Silent Shields
540 Words
Chapter 13: Silent Shields
Phillip didn’t need to see Sutton to know he was there. He felt the shift in energy the moment the shadows stretched across the patio. It was the kind of low-level static that only came when tension entered a space—predator tension. Wrong kind of wolf tension.
He didn’t react, not outwardly. But his mind immediately reached for his packmates.
He’s here. At the corner. Don’t look. Don’t react.
Victor responded first, voice dry. Sutton? With his usual lapdogs?
Jake, Mitch, and Kyle, Austin confirmed, his mental voice like a blade. They’re watching us like we owe them something.
Leo added, Why do those three always look like they just got rejected from an Alpha tryout?
Want me to handle it? Austin offered.
Phillip didn’t even need to think. No. Let it go. Misty’s tense. She clocked him. She’s trying to enjoy this. We’re not making it worse.
He’s been glaring at you like you stole his favorite bone, Leo muttered.
Victor chimed in, If he makes a move, I move first.
Everyone just stay cool, Phillip said again, keeping his tone measured. He wants a reaction. Don’t give him one.
Outwardly, Phillip smiled softly and nudged Misty’s drink a little closer to her hand.
“You okay?”
She nodded too quickly. “Yeah. Just thought I saw someone.”
“Campus is full of familiar faces,” he replied casually, letting his eyes wander across the patio but not land anywhere specific.
Inside, his wolf Aidan rumbled in agitation.
Let me out. Let me end him.
Not yet.
Aidan pushed again, clawing at his control, but Phillip kept his breathing slow, steady. Misty needed calm, not violence. Not now.
Across the table, Victor leaned in to distract Ally with a story about a mountain lion that tried to challenge their old Beta. Leo doubled down with a joke about the cougar being more coordinated than Jake.
Tamara, meanwhile, continued subtly studying them. Misty’s friends were sharp. They weren’t just pretty faces or loud laughs. They were observant. Protective. Tamara in particular had a sharpness in her gaze that reminded Phillip of a Beta strategist. She didn’t trust easily.
And he respected that.
But even her sharp gaze hadn’t noticed the silent alert system running beneath their conversation, the synchronized calm of five elite wolves acting like average college students. That was what power looked like—controlled, patient, always watching.
Misty relaxed slightly with each passing minute. She leaned back into her chair, sipped her drink, and smiled as Leo did a truly horrendous impression of a Scottish Alpha trying to flirt.
Phillip never once glanced in Sutton’s direction.
But he catalogued everything.
The clenched fists. The barely-contained growl. The way Jake nudged Mitch and pointed toward Misty. The way Kyle laughed.
It was all information. All fuel.
And none of it was worth disrupting this moment.
Eventually, Sutton left, but not before casting one last searing look toward Misty’s table. Phillip saw it out of the corner of his eye. He let it burn without flinching.
Because Sutton may have been bold.
But Phillip was the storm that came after boldness failed.
And when the time came, Aidan would not be patient.
- Writer
