Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Mira woke feeling like her whole body was on fire.
Every single inch of her ached.
She’d never been more turned on in her life.
Leo was asleep next to her, and she wanted to pounce on him like a freaking cat.
Throwing off the thin blanket, she grabbed the collar of her tank and pulled it lower, wiggling her hips slightly to ease the ache.
She closed her eyes, trying to think of anything but the wildly horny thoughts racing through her mind, or the way her gryphon, however faint it was, seemed to be calling for something.
Someone.
Leo.
She rolled to her side to face him and snuggled up close, letting out a lion-ish purr as she nuzzled his chin and slipped her leg over his hip.
He woke with a growl, putting his arms around her and pulling her close. He tilted his head down and kissed her, and she whimpered at the heat that speared through her.
“You okay, baby?” he whispered.
“I want you,” she said, angling her hips toward his, the thin fabric of their underwear the only thing between them.
He leaned back a little and looked at her. “Are you okay?” he asked again. “Your eyes are glowing with little streaks of amber.”
“I’m okay, I’m just… I just want you. I want to make love, and I want you to bite me. I want to be yours in truth.”
He eased a hand down her back and cupped her bottom, bringing her closer to him, his erection pressing against the apex of her thighs.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I’ve wanted that since the moment we met, but I didn’t want to rush you.”
“The only thing I want to rush right now is an orgasm.” She let out a little laugh, and he chuckled in answer.
He nuzzled her jaw with a growl and kissed her throat, biting gently. “You smell amazing,” he said, his voice growing gruffer. “Like my best wet dream come to life.”
He slipped his hand around her hip, his fingers tickling the edge of her panties.
And then he kissed her, his tongue delving into her mouth, as his hand slipped inside her panties.
One finger slid slowly across her clit and sank inside her until she could feel the press of his palm against her heated flesh.
She gasped into his mouth and then moaned as he pulled his finger out and repeated the motion, sliding slowly down and in, and then out and back.
He grazed her clit a few times, circling the tight bud as her body raced toward pleasure, and then he pumped his finger into her, adding a second one that stretched her slightly.
His fingers left her for a moment, and she heard the sound of fabric tearing and then the cool breeze of the air conditioner as he tossed her torn panties aside.
He gave her bottom lip a gentle bite as he shoved her tank top over her breasts and feasted on them, his fingers pulsing into her pussy and driving her wild.
He sucked hard on her nipples, laving them with his tongue and rubbing his teeth across the sensitive flesh, his fingers sinking deep into her as his thumb pressed against her clit.
She threw back her head with a loud moan as he played with all the right places on her body and drove her over the edge into white-hot pleasure.
She cried out his name as her stomach twisted and the beast inside her roared. He brought his fingers, wet with her pleasure, to his lips and held her gaze as he licked them with a growl. Then he kissed her, rolling on top of her and shoving his underwear over his hips to free his cock.
With one hard thrust, he was buried inside her, her body clutching him over and over as he moved inside her.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, toes curling, fingertips aching, and held on for everything she was worth.
She kissed his neck and jaw, licking and nibbling at his flesh, chasing another height of pleasure.
She lifted her hips, driving herself up to meet him. She wrapped a hand around his shoulder, her nails digging into his skin. She saw flashes of darkness on her fingertips as they ached sharply, but she didn’t care.
Only this mattered.
Her and Leo.
Their bodies coming together again and again in that ancient dance that would join them together forever. He growled as he took her harder, thrusting over and over, a hand under her bottom lifting her from the bed so he could go even deeper.
She shouted in bliss as he hit just the right place inside her, his pelvis brushing against her sensitive clit with each pass and sending her over the edge once more.
His fangs sank into her throat, and she screamed in pleasure as her vision first went bright like lightning and then dark like midnight, and her body locked up in a spiral of heated bliss.
He lifted from her throat and howled as he came.
He lowered himself to his elbows, both of them panting, his head to her shoulder. He shuddered, and she wrapped her arms around him. “Leo,” she whispered hoarsely, “I’m falling for you.”
He kissed her shoulder with a soft groan. “I’m falling for you, too. Mate.”
* * *
Mira watched the moonlight as it moved across the wall in white lines from the half-open blinds.
She was listening to Leo’s heartbeat as they both came down from the heavens, her body still tingling and little flashes of pleasure lighting her up.
His scent surrounded her, making her feel cared for and safe all at the same time.
He’d marked her and covered the wound with his own blood that he’d gotten from scoring his tongue with his fangs. It ensured it would scar permanently, no matter what. She could feel the connection to him humming under her skin and drawing them even closer together.
She was drifting in that place between awake and asleep when a lance of pain ripped through her lower back.
Her breath caught in her throat.
“Mira?” Leo asked. He pushed up on one elbow. “What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t answer him.
The pain spread up her spine and through her arms and legs like lava burning its way through her. Her hands curled into the blanket covering them as she gasped for breath.
“Talk to me, Mira! What’s going on?”
