Noro paused. “Unlike wolves, where men and women can pair off, we have no other means of reproducing. In our kind, female gryphons are all alphas and therefore cannot be bred. Only a male omega can bear children.” He closed his eyes. “We are a long-lived species, but many in my pride cannot wait any longer. If they do not breed, we will die out. They are getting desperate.”
“They?” I said, quirking a brow. “That doesn’t include you?”
Noro blinked at me, his strange sideways eyelids flicking over his yellow irises. “No. Unlike the others in my pride, I have no interest in taking a mate I do not love.”
The meaning of his words hit me with cold, sinking dread.
“What’re you saying?” Ramsay called, a note of panic rising in his voice.
“I think I know damn well what he means,” Eric growled. He didn’t tighten his grip any more, but even so, I found myself struggling to breathe.
Colton shook his head in disbelief. “No, they can’t!”
“Yes. I’m afraid what you’re thinking is the truth,” Noro said in a low voice. “If the gryphons found out about Matheson, they would abduct him and use him as a breeder--for the rest of his life.”
