Brushing away the hurt and loneliness, I dry off my hands and reach for the book sitting on the little tray across my bath. Yes, it’s indulgent, but having somewhere to put my glass of wine and phone is so handy. My phone buzzes with an incoming message, and I look at the screen, seeing it’s from my mother. I make the decision to ignore it. I’m sure I will receive an earful of her ire tomorrow, but parties are not my scene. I’m sure the queens won’t even notice that I am not in attendance.
Taking a large sip of wine, I open my book, ready to delve into a life other than mine. I’m certain this female main character’s life will be exponentially more interesting.
Chapter
Eight
Liam
Itug at the collar of my dress shirt and curse the fact that I had to wear a tie to this event. I love Gryffin’s parents, and I am happy for them in the wake of their retirement, but his mothers insisted we had to dress up after the parade, and I really could have done without it.
I’m hiding in a corner of the ballroom behind a large potted plant, staying away from all the fawning dignitaries and celebrities. My teammates are angry with me, and I don’t really blame them, but Gianna was very persuasive, and I’m tired of waiting for our mate. Who knows when she’s going to appear? I bet she doesn’t expect us to be monks before we even meet her.
I peer through the foliage, and I see Hunter and Brodie standing with the general, his wife, and Hunter’s twin brother and sister, Ember and Talon. They are both in their first year of college, and they are good kids. I’m pretty sure Talon wants to join the night watch like his brother, and he has been working hard to prove himself. Hunter said a bond mark has recently appeared on his body, which is a little later than usual since mostappear at seventeen, and he is two years past that. I wonder if the general will insist on his bond moving in with them, or if he will leave to live at one of the other parents’ place. They are all laughing at something, and I consider joining them, but I chicken out in the end. I’m sure Hunter has told them about what happened with Gianna, and I don’t want to feel their disappointment.
Gianna was supposed to attend this event with me, but I was firmly instructed not to bring her after her major fuck up with the human girl. I can still hear her voice screeching at me through my cell phone speaker when she called to ask me what time I was picking her up, and I had to break the news to her. I don’t think the guys have to worry about Gianna again anytime soon. Oh well, she was getting a little clingy anyway, even though I made it clear we could be nothing more than casual bed buddies. She was pushing for more and asking for group dates with the rest of my bond, even though one of them is missing.
I look around the ballroom, searching for the standout figure of Prince Gryffin, son of King Lucas and Queen Layla and my other bond mate. I’m surprised he’s not here. Surely he wouldn’t miss his parents’ retirement party. Archer was found a week ago, so why hasn’t he returned?
“What are you doing hiding back here?” I jump as Gem appears from nowhere. Damn phoenix using his powers of invisibility in his human form. The mythical shifters are able to do that, unlike us everyday shifters.
“Meh, avoiding those two.” I nod in Hunter and Brodie’s direction. “I don’t need a lecture about where I stick my dick.” He passes me a beer, and I nod my thanks. “I was looking for Gryff, and I can’t see him.”
Gem’s eyes blaze, and he growls, sounding like my own bear. “The bastard hasn’t returned from his wild goose chase.”
I sigh, and my gaze moves to my best friend’s parents who, while they put on brave faces, are also worried about their son not being at their retirement party.
“He promised his mothers he would be back,” I murmur, and Gem scoffs.
“I don’t know why he keeps looking. Our sixth, whoever he is, does not want to be found. How do we even know that what the witch told Gryffin was true? What shifter wouldn’t come forward when a bond mark shows up on their body? The witch was just trying to stir up trouble, and now Gryffin spends as much time roaming, looking for our sixth, as he does at home. Our bond is not as strong as it should be, and I bet that’s part of the reason the goddess hasn’t revealed our mate to us.” Gem is pretty easygoing most of the time, except when it comes to this very subject. He and Gryffin have been dancing around each other for years, and I think he’s jealous about how much time Gryffin spends looking for a mythical sixth member of our bond. They just need to fuck and make nice.
