Chapter 5
WREN
I woke up in my Gryphon nest, surrounded by sleeping dogs and one disgruntled Celtic God of War. I was nose-to-shoulder with Nate, who had his chin tucked on my head and a hand on my belly, which was huge between us. I was beginning to feel so large, I may as well have had my own orbital pull.
On Nate’s pillow was a small dog, about the size of a chihuahua. It may have had some chihuahua in there, but it also had a whole bunch of other things, judging by the makeup of its face. Maybe a pug? Maybe a basset hound?
I reached behind me to find a large furry body there as well, though that didn’t really narrow it down between bondmates and puppy dogs. But when the body rolled, and Cy’s big blocky head appeared in my vision, it kind of answered my question.
“Are you the reason I’m sleeping in a puppy pile right now?” I asked him, though he couldn’t answer me in his dog form, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for a naked Cy in his human form in my bed just yet. My body clenched at the mere whisper of the idea of being the meat in a Nate/Cy sandwich. Honestly, my body really had betrayed me at this point—she was calling the shots, while I was trying to exorcize my grandmother’s extremely Catholic disapproval from my mind. Nana would be rolling over in the family crypt.
Cy grumbled, licking my check, before turning in a couple of circles and flopping down at my back again. He snuggled in further, though I was about to rain on his parade, because I needed to pee.
I sat up to see a disgruntled Gryphon at the end of the bed. He was eyeing the dogs like he’d be happy to make them into a snack right about now, snapping if they came too close.
“Hey, Griff. You okay?”
The mutts are messing up your nest.
When I looked around, I realized he was right. There were dog bodies all over my room, of every size and shape imaginable. Geez, there must have been like fifty in here.
I gave him a sheepish smile. Lucky I have a talented mate who’ll make sure it’s perfect again in no time. But you’re right. I’ll kick them out and set some ground rules with Cy about who can be in here and where they can sleep.
I doubted Nate would be particularly thrilled by his current earwarmer either.
Griff huffed as a smallish dog, who couldn’t be much more than a puppy, edged closer to him. The dog looked like he’d be huge eventually, but by the clumsiness of its gait, it hadn’t quite grown into the size of its feet yet. It was brave, though. That much was obvious, as it curled up close to the Gryphon—who could literally eat it in one chomp—and went to sleep.
My monstrous mate looked down at it with disbelief, but didn’t snap at it. I guess he’d also realized that it was little more than a baby. The big softie. I smiled at Griff, who huffed back.
I doubt you’ll get rid of Cydon. He is definitely tied to you as well. I can almost feel your bond through our own.
I looked at the golden threads that spread through the room. The wispy lines made their way from all the dogs to Cy, and to me. There was a huge golden line, straight and true, between Griff and I, as well as between me and Nate. The one between Cy and me was surprising, though. It was different to the other threads that tied me to my bonds. It wasn’t golden, but a deep bronze, like it had once been shiny and new, but was now weathered and strong. Patinaed.
What did that even mean?
I reached out and stroked my hand down the fur of Cy, whose tongue was sticking out the side of his mouth lazily. Whatever it was, he’d saved my ass, and I was grateful. I wanted to discover his story, because I was beyond thinking things were a coincidence. I was being moved around a board by beings who didn’t respect the rules, and I either moved with it or lay down, checkmate.
Finally, my bladder decided that if I didn’t move right now, I was going to pee myself. I tried to wiggle out without waking anyone, but just ended up on my back like a beached whale. I nudged Cy. “Sorry, big guy, but I have to pee.” He stretched, then nimbly leapt off the bed, like he hadn’t just been snoring a moment ago. “Don’t gloat,” I grumbled. “Where’s that pregnant mama dog? She’d understand.”
I liked focusing on the dogs. Teron had suggested it was because I could control something with them, and I wondered if he’d been studying psychology with his obstetrics.
I looked down at Cy. “We can’t all sleep together, unless you want to be a Gryphon snack,” I told him. “But I’ll find somewhere warm and safe for the pack.”
Before my eyes, Cy shifted into a man once more. Naked. Again. I needed to invest in some pants repositories around the place, because talking to him while his dick was out was… hard. My eyes shot back to his face, and he looked way too pleased with himself.
“And me?”
Yeah, that was still to be decided. Instead of answering, I walked into the ensuite and closed the door.
When I made my way down to the living room, my suite had been emptied of occupants, and I was almost relieved to dress alone. Until it came to putting on my underwear, which was more difficult than it had any right to be. I was huffing and puffing and weighing up the merit of just freeballing it for the rest of my pregnancy by the time I managed to get somewhat dressed.
Moving toward the pool area, I was surprised to see dogs in the pool. Man, Demke’s going to lose it. But when I saw the God himself sitting underneath the grape trellis, drinking wine, I was relieved. I was still mad at him, but it was hard to maintain, because my life was a fucking mess. I didn’t want to hold onto petty grudges. We might not be about to fuck under the light of the full moon, but at least he wasn’t looking at me like some temptress here to steal the souls of his brothers.
Tryp appeared beside me from the shadows, which was pretty impressive, considering how big he was. He had his arms around me and his cheek running over mine in an instant. He was mumbling, “Sorry”, but I was enjoying the contact just as much as he was. Needed it just as much.
I gripped his fingers, turning him to face me. “Are you okay?” I asked softly, and he nodded, brushing his lips over mine.
