by Zoe Chant
Which left only one explanation.
“Is this real?” she breathed.
The griffin took up half the kitchen. It looked at her with Harrison’s hazel eyes, and nodded.
“Oh, my God.” Lainie staggered, bracing herself against the table. She hadn’t even realized she was standing up. She made her way around the table, with one hand on it for balance, until she was standing in front of the griffin. In front of Harrison. In front of Harrison, the griffin.
She reached out, and stopped with her fingertips inches away from the griffin’s beak. From Harrison’s beak.
Some prehistoric part of her brain was screaming at her that this was a dangerous animal. That she should run, now, as fast as she could.
But a bigger part of her, a far bigger part, was caught by a sense of dizzying wonder. What she’d just seen—it was amazing. And the longer she looked at this griffin, the more she could see Harrison in it. The way he held his head. His stance, even on four legs, was strangely reminiscent of how Harrison would stand.
As was the watchful look in his eyes, as he waited for her to react.
“This is crazy,” she said. “This is just… oh.” She sank to her knees. The griffin dropped its head, to keep it level with hers. Just like Harrison, keeping an eye on me, she thought distractedly.
A new, horrifying realization had struck her. “This is why I had to leave Hideaway Cove, isn’t it? You’re all… like this?”
Harrison nodded.
It all made sense now. Her parents’ fights, which always stopped the moment she entered the room, as though there was more than just their marital problems in the air. Mrs. Sweets’ determination that Lainie not move to Hideaway Cove. Even the strange, curious looks she got from the other people who lived here. If they were all keeping a secret like this...
Then it’s no wonder they all wanted to get rid of me, she thought. Even my grandparents. Even my father. Because I don’t belong here.
“I always thought my parents split up because of me,” she said, her voice wavering. “Because of something I did. But it wasn’t that, was it? It was because of what I am.”
Her heart felt heavy, and her chest went so tight it was difficult to breathe. There was that knuckle-cracking noise in front of her again, the one she remembered from the house, and then Harrison’s arms were around her. She collapsed against him, letting him hold her to his chest.
“Why didn’t they tell me?” she cried out. “Oh, hell. I can’t—the estate, the money—what am I going to do?”
Harrison’s arms tightened around her, warm and secure. “I’m so sorry,” he said, his own voice catching.
Lainie took a deep breath. Somehow, being in Harrison’s arms made the knot in her heart hurt less. “So—what? Everyone in this town can turn into a griffin?”
“No. I’m the only griffin.” Harrison sighed. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I can’t keep you in the dark any longer. I won’t. We’re called shifters. Each of us has an animal side, a creature we can transform into. Like a griffin. Or a bird, or a fish…”
Lainie was listening to his explanation, eyes wide. But at that, she couldn’t help interrupting. “A fish? What if they shifted when they weren’t around water?”
Harrison smiled. “Well, we’re a coastal town, aren’t we? Anyway, shifters can control when they transform. It’s not like—oh, stories about werewolves, where the full moon forces them to transform.”
“I can’t believe I’m asking about the technicalities of how people handle turning into other animals,” Lainie grumbled. She lay her head against Harrison’s shoulder. “How do you know if you’re a shifter?”
“Well, for me, I grew up with it. My parents were both griffin shifters, too, so they taught me all about it. I could shift from when I was a baby, but it’s not like that for everyone. Which is a good thing, I guess. I can’t imagine any human parents wants to look down into the cradle and see their newborn has transformed into a baby weasel.” He paused. “Not much fun for a parent no matter what age their kid is, really. Some of my friends here are like that, shifters whose parents were human.”
“When did it first happen for them?” Lainie asked. Her mind was racing as she pieced together her memories of childhood with this new information. “When did they first find out they were shifters?”
Harrison’s hand stilled on her hair. She wondered if he guessed why she was asking. “From what I’ve learned from the people here, it’s normal for shifters who don’t grow up around their own kind to change when they’re ten or eleven. Shifter kids from shifter families tend to start shifting in the cradle, but I’ve never heard of a shifter who hasn’t found their animal before puberty.”
“That explains a lot.” Lainie swallowed down a lump in her throat.
“I thought it might,” Harrison said hesitantly. She pushed herself off his lap and looked at him. He grimaced, and explained: “Tessa Sweets came around earlier and told me what happened with your family. She says her grandmother and the rest of the town council made your grandparents send you away after it became clear you were never going to shift.”
Lainie let out a slow breath. “They forced them to? I thought…”
“That they rejected you?” Harrison dropped his head to rest on hers. “I don’t know the full story, and I can’t tell you what your grandparents were thinking. But I do know that the Sweets were behind the decision.”
“I thought they hated me,” Lainie whispered. “All this time…”
She stopped. She’d never told anyone about this, not even her closest friends.
But Harrison was different. He’d saved her life. And he’d just trusted her with his secret.
“I was eleven,” she said at last. “Mom and Dad used to take me to visit my grandparents every other weekend, when I was younger, but that last trip… something was different. I guess I was older, so I was starting to want to do more on my holidays than just hang around at the house. I wanted to explore more of the town. But they never let me go down by myself. Even just going to get ice cream was always a huge mission.” She sighed. “Which makes more sense, now. I guess they had to warn everyone down in the town that a human was coming.”
