Page 9 of A Single Thread Of Hope

Iwoke up in my Gryphon nest, surrounded by sleeping dogs and one disgruntled Celtic God of War. I was nose-to-shoulder with Nate, who had his chin tucked on my head and a hand on my belly, which was huge between us. I was beginning to feel so large, I may as well have had my own orbital pull.

On Nate’s pillow was a small dog, about the size of a chihuahua. It may have had some chihuahua in there, but it also had a whole bunch of other things, judging by the makeup of its face. Maybe a pug? Maybe a basset hound?

I reached behind me to find a large furry body there as well, though that didn’t really narrow it down between bondmates and puppy dogs. But when the body rolled, and Cy’s big blocky head appeared in my vision, it kind of answered my question.

“Are you the reason I’m sleeping in a puppy pile right now?” I asked him, though he couldn’t answer me in his dog form, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for a naked Cy in his human form in my bed just yet. My body clenched at the mere whisper of the idea of being the meat in a Nate/Cy sandwich. Honestly, my body really had betrayed me at this point—she was calling the shots, while I was trying to exorcize my grandmother’s extremely Catholicdisapproval from my mind. Nana would be rolling over in the family crypt.

Cy grumbled, licking my check, before turning in a couple of circles and flopping down at my back again. He snuggled in further, though I was about to rain on his parade, because I needed to pee.

I sat up to see a disgruntled Gryphon at the end of the bed. He was eyeing the dogs like he’d be happy to make them into a snack right about now, snapping if they came too close.

“Hey, Griff. You okay?”

The mutts are messing up your nest.

When I looked around, I realized he was right. There were dog bodies all over my room, of every size and shape imaginable. Geez, there must have been like fifty in here.

I gave him a sheepish smile.Lucky I have a talented mate who’ll make sure it’s perfect again in no time. But you’re right. I’ll kick them out and set some ground rules with Cy about who can be in here and where they can sleep.

I doubted Nate would be particularly thrilled by his current earwarmer either.

Griff huffed as a smallish dog, who couldn’t be much more than a puppy, edged closer to him. The dog looked like he’d be huge eventually, but by the clumsiness of its gait, it hadn’t quite grown into the size of its feet yet. It was brave, though. That much was obvious, as it curled up close to the Gryphon—who could literally eat it in one chomp—and went to sleep.

My monstrous mate looked down at it with disbelief, but didn’t snap at it. I guess he’d also realized that it was little more than a baby. The big softie. I smiled at Griff, who huffed back.

I doubt you’ll get rid of Cydon. He is definitely tied to you as well. I can almost feel your bond through our own.

I looked at the golden threads that spread through the room. The wispy lines made their way from all the dogs to Cy, and tome. There was a huge golden line, straight and true, between Griff and I, as well as between me and Nate. The one between Cy and me was surprising, though. It was different to the other threads that tied me to my bonds. It wasn’t golden, but a deep bronze, like it had once been shiny and new, but was now weathered and strong. Patinaed.

What did that even mean?

I reached out and stroked my hand down the fur of Cy, whose tongue was sticking out the side of his mouth lazily. Whatever it was, he’d saved my ass, and I was grateful. I wanted to discover his story, because I was beyond thinking things were a coincidence. I was being moved around a board by beings who didn’t respect the rules, and I either moved with it or lay down, checkmate.

Finally, my bladder decided that if I didn’t move right now, I was going to pee myself. I tried to wiggle out without waking anyone, but just ended up on my back like a beached whale. I nudged Cy. “Sorry, big guy, but I have to pee.” He stretched, then nimbly leapt off the bed, like he hadn’t just been snoring a moment ago. “Don’t gloat,” I grumbled. “Where’s that pregnant mama dog? She’d understand.”

I liked focusing on the dogs. Teron had suggested it was because I could control something with them, and I wondered if he’d been studying psychology with his obstetrics.

I looked down at Cy. “We can’t all sleep together, unless you want to be a Gryphon snack,” I told him. “But I’ll find somewhere warm and safe for the pack.”

Before my eyes, Cy shifted into a man once more. Naked. Again. I needed to invest in some pants repositories around the place, because talking to him while his dick was out was… hard. My eyes shot back to his face, and he looked way too pleased with himself.

“And me?”

Yeah, that was still to be decided. Instead of answering, I walked into the ensuite and closed the door.

When I mademy way down to the living room, my suite had been emptied of occupants, and I was almost relieved to dress alone. Until it came to putting on my underwear, which was more difficult than it had any right to be. I was huffing and puffing and weighing up the merit of just freeballing it for the rest of my pregnancy by the time I managed to get somewhat dressed.

Moving toward the pool area, I was surprised to see dogs in the pool.Man, Demke’s going to lose it.But when I saw the God himself sitting underneath the grape trellis, drinking wine, I was relieved. I was still mad at him, but it was hard to maintain, because my life was a fucking mess. I didn’t want to hold onto petty grudges. We might not be about to fuck under the light of the full moon, but at least he wasn’t looking at me like some temptress here to steal the souls of his brothers.

Tryp appeared beside me from the shadows, which was pretty impressive, considering how big he was. He had his arms around me and his cheek running over mine in an instant. He was mumbling, “Sorry”, but I was enjoying the contact just as much as he was. Needed it just as much.

I gripped his fingers, turning him to face me. “Are you okay?” I asked softly, and he nodded, brushing his lips over mine.

“I’m fine, Dumpling. The other half of me just needs to mark the hell out of you as some kind of territorial warning.”

Erus hadn’t managed to beat that nickname out of him, but honestly, it was growing on me. I really did look like a little, overstuffed dumpling. I wasn’t mad about it.

As if my thoughts had summoned his other half, I felt a warm body step up behind me, his hands skimming down my sides,before cupping under my belly and holding it up. The relief was instantaneous as he took the weight of my stomach.

---