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GRIFFIN
As we arrived at the bonfire, I started to feel instantly anxious to see Emily. All I could think about was talking to her, spending time with her, and the chance to share another kiss.
I’d never been this worked up to see a girl. Whether it was the bond, or Emily herself, one thing was certain: Emily had me feeling things I never had before. God was it exciting, but it scared the shit out of me, too.
I was also nervous about the possibility of Morgan’s spell rubbing off.
What if this was some type of Cinderella spell, and the moment the clock hits midnight, I go back to looking like a dead man walking?The sight of my clammy appearance occurring in front of her eyes could scare Emily, making her wonder if I was actually going feral right then and there. I tried to get those thoughts out of my mind; they weren’t helping me with my anxiety.
I put my car in park and sat in the driver’s seat for a minute, waiting for my nerves to slow down and my hands to stop shaking. On our drive over, the closer we got to the warehouse, the more I could feel my bond to Emily pulling me in. Being away from her for so long made me forget how strong our bond was, and now I craved feeling her touch, her lips. Her scent was so intoxicating, I had to restrain myself from pouncing on her.
My thoughts were interrupted by a coughing noise, forcing me to look over to the passenger seat. Morgan was no longer sitting beside me but standing in front of my car as she waited for me to get out.
“Earth to Griffin! Let’s go! What are you waiting on, a full moon?” she joked.
“Neither of us would want that,” I responded as I climbed out of the driver’s seat and shut the car door.
Morgan laughed. “Well, that’s the truth. You would destroy the inside of your car if you changed inside. Blood and pieces of skin would never come out of the upholstery.”
I rolled my eyes at her joke and started walking alongside the warehouse toward the back where the bonfire was being held. Once I reached the area with the firepit, I had to wonder if I was late or early. Nobody was out here, and the hair on my arms began to stand up as my body sensed someone approaching me from behind.
What if this is an ambush? What if Cassian still had doubts that I had nothing to do with the previous attack and was buttering me up before he butchered me?
“Griffin, you made it,” a voice yelled from behind me.
I let out a sigh of relief when I turned around and saw Cassian walking through the back door of the warehouse, with his sidekick, Sam, following closely behind.
The relief washed over me when he handed me a drink and gave me a pat on the back, a smile plastered on his face. Whether his smile was sincere, I wasn’t sure but at least I knew I wasn’t being set up to be attacked. I placed my hand behind my back, trying to calm my nerves again and careful not to let Cassian or Sam see that they got a reaction out of me.
There was no way that I wasn’t going to let them see that I had felt vulnerable, even if it had only been for a split second. “Yeah, I made it.” I took a sip of my drink. “I was worried that I had missed the whole thing when I got here, and no one was outside.”
I glanced at Sam briefly, not having spoken to him since the fight. Even at Emily’s meeting earlier, we avoided each other.
Morgan walked up to us, interrupting the forced conversation. Maybe she could feel the tension in my body, but at that moment I was happy she had come with me.
“Hello, boys,” she greeted, and I watched as Sam swallowed hard. His reaction to her presence was telling, making me wonder if he was intimidated by her reputation of being gifted with spells or was attracted to her. Morgan wasn’t ugly by any means, but sometimes her tough-girl attitude could rub people the wrong way.
Cassian stepped back, and his smile started to wither a little. “Oh, hi Morgan. I didn’t realize you were going to be joining us tonight.” From his reaction, I could tell that he didn’t like Morgan or her attitude.
I tried to break the tension that was building by changing the subject. “So, where is everyone?”
“Some of the pack are working as security tonight, some of them are gathering wood and supplies, and the girls are still getting ready. You know how women are, always making us wait on them so they can make a grand entrance,” he laughed at his comment and took a sip of his drink, mirroring my movements as I took one as well.
His words seemed to have beckoned the ladies as they filed out of the warehouse mere seconds after he finished speaking. I patiently waited for Emily to appear, and she was the last one to walk out of the door.
It wasn’t abnormal for her to take my breath away when I saw her, but the way she looked tonight… damn near drowned me. Emily had never looked like this before, wearing dark colors, heavy makeup, and purple streaks through her hair. I wasn’t sure how to respond or how I felt about it, but I knew I didn’t hate it. From the look on Cassian’s face, I could tell that he didn’t hate it either.
The moment she walked out of the warehouse, all eyes had been on her new look, and she knew it. She also didn’t know how to respond to the attention, as she looked down at her feet while she walked to the fire pit and sat in a chair.
I stood there for a moment, dumbfounded that she hadn’t walked up and greeted me right away. Maybe she thought it would have been awkward for all of us with me standing here talking to Cassian, but I really wished she would have. The absence of Emily’s touch had been killing me lately, and I wouldn’t have cared if it was just a small hug, it would have given me a fix.
Cassian looked like he was at a loss as well, as both of us stared at her, giggling and talking to Ember and a few other wolves I didn’t know. Our bond urged me to walk over to her and talk to her, but I didn’t want to possibly ruin her night if that move angered Cassian, her other mate. Plus, I could feel Morgan’s eyes boring into the back of my head while I stared at Emily.
Rather than excusing myself from hanging out with Cassian and Sam, I waited until the other members of the pack got back with the first round of firewood before I approached the girls. As soon as they did, I made my way to her.
“Good evening, ladies, and welcome back to the warehouse. How was your vacation? You know, aside from the wolf,” I asked, hoping to keep the conversation light. We didn’t have a chance to exactly catch up earlier.
“It was awesome! We went away to this really neat cottage that Ember owns. It was nice to get away from everything, even if it was only for a few days.” Emily sighed, clearly thinking back on her time at the cottage and probably wishing she were back there right now.
