Page 69 of Tangled Threads Of Fate

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 everyinch 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.

Chapter 37

WREN

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 sayI’mno threat to you. I’m just a cute chicken-cat, not something that would rend a rhino with little effort.

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