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She groaned but followed. I smiled at her hand in mine. Griffin glanced at us as we walked into the lounge, his gaze shifted to our hands but didn’t react. I couldn’t help but feel a slight twinge of smugness as his gaze lingered for a moment longer than it should have. She’s mine.
We sat on the sofa facing Griffin. He closed his laptop and looked at me expectantly. “This feels like an intervention, but I can’t imagine for what.”
“No intervention. I need to speak to you two. I trust you’ll pass the info on to Morgan.” I felt nervous as Emily turned to face me. The absence of her hand in mine made me want to grab it back and never let go. “Speaking of, where is she?”
Griffin shrugged. “The bar has kept her busy, and she’s prepping for another session with Emily tonight.”
I forgot about that. I had to get back to my pack after our chat, which meant Griffin would have to get her there safely. “Okay, well, we’ve been looking for leads for too long. They just come up empty. I have an idea but it's dangerous…”
“Oh, exciting. Do tell.” Griffin grinned and leaned closer. Emily rolled her eyes.
“Em, you said that Victor sent Gray to deliver the offer to Samara, right?” I asked, she nodded slowly. “That seems to be our best way of finding her. I’ll go to the pack, stay hidden, and follow Gray when he leaves again.”
“You don’t know what he looks like,” Griffin said, his humor gone.
“You can describe him to me. Grace wanted you to escort me there, help me stay hidden, and find Gray.” Griffin paled slightly at my words. He clearly didn’t want to get close to the pack. “But, if they catch you, your punishment will be much worse than mine. They can’t kill an alpha of another pack.”
“No, no way! Neither of you are going,” Emily exclaimed. “It’s too dangerous!”
I turned to her. “We don’t have any other options, Em. We’ve made no progr—”
“I’ll go,” Griffin interjected quietly. “I know the land, I know Gray. Besides, I know what they do. I know bleeding heart over here will want to save the day at the first sign of someone being tortured.” He nodded in my direction.
“If you get caught—” Emily started.
“Then I’ve fixed the whole ‘two mates’ issue. One less thing to worry about,” Griffin said matter-of-factly.
Emily straightened. “Morgan will never let you go.”
Maybe it was my imagination or the jealousy that kept bubbling up, or a combination of both, but Emily seemed to be a little too upset by this plan. Especially since it would help us get a step ahead.
Griffin shrugged again. “Good thing I don’t need her permission. Look, Cassian, you have to stay. You have a whole pack to look after, and you, Princess, you have to get a handle on your magic with Morgan.”
Emily wanted to argue, but Griffin held up a hand. “I’ve kept myself hidden from them for a long time, I’ll be fine.”
My phone beeped—a message from Grace asking me to help with evening training. It was the last session for the youngsters before they could step into either scout roles or potential fighter roles. Training wasn’t all that necessary in recent years, but now I was relieved that most of the packs kept it going. We might need those skills soon if we don’t find Samara.
“If there is any sign of danger, you get back here immediately. Send updates when you can. We’re trusting you. All of us.” I looked at him pointedly, then kissed Emily on the forehead, ignoring her glare, and made my way to the door. “I need to get back to my pack. Will you take Emily to Morgan?”
I didn’t wait for a response before closing the door. My palms were clammy, I hadn’t expected Griffin to offer himself up, especially after what he shared about his pack. Maybe I was wrong back then? I hated Emily being bonded to him too, but because of it, I felt like I could trust him with this. We had to work together, and as much as I didn’t like it, having two wolves in a battle was better than one, considering our team consisted of one witch who didn’t know how to use her powers and another who I doubted would help if Griffin wasn’t around. We wouldn’t last more than five minutes without Griffin.
* * *
Griffin
“Don’t look at me like that, Princess. I thought you’d be relieved to have me out of your hair,” I said and her glare intensified.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re the one who doesn’t like me. This plan is stupid. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Would you have felt better if Cassian went?” I asked. I cracked my knuckles to stop my hands from shaking.
Emily stared at me for a moment. “No. I don’t want either of you to go. We could have come up with a better plan, but you two decided to do your own thing.”
She started pacing behind the sofa. The worry in her eyes made something in my chest squeeze.
“We’ve been trying to find a plan for days now. We’re wasting time. What if Samara attacks tomorrow or the next day? If this helps us find her and put an end to the curse, then I’ll be happy to go.”
I stared at my hands. I meant every word. I wanted the curse to end and not just for my sake but for Cassian and his pack too. If the curse ended, we could expose my pack to stop the torture and killing. And maybe Cassian would see the truth of what happened so long ago and realize it wasn’t me who abandoned him.
