The smile came back. “Just some places in the woods. Kait felt that you are going to be safe for the time being, at least until you meet with the Svikari, so we are going hiking after training.
“Sweet! I could do with some time away from here. I am getting cabin fever!” I was finally able to focus on more than just my libido. That is, until I glanced at Travis. His eyes were on my face, the heat still there. He winked. The bastard was perfectly aware of what he was doing to me. Damn it!
We finished breakfast and cleaned up in silence. Travis kissed my cheek and said he would be right back, as he left the room. I wandered around the house a bit while I was waiting for him, looking at all the pictures of him and David when they were younger. In the earlier pictures, David looked surly, most often scowling at the camera. It wasn’t until later that he was smiling.
When Travis came back in, I asked, “I understand if you can’t tell me, but why is David and his mom in so many of these pictures? What happened to his dad?”
Travis sighed. “He left when David was ten. David started developing powers, and apparently that was too much for his father. The bastard said some awful things to David before he left. That was another reason David spent so much time with us. In addition to needing to learn to control his powers, he needed a positive male role model. Kait was that for him for a long time. I think that’s one of the reasons he is having problems accepting a romantic relationship between the four of us.”
“So, does he think of you as a brother?” I was playing with my hair as I thought about it.
“He has said he does.”
“Oh. That would be weird. The guy you think of as a father and the guy you think of as a brother both love the same woman you do. And she loves all three of them.”
Travis startled me by swooping in and picking me up with a yell. “Do you mean that?”
I was confused for a minute. “Mean what?” As I thought about what I just said, my heart about stopped. I had just about straight-up told Travis I love them. “Uhhhhh.” Travis's face dropped, and he set me on the ground as he started to step away. Fuck, now I’ve hurt him, again. I’m going to have to fess up. “Yes, Travis, I believe I do.”
He whooped, before kissing me hard. I feebly pushed against his chest for a minute, but gave up quickly. After he had kissed me to within an inch of my life, he let up. He booped me on the nose and took my hand. “Come on. If Kait gets back and we haven’t started training yet, there will be hell to pay. And it doesn’t usually take him very long to find David when he does this.”
“David has run off before?”
“Yeah, he used to do it all the time as a kid. The last time was right after he got his driver’s license. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
I did worry. A piece of me would die if he didn’t come back. We left the house, and slowly walked through the frigid air to the training grounds. When we arrived, I was still feeling a little melancholy from facing the idea that David may leave me. Leave us. I wasn’t paying attention, so when Travis tackled me to the ground, I had no idea why. Over his shoulder, I saw a massive eagle head. I strained around him, and saw a Griffin standing in the middle of the training ground, and it was looking at me like I was breakfast. I screamed as its massive, cruelly hooked beak came down towards my face.
Chapter 7
It stopped suddenly, cocked its head to the side and crooned. I was shaking and afraid to move. It cocked its head to the other side and trilled. Travis laughed as he pushed up off me. “She won’t hurt us. She is a guard animal for my father.” He reached out and stroked her head. She leaned into to his hand and trilled again. “She attacked because she doesn’t know you, but by protecting you, I’ve let her know you’re a trusted friend.”
“Why didn’t your father let you know he was sending her? And, more importantly, can I pet her, too?” I was bouncing on my toes. This was awesome! Her head was a beautiful eagle, while her body resembled a lion. Her feathers were fine, and moved like the mane of the lion, seamlessly blending the two disparate parts into an awe-inspiring animal. She still scared me, especially with the way she was staring at me with her golden eyes, but the opportunity was too amazing to pass up. She lowered her head, and Travis nodded.
“She is consenting to allow you to pet her. She understands us and is very intelligent, so be careful what you say.”
I got up and slowly walked toward her with my hand out. She seemed to be impatient with me, and head-butted my hand, pushing it toward where her ears would be and leaning in as I scratched. Her eyes closed, and it sounded like she sighed.
Travis laughed. “Sounds like you made a friend. She likes that. Let me see if I can figure out why she’s here.” He ducked around her head and opened a pack that was strapped to her neck. I had completely missed it when her neck feathers were ruffled. Travis pulled a scroll out of the bag, unrolled it and started to read.
The griffin was getting into the scratches now, moving her head with my hand. I was giggling while using two hands to vigorously digging into her feathers.
