His concern made her feel a bit better, a small weight lifted from her shoulder. She didn’t have to do this.
“Let’s get it over with. That way everyone can meet me at once and then I can sleep for a few days.”
Griffin snorted, running a hand through his hair. “You and me both.”
“Do you not like your family, either?” Lilah asked, clearly stalling for time to continue gathering herself.
His face scrunched with thought. “It’s not that I don’t like them. I do love them, but I…”
Lilah could see a truth wavering in his eyes, right on the tip of his tongue. She found herself holding her breath in anticipation. Never before had she wanted to get to know someone the way she did with Griffin. He was not a smooth charmer or even a brooding beauty, really. He was a man who hid a multitude of truths behind a wall.
If she could bring the wall down, brick by brick, she was sure there would be a happy man on the other side. The one she’d seen sprawled across his bed wearing nothing more than boxers and a sly smile. The one who’d bitten her, teasing her until she nearly lost her mind. She wanted more of that man but stopped herself.
Griffin wasn’t meant for her. She could play the part of his lover but needed to remind herself that her heart needed to stay out of it. He might not think he had a mate waiting for him, but there had to be one. Some lucky woman was going to stroll into his life and make him the happiest man.
Lilah stifled a groan when she thought of her curse. With her luck, it would be Vivi who came in and stole Griffin from her. Then she would have to watch their happiness from the sidelines forever. There would be no escape.
“You look like you just ate a lemon,” Griffin noted. “Is everything okay?”
As fine as it ever would be.
Vivi wouldn’t steal this opportunity from her because the curse wouldn’t allow Vivi to be happy, either. Over and over, Lilah watched her baby sister fall head over heels for men only to have the relationships blow up in her face. The thought was a small comfort, but the knowledge of the curse sat heavy in her chest as it always did.
Lilah didn’t say it, only flashing a forced smile before she let him lead her forward. Over a small hill sat the long picnic table. Already, the others gathered around it. The dragon men were loud and crass. They snapped at one another, reaching over the table to hit each other before their mates tugged their sleeves and brought them back down into their seats.
The golden-eyed king sat at the end, leaning back in his folding chair. He pinned her with his gaze. She felt like she was being evaluated. It made her want to hide behind Griffin. As it was, she stepped closer to him. The small movement must have pleased the king because he nodded and turned back to the shifters at his table.
Kennedy leapt up from her seat, leaving Wyatt’s arms empty as she raced toward Lilah and Griffin. “I’m so glad you came! I can’t wait to try your potato salad.”
Griffin leaned in and whispered in Lilah’s ear. “Kennedy runs a food blog. Don’t get her started because she will talk about food forever.”
Kennedy made a face at Griffin. “I can hear you. My hearing is better than it was before, you know.”
Lilah watched the interaction, afraid for the human woman, but Griffin just flashed a sharp smile. This was normal for them, Lilah realized. The two bickered like siblings or old friends. A spark of jealousy flickered, but Lilah quickly extinguished it.
This wasn’t her place. These weren’t her people. She would do what she had to and then go her way when the time came. Yet, all the smiling faces and literally open arms when she approached worked to break down the barrier she was trying to erect.
Griffin’s hand was warm and gentle at the small of her back. She was given a place at the table, and everyone talked over one another to explain the game they were trying to play even though it was obvious the wind wasn’t allowing them to get past the first round. It swept up and stole the cards every few minutes and carried them over the field.
Finally, they gave up and turned to the food. Massive pans of chicken wings, ribs, and steak were piled one atop the other. Bowls of various salads, mostly starch based, dotted the table. Lilah gravitated toward the strawberry and whipped cream trifle, digging her spoon in when no one was looking.
Griffin appeared behind her, gently touching her hips as he leaned forward and licked the cream from her spoon. She scowled, but the sight of his joy stole any anger she might have felt.
“Do you think anyone would notice if we just…took the bowl for ourselves?” He joked, but Lilah was seriously considering it.
She knew it would add to her waistline, that her pants might not fit the next day because she didn’t have the blessed genetics her sister had inherited, but it would be worth it if only for the time being. She glanced around to make sure no one was looking and pulled the bowl closer.
