Chapter 36
THIRTY SIX
Gryff
I make the phone call, lifting the phone to my ear and pacing the space between the pantry and the stove in my kitchen backward and forward restlessly while I wait for her to pick up.
On the fifth ring there’s a click. “Hi, Gryff. I wasn’t sure if you were going to make our appointment today, but I’m glad you did. Thanks for calling.”
I scrub a hand over my face and through my hair. “Yeah, sorry. I guess I missed a few.”
I should probably feel worse about wasting her time, but my military insurance would have paid Dr. Voss regardless.
“Are you in a space where we can talk for a while?”
I look around. My house barely feels recognizable since Honey moved in.
Instead of the bare sofa and upturned crate there are about a million cushions, a fluffy rug, a coffee table, and three of those fussy little nesting tables that sit one under the other like Russian dolls.
Not to mention five house plants, three pictures on the wall, and the fact that the curtains are actually open and real honest to goodness sunshine pours in through the front window through which I can see out onto the street.
“Yeah, I’m home.” Despite all the changes, it’s never felt more like it.
“Good, why don’t you make yourself comfortable and tell me how you’ve been?”
With a sigh I walk to the sofa and drop onto it, wondering what to say. It surprises me when the first thing I think of to say is, “I’ve been good actually.”
“That’s great to hear. I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but I was worried when you missed our appointments. But I’m glad to hear that. What has changed?”
I chuckle to myself. “I met someone.” That doesn’t even begin to describe the impact Honey has had on my life, on me. But that’s all Dr. Voss is going to get.
Nevertheless, she asks and I find myself describing my new living situation and the moment I realized Honey was my fated mate and the damn awkward conversation I had with Bill the day I brought her back to town.
I had shown up to the back door, fully expecting to be turned away after what I’d told him before I skipped town.
Bill’s brows had lifted, but he hadn’t said anything, just waited on the porch to see what I had to say.
“So I, ah… I might have been a bit hasty back there…” I began awkwardly.
“OK.” Bill scratched at his chin, and it suddenly struck me how my friend is a man of few words.
“You, um… you remember the part where I said I could never be good enough for your daughter and I’d destroyed our friendship and I was leaving town so you’d never have to look at me again?”
Bill nodded.
“Well I was hoping you might see your way to forgetting I said some of that stuff, especially the part about destroying our friendship and never seeing me again because I have some news, and you might not be happy about it, but I think Honey will be pretty upset if we never talk again.”
Bill grinned. “So you’ve decided to stop acting like an old man and come ask me permission to—now how did you put it again? Unforgivably debauch my daughter in the most inexcusable way?”
I could have used a sniper or an IED right about then to put me out of my misery, but at least Bill seemed like he was enjoying it. “Something like that,” I muttered to my shoes.
His expression grew serious. “You better not run off on her again, then.”
“I swear I won’t. I’ll follow her to the ends of the earth if I have your blessing—”
Bill scoffed. “Would you stop talking like one of those awful Hallmark films? Just as long as you don’t make her cry again.” He held out his hand, and I took it tentatively.
“I don’t intend to.”
“So that all sounds very positive, Gryffin.”
“Yeah.”
There’s a pause. “Do you mind if I say that you sound a little… hesitant?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I heard that you’re giving evidence in the committee hearing after all.”
I sigh. Of course she has. But I knew it before I called. “Yeah. Honey persuaded me.”
Dr. Voss makes a sound I’m not sure how to interpret. “But you’re worried?”
“I am. I’m worried I’ll lapse again. I’ve been doing so good. And I just don’t want to let her down.”
“Have you got any reason to think you will?”
I pull the phone away from my ear, dragging my hand through my hair only to find my nails have transformed into claws. I press my eyes shut and force the shift back. “I don’t think I can face the families.”
She’s quiet for a moment. Finally she says, “OK. What are you worried about?”
“They’re going to blame me. How can I look them in the face when I left their loved ones behind?”
“But from the way you described it, it wasn’t them anymore, was it? You told me they were changed. Made into something else.”
“But what if I was wrong?” The words hang in the air and my wolf is silent, cringing in the darkness.
But I’m not in that place anymore. I’m not the stray or the rabid beast who needs to be put down.
“Let me ask you a different question,” says Dr. Voss. “What if you were right? What if your evidence is the only way these families get justice?”
I suck in a breath and hold it, but she’s got me there. Besides, I made a promise to my mate.