Chapter 14 #2
His shyness as a human made me want to take care of him, to challenge him, and help him feel safe enough to take the leap with me.
His boldness and possessiveness as a werewolf made me want to surrender fully, to enjoy being handled and carried, and allow him to do whatever he wanted.
And when they met in the middle as they did with the electric kiss earlier, holy shit, it was absolutely incredible.
“I’m never giving him up.” I pushed the words through my mind. They felt too big to say out loud.
“Good. I like you, Bowen, and I like you for him. Rudy needs you.”
I need him, too. I thought the words, but kept them to myself, feeling the difference between words shared across minds and words kept. I stared down at my leather cuff again. The wolf knot. “It’s funny. I thought this meant something when I found Rudy, like it was fate or something.”
“You are the interpreter of languages, young one. I believe that means you can interpret whatever meaning you want it to have.”
A smile stretched across my lips. Perhaps it was merely a coincidence, but I was brought here.
Brought to him, one way or another, and the wolf on my wrist might not have been a sign from above or from the spirit realm, but it could be a symbol of him.
Something to keep him close when he wasn’t near.
“Thank you, Aurelia. It’s a lot to take in, but I’m glad I know, mostly. Thank you for trusting me.”
“I am very glad to see a face I haven’t seen in a long time. It was trustworthy then, and it is still so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go catch my breakfast.” She was gone in a flash. Whether she flew off the roof or simply vanished, I had no idea.
What a morning! A loud burst of laughter popped out of me as I recalled the last twenty-four hours.
Shit, even the last twelve hours, from being kidnapped by a werewolf and carried like a bride into a windowless dungeon to talking with an actual dragon who revealed the secrets that had been kept from me my entire life.
If my great-grandfather had lived longer, would he have been able to tell me any of this?
Did he even know? How many in our family had been given the gifts we had?
I knew it wasn’t every generation, considering the disdain my parents had toward me when I was younger.
Did no one know about my great-grandfather?
Maybe not. Not if he knew to be careful with the information.
Me? Not so much. How many doctors, nurses, and dates had I told about my ability before I understood it hurt relationships more than it helped?
Hell, practically every animal on the West Coast knew, not that they were a concern.
I never got a bad vibe from one when they learned we could talk.
People were usually the problem, not animals.
I pushed myself up from the lounge chair. Enough thinking, I was desperate to find Rudy and fill him in. There wasn’t a single worry in my mind that he wasn’t someone I could trust. I felt it with every fiber of my being.
As I neared the roof access door, I stopped to try to see if I could reach Rudy mentally.
I focused on him, focused on his face, and the way his shaggy hair fell along the sides of it.
The itch in the back of my head was stronger, perhaps because the door to his mind hadn’t been opened yet, or perhaps because I was too far away.
I concentrated and pushed the single word as hard as I could. “Rudy.”
I waited for a moment to see if I could feel anything from him, not noticing the shadows of the potted plants growing longer.
What would it be like to be able to talk with him like that anytime?
I imagined surprising him the way Aurelia had me this morning.
Would he jump? The idea of startling such a big man, or even as a werewolf, was a little bit thrilling.
Practice. I was going to need to practice. With a smile on my face, I reached for the doorknob, still too keyed up to see the way the door darkened at the edges. A cool wisp flicked over my hand, reminding me of the nightmare that felt all too real.
A scree sounded from above me, in a sound akin to birds of prey, and with it, I heard a shout. “Wait!”
Casting my gaze upward, I stepped away from the shadowy roof access door and into the cloud-filtered daylight. Overhead was a sight I wouldn’t have believed a few days ago. It was still hard to reconcile knowing what it was. Knowing who it was.
The griffin approached the roof, landing with a soft thud on giant talons and furry paws. I watched with awe as he shook his head, the long white on its head shimmering in the daylight. I could see it, see him in it, even with the incredibly sharp beak, winged back, and lion’s tail.
I looked him in the eye, a move not usually recommended for most predators, but if he was here to intimidate me, I was going to show him I wouldn’t back down. “Good morning, Zephyr.”
