Page 70 of Griffin Food
Her smile turns wistful, and she tentatively reaches out her hand.
“She looks smaller now that I am close. We shall be extra careful lest we damage our tiny human mate.” Darkan lowers his head obligingly, allowing her fingers to brush the crown of his beak.
His high crooning sound of pleasure brings a gasp-giggle to her lips.
“She smells delicious.”
He edges forward.
“That is enough.” Before he can get any damn ideas about tasting—which I will assuredly be doing, not him—I force the shift back to human, manifesting my clothing in place, lest I terrify my future mate.
“Oh,” she says, staring at me differently. Her scent is a blend of arousal, wariness, and a hint of fear. “Darrion.”
“Yes.” My voice is rough.
“Can he… hear me? When he’s like that?”
“He can, although a two-way connection between you only opens when we mate.” I let the word settle. “You are not owned, omega. You are chosen. And you may choose in return.”
“Darrion, I still don’t trust you.”
Your instincts are sound. My griffin is already obsessed with you. The man wants to rut you into next week. “That is for the best, and you shouldn’t.”
The tension between us hangs taut—dangerous, intimate, unresolved.
Exactly where it should be.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lark
The scent of smoke hits me first. It is soon followed by blood. Sharp. Metallic. It brings a tightening to my gut.
My paws pound the earth as we race down a narrow forest path, trees whipping past in a blur. Behind me, warriors thunder forward on horseback. Above, shadows loom as massive wings carve through the air.
The griffins.
A scream tears through the trees.
Female.
Close.
I push harder, muscles pumping, before I break through the trees and the village comes into view.
Cottages are ablaze with smoke billowing. A cart lies overturned in the mud, and a child is cowering behind one of the wheels. Two men are dragging a woman out by the arms, her dress torn, her legs kicking.
Bastards. One of them says something crude just before I crash into him hard enough to crack ribs, my jaws locking on his shoulder. His scream is satisfying. Blood floods into my mouth, hot and bitter. I shake once, hearing a distinct crack, and then drop him.
The woman scrambles away, hurrying back under the cart, dragging the weeping child into her arms.
But his companion is upon me. Blade drawn, hands shaking as he takes in my great size.
Lips curling back, I stalk him down.
He shrinks back, a coward now that he’s not preying on an innocent villager.
I leap, teeth enclosing his wrist, crushing bone and tearing his hand clean off. He screams as I take him by the throat, feel the snap before his body drops to the floor.
