I jumped about a foot in the air. Goddamn werewolves. Nathaniel smiled at me, then shifted his attention to the griffin, who bowed his head. Nathaniel nodded back.
“You’ll let him stay here?”
“Loyalty should be rewarded.”
I frowned at that. I didn’t want the griffin to be used just because he was honorable. Nathaniel shook his head at me.
“My pack is nothing like the pack he left,” he said. The griffin must have shared his history with the Alpha. “All of us are only as strong as our weakest member, but we don’t excise our weakness, we work to make it stronger.”
I let out a shaky breath and turned to the griffin. “Do you have a name?”
Nothing. I chewed on my lower lip. I didn’t love calling him ‘the griffin.’ “Would you like one?”
Curiosity sparked in those kind eyes. I smiled.
“Hmm, how about… Bob,” I teased. The griffin blinked.
“No? Frank?”
He stared solemnly at me. Nathaniel tutted and sat on the porch next to me.
“How about Virtus?” he asked. “It has several meanings. Among them are valor, courage, and excellence.”
The griffin’s eyes shone. Then he let out a low growl.
I grinned. “I think he likes it.”
Virtus put his head on his paws and sighed, closing his eyes. Everything else might be falling apart, but at least I’d done something right.
“Thank you,” I said to Nathaniel. “I know the demons signed an alliance with you, but I still appreciate everything your people have done.”
He smiled. “I would be a fool to miss the opportunity to ally with the future demon queen.” His smile widened at whatever he saw on my face. “I have no intention of being on the wrong side of history on this, even disregarding your sister.”
I went still. “What about my sister?”
The tension in his body told me he would take his words back if he could, but he was an Alpha, so he continued.
“Evelyn is my mate.”
I gaped at him. My sister, who loathed all authority, who’d been spelled her whole life, and was only now discovering who she really was…
“You’re wrong.”
Nathaniel’s laugh was bitter. “If only.”
His eyes met mine, and for the first time in a while, he Alpha-stared me. Holding his gaze took everything I had.
“No one will tell her,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You think I’m going to lie to my sister?”
“Werewolves are more than just our beasts. That one truth allowed me to tame even the most feral of my people when the portals opened. Tell me, Danica, how do you think your sister will react to learn that, even in this, her choices would be removed? That she would be destined to be mine?”
Bile crawled up my throat.
“She would run,” I said through numb lips. “And she’d never return.” I took a deep breath and let it out. Next to me, Virtus nudged my shoulder as if in silent support. I petted him. “Explain how this… mate business works.”
The corner of Nathaniel’s mouth lifted, but his eyes remained serious. “Werewolves are a unique pairing of man and wolf. When the portals first opened, the wolf suddenly awoke in those who had been shut off from their wolves their entire lives. Some went insane. Most had no experience negotiating with their wolves and were forced to… watch as they rampaged through this realm.”
