Chapter Ten
Iolani’s cry echoed through the valley and sent ice water through my veins. Before the sound stopped, I’d already shifted and taken to the air. Jazriel shifted and, using his wings, he ran across the river’s surface below me.
Fear weighed heavily in my stomach, a sensation I hadn’t experienced before meeting Iolani, but was becoming a common companion these days. Trouble seemed to follow the blue-haired bombshell wherever she went, and I was considering tying her to me just to get through a day without chaos.
My gryphon’s eyesight allowed me to see Iolani stumble from the woods that ran along the river. Crimson marred her skin, but I couldn’t understand what had caused the injuries. Not until she turned to run, and a large mountain lion jumped on her back. It tore into her wings and skin with claws and fangs.
I shrieked, alerting the stallion to the situation. We both pushed ourselves to reach her before our delicious mate became a literal snack.
Iolani glowed, then the cat dropped to the ground, buying us time to close the distance. Or so I thought.
My heart stopped beating as she staggered, falling down the steep embankment and splashing into the river where she disappeared.
Jazriel was foaming at the mouth at how hard we were driving ourselves. Still, I watched in shock as he dug deeper, lowering his head, his form seeming to dissipate into wispy shadows as he streaked across the river’s surface.
Surging forward, I hurried after him, all the while my eyes scanned the rapids, searching for any sign of Iolani. Her head burst from the churning water, but just as quickly, she was gone again.
My eyes caught a flash of blue under the water, but it disappeared as fast as it had appeared. No, no, no. She had to be okay.
I shrieked with relief when her head resurfaced again, but it turned to a pained cry when she fell off the side of the earth.
A waterfall.
Jazriel didn’t slow, launching himself over the edge. Together, we tucked our wings, diving toward the jagged rocks below, all the while searching for any sign of her. We hovered over the rocks at the base of the waterfall, thinking maybe she’d gotten hung up on one of them.
From the corner of my eye, I caught another flash of blue down the river from us. Turning, I stared in shock as Iolani crawled onto the riverbank.
My wings went weak, and I nearly dropped into the river myself. By some freaking miracle, she was alive and appeared to be unscathed.
Jazriel’s furious battle cry had me searching for the cause of his hurry. That’s when I spotted the large grizzly bear barreling toward the tiny female, who was still on her hands and knees, spewing up water.
The bear roared, and she finally looked up.
Rather than screaming in terror, she groaned as though she was facing an inconvenience rather than imminent death. “This day can go suck a duck.”
Jazriel reached her first, standing over her body and bracing for the bear’s impact.
I went straight for the bear just as his claws cut through the air toward Jazriel. Sinking my talons into his back, I hauled him into the air. Fury and fear warred inside me, and I struggled with how to handle my rising emotions.
“Don’t hurt him!” Iolani shouted, crawling out from beneath the pegasus.
I hovered mid-air, unbothered by the angry, six-hundred-pound animal swiping at my underbelly. What did she want me to do with him? Take him back to camp for a tea party? This wasn’t a teddy bear.
“He’s just a bear doing bear stuff.” She stood, wobbling on her feet.
Yeah, so? I was a killer gryphon doing angry gryphon crap.
“Please, August. Just set him down a little way from here. We can leave before he comes back. This is his home. We crashed it.”
Pinning my ears against my head in annoyance, I caved and flapped my way a half mile from Iolani and gently dropped the livid grizzly on the ground.
By the time I returned to Iolani, Jazriel had coaxed her onto his back and, with a soundless beat of his wings, he joined me in the sky. Rising above him, I glided just over Iolani’s head, studying her for signs of injury. I was still in disbelief that she’d survived.
Reaching up, she brushed her fingers through my belly feathers. A purr rattled in my chest before I could stop it.
“You’re adorable, feathered feline.” She grinned up at me, and warmth spread through me despite the ridiculousness of the pet name.
This woman had the cheat code to my emotions, and it was going to be the death of me.
We returnedto the camp where I found that the stubborn female had not only removed the gear from the horses, but she’d spread out our blankets and built a fire. She should have been resting while Jazriel and I took care of things.
I headed back to the river. With my restless energy and stirred-up emotions, it didn’t take me long to catch enough fish to feed us. Shifting back to my human form, I took my time cleaning the fish. I tried to rid myself of the annoying feelings that continued to linger, but it was useless. Giving up, I strode back to camp.
Jazriel stood from the blankets where he sat with Iolani and took the fish from me. “You hunted, I’ll cook.”
Accepting help wasn’t something I enjoyed doing, but I handed him the fish without protest. I strode straight to Iolani’s side. Since meeting her, I’d been able to avoid giving in completely to the instinctual pull of the mate bond. It had been hard, but doable. But I was facing a new problem.
