Chapter 36
Iwasn’t sure if it was the potential bond between Wren and I, or the circumstances of the last couple of days, but I found myself doing a version of nesting. Well, not nesting, but preparing. The attack had proved that we needed to prepare for any eventuality, and more than that, it had proved that it wouldn’t be safe for her to travel to the human hospital in Heraklion to deliver her babies.
I’d already been discussing Wren’s health with Dr. Eladio, talking about needs and necessities for a home birth. We had looked at the research, the guidelines and best practices, and had come up with a plan, in case she needed to deliver locally.
After the attack, her giving birth here in the compound was a foregone conclusion. I would have to convince Wren, of course, and probably Néit. I would also read every ounce of literature I could get my hands on.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
I looked around the room I was currently converting to an operating room. I was slowly stocking it with everything that was needed, and was working toward making everything as sterile as I could physically make it, because humans were alarmingly fragile and prone to death.
The Gryphon made an irritated squawk at the idea that his mate was anything less than perfection. His mate. My mate. Fuck. He huffed in my mind as if I was being a baby, and I rolled my eyes. She was human. What if something happened to her? What if nothing happened to her and she just died in seventy years, like a normal human?
I hated the uncertainty of it all, and I added it to the ever-growing list of things I needed to research. Going back to making sure all the instruments I’d borrowed from Eladio were sterilized within an inch of their life, I continued down my mental checklist.
A knock at the door had me turning, and the subject of my pining thoughts appeared. The Gryphon ruffled his feathers in my mind, which made me smile. Vain bastard.
I wasn’t surprised that Milo was behind her. She was rarely alone these days, and I wondered if that grated on her. Maybe I’d casually ask if she needed some space from their constant hovering.
The Gryphon showed me an image of him snapping at them, keeping everyone away so she could rest. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that “alone” meant without him too.
“Wren, how are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve spent a week eating at an all-you-can-eat taco restaurant and there’s no longer room for my organs.” Milo laughed behind her, his fingers tracing any bare skin they could find, like he was addicted to the feel of it.
“It’s a fairly good analogy. Come out into the other room so you can sit.” And not contaminate the clean room. I didn’t say that, though, not wanting to freak her out just yet. That would be coming in a moment.
I led her into a connecting sitting room, the one where I’d been checking her vitals and doing ultrasounds for the last few weeks. She slumped down on the couch, her hands propping up her growing stomach.
Clearing my throat, I sat down opposite her. My heart was thumping in my chest; it was time to lay it all out on the line. I didn’t know why I felt so vulnerable. Looking over, Milo gave me a reassuring nod.
“I’m glad you stopped by, because there are a couple of things I was hoping to talk to you about.”
I’m your mate. Maybe we’d start with the birth plan first. How was I want to cut you open in a rudimentary operating room the easier topic of conversation?
“Firstly, I know you said you wanted to go to the hospital in Heraklion for the birth of the babies, but after the breach of the island’s wards the other night, I worry about the safety of you, the babies, and the other people at the hospital. I’m hoping you might consider birthing here, in the compound, where we can keep you all safe. I promise, I am up-to-date on all the skills and practices needed to birth triplets, as well as planning for all eventualities.”
I was going to get the guys to let me practice giving epidurals. Not that I wasn’t confident, but I didn’t want the first time I’d done it in twenty years to be on the woman in front of me.
She looked wary, which was understandable. In emergencies, humans were programmed to seek out the closest hospital. Closing her eyes, she rubbed a hand over her belly and sighed. “I trust you. If it comes to that, I can deliver here.”
I stifled my relieved breath. The Gryphon hated the thought of her being out of our territory, out of our protection, but a damn Gryphon couldn’t wander the halls of a hospital either. I nodded. I hoped it wasn’t necessary, that this all went away for her.
But I wouldn’t hold my breath. If there was anything Mythics did well, it was hold onto grudges.
