Chapter 7 #2
“Well, nothing is stopping you from staying,” Jim says.
“Always work here for honest men. You look like you could turn your hand to most things.” He gives us an assessing look.
“Still, they have an eye for the prettier lasses, if you know what I mean.” He winks.
“Being a broken pride and all, they don’t hold back when it comes to indulging in human pleasures.
No chosen one has been born in this region, and the Pride Leader has no mate. ”
The hairs on the back of my neck rise. Rafe stomps his heel down on my boot… was I growling?
“Griffins with humans?” Rafe asks slowly. “They’re like centaurs then, claiming a chosen one?”
My mind is full of white noise. Thank fuck Rafe still has his wits.
“Aye, they have a human form too. Shifters.”
I gulp down the last of my pint and slide it onto the bar with a nod of thanks.
Rafe seems to pick up on my mood. “We’d better check on our mistress,” he says, giving the proprietor a nod and hustling me out.
“Your fucking eyes were glowing, idiot,” he says the moment we step outside.
“Glowing? A trick of the light. Nothing more… Did you hear what he said? Chosen one. That’s another word for omega. No fucking way our girl is staying in this village another night. We need to get her the fuck out of here. Now.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” he grits out. “If she gets wind that actual griffins are here, we’d have to gag and bind her and spirit her away.”
“I’m good with that.”
He does a double take. “Don’t put ideas in my head. We’re nothing to her, and our opinions only carry so much influence… It’s not like she remembers what we do when she’s in heat. We’re just a couple of former Queen’s Guards she pays to travel for protection.”
“She’s fucking close. And this time she’ll remember.”
“You said that last fucking time!”
“Well, all right then!” I scowl at him. “What’s your fucking plan?”
He swipes a hand down his face. “I don’t have one…
But she’s a stubborn lass. No way we will get her to leave.
If that Pride Leader gets a sniff of her, herbs or not, the bastard will be salivating all over her.
Maybe Jim was fucking with us. I have a bad feeling he was not.
You can bet if it’s true about them really being here, that damn scholar will be enlightening her right fucking now. ”
Violet
Master Pugstone pats my hand, oblivious to the news he has just unleashed.
They need an omega.
I am an omega.
My instincts are in a state of riot. I want to see a griffin—I have traveled for more than a year and over great distances for exactly this reason—but seeing one now presents an unexpected risk.
I cannot stay.
I also cannot bear to leave and never see a griffin.
“No need for concern, my lady. They have not once snatched a lass, nor even a curious scholar, in my lifetime, and as you may surmise, I am old. Griffins have the highest levels of decorum—they are polite to a fault. The human eyrie community is nearly as large as Acton Trussell, and the people who make it their home serve the griffins by choice. Many have served the Griffin Pride for generations—”
A knock sounds on the door, interrupting us. Master Pugstone’s housekeeper shows Rafe and Lark back in.
They were not gone very long…
“How was your chat?” Rafe asks politely.
He does not fool me. Since he first learned I was chasing after griffins, he has been skeptical at best. Only something in his dark expression is off today.
“They are here.” My words come out in a breathless rush. My smile feels a little wobbly.
“Pity we shall not get to see one,” Lark says brightly. “Mayhap we should be on our way come the morrow.”
“You’re not planning to stay long, then?” Master Pugstone’s face falls. “I was just explaining to your mistress that the griffin pride is broken and they only—”
“Is there nowhere we might go to see one now? Maybe somewhere outside the village if they prefer to remain away at this time of year?” I interrupt lest Master Pugstone spill the beans about griffins mating omegas.
Rafe’s eyes have narrowed like he knows I interrupted something important.
A familiar tightening pulls low in my belly. I can admit that Rafe has become far more than a mere travel companion. I’m a little besotted with him, truth be told. Not that I would ever admit it, and I’m sure it would make him deeply uncomfortable if I did.
His sandy blond hair has grown out during our travels, been cut and grown again, and now curls around his collar in a way that makes my fingers itch to pet.
Ruggedly handsome, he is ten years older than me and a former soldier in the war against the Blighten.
When we first left, he was mostly deferential, and I use the term mostly in the loosest sense.
Somewhere along the way, that has changed. Now he has a mile-wide stubborn streak where my safety is concerned.
Pity for him that I likewise have a stubborn streak.
No way am I leaving without seeing a griffin.
While wintering here when they might come closer to the village would be a very bad idea, maybe seeing one from a distance would fill that yawning hole in my soul.
Besides, the longer we stay, the more likely it is that Rafe and Lark will catch wind of griffins and chosen ones.
“Well, there are many passes through the mountain. And the old lodge used by the shepherds in spring is a sure bet,” Master Pugstone says.
Yes. Yes!
“But we are late in the summer,” he continues.
“The journey must be made on foot and could take several weeks. And then you must journey back. The seasons can change swiftly. I could not advise it.” He smiles brightly.
“But you could winter over here. It is always a quiet time, and several vacant properties might suit you and your attendants. There is no shortage of work for capable men… and I have long been meaning to re-catalog my many books. It would be a pleasure to have your assistance. The pride members do usually—” A little color enters his cheeks. “Visit the village for the—”
“Wintering here is not a good idea,” Rafe says in a no-nonsense tone.
“I agree we should leave tomorrow,” Lark pitches in. “We have virtually seen a griffin already and verified that they are real. What possible reason could we have to linger?”
No, no, no! “That does not sound like a good idea,” I say tartly. “Neither of you is listening to me!”
Rafe folds his arms and nods his head at me. “She’s going to be stubborn.”
Lark sighs heavily.
It is not only Rafe I have fallen for. Lark has also taken possession of my heart.
It was not difficult. He is easy on the eye and a highly competent soldier in his own right.
That he lacks any kind of censor on the comments that leave his lips is his one annoying fault.
Then there are times when I catch an almost lascivious expression on his face.
It turns my insides to goo and makes my panties wet.
They both make my panties wet. Which is inconvenient when I have limited supplies while traveling, and further, neither man would look at me twice were I not paying them…
Actually, I haven’t paid them in a long time, although I do have a small amount of coins left.
Moreover, they often pick up work along the way, which is why I still have the coins…
I need to discuss this with them later… after I have seen a griffin.
I turn to Master Pugstone, giving him my best pleading look.
“If we were to travel straight away and swiftly to this shepherd lodge you mentioned, it is possible, though, isn’t it?
My many weeks of riding have improved my stamina no end. ”
Rafe makes a strangling sound like he is thinking about putting me over his knee.
Master Pugstone’s face softens. “Well, I suppose if you were swift… but I would really recommend—”
“That is settled then!” I interrupt lest anyone get ideas to the contrary.
Home. Why do I have such an inexplicable connection to this place? Why do I want to linger here even beyond Master Pugstone’s suggestion of wintering over? It would be dangerous to make this a permanent home. I am an omega after all.
Only I am broken, much like their pride…
It’ll be fine. I won’t let it be anything else.
The air is thick with tension as we leave Master Pugstone’s residence, but as Rafe surmised, I am feeling stubborn. I will see my damn griffin, and on my terms.
They barely speak to me during supper. I catch their eyes meeting more times than I like, and a world of silent communication is going on between them.
They are planning something—most likely how to thwart me and my plans.
When I was little, I used to talk to my sisters about the adventures I would have, never daring to dream I would live them.
Look at me now, here, on the verge of realizing a seemingly impossible dream.
I’m not going to let my omega side, nor two stubborn men, get in my way.