Chapter 37
My brain short-circuited as it tried to comprehend the creature now before me. While I’d seen flashes of Teron’s other form, it had just been that. Just the shadow of an eagle’s head overlaying Teron’s own face.
However, there was no sign of Teron in the magnificent beast before me. Well, maybe the molten gold eye color that they shared.
My heart pounded in my chest, and I tried my best to even it out. I knew the Gryphon could hear my galloping heartbeats. Knew he would be able to scent my distress. They were abilities that were loaned to the human version of Teron.
How did you greet a huge eagle-lion that was supposedly your mate? “Uh, hello?”
He made a strange thumping noise, like the sound was coming from behind his ribcage rather than his mouth. It sounded terrifying.
I mustn’t have kept my feelings from my face well enough, because his head dropped. He made a soft chirp noise, lowering itself to his belly, cooing at me. He didn’t need to talk to say I’m no threat to you. I’m just a cute chicken-cat, not something that would rend a rhino with little effort.
Sucking in a fortifying breath, I stepped forward, holding out my hand. I cast a quick look at Milo, but his face was encouraging. He didn’t seem worried at all, and that bolstered my confidence a little more. I aimed for the soft feathers of the Gryphon’s neck, voluminous and wild, a mane of feathers of pure gold. He was so freaking beautiful.
“You are so handsome,” I murmured at him, and he chirped, pushing the top of his head toward my open palm until I could run my fingers down the long, strong column of his neck.
The zap of the bond snapping into place no longer surprised me. A sense of right settled in my chest. This was how it was meant to be.
Standing, he towered over me, but kneeling down like this, he was beak to eyes with me. That wasn’t daunting at all.
“Teron says I’m your mate?” Another odd trill that was definitely an agreement. “Are you sure? There’s no one out there—another Mythic or something—who would be a better match for you?”
Wings I hadn’t noticed unfurled from his back, ruffling with what felt like disgruntlement. He nudged my cheek with his face, and I suddenly had an overwhelming feeling of happiness. Contentment. Purpose. I was who he wanted.
I laughed, a sound of joy that I hadn’t really felt in a long time, and the Gryphon responded by curling around my legs, careful to never to jostle me so I became unsteady. The brush of fur seemed so at odds with the slight scratch of his flight feathers. His beak slid across my cheek, and he clicked it through my hair like he was grooming me. He moved down over my shoulder and rested his giant eagle head against my stomach, making a soft thrumming noise, and the babies kicked as if responding to his words.
It was magic. I stared down in awe.
And just like that, any fear I had disappeared. This ancient being was mine. A part of my soul. I could feel it, even if I logically didn’t understand it.
I yawned, and the Gryphon pulled back to look at me quizzically, making me flush. “No, I’m sorry, I’m not bored or anything. I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m just tired. Sleeping is hard with all this.” I pointed to my stomach, hoping he understood me.
The Gryphon huffed, nudging me softly on the arm and pushing me toward the door. He followed along behind me, gently ushering me from the room. I soon realized he was sending me back to my suite. I looked over my shoulder at Milo, who was casually wandering behind us, like being herded by a giant mythological creature wasn’t weird at all.
We ran into Demke in the hall, though, and while the Gryphon didn’t bristle, he did wind around the front of me.
Demke halted in his tracks and stared. “Oh. I see. Hello, old friend. I see you’ve finally met your mate?”
I glared incredulously at Demke. “You knew?”
The God before me just shrugged. “When Teron knew. We discussed it, but it wasn’t my information to give. Teron had to be ready to give up control to the Gryphon, and the Gryphon needed to be ready to meet his mate.”
I swear, Griff rolled his eyes. Yeah, Griff. That was a good name—a little cliché, but I couldn’t walk around calling him the Gryphon every day. It’d be odd.
“Can I call you Griff?” I asked him, watching his intelligent eyes for something like disdain.
He inclined his head and cooed, making Demke stare even harder. Milo was outright laughing now, and Griff glared at him until he shut his mouth with an audible click.
I reached out and gripped Demke’s hand. It was nice to be able to touch him now, to be able to feel his warmth and the golden glow of safety that spread through my bones whenever I was near him. “I think he’s sending me to bed for a nap. I’ll see you tonight?”
Demke nodded, still speechless.
I paused. “Griff will let Teron back out, right?”
Another huff from Griff. But Demke looked amused more than anything. “Yes, I think so. But I think we’ll all have to get used to seeing the Gryphon around more often, until you share a mate bond. I don’t know how Teron will feel about that.”
