Page 12 of Bound to the Griffin
“Who’s Kai?” I asked, confused. Spinning around in place, I looked at the broken furniture that had been piled in one corner, and the other, sturdier pieces that had been put back where they belonged. Someone had worked hard to take care of the worst mess in here. You could barely tell a burglar had worked over this floor, looking for secret treasure.
“Son of the plumber. Cowboy hat.” That was all the explanation I got, but it turned out I didn’t need much more. I’d seen a guy with a cowboy hat on my first day in town. Something tickled at the back of my brain about last night, too, had he been here? It was all a bit of a blur, but I thought so, however little sense it made.
I stared at my sheriff like he’d grown a second head. Why would a stranger—a grumpy one at that—feel guilty about a burglar wrecking my floor? Was it a scare tactic after all? Was Jackson covering for his friend? “The one who snarled at me and gave me the silent treatment?” That first interaction still stung the most; it had been so rude and unexpected, and I’d been bubbling with cheerful, hope-filled excitement.
“Mm.” No explanation. Just that amused little sound that shot straight down my spine. The look on his face was still that vague smirk, like he knew things I didn’t. Before I could demand answers, a brisk knock rattled the front door. It was silly, but the noise rattled my nerves too. Obviously, this whole debacle had put me on edge. A wolf attack and a burglar in one day, that would shake anyone, wouldn’t it?
Jackson seemed calm, though, so I pulled myself together and went to open the door. Only to find a grandmotherly woman, cheeks pink from the cold, arms full of a gift basket so big I could barely see her face. “Welcome to town, Gwen!” she said in a voice like cinnamon and clove tea, bustling right past me down the hall and into the kitchen.
She started unpacking jars of tea blends and clattering a kettle onto the stove without waiting for an invitation. “Right mess, this. Our Jackson will catch the culprit, don’t you worry! He’s a good man. Best man I know.” She talked with her hands between the brisk, practiced motions of making tea, and all I could do was stare at the woman taking over my kitchen.
That whirlwind was wrapped in a tiny package of colorful skirts and a hand-knitted cardigan. Gray curls, nearly gone white, bounced around her smooth but tan face, only the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes giving way to the test of time. She had dozens of bright, colorful bangles around her wrists that chimed merrily along with everything she did. She was alot, but she was also… warm, welcoming, motherly. A heavy knot of feeling settled in the back of my throat, and I swallowed roughly against it, hoping it would go away.
I’d followed the small woman in, but Jackson was still by the kitchen doorway. He leaned against the doorpost, arms crossed, watching her with an amused glint in his eyes. Then he tilted his head at me and winked. It eased the tight feeling in my chest, and I could take a mental step back again, feeling that same amusement he seemed to be experiencing.
“Oh!” the woman said, turning toward me, bangles jingling. “I’m Liz. Grandma Liz, if you like. Mayor of Hillcrest Hollow.”I blinked, halfway between overwhelmed and oddly comforted, and just nodded. Somewhere deep down, I had the feeling my life had just taken a sharp turn I wasn’t ready for.
The biggest question was: Had I just been accepted into the small-town fold? Was this what I’d been looking for all my life?
Chapter 10
Jackson
Liz had barely cleared the porch before Gwen turned those brown eyes on me. Still warm from her smile a moment ago, they now held a shadow. It was a flicker of unease she didn’t want me to see, but my eagle eyes spotted it anyway. She didn’t want me to leave any more than I wanted to leave, and I wanted to preen knowing that, while hating it at the same time.
The bond tugged at me, low and insistent in my chest, the way it had since the second I first laid eyes on her. My griffin half didn’t care that I had business waiting; patrol schedules, unanswered questions, a burglar still at large. It cared about keeping her close. Guarding. Nesting. It wanted me to get up on that roof and start fixing it for her, but it also wanted me to fly out and kill the bastard who had dared to break into her home.
I didn’t want to leave her here alone, even for an hour. But if I didn’t keep the rest of Hillcrest Hollow in order, someone else might try to make her leave, and that wasn’t happening. I would not stand for a single mean glance or veiled barb; enough was enough. It was time I let them all know they needed to consider Gwen one of them, because she was mine.
“I’ve got to go too,” I said, and my voice came out husky with the tangle of emotions inside my chest. Protectiveness continued to be first and foremost. Her brows lifted—just a fraction—but I caught it. Her grip on the cup Liz had shoved into her hands tightened, the tea trembling just slightly. It wasn’t the chamomile and lavender she liked so much, but something equally soft and soothing.
That tiny flinch landed like claws in my gut. I stepped toward her before I could think better of it. One step was all it took to bring her into my space, and my hand came up on its own, cupping her cheek. Warm. Soft. Her pulse kicked under my thumb; I could hear it, my griffin ears catching every quickened beat.