The eagle screeched again, and I heard my name in it, making me smile. Was he testing me? I simply nodded in response, trying to see what he was up to.
“I just want to talk.” The words came through his chittering sounds.
I held my arms open wide. “I’m all ears.”
A pulse of energy hit me, making me blink my eyes, trying to focus on the sight before me, but I couldn’t. A moment later, Zephyr, the man, stood where the griffin had been, and he was… completely naked.
“Listen, I’ve been a total asshole, so when I heard you were up here, I just wanted to catch you and lay it all out there.”
I held a hand up to cover his junk. “Shit, could you maybe lay slightly less out there?”
Zephyr huffed a laugh. “Right. Yeah. Give me a sec.” He grabbed a bag that was hanging off his shoulder and pulled out a pair of gym shorts. Once he was covered, I lowered my hand.
“So… what did you want to talk about?”
His long white hair swished against his shoulders as he approached. After having seen his other form, I could see it wasn’t hair, but feathers. A part of me wanted to touch them, but I resisted the urge.
“I wanted to apologize. I had no right to treat you the way I did. I never gave you room to explain yourself or why you were here. It’s just…
Wolfie, he’s my bro, you know? I love the guy to death and would do anything for him, but things haven’t always been easy for him.
He’s hopeful enough to want everything, and yet, he’s afraid enough to keep himself from what he wants.
I don’t know how a big beastie like him can walk on eggshells, but he does.
Then you show up out of nowhere, no one knows who you are, and he’s different.
He’s on edge, he’s blocking us out, blocking me out, snapping at me…
literally, and you’re the reason for it. ”
“I’m sorry. I never intended to get between your friendship.”
Zephyr held out a hand to stop me. “No. That’s not what I mean.
For the first time in his life, Wolfie is fighting for something he wants.
Even if it means fighting the ones he loves.
He’s fighting for you. I didn’t understand it at first, and yeah, it pissed me off and worried the hell out of me.
I didn’t want him to be taken advantage of.
But yesterday… he was with us when I saw the flash of fear in his eyes before he wolfed out.
Then he burst into your room and snatched up a tiny human, no offense. ”
I chuckled. “None taken.”
“The way he held you, ready to protect you from the world, it surprised me to see him like that, but damn, I felt proud of him. To see him fight for you and for himself. What really sealed it, though, was the way you looked at him. I mean, the guy was practically drooling from his long, hairy snout, and you looked like he was your entire world.”
A smile stretched my lips as I thought of him carrying me from my room after hearing me scream in my sleep. “He is my entire world. It might be too fast to feel it so deeply and with so much certainty, but I can’t explain it. It’s like something just clicked into place with him.”
Zephyr moved so quickly I almost couldn’t track it, taking my glasses and returning to the spot he’d been before; a wisp of air fluttered around me in his wake. He held them out with a smirk. “Bowen, fast doesn’t mean a damn thing in this world.”
I snatched my glasses back from him and felt myself laughing. “Maybe you’re not a total asshole.”
“I reserve the right to retain semi-asshole status. I’ve fought hard for that.” Zephyr winked.
As much as I wanted not to, I had to admit I liked the guy. I could see why he was Rudy’s bestie, and I appreciated that he stood up for my werewolf and that he was man enough to come to me like this.
Zephyr’s smirk dropped, and his expression turned serious. He grabbed my shoulder with just enough pressure to get my attention. “Bowen?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t hurt him. I don’t think he would survive it.”
Meeting his eyes, I said with as much conviction as I could convey, “I’m going to do everything I can not to.”
The griffin released my shoulder and patted my back. “Good man.”
I started to turn away from him when he said, “Oh, and one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
Zephyr reached into his bag and tossed something at me. Surprisingly, I actually caught it. “I know you packed light, and our boy is woefully unprepared.”
I opened my fist, and a loud laugh barked out of me when I saw the tube of lube. I held it up and gave him a nod of appreciation. I was already dying to see him and catch him up on everything I’d learned from Aurelia, but now… there was an entirely different urgency to it.