“Ours,” they said at the same time, ignoring my beast type completely.
“You’re not mad at what I am?”
They shook their heads.
Griffith said, “Why? Why would we be mad?” He seemed legit perplexed, but they 100 percent had seen my animal. They brought me here in that form. It was hardly hidden.
“Because Fate sent you…me.” Wasn’t it obvious?
“You?” Falkan tilted his head slightly.
“Me.” I pointed to myself. “A maned wolf is hardly what you’d call fierce or adorable, or—”
“He’s magnificent,” Falkan asserted. “We hadn’t been lying when we said that yesterday. He is absolutely magnificent. And you’re ours.”
“Your beast senses it, too.” Griffith reached like he was going to take my hand and pulled his back at the last second. “That’s why you shifted.”
He was right, but that was too much for me to handle. It was already so intense without that added to it.
“This is a lot. Everything happened so fast. I-I need some time.” I closed my eyes, remembering that I’d completely blown off my work meeting. That needed to be handled, but first, I needed to get out of here and someplace where I could process this all. “Time for you to adjust your expectations?”
“Adjust them?” Griffith asked.
“Yeah. I am what I am.”
“You exceed all our expectations. Every. Last. One.” Falkan set his hand on mine. “You’re perfect for us, just as you are. If you weren’t, the goddess wouldn’t have sent you our way. And trust me when I say you exceedmyexpectations.”
“Mine, too.” Griffith’s hand was now on Falkan’s, which was on mine.
Could they mean it? Did they really not look at me as less than? There was nothing to indicate they wanted to get rid of me. But how could that be, when everyone else had seen who I was and laughed?
“We respect that you need time,” Griffith said. “Do you want us to take you home?”
“I don’t have one here. I’m in San Diego for work, but I have a hotel room. Except my wallet and room keys are at Animals.” That was going to be a pain in the ass. Not having a key, ID, or clothing was a quick way to a conversation with the authorities.
“We got your things for you. Not the car but everything else.” Griffith got up, crossed the room, and came back with a small pile. “Your wallet and keys are fine, but your clothes…they’re not wearable. We can give you clothes.”
I ended up with Griffith’s joggers and Falkan’s shirt, and both still scented like them. They didn’t really fit, but they didn’t need to. As long as I had something on my body, the humans of this city wouldn’t freak out.
They gave me some privacy, and I put the clothes on, loving their scent around me, cleaned up a little bit, and we left to go back to the hotel.
There were so many things I wanted to know, but first, I had to wrap my head around all that had happened. I had not one but two hot alphas who saw my beast and still claimed I was theirs. Either this was some sick joke, or my life was about to change for the better.
Please let it be the second.
Once inside, I called Zevo to face my work consequences. Shockingly, he didn’t seem to care at all. If anything, it sounded like he already knew. Weird.
Chapter Eight
Griffith
We had to take him to get his car, even though we wanted to keep him. But, as Falkan pointed out, he wasn’t ours until he said he was, and we’d have to be patient and let him work it out in his own time. No way we were going to let him go without making sure he had a meal, but with his current demeanor, we had to be careful, not make him feel trapped by us.
Even at a table in a restaurant. To-go might be better, but it had to be special. So, as soon as we left my driveway, him in the front seat and Falkan in the back, I asked, “Does anyone like coffee?” Talk about a conversation starter.
“I do.” Falkan leaned as far forward as the seat belt allowed. “Is there anywhere good around here we can grab a cup?”
“Yes. In fact, it’s also a bakery, and when I visited my grandparents as a kid, I used to walk down there every afternoon for a giant kitchen-sink cookie.”