Harrison nodded. “We don’t have many human visitors. Everyone has to be careful when one does visit.”
“Like me, now?” Lainie grimaced. “I wondered why everyone seemed so on edge last night. I guess it would have been easier on you all if I just had dinner in my room at the B&B.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Harrison reached out and took her hand. He turned it over, stroking her palm with his callused thumb, and she was suddenly very aware that he wasn’t wearing so much as a strip of clothing. A tingle went up her arm.
“I—um—oh,” she mumbled. I’m glad I didn’t, too, she thought. I can’t imagine going through this all without someone on my side, at least. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Harrison smiled sadly. “Because you deserve to know.”
“I wish you weren’t the only person to think that.” She sighed. “Things would have been so much easier if I’d known years ago…well, there’s nothing I can do about it now.”
She looked across at Harrison from under lowered eyes. He was still holding her hand. His touch warmed more than just her skin; just being with him made her feel calmer, more in control of herself.
She usually coped with unhappiness by distancing herself from people, pushing them away, but with Harrison, she felt…safe. That was it. Safe to show her emotions. To be herself.
She reached out and spread her fingers across his chest, feeling his heartbeat thud under his warm skin. Harrison had revealed the town’s secret to her. He’d shown her a level of trust no one else in her life had done.
There was something she needed to explain, too.
“You’ve been amazing through all of this,” she began, her voice wavering. “Knowing why I had to leave Hideaway Cove when I was a kid…well, I’m glad I know the story beh
ind it, now. But it doesn’t solve everything.” She nodded at the kitchen table. “Can we sit up there while I explain? It’s complicated.”
Harrison picked up his towel as he stood up. Lainie smiled. He’d seemed comfortable enough being naked before—and, hell, even earlier, when they were making their way through the tunnel—but complicated required some coverage, apparently.
Lainie picked briefly at the remains of the grilled cheese, then rested her elbows on the table. “Okay,” she said, then grimaced. You’re already stalling. Stop it.
Lainie groaned. “I’d better just say it…” She rubbed her face. “When I was eighteen, my grandmother went into care. My grandfather had died a few years earlier, I think. Well, the assisted living place she went to needed someone to co-sign for the fees. She needed specialist care—because of her being a shifter, I guess.” She shrugged tightly, staring at the table. “I hadn’t seen her for six or seven years at that stage. The care place addressed the papers to my dad, but he was long gone. So I signed them under my own name.”
Harrison made a small noise of understanding. “And now that your grandmother is dead…”
“…Her debts have come home to roost with me.” Lainie frowned and rubbed her forehead. “Mom seemed to think that Dad’s family were really wealthy, but there’s no sign of it. My grandmother didn’t have anything but the house, and everything in it, which to be honest wasn’t a lot. Just old furniture and kitchen stuff. No bank accounts straining under the weight of her hidden millions.”
“Hell,” Harrison murmured. “That’s why you need to sell up.”
Lainie nodded miserably. “Mr. Sweets said they’d raised seventy-five thousand dollars to buy the house. Well, that’s not going to cover it. Subdividing the section will cost, but the returns from selling off the separate bits of land… it might work. It’s my only option at this stage.” She looked at her hands. “No, that’s a lie. My other option is to eat the debt, on top of my student loans.”
“No one could ask you to do that.” Harrison sounded certain.
“Are you sure about that? What about this afternoon? I can’t see Mrs. Sweets valuing my future over keeping Hideaway Cove safe from newcomers.”
“Dorothy Sweets isn’t in charge of what happens in this town.”
“Really? Because it sure seems like it from where I’m sitting,” Lainie snapped. She held up her hands. “Sorry. I keep yelling at you, and that’s not fair. None of this is your fault. You’ve been nothing but kind to me since I arrived.”
She tentatively looked up and met Harrison’s eyes. He smiled back.
“I couldn’t do anything else, Lainie. I can’t stand by and watch you suffer while there’s anything I could do to help. It’s… a shifter thing.”
Lainie’s stomach flipped over. “What do you mean?”
Harrison licked his lips. Does he look nervous? Lainie thought, taking in the lines between his eyebrows and at the edges of his mouth.
“I would do anything for you, Lainie. I hate to say I’m glad you came here, because being here has been so painful for you, but meeting you is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I don’t understand.” Lainie reached out for him, and he took her hand. “I only met you yesterday. I know we—well, we took things pretty fast, but…” She trailed off. Harrison was looking even more nervous now. He was so big and strong, and had so many friends here—what could possibly make him nervous?
He cleared his throat. “Every shifter has one person who they’re meant to be with. Their soulmate. Some shifters go all their lives without meeting their mate, but when you do meet them, you know immediately. That you’ve just met the one person in the world who will make your life complete.” He leaned forward. “Lainie, you’re that person to me. The moment I met you, I knew. It was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud I’d been living under my whole life. You’re my mate.”
For a moment, Lainie didn’t react. She felt as though she was floating outside of herself. Harrison’s words made sense individually, but put them together…
It was crazy. Impossible. It didn’t make any sense.