“You’re safe here,” I told her, letting my thumb brush the corner of her mouth. It wasn’t a promise; it was a fact. “I won’t be far.” It was impossible for me to go very far, even if I doubted that anyone would be brazen enough to bother her in broad daylight.
Her breath hitched, her eyes locking on mine. She smelled of flannel and faintly of cinnamon, but under that, there was the unique note my kind could scent in a mate. It was something like the first bite of crisp air before a storm. I leaned in, close enough that my lips barely grazed hers. Not a full kiss, just enough to leave the echo of one behind.
Her breath caught, and I forced myself to pull away. If I stayed, I’d forget everything else I needed to do. She didn’t call out my name, but it hung in the air anyway when I turned and walked out her backdoor. The cold outside was a shock, biting my cheeks and lungs. I cut through the snow toward the evergreens at the back of her property. By the time the trees closed around me, I was shifting with a flash of bright light, muted against the glow of the snow in daylight. Muscles stretching, bones reforming, wings tearing through the air with a snap that startled a flock of crows from a nearby pine.
Feathers caught the wind, and I surged upward, the ground falling away. Up here, the mate bond pulsed like a beacon I could still feel even from above the treetops. My eyes, sharper now, scanned for threats. Every roof, every alley, every snow-packedroad. My territory, but it was her territory now, too. There was no sign of the burglar, just the quiet of winter that greeted me.
By the time I touched down at my cabin, Drew was already waiting, stone-faced as always. His posture was so straight it could’ve been carved from the same granite as his gargoyle form. He wasn’t alone. Luther was there too, standing with arms folded and a smirk already in place. Ted was in his work pants and heavy boots. Mikael, from the diner, smelled faintly of bacon grease. And Liz, every inch the alpha-mayor, was already poised to take charge.
“What the hell’s going on?” Luther asked before I was even halfway to them. My shift shivered over me in a golden glow, making the vampire throw up an arm to cover his face. His glare was rather baleful as I straightened to my full height again and stomped up my crowded porch.
Liz didn’t even blink. Her bracelets chimed as she stepped forward. “Quiet.” The word rolled out of her with the kind of authority that makes wolves snap to attention without thinking. Then, she looked at me, eyes softening. “I owe you an apology, Jackson. I should’ve believed you when you said she was your soulmate.”
That stopped the conversation cold; even Luther shut his mouth as realization dawned. Damn right, she should have believed my instincts, and I should never have let her doubt my own judgment. I nodded once. “I appreciate it, Grandma Liz.” Then I turned to Drew and pierced him with an eagle-eyed stare. “I need you on outer patrols for now, while I stay close to town.”
He frowned—gargoyles never liked straying far from their perceived area to protect; for Drew, that was the town center—but after a moment, he gave me a short nod. His slate-gray eyes flicked from my face to the bell tower over the town hall, which our mayor had recently ordered repainted. The deputy had done most of the work on that, and I knew what that meant. I’d already caught him perching on a corner several times.
Luther broke the silence with a laugh, low and amused. “Bold move in my store the other day. I’ll forget the store credit for your lady. Call it repayment for my rudeness.” He had been rude, but only because, as a collective, we had decided to run off any strangers. Technically, he hadn’t done anything wrong, but I wasn’t going to forgive him until she did, anyway.
“You can tell her that yourself,” I said, locking eyes with him so he knew exactly what I meant. She was the one he’d hurt; he’d have to apologize to her. “And none of you—” I swept my gaze across the group, my voice dropping to a warning rumble, “—mention the mate business yet. She’s not ready. I need to bring her in slowly.” We had all heard horror stories of humans turning on their lover when finding out the truth, but Gwen was going to be more than my lover, so I had to have faith. Kess, Gregory’s mate, was human; she’d taken the news well, so I hoped Gwen would too.
Then I turned my eyes to the older werewolf, who so far had remained silent. Like a shadow, he stood behind his alpha’s shoulder, guarding her back. Under my gaze, Ted cleared his throat. I asked him, “Did Kai find anything while tracking that burglar?” His eyes, amber with the glow of his wolf, flickered, and I wondered how close to the surface his beast was. His sonwas “moontouched,” feral and close to shifting all the time. What about Ted?
It would, for now, remain a mystery. The older wolf jerked his chin toward the shadows. “Ask him yourself.” That’s when I saw him—Kai—lurking in the shadows like he was part of them. Too still, but I could hear the restless thump of his heartbeat. The others peeled away, knowing what was coming. I didn’t move, freezing like a predator in wait.