Griffin laughed and leaned into her, his chest heating her back. His arm slid around her, entering the pocket in the front of the sweater she’d borrowed. It was a strangely intimate gesture. She knew they were acting, but all of it felt too real. She didn’t know what to do with the things she was feeling.
Before she could process them, the group fell silent. Griffin stiffened behind her. His grip on her tightened as he twisted to cover her. She craned her neck to see what bothered them and found a stricken dragon staring at them all.
At first, Lilah thought it was just another relative come to party. She knew the dragons would sometimes fly because it was easier than driving. The growls that rumbled through the party chased away any thoughts of familiarity. She watched the dragon pull its lips back in a threatening snarl and realized this would not end well.
Griffin shoved her away. “Head back to the truck. Drive back to the manor if you have to.”
She stumbled. More dragons entered the skies. They surfaced from every direction and circled the picnic like crows waiting to pick at roadkill. Her heart thundered. Fear like she’d never felt before made her quake. She couldn’t get her legs to work. She couldn’t run, couldn’t do what Griffin asked.
He didn’t leave her, though. Seeing her frozen, he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her away from the fight. She dug her fingers into his arm while her mind reeled.
This had not been in the agreement. There’d been nothing about enemy dragons, no mention of possible fights, of this kind of danger. It was the curse in action, she thought. Before she’d entered Griffin’s life, there probably hadn’t been enemy dragons. The curse had dragged them out.
She bit back tears.
This was all her fault.
Griffin released her. Startled, her eyes snapped open. The truck was just ahead, only twenty feet away. She could make it.
A dragon dropped between her and the truck. She nearly crashed into the beast, it was that close. Lilah fumbled back, trying to turn and run. Distantly, she heard Griffin’s howl. Teeth closed around her shoulder.
It felt nothing like the bite from the night before. This one burned with electric fire, zinging through every muscle from head to toe. She thought she heard a scream, but the pain filling her body was too great for her to make sense of what was going on. It wasn’t until the teeth slid out of her flesh that she realized she was the one screaming.
Lilah dropped to her knees. She curled in on herself, grateful to be alive but cursing the hex that destroyed her life. She struggled to hold on to the present, but her vision wavered. Darkness swam over her vision as she swayed. She gritted her teeth and fought, but the pain was too great.
Finally, Lilah collapsed.
Chapter Nine
Griffin wanted to tear something apart.
He started with Jasper’s fancy car. He ripped the door from the hinges and savored the sound of shattering glass as he threw it behind him. Then, he grasped the hood and ripped. The metal shredded in half like paper. It wasn’t enough. He kept destroying it until there was nothing left but bits and pieces.
It still wasn’t enough.
Jasper’s war had taken it’s first victim. Griffin’s lips curled at the thought. He spun to find his king standing in the doorway. Before Jasper could say anything, Griffin stormed away.
“She’s not dead!” Jasper called out to him.
His king was lucky he didn’t tear the house apart one piece at a time. Jasper deserved it for bringing this war down on all their heads. It was a battle none of them asked to fight. Griffin was tired of bending to the will of others, of serving. He’d made an attempt to have his own life, as strangely as it began, but he couldn’t even have that without Jasper ruining it.
Lilah was not dead.
But she would never be the same.
As much as Griffin wanted to blame Jasper, there was no ignoring the heavy weight of shame on Griffin’s shoulders. If he’d never invited her into his world, she wouldn’t have been at the picnic. If he’d let her get on with her life, she wouldn’t be suffering. Griffin would have called off the agreement, but he felt he owed her more than that.
She was a dragon now, just like him. The least he could do was teach her how to handle her new beast. The creature’s bite, in the dragon form, had cursed Lilah with her own beast. His claiming mark didn’t have the same effect. Only a bite in beastly form would change a person.
***
Lilah stared at the ceiling.
This was her curse’s fault. If she’d known this would happen, she would have stayed away from Griffin. Now, there was no way she could get away. She was one of them. It was the only way to explain the snarling voice in the back of her mind. It set her teeth on edge and made her fingers dig into the bedsheets.
Hunger gripped her. Her stomach growled ferociously. It seemed the change had taken a lot out of her, but she had no desire to feed herself. She wanted nothing to do with this new fate, this inhuman hunger. The thought of food made her frown. To eat would be to acknowledge the change, and Lilah wasn’t ready to do that. So, she curled in on herself and fought to push back the feeling pinching her stomach.
