Chapter Seven
Allen
The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was that it wasn’t freezing. I’d almost forgotten what that was like. To be able to walk out into the sunshine and not have to hunker down to keep warm even in a thick parka. And right now, said parka was hanging over my arm and about to be consigned to the hotel closet for the duration of this trip.
The cab dropped me off at a place called Paradise Point. I’d gotten a room on the ground floor that faced a body of water called Mission Bay. At first, when I’d tried to book it, I was told they were sold out. I had agreed to a room on the fourth floor in the main hotel with no guarantee of a view. But then twenty minutes later I got a call there had been a cancellation. Did I want the suite?
Hell yeah. I didn’t care what it cost.
When I entered the room, I almost let out a shriek of pleasure. It was gorgeous with a mini kitchen, a sitting room, and a bedroom behind closed doors. There was a little porch outside two sliding glass doors with lounge chairs and a fire pit. Beyond the porch was a stretch of soft pale sand. It led to the edge of sunny blue water where little boats sailed, and people floated by in on some sort of standing board boat. I had no idea what those things were called but I was going to have to learn.
I was in the lap of luxury. Dad would be so happy for me.
There were palm trees everywhere. They looked so alien to me and so welcome.
After the plane ride, I felt slightly disoriented. I changed into shorts and a T-shirt and went for a walk in the sand, letting the softness of it press between my toes. There was a little breeze, not too hot, not too cold. Perfect.
When I got back to my little patio, I dropped and did some push-ups, sit-ups and then lay back in the shade on one of the lounge chairs and let myself just drift.
Let’s fly.
My griffin was restless.
“We can’t right now. This is far too public. But I promise I’ll find us a private place to go either later today or tomorrow.”
Is our fated mate here in San Diego?
My beast wasn’t usually so inquisitive about our surroundings. To be fair, I rarely left our mountain-pack town.
“I wouldn’t know that. But I am putting myself out here. Maybe fate will draw him here as well. If he exists.”
The mate exists.
“Glad to hear you have confidence in that.”
The mate exists for everyone. But not in the mountains.
“Now how would you know that?”
I am griffin.
“I know that. A beautiful griffin, too.”
Too many griffins sleep. I am awake now. The mate exists.
The words sounded sad. Griffin-speech was often vague and dreamlike. They spoke poetically. And rarely. They had contexts that went beyond human knowledge. A lot of us kept journals of their words but could do no more with them than perhaps write a poem.
Once my own griffin said, in the middle of the night, interrupting my sleep, Mages live in the clouds .
I had no idea what he’d meant.
I found out early in life that stuff like that happened to every griffin shifter. It was another thing that made us unique and different. And perhaps paranoid.
My beast went silent, and I took a short nap. When I woke, the sun was low. My stomach growled.
I got up, showered, and changed into new clothes I’d bought for the trip. The bright pink shirt and black blazer set off my honey skin tones and dark hair. I put on a gold chain necklace Dad had given me when I turned twenty-one. I added a couple of gold rings. This was not to show off. For griffins, gold had a sacred meaning and brought security. In the myths, griffins guarded, even hoarded gold. They would fight to the death to protect their nuggets. It was a part of them, like some sort of nesting instinct. In modern times, we trimmed it all in gold if we could afford it.
When I felt most anxious or alone, I would go to my jewelry box and put all my jewelry on at once and lie back on my bed feeling the heavy weight of it calm me.
Now that I was going out tonight in a strange new town, I didn’t want to overdo it. But it was fine. The weight of the jewelry I now wore made me feel confident and ready to face the unknown.
In the lobby, I asked for a car to be called. They asked me where I wanted to go.
Now or never, I thought. “Is Animals far from here?”
“I’ve never been,” the girl behind the counter said. She tapped a few things on her computer and looked up. “About twenty minutes away, maybe a little more due to traffic.”
“I’d like to go there.”
She booked me an Uber.
The place was even more beautiful than their web page photography showed. The sun was setting in the western sky, turning it pink and orange. The nightclub building sat gleaming in the golden light at the top of the hill.
The Uber let me off right at the entrance where a short line of people waited to get in. My griffin’s talons poked at the tips of my fingers. Impatient. That rarely happened. Uncontrolled shifting would be the death of us.
“Calm down.” I spoke softly, under my breath. “We’ll get in.”
Another poke. My fingers burned. I curled them into fists and kept them pressed to the sides of my thighs. Why was he so nervous?
A soft breeze wafted through my short hair. My skin tingled. And then I scented it.
Warm sugar melting in coffee.
Orange blossoms ripe with bees.
My favorite scents. Aromas that always made me want long, want, desire. What could it be?
Mate.
That one word was all my beast said, and then I knew. Someone was inside that building who naturally exuded that amazing perfume. Maybe it was only me who could smell it. But it was strong and real and very close.
Finally, I made it inside.
My beast pushed and pressed against my skin.
“Patience,” I whispered.
The scent came and went. I walked through the crowd rapidly glancing left to right. I probably looked like some sort of strange predator hunting its prey. I didn’t care. I needed to find whoever smelled so heavenly.
I still couldn’t believe it. Was my fated mate really here?
My beast shuddered.
Let me out. I will find him.
“Hold back.” I must have spoken a little too loudly.
The crowd broke for me, and people were staring.
A man wearing a black suit and tie came up to me. “I’m the manager here. You appear to be a little restless. Would you like to get a breath of fresh air outside? We have fantastic shifting facilities outside, too, if that’s what you need.”
“I’m sorry.” My heart beat faster. “But can’t you smell that? Sugar and coffee and orange; it’s so different. Amazing. I need to find out what it is.”
“What scent?” He took a step closer to me, peering into my eyes. Then nodded. “I see.”
“What?” I couldn’t read his face.
“I think I know what’s going on. Maybe if you come with me we can straighten all this out.”
“Are you kicking me out? I’m sorry for my behavior if it startled anyone. But my beast is very restless.”
“I’m not kicking you out.” He smiled and held out his hand in a gesture as if to say, “I got you.” Then he turned and started moving effortlessly through the crowd.
I followed him without a second thought. Instinctively, I knew this man was taking me somewhere that would change my life forever.