20. Griffin

TWENTY

Adeline's disgust was evident by the look on her face. She sat stoically beside Griffin, and every time he glanced at her, he felt his resolve waver.

I told you this was a bad idea,his wolf admonished sharply. Look what you're doing to her.

Griffin gritted his teeth. The muscles in his jaw twitched as he clenched his jaw hard enough to break teeth.

As Carl continued to snap at the members of his pack, he had the audacity to deem "servants," Griffin saw Adeline withdraw further into herself. The terror in her eyes at having to deal with this man was plain to see.

"Get me more wine," Carl demanded to the closest member of his pack. The man … more like a boy, Griffin thought … couldn't have been more than twenty. He rushed about, grabbing the bottle of wine so he could fill Carl's glass quickly. His hands shook with his nervousness.

Griffin might have been able to look past Carl's rudeness, but he couldn't look past treating his pack like they were beneath him. He looked at them like they were piles of shit, and for the first time in his life, Griffin truly thought deeply about whether or not he had made a mistake by handing the title of alpha over to him.

"So, tell me exactly what's going on," Carl said, his tone more even now as he brought his glass of wine to his lips.

Adeline cleared her throat. Her hand reached under the table and found Griffin's. Griffin knew right away what she wanted. He took control of the conversation.

"Adeline has recently come into some trouble. She has two adopted shifter daughters, and the three of them need pack protection."

Carl raised a brow. His dark, beady eyes searched Griffin's face first, then Adeline's, for a more thorough response. "And? Protection from who? What did she do?"

Griffin hesitated, weighing the pros and cons of saying more. "Tobias Bower."

Carl looked taken aback. "He's a powerful man. What did she …" He paused and looked at Adeline. "What did you do to piss him off?"

Adeline bit her lip and looked down at her untouched plate. Since arriving at the dining hall, she hadn't taken a single bite of food.

"If you don't tell me, I can't help you," Carl said slowly. "I need to know exactly what we're getting involved in before I offer pack protection."

Griffin was thoughtful for a moment. "That's reasonable." He thoroughly debated his next statement for a full minute before speaking. He knew if he told Carl that Adeline was his fated mate, it might force Carl to switch his stance and demand that she marry him instead.

He wasn't sure what he would do if Carl pulled that card, but he realized with absolute certainty he couldn't let Adeline marry another man, especially this one.

On the heels of a long pause, he finally said it. "Adeline is my fated mate."

The surprise on Carl's face vanished the moment it appeared. In fact, he looked downright thrilled. He raised his glass in a toast. "That is indeed wonderful news. You two have my blessing."

Griffin's surprise wasn't as easy to hide as Carl's. His eyebrows shot up. He looked from Carl to Adeline, his grip on her hand tightening somewhat before he cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Carl. I understand that if you feel you cannot provide Adeline and the girls your protection, they'll need to leave the pack, and I will go with them."

Carl did nothing to hide his exuberance. It was obvious he realized that with Griffin out of the way, he could run the pack without the threat of mutiny or a hostile takeover from the Presleys. It was what Carl always wanted, and if Griffin was being honest with himself, it was a major relief for him as well.

He would hate to leave behind his sister and her family. The thought of losing his nieces was almost too much to bear, but for Adeline, Jodi, and Deanne, he would do it. At least Carl wasn't trying to take Adeline for himself as Griffin had feared.

With a smirk still etched upon his face, Carl ate in relative silence. Whatever thoughts were running through the alpha's head had Griffin on high alert. He seemed to be holding something back, and whatever it was, it made Griffin uneasy.

Ever since he stepped foot on the island, he noticed things that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The biggest thing was wondering where Carl got the money to fund the extravagance of the compound.

He wasn't a rich man. Originally, he told the pack that it was an inheritance he was willing to share for the greater good. But unless that inheritance was an endless supply of riches, it made little sense to Griffin.

The wealth displayed on the island was immense. Before he arrived at Adeline's door to escort her to dinner, he did a little snooping around. The compound, the island itself, the decor, the Persian rugs, the Olympic-sized swimming pools … Griffin had found two pools already. Just the Bugatti, the Maserati, and the Lamborghini that were parked inside the oversized garage would have depleted nearly any inheritance.

It didn't make sense how he was affording this. The cars alone were worth over a million dollars.

