“We need to look into this properly. This could be something to use against her.”
“Awesome,” he exclaims.
“I will snoop around a little.”
He nods. “Just be careful and tell me if you need any help.”
Before I can answer, there is a knock at the door, making both of us look at each other, confused. “Hopefully not your parents.”
“No, I’d sense them,” he mutters. “I think, going by the scent, it’s…” he opens the door, “Griffin.” He pauses. “What are you doing here at such a late hour, man?”
Griffin enters the suite and closes the door behind him, his gaze going from Forest to me and then back to Forest. “Listen, Forest,” he says. “I know it’s late, but I thought it better to talk about it now when everyone else is asleep and unsuspecting.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know what you are playing,” he says. “I just know something here is off.”
“You sure it’s not in your head?” Forest says, while I decide to keep out of this. Griffin is his friend, and I had a feeling he was getting more and more suspicious, especially after he showed me around this morning.
But it’s for Forest to decide if he trusts him or not.
“Like I said, it looks like you and the luna are playing 4D chess.” His serious expression makes way for a devilish smirk. “And I kind of like it.”
Forest rubs the back of his head. “Maybe we do have something in mind,” he says tentatively.
“Something in mind?” Griffin shakes his head. “I know you, Forest, better than you think I do. Something is off. She is not your mate, am I right?”
At that, I can barely hide my surprise. How was he able to tell? As far as I am concerned, Forest really played his part well. Forest seems to be shocked, too, but to his credit, he recovers very quickly.
“You are probably wondering how I know?” Griffin says. “Your parents clearly have it out for her, as much is obvious. You would never let your mate walk around on her own in such a situation. Also, you are not acting yourself, or rather, you are. Something happened. And the both of you look…” he pauses. “It all seems too well planned to be a coincidence.”
Forest looks at me with a questioning gaze. “It’s your decision,” I say quietly. “He is your friend.”
“And what’s your opinion?”
“I don’t know. I am a bad judge in this case,” I say honestly. “I don’t trust anyone, aside from you, and even that’s hard for me to do at times.”
Forest nods thoughtfully. “Sit down,” he finally tells Griffin. “It’s a longer story. But just to set one thing straight immediately. You are wrong about one thing,” he pauses. “I might have been incredibly tense around Rose if she were my true fated mate, but I would have let her do her thing nevertheless.” He pauses once more. “And to be honest, Iama bit tense about her strolling around on her own, even now.”
“That might be true,” I say. “But you are not stopping me, and I am thankful for that.”
Forest smiles. “I couldn’t do anything without you, Rose.”
“So, are you going to fill me in?” Griffin asks.
“We were thinking about it,” Forest says. “But just so you know, if you blab, it might get us killed.”
“It would definitely be the end of us,” I agree.
Griffin looks from Forest to me and back to Forest. “This has to be a good story.”
“It is,” I mutter. “It’s tragic.”
“And enraging,” Forest adds.
I get up, deciding to fetch us something to drink while Forest begins to retell what happened only a few evenings ago. It takes us almost two hours to wrap up our stories. Griffin keeps listening, first curious, then going through various emotions. He looks shocked, and horrified, and sad, and then very angry.
“I knew your parents were full of shit,” he finally exclaims. “And fuck! Jordan is a psycho. I always had an inkling.”
