Mated to the Griffin (Elemental Mates, #5)

by Chant, Zoe

  It took an hour of going across the map, checking out mountain ranges and zooming in to see if they could find anything reminding them of the symbols engraved into the golden disk.

  By the time Ginny called them to lunch, they’d settled on three different mountains as likely places.

  “How are we going to know for sure, though?” Chiara asked over her plate of homemade fries.

  “I’ll know when I’m close,” Jared said. “If it’s a truly powerful dragon, I’ll know.”

  Chiara frowned. “Not that I don’t trust you—but we haven’t got much time left if the chimera is right. We’ve got to get it right our first try.”

  “Maybe Gareth will have found something somewhere,” Ginny said. “He gets lost in his books and scrolls easily—but he also knows more than any other shifter.”

  “I’ve never heard of any of these places.” Jared shook his head. “I can’t believe we’ve had another elemental dragon living among us all along.”

  “Let’s hope he’s going to be on our side.”

  Chiara looked tired, Jared realized all of a sudden. They’d been working hard all morning—and then there’d been the long flight across the ocean, and the hours on his own back.

  Maybe Ginny was right. Maybe they could let the chimera worry about it for an afternoon.

  “Come on,” he said when they’d finished, holding out a hand to Chiara with an encouraging look. “There’s something I want you to see.”

  “But the maps,” Chiara protested—although she didn’t seem unhappy at all to get a break from their research.

  “Can wait for an hour.” Jared gently tugged her into his arms. “You haven’t even really seen Sky Home yet. Let’s take a walk while Gareth does some work for a change.”

  Chiara shook her head at him, although her eyes gleamed and she relaxed in his arms.

  Jared led her up from the kitchen through a different system of tunnels. They walked past storage rooms and caves that hadn’t been used for anything in ages, their steps echoing through the corridors.

  “No wonder Ginny’s glad for company,” Chiara murmured. “This place is so big and so empty.”

  “It feels a lot more alive when all the elemental dragons are here,” Jared promised.

  They took another small side tunnel that gently wound its way upward—and then, in the distance before them, there was the gleam of light.

  Real light. Golden rays of sunshine began to illuminate the tunnel here, and Chiara gasped when she realized that they were walking towards an opening in the rock of the mountain.

  When they at last reached the light, Chiara clutched his arm in excitement.

  Below them, the mountain spread, rough rock lit by the rays of the sun. They were so high up that beneath them, clouds spread like an ocean of fluffy white. They moved gently, like waves against a beach.

  Chiara made an impressed sound. “That’s incredible. It feels so peaceful up here.”

  “That’s why I like this place.” Jared pulled her closer into his arms, pressing a gentle kiss to her nape. “This is what my griffin loves. The clear mountain air, the sunlight, the wind, the flowers growing in hidden crannies—I’ve never been as happy as when I’m soaring across mountains.”

  Chiara stared out at the scenery before them for a long moment, relaxed and warm in his arms.

  At last, she turned around, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “Want to go for a flight?”

  Surprised, Jared laughed. “I’d love that!”

  “I want to see everything you love,” Chiara said. “I want to know what it’s like to soar wild and free. I want to see your hidden flowers. I want—”

  Jared couldn’t remember leaning forward, but suddenly he had his arms wrapped around her, his mouth on hers as she gasped sweetly. Love filled his heart, love so vast it seemed almost impossible to contain.

  “Let’s fly,” he murmured hoarsely when he drew back, drawing the pad of one finger down her cheek, brushing her full lips.

  Then he took a step to the side and shifted, the body of his griffin nearly filling the stony outcrop that overlooked the mountain below.

  A moment later, Chiara had clambered onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He spread his wings, feeling the wind play in his feathers—and then he took off.

  Chiara whooped in joy as they soared. He took her even higher, rising and rising in circles around the mountain while the ocean of clouds gleamed golden in the sunlight below them.

  When they reached the summit, he touched down only for a moment, his griffin opening his beak to release a proud eagle’s cry—and then he soared once more.

  The sun was shining down on them, warming both his feathers and the lion’s fur that covered half of his body. Through the fragile mate bond, he could feel Chiara’s joy and wonder.

  He released another proud cry that echoed among the rocks, then allowed the wind to carry him as he soared, his eagle’s wings stretched out as he slowly descended in a long glide.

  He didn’t return to the opening in the mountainside where they’d come from. Instead, he continued to descend, this time spiraling around the mountain in the other direction.

  Chiara’d wanted to see the secret flowers of the mountain—and there was one place he’d never shown anyone. One place he thought even the dragons of the council hadn’t found, who mostly only came here for work, and who all had homes of their own.

  Jared kept descending in an elegant arc, the cool, clear mountain air carrying him easily.

  The clouds came closer and closer. They dove straight into one outlier that rose a little higher than most of the cloud cover. Chiara laughed out loud, letting go of his neck to stretch out her arms, as if she was trying to grab hold of the cloud.

  Silently, Jared’s griffin laughed, proud that they’d been able to impress their mate.

  And then they broke through the cloud at the other side.

  Jared heard Chiara gasp in delight as he landed.

