Blaze’s eyes flashed as he hesitated, but Noro didn’t know why. Once again his king was acting suspicious in that coy, mild way. Noro had never understood his behavior.
“Good, good,” Blaze murmured. “Maybe we can discuss your findings sometime.”
“Yes,” Noro said, although he didn’t want to.
“Well, now that you’re back, you can return to your duties. But I encourage you to see the omega,” Blaze said, like a child excited to show off his new toy. “He’s quite something. I can’t wait to breed him.”
Noro swallowed the bile rising in his throat. “I’d like to see him. Where is he?”
“He’s with Bastian. Probably giving him a tour of the keep.”
Eager to be on his way, Noro nodded. Thankfully Blaze didn’t badger him any longer. Noro followed the hallway until he reached the spiral staircase leading to the higher level tower. The sight of it made Noro realize instantly where Matheson was.
They’ve gone to see Tholan,he thought.
He bounded up the stairs, two gryphon-sized steps at a time, then stopped at the door. Soft voices came from the other side.
Matheson’s voice.
Noro’s heart clenched. He was safe, after all. At least for now.
He could live with that.
He sighed and assumed his human shape, which he’d grown used to taking in his time among the wolves, and he waited.
Chapter 7
When they said Tholan was retired, I didn’t realizehowretired.
He was old, even for a long-lived gryphon. His face was grey and his feathers lacked the sheen of the others. He lay on a soft pillow, probably for his joints, and had his beak in a book when we entered his room.
“Tholan?” Bastian called gently. “We’ve got a visitor here for you.”
Not lifting his head from the book, Tholan scoffed. “No one visits me.”
“Erm, if you’d only look…”
Tholan raised his head, glaring at first, but his expression softened when he saw me. He turned almost angrily to Bastian.
“Who is this?” he demanded.
“This is the omega wolf,” Bastian explained. “Er, King Blaze made an announcement to the pride, but I assume you weren’t there to hear it…”
“No,” Tholan snapped. “Dear old Blaze wasn’t kind enough to drop by and deliver the message.”
I frowned sympathetically at the old gryphon. He was cranky and bitter, but somehow he felt more genuine than most of the gryphons I’d met in the pride so far. Or maybe I just felt that way because he was an omega, too.
I sat on the floor. “Please. You’re the only other omega I’ve ever met. Would you please speak with me?”
Tholan’s thick feathery brows raised. “The only one? Hah. You’re young, then, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I’m twenty.”
“No omegas in your wolf packs?”
“No. Not for a hundred years. They all died out before then, and no new ones have been born since.”
He scoffed in no general direction. “I see the wolves have the same problem, then. Yet somehow Blaze managed to find the single omega wolf and drag him all the way here.”