“I’m fine, Dumpling. The other half of me just needs to mark the hell out of you as some kind of territorial warning.”
Erus hadn’t managed to beat that nickname out of him, but honestly, it was growing on me. I really did look like a little, overstuffed dumpling. I wasn’t mad about it.
As if my thoughts had summoned his other half, I felt a warm body step up behind me, his hands skimming down my sides, before cupping under my belly and holding it up. The relief was instantaneous as he took the weight of my stomach.
“Oh my god,” I breathed as my overused muscles got a reprieve. “You have no idea how good that feels.” The babies were getting so big and heavy, and every ounce of my body hurt from hauling them around.
Erus kissed the shell of my ear. “Anytime you want one of us to help you, just say the word. I’d absolutely stand here all day.”
These guys… I sniffed a little, giving my hormones a very stern talk about not bursting into tears at the smallest gesture, but my eyes misted over anyway. My body was a traitor. “Thank you,” I choked out, and Tryp kissed the corners of my eyes and down my cheeks.
“Our honor. Now, let me feed you. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Want me to throw Demke in the pool and let the dogs try to drown him? They couldn’t, but it might be fun to watch.”
I smacked his shoulder before capturing his soft, pouty lips with mine. He tasted of Erus, sweet and firm, his breath minty like the peppermint leaves he sometimes chewed. I lifted my hands and threaded my fingers through his soft curls. As I gripped them hard, he moaned into my mouth.
Oops. Better stop before this gets pornographic.
I released him, and he whined softly, making Erus chuckle at my back. “Juice would be wonderful, thank you,” I breathed, our lips still brushing together as I spoke.
He groaned and dragged himself away. Erus was still holding my stomach, and bit the curve of my shoulder gently. “Such a sweet and seductive bondmate. I love watching you torturing him.” He gently lowered my stomach, and the pressure on my body made me want to pout. “Come, how about you sit down and relax on the sun lounger? You’re working hard.”
There was a riotous bark-off as the dogs suddenly realized I’d arrived, running over until Cy—now clothed, thankfully—made a growling noise and shooed them away. He sat on the other side of the pool in swim shorts and waved cheekily. I gave him a finger wave and lay down in the sun; the short walk from the bedroom to the pool had been exhausting.
How had I thought I’d manage this while working? If I’d been back in Boston, I’d be manning the drive-thru at Java Llama, trying to lean out the service window. The idea of long shifts with Bob, my dick boss, made me physically shudder. Besides, if you took out the monsters and attacks and ominous prophecies and health problems, I was pretty damn happy here under the Greek sun, surrounded by men who’d brought me more orgasms than I’d ever had in my life.
Erus sat beside me on the warm tiles, his face pressed to my thigh in a way that wasn’t sexual, but comforting. “Where’s everyone else?” I asked.
“Teron, Milo and Néit have just left to go down to Heraklion to pick up building supplies for the town, and some more medical equipment. They also wanted to stockpile provisions in case of an old-fashioned siege. Milo said, and I quote, he was ‘going to buy a drum of dewormer for the fleabag brigade.’” He lifted his chin at a dog that was scratching an itch like it had personally affronted it. “He’s also getting the steaks you promised,” he said quietly, though not quiet enough, because at least fifteen dogs yipped at the word “steak.” I laughed, stroking my fingers through his hair.
A body blocked out my sun, and I looked up at the shadowy silhouette of Demke. “Wren. I was hoping we could talk.”
Erus huffed a disgruntled noise, and I stroked my hand down his shoulder, hating that I’d caused a rift between them. He gave Demke the stink-eye, but still stood and walked toward the pool, diving in, making all the dogs splash in after him. We were going to have to run the filter at twice the rate, otherwise it was going to get real funky real quick.
Demke sat at the end of my lounger, and I shifted my legs over so his big body had room. “I apologize, Wren. I didn’t mean to cause you distress.”
Distress. He called it distress. “I thought you were dead. It would have been hard on a perfectly calm night, but in the middle of a battle…” The pain of seeing him like that was quick to rush back. “You suck. You know that, right?”
He inclined his head. “I’ve been known to suck…”
Somehow, I didn’t think we meant that in the same context. I really wanted to know more about that subject, but he was already moving on.
“I don’t know why I didn’t want to tell you. I tell myself that I didn’t want to add to your stress, even though it’s something that happens every year, and I couldn’t hide it from you forever.” He shrugged. “We’d just achieved some kind of connection, and I didn’t want to ruin it. But as history has a way of repeating itself, I ruined it anyway.”
I sucked in a deep breath, the sadness of his words washing over me. Dammit. I wanted to be mad at him for longer, but right now, I needed to hug him. Opening my arms, I made a small come here motion with my hands. He didn’t hesitate, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me close. He smelled like pine and salt and some kind of wild magic that I couldn’t describe, but was insanely attracted to.
“You’re forgiven, but no more secrets, okay? Secrets have never helped any relationship. They’re just wounds that’ll continue to fester until they explode like a pus-filled boil.” I gagged a little at my own words.
He laughed, his chest vibrating above mine. “Graphic, but accurate. I promise, no more secrets, even by omission.”
Leaning back, I looked up at him once more. “I mean it. You didn’t just hurt me—you hurt them too.” I indicated Tryp and Erus. “And hurting them is something I’m less inclined to forgive and forget.”
He brushed his lips across mine. “And that’s why fate chose you, Wren Mahone.”