Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Saturday morning, Leo drove with Mira and several pack members to the garage for their early morning shift. The dealership and garage were closed to new business while they dealt with the tire issue.
It was going to be a damn long day. But he had Mira with him, and her beautiful face and sweet smile made everything better.
Even replacing tires.
After dropping her off at the front desk and giving her a kiss, he rolled his shoulders and walked into the service bays, ready to tackle what he could.
He worked side by side with Brick and Adam, with Solan and a few other wolves working security with the gryphons.
The morning was a blur of jobs—not only replacing tires but fixing the issues with the customer vehicles. Every time he looked through the glass to the lobby, Mira was talking to a customer, answering the phone, or smiling. Each glimpse of her steadied him and made him work even harder.
He caught sight of Theron as he walked by on patrol. He had the kind of watchful attention to his surroundings that only shifters had, a second sort of knowledge of things that might be out of place. He saw Auron pass by the other way, his face set with determination.
Their presence was a statement to Foley—the pack’s businesses weren’t unprotected anymore.
Just before lunch, Adam stopped at the truck Leo was tuning up. “Your mate fits right in here. And so does her family. Any word on if they’re sticking around?”
“It seems too early to talk about that,” Leo said, watching Mira once more as she talked to her mom while they both cleaned the lobby. “They’ve only been reconnected since Thursday night.”
“Good point. I have some thoughts, though, if they decide to stick around.”
“I’ll let you know and set up a chat for all of us,” Leo said. “Mira and her brother want to shift. She wants some pointers from someone who is a gryphon, and I don’t blame her. I have no idea what it’s like to fly.”
“You can definitely use the pack hunting grounds. We’re sweeping the territory and perimeter a lot more, so it’s safer. What night?”
“Sunday?”
“Sure. Her other family members?”
“Well, her mom has wings and can fly, but her sister won’t have wings until she meets her mates. I think they plan to hang out while her uncles, dad, and brother, go shift and hunt with us.”
“Then you probably don’t need any escorts with all those eyes and ears on hand,” Adam said with a chuckle. “Just let the security office know the time.”
“Thanks.”
Adam nodded and left, and Leo got back to work.
Mira wandered over a little bit later, looking adorable in one of his shirts with the garage name on the pocket.
She handed him a soda. “I thought you could use this.”
“You’re a lifesaver, thank you.” He took the soda and kissed her, then opened it and took a long drink.
“It’s been nonstop at the front desk,” she said. “In here, too, huh?”
“Yeah. Since we’re waiting for more tires, I’ve just been doing the repair work and trying to get the backlog of work done. It’ll take weeks to get out from under what Foley did. How do you like the front desk?”
“I love it! It’s been so fun being a part of things here, plus I get to work with you, and also with my family, which has given me loads of time to talk with them.”
“You’ve got a knack for working with customers,” he said. “Probably from all those years helping with the booth at festivals.”
“Yep. Of course, it’s a little different talking to people in a booth at a carnival for a fortune, and talking to them about their vehicle, but people are kind of all the same everywhere. They just want someone to listen to them and to actually hear them.”
He pulled her close and smiled down at her, tucking a lock of her pretty blonde hair behind her ear. She shivered at his touch, her eyes flashing with amber striations for a heartbeat.
“I love you, Mira. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I love you, too, sweet wolf of mine.”
* * *
Not long after, a delivery truck with a shipment of tires pulled behind the garage. Leo groaned under his breath at the thought of unloading all the tires.
“Need a hand?” Theron called from across the back parking lot when Leo walked out to sign for the shipment.
“Hell, yes,” Leo said.
He greeted the driver, checked out the inventory, and signed for the shipment.
He and Theron hopped up into the back of the truck, put down the ramp, and got to work unloading them.
Leo watched Theron grab two tires, then followed suit.
Being a shifter meant they had enhanced strength and could move heavy things with ease.
But there were a lot of damn tires and Leo was by himself in the bay at the moment, so he was thankful Theron was willing to lend a hand.
They worked side by side and were able to unload the truck surprisingly fast. Leo’s muscles were burning by the time he stacked the last tire at the back of the shop, but he’d enjoyed the time spent with his mate’s twin.
“If you’re wondering,” Theron said, turning to look at him after stacking the last tire, “we’re not going to go anywhere.”
His brows rose. “You’re not going to be nomadic anymore?”
Theron shook his head. “We only wandered because we were lost, you know? Without Mira, the family was fractured. I was young when we went to find her after the old king died, and I can’t tell you the grief that swamped us all, but especially our mom.
Finding her has been a balm to all of us.
And there’s no way you could drag my mom out of here, at gunpoint or otherwise. We all feel the same.”
“I’m glad,” Leo said. “There’s definitely a place for the clan, my alpha already mentioned it to me. We can talk when the time is right.”
“You got it,” Theron said.
“We’ve got dinner,” Acastan said, sticking his head out the back door. “It’s in the breakroom.”
“Thanks, I’m starving,” Leo said.
“Gryphons like to eat,” Theron said with a chuckle.
Mira was in the breakroom with her family. Leo gave her a hug. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled the food.”
“Me, either,” she said with a smile.
They grabbed plates, filling them with chicken and rice, and fluffy biscuits glistening with honey butter.
“Dig in, everyone,” Layla said as the last of the family members took their seats at one of the large tables. The wolves who were helping out in the shop gravitated to the food, filling plates, and ducking out to the other breakroom to watch TV during their break.
For a long while, there was no conversation, just forks scraping on plates, and then the family sharing started, with Theron telling about a time he’d miscalculated a landing and went straight through a barn roof.
And Layla shared how Selene had wanted to fly like her male family members and tried to jump off a second-story balcony with only a towel around her neck like a cape.
When the meal was finished, Layla and Selene refilled the glasses, and Auron stood and lifted his cup.
“I’d like to propose a toast.” His eyes were glowing, fatherly wisdom and love shining through as he looked at his family. “To our family, whole again as we’d always dreamed, and new love and the future that blooms full of hope for all of us.”
“Hear! Hear!” Rami said, raising his glass.
The muffled sound of plastic cups touching was followed by everyone cheering the toast. But Auron wasn’t finished yet, apparently. “To Leo and our Mira, once lost and now found. When the time is right, the sun will rise on your mating, and it’s our joy to be part of all things new.”
“That sounds like a mating vow,” Leo said.
“It is, actually,” Dorian said. “When gryphons mate, they make their vow at sunrise, speaking their promises aloud. It marks the beginning of their joined lives.”
Leo looked at Mira, and she smiled sweetly, her love for him shining in her eyes. “To us, and to your family, becoming mine.”
She kissed him and touched her glass to his. “Hear! Hear!”