Chapter 30 #2
Her head was a blend of eagle and lion; broad and powerful, with a great hooked beak and small ear tufts. Every feather gleamed as if dipped in gold. They ran down her neck and shoulders, transitioning to tawny fur.
There was nothing uncertain about her now. The griffin looked at him, golden eyes clear and steady.
With a cry of challenge, she sprang into the sky.
He was already shifting, but by the time he spread his own wings, she was already halfway to the clouds. He followed, wings beating hard, heart filled with pure delight.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. This was where she belonged. Where she had always belonged.
She teased him, flirting from thermal to thermal. He matched her, turn for turn, spiral for spiral. Part chase, part dance. Steadily drawing closer, until they were wingtip to wingtip, flying as one.
She tired first. For all her power, she was unaccustomed to sustained flight. Still, he could tell that she would have stayed aloft until her wings failed entirely, if he had left it up to her. He coaxed her down, leading the way home.
The camp was bustling with activity by the time they got back. As they swooped over the fields, kids and counselors alike broke off from their activities, looking up. Most just gawked in amazement, but one group hopped up and down, waving madly. Even from this distance, he could hear their cheers.
He dipped a wing, saluting their pack. Then he followed his mate back to the ground.
The griffin landed outside the senior staff cabins. The golden shape shimmered, shifting back to human form.
Leonie pushed her hair back from her face. She was out of breath, flushed pink with exertion, and she had never looked so perfect.
“Oh.” She flung her arms around his neck as he shifted as well, pulling him down for a fierce, possessive kiss. “Oh, that was wonderful.”
He breathed in the scent of her, now mixed with wind and sky. “Yes.”
She kissed him again, then pulled away. “We should—”
She stopped dead, staring up at him. Her eyes widened.
“Leonie?” he asked. “What is it?”
“Oh,” she breathed. “I didn’t—I thought I knew—oh.”
Yes, his qiongqi whispered. She knows us now.
“Wow,” Leonie said softly, still gazing into his eyes. She abruptly grabbed his shirt. “You. Come with me. Now.”
Laughing under his breath, he let her drag him into her cabin. “And here I was thinking I would have a hard time persuading you not to go back to work this afternoon.”
“I’m due a day off.” She hesitated, catching her lip between her teeth. “But…some things are going to have to be off limits. I don’t want to risk triggering the mating bond.”
He’d figured as much. He doubted they even could finalize their bond while she had her sister’s animal.
“I understand.” He kissed her, undoing the top button of her shorts. “We’ll be careful.”
She caught her breath as he worked her shorts down her legs. “We’ll also have to be quiet. There are campers around.”
“You’ll have to be quiet.” He dropped to his knees, spreading her thighs. “My mouth will be occupied.”
“Now that’s just revolting.” Ignatius waved a disgusted hand across the evening campfire, to where Shan and Leonie stood gazing into each other’s eyes. “Is that any way to behave in public?”
Tiff heaved a wistful sigh. “I think it’s romantic. I hope someone looks at me like that one day.”
“I don’t.” With a shudder, Ignatius pointedly turned his back on their preoccupied counselors. “I liked it better when he was pining and she was oblivious. If they’re going to be disgustingly in love, they could at least keep it to themselves.”
Estelle poked him with a stick. “Oh, don’t be a grump, Iggy. They’re just holding hands.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Spencer grumbled into his hot cocoa. Steam fogged his glasses. “If they’re mates, she should have known when their eyes met. I don’t understand why she didn’t.”
“Because Shan was still pushing her away at that point,” Beth said. “He had to prove he was worthy to be her mate.”
“That’s just your personal theory,” Spencer countered. “There could be others. It’s not a valid hypothesis if you can’t test it.”
“Who cares?” Archie said through a mouthful of marshmallows. “I mean, it doesn’t matter, does it? They’re mated now.”
Rufus was still watching Shan and Leonie. He shook his head slowly.
“Rufus says he doesn’t think they are,” Finley relayed. He flushed a little. “Um. That is, he thinks they haven’t yet…you know.”
“What, really?” Tiff said in surprise. She studied their counselors, frowning. “They look like they’re having tons of sex to me.”
“He means they haven’t done it properly,” Archie informed her, in the tones of an expert. “Like, he hasn’t bitten her. Or whatever a flying tiger does to claim his mate.”
“Or she hasn’t bitten him.” Estelle jabbed him with her stick, too. “Leonie’s a shifter as well. It’s not always the boy who makes the mate bond.”
Beth worried at her lower lip. “But we saw them flying together. I thought that must be part of their ritual. Why wouldn’t they be fully mated?”
Ignatius gagged. “Can we please change the subject?”
“Maybe they’re just waiting for the end of the summer,” Tiff suggested. “You know, so they can celebrate properly. It’s not like they can take much of a honeymoon while they’re working at camp.”
“Yeah, that’s probably it.” Estelle cheerfully impaled a marshmallow. “Stop looking so worried, Rufus. They’re together now, right? Everything’s going to be fine.”