Carl snapped his fingers, and the same man he barked at earlier to fill his wine glass stepped forward.

"Move Griffin and Adeline's things to a different room so they can stay together."

"Yes, sir," came the young man's nervous response. He immediately turned on his heel and hurried off.

Adeline's pent-up breath came out in an audible woosh, and Carl smiled at her.

"Relax, my dear," Carl commented. "I'd never keep fated mates apart. Why, that would be cruel."

The way he said it caused the hair on the back of Griffin's neck to rise.

She managed a smile. "I appreciate it."

His eyes, cold and calculated, raked over her, finally settling on her uneaten plate of food. "Was dinner not up to your standards, Adeline? Perhaps you'd care for something else?"

"Oh, no," she said quickly. "I had a huge meal right before we hit the road. I'm just not hungry, unfortunately. Everything does look delicious."

Carl smiled coldly. "Let's hope your appetite returns by morning. Breakfast here is to die for."

Griffin couldn't help but wonder if he meant that in the literal sense. Adeline just smiled again. "I'm sure I'll be famished."

"Well, then, if everyone is done, please excuse me. I have matters to attend to." He wiped his mouth with a linen napkin and threw it nonchalantly on the table, where it slid off and onto the floor. He left it there for someone else to pick up.

Griffin had to bite his tongue. "Goodnight, Carl."

Once the door closed behind the alpha, Adeline looked up at Griffin, but he shook his head, warning her to keep silent. They left the dining hall together, hand in hand, only to come face to face with Allen.

"I'll escort you to your new room," he said cheerfully. "All of your things have already been moved."

They followed silently behind him until he left them standing in front of a door on the third floor of the house. Griffin pushed it open, revealing a king-sized bed, a mahogany dresser with a sixty-five-inch flat-screen television mounted above it, and an attached bathroom completely designed in black marble.

Griffin watched as Adeline took a seat on the bed. The duvet was maroon silk. She ran her hands over the material, looking stunned at the sheer wealth of everything.

"Griffin …" she began.

The look on her face told him that she felt the exact same way he did. His eyes met hers, but he made no move to drift closer. Instead, she got up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

His arms immediately came about her shoulders, and he tightened his grip as he held her.

"What are your honest thoughts?" Griffin asked quietly.

She snorted into his chest. "I think he's an asshole. Who treats people like that? Did you see him throw the napkin on the ground?"

"Hard to miss," Griffin grumbled. "But we need his help, Adeline. I meant, do you think he's really contemplating offering you protection?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea. I hope so, I guess. I'm not sure I even want it, but if you think it's what's best for Jodi and Deanne, so be it. This just isn't the kind of pack I had in mind for them, Griffin. I don't want them treated as slaves. I want them cherished and respected. I thought that's what wolf packs were like. Isn't there anyone else we can turn to? Or are all alpha's like this?"

Griffin stiffened at her words. "No," he growled. "My father and my grandfather were nothing like this."

"I guess all we can do is hope for the best, right?"

Griffin nodded. His hands ran up and down her back comfortingly. All he wanted to do was provide reassurance for his mate, and he hated that he was forced to work with a man like Carl to do so. It irked his pride, both as a shifter and a man. His love for Adeline, however, left him willing to do whatever was necessary, no matter how much he hated it.

"I'm glad Carl gave us a room together," she mumbled.

He snickered. "I'll be honest with you, Adeline, I wasn't going to let you sleep in a different room tonight. I wanted to look around, and that was the only reason I encouraged you to go with that dim-wit."

He shook his head. "Be careful around Allen. He's definitely on Team Carl, and if, for some reason, Carl isn't rooting for us, Allen won't be either. There are a lot of pack members here who are still loyal to my family. That's who we need to find."

She lifted her head to look at him. "Um, how?"

He shrugged. "Realistically, we don't even know if we need to. Carl might be on our side, and we're worrying for no reason."

His wolf snarled in his mind, but Griffin ignored him.

"I'm sure you're right. I've been on edge ever since this Tobias thing started. Part of me isn't thinking clearly." She leaned her head back on his chest, but he could still feel her tension.

"Hey." He lifted her chin with two fingers and forced her gaze up. "I'm going to make sure we're okay and the girls are okay. I promise."

Before she could respond, he leaned down and kissed her.