  Before them spread a tiny valley nestled into the side of the mountain, little more than a gorge. Both sides of the valley were stark rock—but in between, soil had found a home, protected from the elements by the rocks that surrounded it, and shielded from view by the clouds that lapped at the mountain here.

  The small valley was half-filled by clouds, a shifting, moving mist that covered the lower part of the valley, like ocean foam lapping at the shore.

  And the other half of the valley was filled by verdant grass, flowers in different sizes and shapes, and bushes that were covered all over with tiny, sweet-smelling flowers in all the colors of the rainbow.

  Jared took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the flowers and the clean mountain air as he watched the clouds move gently towards the lower part of the small valley.

  “This is one of the few places in the world where my griffin feels at home,” he said softly. “It’s the one thing I’ve never shared with anyone—not even with the storm dragon, even though we’re as good as brothers. But he’s got a home of his own. He’s got a family. And I know they love me like their own son—but this place was always just mine.”

  Chiara slid her arm around his back, quietly standing by his side as they watched the ocean of clouds together.

  “This place makes me understand what it must be like to be a griffin,” she murmured at last.

  When he turned towards her, there was a thoughtful look on her face.

  “It’s not just the feeling of freedom, of wind under your wings, is it? A griffin can’t be in the air all the time. He needs a home too.”

  Jared found himself nodding slowly, his griffin calm inside his heart. His griffin was at home here.

  This small valley and Mountain View were the only places that had ever made him feel at peace. And Mountain View wasn’t even really his.

  It was his home, and he loved it, and he’d had a wonderful childhood. But as an adult, it was hard to forget that he didn’t know where he came from. That Mountain View was a place
he’d always have to share with Gregory.

  This place, he’d never share with anyone, or so he’d thought.

  Until he’d met Chiara.

  Slowly, Chiara took a few steps forward, then reached out for a cluster of tiny, star-shaped flowers. She picked one of the white blossoms and raised it to her face to inhale its scent.

  Then she tucked it into her hair and turned back to him, and the smile on her face made Jared’s heart clench helplessly.

  That was what a home really was, he realized.

  Not something he owned or built or inherited.

  Something they’d experience together. Somewhere they could both feel at peace.

  She lightly ran her fingers up his arm when she returned to his side, still smiling.

  “Before I met you, I would have said this place was magical. I would have believed anyone who told me that it was fairies, or ley lines—”

  “Or aliens,” Jared said dryly, and Chiara laughed in response.

  “Or aliens. And there is magic in this world. You are magic. But that’s not what makes this place special.”

  Jared inhaled deeply, then shook his head. “No. It isn’t,” he admitted quietly.

  Chiara was silent for a long moment.

  Side by side, they watched the slow motion of the clouds, breathing in the scent of flowers. Everything was quiet. There wasn’t even the sound of a single bird. It felt a little like standing on a small island in an ocean, or in a place untouched by time.

  Then Chiara leaned her head against his shoulder, and he turned and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

  “I didn’t have a lot of time to explain earlier,” he said, “and of course, at first I thought you’d hate me forever if you found out I’m a shifter. But there’s more to us. More to loving us.”

  “Is this about the mate thing?” Chiara looked up, curious. “I’ve heard you use that word several times now. I assume it means more than just the person you love?”

  Jared nodded. “It’s a beautiful, precious thing. I’ve told you about dragons who are so strong they go insane without a mate. I don’t have that problem. But I still have a mate. It’s you, Chiara. I knew from the first day.”

  Chiara nodded slowly. “I knew, too,” she said softly. “I didn’t understand it, but there was something strange and special about you. When you look at me, I feel like I know you. Like there’s a part of me, deep inside, that knew you in another life. Like I know what you’re feeling.”

  “The mate bond,” Jared said.

  They settled down in the grass, her back against Jared’s chest, and he wrapped his arms loosely around her.

  “I could see that, too,” she murmured. “Like a ribbon of golden light.”

  Jared smiled against the back of her neck, breathing in her scent. “I hope it’s not too much of a disappointment, now that you know it’s not alien technology.”

  She laughed softly, relaxing against him. “You know, in a way, dragons and griffins are even weirder than aliens. My dad always said that there are so many planets out there in space, there’s no way we can know if there’s life out there or not. And I think lots of people feel that way, that there’s a distinct possibility. But as soon as you bring up dragons, they look at you like you’re crazy.”

  “Because dragons and griffins exist only in myths and fairy tales.” Jared chuckled. “But there’s a reason you humans have all these myths about us.”

  “Tell that to everyone who laughed at me. Or pitied me. That was even worse.” She slowly shook her head. “Do you think... Would it be possible to tell my dad...?”

  “We keep our world a secret,” Jared said, “but only from outsiders. Not from our family. If we’re mated, your dad will be family. Of course he should know.”

  “Mated,” she murmured, then turned in his arms. “You really want this? Me? I warn you, I’m very weird. Everyone says so. Even my friends grew tired of me.”

  She said it half-jokingly, as if she was used to mocking her own pain—but through the fragile bond, he could feel that there was pain.

