if I didn’t know she was working the werewolf. It would not do for him to think I was a threat because they could get very territorial. Even missing an arm, I figured this guy could fight a grizzly bear.
“How did you meet?” I asked.
“I was about to jump off the Bay Bridge,” Gryphon explained.
“You were going to kill yourself?” I asked, because that was pretty uncommon among werewolves since they were so hard to kill.
“No, I was taking up diving,” he snapped before turning to Allie. “You sure you want to trust this one to take care of you? He’s not too bright.”
“That’s not very nice, Gryph,” she admonished, and he gave her a toothy grin.
“So, Allie saved your life?” I asked.
“Yeah, she’s the type that thinks she can save us all,” Gryphon said. “Crazy woman is forever collecting lost causes.”
“You aren’t a lost cause,” Allie argued.
“Nah, but I was when you found me,” he said before focusing completely on me. “How long have you known Allie?” he asked.
“Only a couple of days,” I admitted.
“Then you don’t know yet,” he said.
“Know what?” I asked.
“That she’s too nice for her own good. Damn demon needs a keeper,” he pointed out. “She needs a mate to take care of her and make sure she stays away from lost causes. Some of us feral ones are too dangerous.”
“No matter how much I like you, Gryphon, I am not going to listen to your macho lines about how I need a man,” Allie replied firmly.
“If you’re going to adopt a male werewolf, then you’d better get used to macho posturing,” I said.
Gryphon let out a loud booming laugh and slapped me on the back so hard, I nearly fell face first onto the ground. “You might not be so bad, warlock,” he said. “What’s your name again?”
“Dylan Hunt,” I told him with a nod.
“Well, Dylan Hunt,” he said. “You’d better not let anything happen to our little demon here. She may be a pushy pain in the ass some days, but she’s got a bigger heart than most. She’s also one of the few people I trust.”
“Pushy pain in the ass?” Allie asked, hands on her hips trying to look stern. “You’re just lucky I like you, Gryphon.”
“That I am,” he admitted, and then shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not going to kill myself. You know that, right?”
“I know,” Allie said and gave him another hug.
“Then why do you keep coming by to check on me?” he asked. “I know you were worried I’d try again before, but I’m good now. Well, I’m getting better,” he assured her.
“She comes by because she likes you,” I said. “Allie’s not going to stop caring just because you’re doing better.”
Gryphon looked somewhat embarrassed by what I’d said, and I wondered if he’d had any real friends when he was in the pack. While I hadn’t recognized Gryphon at first, I did now. He’d been the main enforcer for one of the local packs and one of the most feared werewolves in the country. The only reason he hadn’t ruled his own pack was his lack of interpersonal skills and his utterly ruthless nature. I guess I wasn’t the only one who felt like a different man around Alana Talbot.