Lainie stared into Harrison’s eyes. The gold in his hazel irises flashed as she looked into them, reminding her of his griffin form.
Impossible? Men turning into mythical creatures should be impossible, but she’d just seen it happen. The world was more complicated than she ever thought possible. Who was she to say what was possible or not?
“If that’s true,” she said carefully, worried if she put words to her thoughts then everything around her would melt away like a dream. “If that’s true…”
“It is true,” Harrison insisted. “I know it’s hard to believe, and I don’t expect anything from you, just because you’re my mate. It seems to me that people have made too many decisions about your life without your input already. I just want you to know…this means I’m on your side. Whatever happens.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HARRISON
Harrison woke up, for the second day in a row, to the sun streaming through the window and onto his face. But this time he wasn’t alone.
He rolled over and sat up on his elbow, looking down at Lainie. She slept curled up on her side, wisps of blonde hair spread out across the pillow. One of her hands was resting beside her face. The other stretched out toward him.
He stroked her outstretched hand gently, not wanting to wake her. She looked so peaceful, and it made his griffin’s heart glow to see her sleeping in his bed. This room was the closest thing he had to a nest to bring his mate to…and here she was.
The storm had still been raging when they went to bed last night, both of them too exhausted from their escape from the collapsing house, and the revelations about Hideaway Cove and Lainie’s past, to do anything but hold each other.
Lainie’s breathing changed, and Harrison stopped stroking her hand, worried he had disturbed her. But she was already waking up, her eyes flickering beneath her eyelids, her fingers flexing as she stretched.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Harrison whispered as Lainie’s eyes opened.
She frowned up at him, her eyes still bleary with sleep. “You’re the sleepyhead,” she muttered grumpily. “I woke up hours ago, and you…” she broke off and yawned hugely. “…You were out like a light. I just closed my eyes again to wait for you to wake up.”
“Hmm? You just closed your eyes? How many hours ago?” Harrison leaned over Lainie, tracing her jawline with his finger. Her lips were plump and pink, and begging to be kissed. So he did.
Lainie stretched underneath him, wriggling to press her body against his through layers of blankets. He was naked. So was she. The only thing separating them was the cocoon of comforters he’d wrapped around her before they went to sleep.
A nest for our mate, his griffin purred. A nest she was now sleepily trying to fight her way out of.
Harrison kept kissing her, pretending he didn’t notice her clumsy attempts to pry her way out of the blankets. Her lips were soft, and warm, and she kissed him back as though she really had been sitting up for hours waiting for him to wake up.
“Mmf,” she murmured grumpily. “These damned blankets…”
Laughing, Harrison helped her unravel herself. He couldn’t help the hum of appreciation that escaped him as Lainie’s body emerged from the pile of blankets. Her soft, creamy skin and generous curves made his heart race. Kiss her? He wanted more than just to kiss her. He wanted all of her.
“Oh… good morning,” said Lainie with a wicked giggle, looking down between his legs. Harrison smirked. He was hard already, and Lainie’s reaction only aroused him more.
He stroked her cheek with the back of one hand, then ran it down her neck and shoulder. Lainie trembled as he caressed her breast, and he felt her nipple go hard under his palm.
Lainie moaned, and pulled the last of the blankets away. She slid against him, and every touch of her soft body sent thrills across Harrison’s skin. He kissed h
er breasts, moving his hands to her waist, her hips, her thick thighs…
Encouraged by the way Lainie was writhing against him, Harrison dipped his hand between her legs. She was already wet, and gasped as he stroked her.
“Yes…” she whispered, and he rolled on top of her. Lainie’s black eyes shone up at him, heavy-lidded with need.
“You don’t know how much it means to me, having you here,” Harrison found himself whispering back. “You mean everything to me.”
Lainie’s lips parted, red and wet. “Harrison,” she murmured. “My Harrison. My protector.”
He couldn’t hold back any longer. Not after that. Lainie opened her legs beneath him and he positioned himself at her entrance, watching her eyelashes flutter as she felt him press against her.
He thrust into her in one smooth motion. A deep moan escaped his throat at how hot and wet she was. How easily he filled her and how perfect it felt.
Lainie had closed her eyes as he entered her. Now she opened them, and took Harrison’s face between her hands. “I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you,” she admitted. Her whole face was flushed, her black eyes shining. “Is this…is this part of the mate bond? Everything feeling so right?”
Harrison rocked against her, making her arch her back with pleasure. “Yes. Because it’s right. It’s perfect. You’re perfect,” he said, increasing his speed. “My Lainie. My mate.”
Lainie’s whole body tensed beneath him and she cried out, digging her fingernails into his back as she came. Harrison rode her through her orgasm as long as he could before the sight of her pleasure became too much for him.
He groaned, burying his face in Lainie’s shoulder as he came deep inside her. He caught his breath, still nuzzling her neck, and then started to pull himself off her.
Lainie held on to him, keeping him on top of her. For a moment they lay together in silence, the only noise the sound of their intermingled breathing, and Harrison’s heartbeat thumping in his ears. His heartbeat slowed, his breath keeping pace with Lainie’s.
