Page 72 of Griffin Food
“Violet is not merely a scholarly lass fascinated by griffin lore. She is a princess and sister to a Hydornian Queen… Rafe and I both soldiered there. It’s how we met her and came to be her companions on her travels.” That first encounter with the younger Violet is overshadowed by deep unease. “Her sister is cruel—nothing like Violet. Once had a man whipped for whistling a happy tune.”
He doesn’t interrupt, but a slow, burning rage simmers through the bond like he knows this is going nowhere good.
“Queen Elisa despises omegas. Violet left before her sister discovered what she was. That crest… I don’t know why her men are here, but her reasons won’t be good. We clocked another of her sister’s men looking out of place in Acton Trussell market when we first arrived. At the time, we just wanted to get Violet out of there afore the bastard recognized her.” My pulse hammers. “I’m not letting that harpy anywhere near Violet, I will—”
“Steady, wolf.”
The command snaps, stilling the panic clawing at my chest.
“Bring it with you,” he says. “We will speak more back at the eyrie. Your trust in telling me this is acknowledged.”
I swallow hard.
I am standing on shifting sand, prophecy, griffins, direwolves, Violet, everything tangled together.
The air crackles, and a giant charcoal gray griffin fills the space where Atlas once stood.
Aldric’s beak clacks. “Fear not for your mate,” he says imperiously. “The full force of Cairnborn Pride and all our considerable might stand in her defense.”
He glances across the ruined village.
“The soldiers will stay and help the villagers,” Atlas adds through the bond. “We must return.”
A shiver crawls through me. There is more I need to tell, for Queen Elisa is embroiled with the High King of Hydornia. Who knows how far and wide this goes?
But he is right. This is not the place.
Direwolves.
Griffins.
A cruel queen.
A woman I love.
It is all tied together.
“What of Rafe?” I demand.
Aldric opens his beak and unleashes a mighty screech. Wings unfurl, beating the air with a force that nearly knocks me on my ass.
He doesn’t answer.
He takes off. His screech is a call to the pride and to me.
I shift, bones cracking and reforming into the wolf, and launch myself after them.
It is only after I'm running that I realize he shifted to human fully clothed, where I was naked, my clothing left in a heap on the floor of the training pit. A neat fucking trick. Also, when we were first taken, I recall that all the bastards were naked—by choice, it would seem.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Violet
“Can I see my mates?” I ask. It still feels strange to think of them as mates. For so long, they have been merely my travel companions… ones I coveted, and who, unbeknownst to me, coveted me too.
Darrion shakes his head.
My brows pull together. “Why? Are they too busy lugging rocks or chopping wood for you?”