  She hadn’t just left her old life behind to set out on an adventure to find a mystical artifact. Before that, she would have tried to talk to her friends and family about the werewolf she’d seen.

  Only to be laughed at or pitied.

  Jared surprised himself as he hugged her tightly, all of his griffin’s protective instincts roused by the thought that the people who should have supported her had decided to mock her instead.

  Never again. She’s got me now.

  “You’re not weird,” he whispered hoarsely into her hair. It smelled of the pale mountain flower still nestling in her rainbow tresses. “You’re different. But in a good way. You’re you. Chiara, the woman I love, with her gorgeous pink-green-blue hair, enough courage for an entire army, and more knowledge about alien conspiracies than the entire internet combined.”

  “That is the very definition of weird,” she said affectionately, drawing back to look at him with those warm, soft eyes that made his heart beat faster. “But if you like that about me, then I guess that makes you weird too.”

  “Perfectly matched,” he murmured, a smile tugging on his lips.

  There was one thing he was already entirely certain of: life with Chiara would never be boring.

  “There’s one thing I’d like to know before... before we take this any further,” she said a little hesitantly. “Do you... do you want kids? Sorry, I know that’s probably really inappropriate at this point, but—”

  “No,” he said, interrupting her apologies—because there was absolutely nothing she had to apologize for. “It’s a very good question, and something you have every right to ask. I’ve always wanted kids. I’ve always dreamed of a family, ever since I was a child. I want to—I really want to be a good dad.”

  He didn’t say why—but he didn’t have to. He knew she understood from the way she looked at him.

  And it was obvious, of course. He’d never known his real family. As much as he loved the family who’d cared for him and raised him, there was always that tiny part inside him that wondered what had happened to his real parents. Had they not wanted him?

  Jared wanted children. A son, a daughter, shifter or not—it didn’t matter. But he wanted to give them all the love inside him. He wanted to be a good dad. Any child of his would always know just how much he loved them.

  “I want children too.” There was relief in her smile—but still a hint of pain. Her voice was hesitant when she continued after a short pause. “My dad—we had a fight before I left. We said things—we both said things I think we now regret. He hurt me, and I miss him, and I’m angry with him, and I still love him so much.”

  She’d stopped smiling. For a short moment, she closed her eyes. Then she straightened again with a sigh.

  “It shouldn’t really matter. I know he probably didn’t mean it—and he didn’t know that I was right. Maybe not about aliens, but about the shifter world. But it still hurt. And all this time, I’ve been afraid that if I don’t manage to find proof, he’ll never believe me, and we’ll never manage to forgive each other...”

  She broke off, swallowing hard. “My grandma always said I got my stubbornness from my dad. I guess she was right. Neither of us wants to be the first one to reach out and say sorry.”

  Jared pulled her tightly into his arms once more. “I’m sorry he didn’t believe you. The next time you see him, I bet he’s going to apologize. But still. I’m sorry you went through all of this. You shouldn’t have been treated like that.”

  She made a grateful sound against his shoulder. “I shouldn’t still be upset. Not now, when that’s finally all over.”

  “Of course you’re upset. Your parents should have your back, even if no one else in the world does.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “But you’re also right. All of this is over now. And I can promise you one thing. Any child of yours will be incredibly lucky to have a mom that gorgeous, brave, and adventu
rous.”

  Still sniffling a little, Chiara pulled back. She pressed her palm against his cheek.

  “And you’re going to be the best dad I can imagine. You’re brave and strong. And you believe in people. You make me feel like I’m—like I’m so much more than I ever thought I was. Not the exhausted call center drone who can barely summon enough energy to watch TV, but a bold woman who takes risks and follows her heart.”

  “No,” he murmured, gently shaking his head. “That’s not me. That was never me. That’s all you.”

  “You see me for who I really am, then.” She shook her head in awe. “You’re the only one who ever did. That’s a bit sad, maybe, but I can’t really blame my friends.”

  “I like the real Chiara. No—I love her. More than anything in the world. You’re my mate. I’ll always see the real you.”

  He felt the truth of his words inside his heart. The mate bond had only just started to form, but the connection between them was real.

  Through the golden light that connected them, he could catch glimpses of emotion: the depth of the pain her father’s words had caused, the eternal self-doubt. But there was also the incredible strength that had made her forge ahead regardless, trying to find an answer to her questions.

  “Mate.” She said the word slowly, as if she was tasting it on her tongue. There was warmth in her eyes again, the sadness banished. “So... how does it work?”

  “There’s already a bond between us,” Jared explained. “It’s been growing slowly. Once we are truly bonded, it’ll be indestructible. But it won’t happen unless we both truly want it. You can’t force love, or trick it.”

  Chiara nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. “Do you want it, then?”

  He reached out for her, framing her face in both of his hands as he gazed into her eyes. “I do. More than anything in the world. I want to soar through the sky with you on my back. I want lazy mornings in bed. I want to be surprised by new hair colors, and fall in love all over again every single day I wake by your side.”

  “I want that too.” Her eyes were gleaming. “I want to see what it’s like to build a home with you. What adventures we’ll get up to together. And I want to see you become the best dad I can imagine.”