I wanted to question him more, but Griff had run out of patience. He pushed me back down the hall gently, keeping pace with my much shorter stride. Honestly, he was only taking one step for my six. He looked like he was doing the wedding march or something.
The only real hurdle we hit was the fact that Nate was already in my bedroom when we arrived. In the instant between Nate taking in the scene and standing, he had his ax in his hand and had grown three feet.
Griff gave a roar-scream and weaved in front of me, standing between me and Nate. I reached up and grabbed a handful of his feathers. “Wait! Nate! Griff! It’s okay.” Milo appeared between them too, which wasn’t as reassuring as you’d think. “Nate, this is Teron. Well, Teron’s Gryphon. I call him Griff.” I stepped in front of Griff once more, meeting his golden eyes. “This is my lover and best friend, Nate. He’s part of our pack, our family.” I sent a frantic look at Milo. “Do Gryphons have packs?”
My Minotaur nodded. “They call them flights, but yeah, they lived in packs.”
I obviously took leave of my senses, because I gripped Griff’s beak and dragged him down to eye level. “Nate is part of our flight, Griff. You, me, the babies”—I rubbed my stomach, and his eyes flicked down to the movement—“Nate, Milo, Tryp and Erus. Demke. Teron,” I said softly. “We are all a flight. You’re my mate, but they are my bonds. That means they’re yours too.”
Rubbing his face feathers across my cheeks once more, he stood tall, eyeing Nate with a regal stance that proved to me exactly why they’d been considered the insignia of royalty for so many years. He made a terrifying noise once again, then flicked his wings out. They were so big, they pressed from wall to wall, even in my giant suite. It was a show of dominance, that much was obvious, and I looked pleadingly at Nate.
Grumbling, he put the ax down, shrinking back to what I considered fuckable Nate-size. I mean, his God form was fuckable too—God knows I wouldn’t back down from the challenge—but it would be a lot.
Never say never, though.
He bowed his head at the Gryphon. “We’ve met. I watched him tear a demon to pieces with that beak you just held like it was the remote control for a monster.”
Griff folded his wings back in, giving me a smug expression. If anyone had asked me before today to describe what smug looked like on a bird face, I would have said they were nuts. But he definitely looked haughty as Nate mentioned his kill.
Then he nudged me toward the bed, and I laughed, climbing into it. He grabbed the blanket in his beak, dragging it up over my body and tucking it around me. Then he left and came back with more blankets and pillows clutched in his beak. He placed them down around me, then left, getting more.
“What’s he doing?” I asked, with another yawn.
Milo shrugged, and surprisingly, it was Nate who answered. “He’s making you a nest.”
He was cut off by Griff returning, pushing pillows up around my body, nudging them under the heavy mound of my stomach. That was really freaking sweet.
I closed my eyes, actually exhausted, and sighed happily. Was it weird that I could sleep while a giant beast made me a pretty nest? Who cared? My life was weirder than fiction now.
Something ticklingmy nose woke me later, tempting me from sleep. Blinking groggily in the darkness, I realized I was lying beside a naked Teron. And I was surrounded by feathers. Dozens of them. The walls of my “nest” were at least half a foot high and went right around the edge of my bed, except right at the foot. And in between all the blankets and pillows were golden feathers.
Did he even have any feathers left?
“He’s pretty damn proud of his work,” Teron said groggily, stretching. Naked.
Did I mention he was stretching naked?
I looked up at the ceiling, my cheeks so red that I was happy the room was shadowy with the falling light of dusk. “He should be. This is a beautiful nest.”
Teron nodded. “It’s one of the courtship rituals for the Gryphons. They make their proposed mate a nest, but it’s up to you if you accept it or not.”
How could I not accept this? He’d gone to so much effort to create this for me, for my comfort. To keep me safe and warm.
“I accept it, of course.” I looked down at the man beside me, keeping my eyes on his. “Teron, he’s amazing,” I breathed. And he was. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life.
Teron laughed, his eyes closing. “He said the exact same thing about you.” He opened one eye to watch me. “You have questions?”
I scoffed. “So many damn questions.”
He dragged me closer, and the heat of his skin felt like it was searing my own. However, the only parts of us touching were our arms. There were things I needed to know. Things we needed to talk about before we could take this any further.
“Do you still want this? Want me too?”
He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed me with so much passion, I felt like I was going to burn.
I was going to take that as a yes.