A commotion by the entrance to the ballroom draws our attention.
“Ah, there he is, the prodigal son deigns to make an appearance.” I point my beer in that direction. Our bond mate looks immaculate in his black tux, his black streaked silver hair brushing his shoulders. He’s smiling as he greets his parents, but I can feel the tension in our bond. He obviously wasn’t successful.
Gem dumps his empty glass on a server’s tray as they walk past us and grabs another, tossing it back. He eyes the prince like he’s a tasty morsel of meat he wants to take a bite out of. I roll my eyes. Hunter, Brodie, and I are all straight and strictly into females, but Gryffin and Gem are fluid, not leaning to either side. It’s become awkward as fuck. Gem watches him obsessively, and Gryffin seems oblivious, wrapped up in areading a witch gave him a couple of years ago telling him we wouldn’t meet our mate until the sixth member of our bond was found. He’s taken it upon himself to search for this unknown member, but I don’t believe they exist. Being marked for a bond is a privilege, and no shifter I know would not come forward and admit to being marked. If we don’t sort out our issues, our bond is going to be permanently broken.
I watch as Brodie and Hunter make their way over to our bond mate, welcoming him home with hugs and whispered conversation. I grimace. I probably haven’t helped our problems with the whole Gianna thing, but fuck, my bear is becoming unruly and aggressive. It isn’t often a born shifter goes feral, but it has happened, and I’m worried that might be my future if our mate doesn’t appear soon.
I sigh. “Come on, we better go say hi. I want to find out where he’s been all week. He should have returned as soon as he got the message that Archer was fine,” I grumble. “We needed his help with those damn ferals yesterday.”
The lust drains from Gem’s eyes and is replaced by sadness. We caught up with the feral pack and took them out. They were lost to the madness of being bitten without the king’s magic to stabilize them. Four wolves had to be put down. It’s why unsanctioned turning is outlawed. Once turned, the king’s magic can’t even fix the problem, though they have tried. We even tried to imprison them in the hope we could find a solution to the madness, but that made it worse.
When we returned home, Gem disappeared for the rest of the night, wallowing in his grief. Nothing the three of us said could get him to come out of his room. I hate not being able to comfort my bond mate, and his residual sadness leaked through the bond, making us all miserable. Thankfully it doesn’t happen too often because I’m not sure if Gem would survive.
Brodie and Hunter must be filling Gryffin in on what happened as we approach, because his gaze shifts to Gem, and I can see the compassion in his eyes. He opens his arms and engulfs our phoenix in his embrace, hugging him tightly. We watch as Gem sags against him, shuddering with emotion as Gryff whispers words we can’t hear into his ear. I know they will be the same thing as what we all tried yesterday, but it’s more effective coming from our unofficial leader.
I exchange a knowing glance with the other two as Gryffin pulls back, turning to face me while keeping one arm around our phoenix. “I hear you’ve been stirring up trouble,” he says to me, cocking an eyebrow.
I glare at the two tattletales who just shrug unrepentantly. “Look, you might like to pretend you’re a monk and ignore what is right in front of you, but my bear has needs, and seriously, you have the nerve to have a go at me. Where have you been all week? We needed you yesterday, and you were off on a wild fucking goose chase. Archer has been safe since Monday. Did you get lost on your way home?” I snap, unwilling to deal with his crap.
“I was checking out a mythical town on the border between us and the witches’ kingdom,” Gryffin tells me, and I see Gem stiffen slightly.
“You’re still trying to find this mythical sixth member. It’s bullshit, man. You should be here, working with the bond you do have, not ditching us all on a pipedream.” I can’t stop the rumble of my bear in my chest. He is angry and pacing inside me like he wants to gut Gryffin.
Before Gryffin can answer, Brodie clears his throat. “I mean, it’s not a bad idea. Maybe one just recently manifested and was marked as a part of our bond.”
“Ever the fucking peacemaker,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.
