Their group walked away from the alphas’ house and into the woods, heading for the clearing where the pack celebrated full moons and performed ceremonies.
Mira hugged her parents, and her sister and brother joined in.“I’m so glad you’re staying,” she said.
“Your alphas are very gracious people,” Layla said with a smile at Leo.
“We’ll head back to the alphas’ house to hang out,” Selene said.“Be safe.”
“Have fun,” Mira said, waving as they turned to go back to the alphas’ house.
“Ready, sweetheart?”Leo asked.
“Definitely.”She squeezed his hand and stared up at him, her eyes luminous.“I’m so glad you’re here with me.I’m so glad to be yours.”
“I’m glad to be yours, too.”
They moved into the shadows to strip and shift as her family followed suit, and in no time, Leo was shaking out his fur and letting out a happy yip, and Mira was her beautiful gryphon, white fur gleaming and dark wings outstretched.
They joined her family and he prowled along with her father, Auron, the white lion, and kept watch as the rest of her family helped her work on taking to the sky.
The first time she swooped over Leo’s head with her eagle’s cry of pure joy, he leaped into the air and let out a howl.
He’d honestly never been happier than he was at this moment, surrounded by his mate and her family.She’d found her family, but he’d found one too.
One filled with immediate acceptance and love, something he’d been missing for most of his life.
* * *
Leo’s paws hit the earth with a steady rhythm as he ran with Auron.It had taken a while before Mira was able to get into the air with her wings and stay aloft, but once she’d figured it out with help from her family, she was unstoppable.
He’d never run with a lion before, let alone had gryphons and an eagle flying overhead.
It was pretty damn cool.
Her brother and uncles flanked her, four pure white gryphons with dark wings and eagle’s heads, looking like myths come to life.He was so proud of her.
As the two of them ran beneath the gryphons, the ground suddenly trembled and a sharp hiss split the air.
Then fire exploded across the ground.Leo skidded to a halt, separated from Auron by a wall of fire.He laid his ears down and backed up, the scent of chemical accelerant making his nostrils sting.Heat slapped at him, singeing his fur.He turned to run away from the wall of fire when flames erupted in another line, boxing him in.
Mira shrieked a call for help and swooped down, her wings beating back some of the flames as she hovered over him.She tried to grab his scruff and lift him, but couldn’t get him off the ground.
Auron roared and darted to the side.Mira lifted into the air, and Leo followed Auron, racing away from the worst of the fire and following the twin lines of flames that were billowing black smoke into the night sky.
They moved along the inferno, looking for a break in the flames.Heat licked at Leo.He howled for his pack.The smoke was thick and obscured his vision, but he finally saw a wall of flames thin enough that he was able to burst through them, rolling through the brush and extinguishing his fur that had caught fire.
The pack howled an answer that they were coming to the rescue.
But Leo didn’t have a chance to catch his breath before a new danger emerged.
Males poured from the trees as security alarms screeched in warning.The males were armed with rifles and blades.
Brent Foley’s people.
Auron and Leo leaped forward.Leo barked at Mira, hoping she knew to stay out of danger.Her airborne family dove down to attack.
Leo glanced over his shoulder, aware that the flames had cut them off from the pack.Foley might not have known they would be hunting tonight, but he’d known there would be people in the territory, and cutting them off and driving them right to his armed people was pretty damn clever.
For a psychopath.