I was falling for her, and it had nothing to do with being mates. Sure, I still felt the link between us and my inner beast was pushing for me to claim her, but this was different.
Giving into my heart, I dropped to the blanket. I pulled her into my arms, closing my eyes and relishing the comforting warmth of her body that assured me she was alive. She was safe.
Iolani didn’t protest or question me. She simply let me hold her.
Slowly, my tumultuous emotion bled away, leaving me feeling almost normal. I should have released her after she’d calmed the mess she’d stirred inside, but I couldn’t.
“Dinner is served!” Jazriel appeared with a cheeky grin on his face and set a plate overflowing with fried fish on the blanket between us.
Breaking a bite-sized piece off a filet, he popped it into Iolani’s mouth.
“You two know I’m an adult, right? I’ve run a kin—” She paused, stumbling over her words. “I’ve been in charge of the well-being of thousands. I’m pretty sure I can feed myself.”
Jazriel brushed the back of his knuckles across her cheek. “I know. But we are allowed to enjoy taking care of you.”
I snorted. “Honestly, I’m not sure how you’ve stayed alive this long. You would’ve become dinner for a bear if we hadn’t shown up. I think Amaryllis’ legendary knack for dancing with death has rubbed off on you.”
Iolani twisted around on my lap to look up at me with fire blazing in her eyes. “I would’ve come out of that unscathed.”
Her utter confidence in what she claimed had me laughing until my sides hurt. Jazriel leaned back on his elbows, watching me with open amusement as though I were making a fool of myself. Iolani set her jaw, looking as though she wished she could burn me to a crisp. But as I wiped tears from my eyes, her anger faded and her features softened.
Reaching up, she trailed her fingers along my jaw. “You’re so beautiful.”
“Just what every man wants to hear.” I chuckled, catching her hand, and pressing a kiss to the palm before I could stop myself.
Iolani’s eyes widened with surprise, and I wanted to kick myself. For showing too much affection… and for not showing her enough.
If I was going to leave, I needed to do it soon. It wouldn’t be fair to allow the bond between us to grow stronger, only to cause her more pain when I disappeared. I was cruel, but not evil. Still, I wasn’t strong enough to walk away right then. I needed her in my arms.
“Eat,” I ordered, picking up a piece of fish and touching it to her lips.
Her eyes never left mine as she opened her beautiful lips and let me feed her. It was intimate, almost more so than that first night she’d slept between Jazriel and me. The night he’d given her what seemed to be the first orgasm of her life.
I had found her first. Even if we hadn’t completed the bond, I was her mate and it should have been me who’d shown her pleasure. But it had been the pegasus, her second mate, who’d had the honor.
He had accepted the bond without question, and my sweet Iolani had returned it with an open heart and arms.
Just like how she would accept you if you stopped being such a fool, my inner voice pointed out.
That night was burned forever in my memories. She’d quivered between us, her spicy, sweet scent heavy in the air, my hand cupping the petal-soft skin of her breast, and her rounded butt grinding against my cock. I’d come in my pants like a horny college student who’d never touched a girl in his life.
Jazriel had been focused on giving her pleasure. But when he’d realized I was awake, I’d seen his smirk and the glint in his eye. His movements had caused me to hump against her until I’d grown painfully hard. It humiliated me to realize I was so easily aroused by her, but I hadn’t possessed the willpower to walk away.
I hated him for it. But I hated him more for not initiating something similar the following night.
Earlier that afternoon, I’d caught the lingering scent of her arousal on the trail. Jealousy had surged through me, and I’d fought the urge to shift and pluck her from his back. I wanted to carry her into the skies and show her the pleasures of mating thousands of feet above the earth.
Gryphons didn’t share mates. Trevor had confided in the pride that he struggled with sharing Ryls in the beginning. So why wasn’t I angry at having to share her with Jazriel? Probably because I saw how easily he could bring a smile to her lips, and I would do anything to see her happy.
My resolve was growing weaker by the hour. It was selfish, but I wanted to claim Iolani as my mate. I was experiencing the stirring of emotions now, so maybe I could offer her more than a cold, unfeeling heart. But I didn’t know if that would be enough. Especially now that she was experiencing what it was like to have a mate with unbridled emotions and passions.
Gryphons only had sex once they found their fated mate, so it had never been something I thought about. Now I spent my days harder than granite while imagining all the things I could do to hear her scream my name.
I wanted to claim every inch of her skin with kisses.
I wanted to taste her mouth, her skin, her sweet cream.
I wanted to hear her whimpers and feel her tremble with release after release.
I wanted to be her protector. But what if my callous nature caused me to be the one to hurt her heart?
When we finished eating, I resolutely set my jaw and moved her from my lap to the blanket. Then I headed into the woods without a backward glance, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from trying to show her how badly I longed to be given a chance at being worthy of her love.