Nodding, I gave her a reassuring smile. “Good. Okay.” Sucking in a deep breath, I just let the next words spew from my mouth with no finesse. “My Gryphon believes you’re his mate.”
She blinked at me, and Milo snorted a laugh. “Mate?”
I swallowed hard. “The person he’s meant to be with forever. His person. His fated partner in life.”
This was so fucking weird. She was looking at me like I’d lost my mind, and I could feel my ears turning red. I wasn’t this fumbling person; I was cool and level-headed at all times. But right now, I wanted to run for the hills, dig a hole to the Underworld, and never emerge.
She paused. “Oh. Uh, I see. Does he know I’m not a Gryphon?”
The Gryphon was pressing against my skin. He wanted to show her how devoted he could be as a mate, and chase that look of uncertainty from her expression. I warned him that it would probably have the opposite effect.
“He’s aware you’re not a Gryphon. It is a soul connection, and not a, uh, physical connection.”
Now Milo was outright laughing, his hands still running up and down her back. “He means the Gryphon isn’t going to want to go at it, bird-lion style.”
Her cheeks were now so pink, I was tempted to check her blood pressure. “All right. Huh. And you? What does this mean for you? Are you kind of… stuck with me just because your Gryphon likes me?” she asked with a frown.
The Gryphon was getting irate that I wasn’t conveying the true depths of his feelings and thought I was fucking this up. Temperamental bastard. “I wouldn’t say ‘stuck with you’ is the right phrasing.” I wanted her so bad that it was a damn ache in my balls, all the time. I wanted to lay her down and study every inch of her with my eyes, taste every freckle with my tongue, hear every little noise she made until she sang me a symphony every night. “On this, my Gryphon and I agree wholeheartedly. We’re yours, if you want us.”
She blinked at me, her eyes tracing my face as if she could divine the real truth. With Demke now completely on board, I was the last one holding out. I didn’t know if it was because the thread that was meant to tie us together was the Gryphon, not the man, or if we both had to be on board before we could bond. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a lack of desire. I wanted to bond with her, to protect her and the babies with every ounce of my immortal abilities.
She gave me a lopsided smile. “Okay then. I guess I better meet him. My… mate.” There was only a slight hesitation in her voice, and I couldn’t have respected her more in that moment.
I nodded and stood, my fingers on the buttons of my shirt. “I should warn you, though, he’ll probably be quite… affectionate. Much like Tryp and Erus, he’ll attempt to mark you as his. A lot. Just know that he’ll never, ever hurt you. And Milo is here, in case you feel too uncomfortable.”
The Gryphon huffed again at the insinuation that Milo could stop him at all, but didn’t protest him being in the room. The Gryphon might be a beast, but he was so fucking smart. Just because he was animalistic in his urges, it didn’t mean that half my knowledge didn’t come from him.
“Can he speak? Like Milo can in bull form?”
I shook my head, and the Gryphon keened at the idea of inadequacy. “No. But if you bond as mates eventually, you’ll be able to speak mind to mind.” Which is even better than what the others have, I told him, soothing his bruised ego.
She nodded, getting to her feet. “Let’s do this.” So brave. Even with the quake in her voice, she held her head high. I wanted to kiss her, but I could wait. If she rejected the Gryphon, I didn’t want to know the taste of what I was missing and could never have.
Impatience that didn’t belong to me rolled across my skin, and I shook my head. Pulling off my clothes—all my clothes—I was amused by the fact that Wren didn’t look away. Her eyes ate up my exposed body, heat and hunger warring for supremacy in her gaze.
I needed to hurry this along, before my dick got harder and I decided this little meet and greet could wait until I’d been balls deep inside her.
Ready? I asked the Gryphon.
I’ve been ready for millennia, he replied.
And if she dies in seventy years? I asked, because I had to. I had to know.
Then it would be better than one more minute without her.
I swallowed hard. I had my answer. In a shower of magic, I was pushed down, and the Gryphon emerged.