Another flash of pain tore through her, and she arched off the bed with a cry. Her skin prickled like ants were biting everywhere, her skin stretching, her bones twisting.
Her joints cracked, one after the other, and she wheezed out his name, a plea for help she could barely make.
“Baby, I think you’re shifting! Shit, let me call Doc Whalen.” He grabbed his phone and after a moment of sheer agony as her bones felt like they were cracking into shards inside her, he said, “Doc, I need you right now. I think Mira’s gryphon is trying to come out, and she’s in terrible pain!”
“Leo,” she gasped, “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” he said, putting the phone down.
He slid his arms under her and gently lifted her from the bed and set her on the carpet.
He cradled her close, running his fingers down her arms. “It’s okay, Mira.
Just breathe. Let it happen. If you fight what your body is trying to do, it will take longer and hurt worse. ”
She shuddered violently, and her muscles locked and released in spasms. She ground her teeth together as the first sharp crack of bone echoed in the room. With a whimper, she clung to her mate, scared and elated at the same time.
“I’ve got you. Don’t fight it. Let me see your beautiful gryphon.”
Pain rolled through her in waves, stealing her breath. Her hearing sharpened with a whine, and her vision blurred. She heard Leo’s heart beating and the worried hum of his wolf.
Leo kept his voice low as he told her over and over to just let go.
Then she felt her beast.
Really felt her for the first time.
And she gave herself over to the shift.
She screamed as her body transformed, her cry of pain morphing into the call of her gryphon.
The air shimmered with red mist that smelled like ash and rosemary, and then it broke apart like glass and disappeared.
Her body changed fully, two legs to four, wings pushing from between her shoulder blades, and everything inside her aligning with her beast.
No more spell keeping her from her gryphon, she was finally, truly as she had been born to be.
She let out a bellow from her beast as her claws dug into the carpet.
“Well, holy shit,” Leo said. “Mira! You’re amazing! You did it!”
Leo knelt next to her and rested a hand on her chest, his fingers sinking into her fur. She looked down and saw her big, white paws. Over her shoulder, she could see the tip of dark wings.
The bond between her and Leo pulsed like a living thing, and she bent her head and pressed it to his with a sigh. That hurt like hell, but she felt free now.
Outside, tires crunched on gravel, and Leo jumped to his feet. “That’s Doc. Come on, sweetheart.”
He tugged his jeans on, and she followed him out into the family room.
Leo opened the front door, and Mira peeked around him to watch as a male strode swiftly up the front walk with a medical bag.
His eyes went wide when he saw her.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Leo let him inside, and Mira inhaled, finding that he smelled of wolf and pack. He shut the door and said, “Mira, this is Doc Whalen, our pack doctor. This is my mate Mira. She’s a gryphon.”
“I guess so! I’m glad she was able to get into her shift.
It can take longer when it doesn’t happen during the natural time.
The body fights what doesn’t feel right, and anxiety can make it all take longer.
You told me she’d been covered with a spell that suppressed her shift, so she didn’t even know about it? ”
“Yeah,” Leo said. “So we didn’t think she’d be able to shift. We were told by her family that only the Wiccan who cast the spell could undo it, and she’d died years ago.”
Doc gave Mira a smile. “No matter the spell, nothing is as powerful as truemates. It must have burned the spell away to reveal her gryphon nature. It’s really incredible.”
He and Leo talked for a few minutes about her shift, and then Doc said.
“Trust your instincts, Mira. The shift back to human won’t hurt as much now that you’re prepared for it.
You’ve already come through the worst of it.
Leo, get her a raw steak and let her burn off her energy running around the yard.
The more she moves, the more comfortable she’ll be in her body.
She can fly with those wings, but from what I understand of bird shifters, it takes practice to get off the ground and actually move through the air. ”
“Thanks for coming over, Doc. I appreciate it.” Leo shook his hand.
“That’s what I’m here for. Congratulations, Mira. And congratulations to the two of you on your mating.”
“Ready for a snack?” Leo asked when they were alone.
She purred in answer, following him to the kitchen. He pulled a steak wrapped in butcher paper from the fridge and carried it out to the patio, unwrapping it and giving it to her. She’d never eaten a raw steak before, but suddenly it was the best idea she’d ever heard.
She tucked it between her paws and feasted, her sharp beak cutting it into pieces she could easily eat.
“I just texted Adam that you shifted. He said congrats, and Cinder said to tell you how happy she is the spell was broken,” Leo said.
She murmured her own happiness.
She’d never expected to be able to shift.
Leo had brought her gryphon to the surface, and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to thank him enough for being with her through the scariest time of her life.
When she finished her steak, she ran around the yard, finding it odd to run on four legs at first, and then she stretched her wings wide and flapped them, lifting off the ground a few feet at a time.
She leaped off the ground, flapping her wings, and getting a little distance before hitting the ground again.
It was exhilarating.
She’d been waiting her whole life for this moment, and she hadn’t even known it.
Coming to Ohio was the best thing she’d ever done.