A sharp meow pierced the silence and Bumble leapt atop the bed. He paused, staring at Lilah. She thought he would turn and run once he saw the monster inside her. Bumble did no such thing. As if he’d never stopped, he continued forward and tucked himself into the crook of her arm, curling tight as if he were a kitten still.
“You insufferable fluff ball,” Lilah said through hot tears.
Griffin appeared in the doorway, chest shirtless and heaving, but silent. He had nothing to say, even if Lilah wanted to say everything to him. She blamed him for the change that had taken her. If he’d never asked her to be his fake girlfriend, if he’d waited another day to introduce her to his family, if he’d been better at protecting her…
Then this wouldn’t have happened.
But, it did and there was no going back for her. The curse had struck and altered the course of her life forever. Lilah could do nothing more than trudge forward, because there was nothing else to do.
“You look like you ran a marathon,” she mumbled at him since he wouldn’t say anything. She wanted to roll over and ignore him, but this was his house. Eventually, she would have to deal with him.
It wasn’t like she had a place she could retreat to. The eviction notice had seen to that.
“I was…exercising.”
“Do dragon shifters even need to exercise? Or, will I develop a six pack in a week?”
He laughed at her statement, but Lilah didn’t smile. Outwardly, it was as if nothing had changed. She was still the plump girl who would never compare to the beautiful mates of the other metallic dragons, let alone her own sister. Becoming a dragon shifter didn’t endow her with the natural glamour the others had been born with. It made her hate the situation all the more.
Especially when the beast inside her begged for Griffin’s attention. It filled Lilah with a desire so intense she couldn’t ignore it. The heat filled her core and pulsed in his presence. If the beast could have its way, Lilah would have spread her legs for him already.
She clenched her teeth and buried her face in the pillows. She didn’t know how to regain control of herself. The beast stole everything from her, invading even the privacy of her thoughts. There was no escape, no way she could drown out the voice that tormented her.
“I wish I could take it back,” he confessed. He was still standing in the doorway when she looked up. His hands were fisted at his sides and his eyes blazed with unchecked fury. “If I could go back, I would throw myself in the way of the attack a million times over.”
“Well, you can’t.”
He sighed.
Lilah knew she was being defeatist, coming very close to throwing a fit, but she couldn’t help herself. Her head was a mess, and the beast was making things worse, and she couldn’t escape the hunger still pinching her stomach. All she wanted was to be left alone, but that would never happen again. She would never be alone because the beast would always be inside her now.
“I’ll help you,” Griffin said. “I’ll help you figure out how to work with your dragon, how to shift, how to fly. I’ll teach you all those things. There’s no reason for you to flounder about. We can do this. Together.”
Together.
She didn’t want together. She wanted alone. She wanted freedom from everything the universe slapped her with. Over and over again, the curse tried to crush her. It stole everything from her until she had nothing and had to start again. This time, Lilah worried she wouldn’t be able to start over. The voice in her head was too much. The hunger was overwhelming.
It threatened to break her.
Perhaps that was what the curse wanted all along. If she somehow overcame this, then the curse would strike again. And again. Until she was a blabbering mess.
“I’m afraid...” she began, choking on the words. She had to swallow and start over. “I’m afraid I won’t make it through this. I’m afraid that if I do, something worse will happen.”
Griffin stepped toward the bed. The scent of his musk wafted over her, turning the pulse in her core into an unbearable throb. The beast growled in her ears, drowning out the sound of Bumble purring in her arms. He touched the edge of the bed, but didn’t join her, keeping his distance.
“This isn’t the end of the world,” he said softly. “It might feel like it, but you’re still alive. You were barely even hurt. You won’t have to go through weeks of healing, just a bit of training.”
She made a face at him. He was trying, and she appreciated the effort, but he would never understand. He wasn’t a James. There was no curse on his head.
Before she could explain, they heard the front door swing open. It clattered against the wall just as footsteps boomed through the house. The scent of the visitor drifted through the halls, greeting her before she could see the shifter. Though she couldn’t tell scents apart yet, Griffin could, and he groaned.
“You ripped apart Jasper’s Jaguar!” The visitor howled.
Lilah looked back to Griffin. He’d been dripping with sweat when he arrived, breathing like he’d run miles and miles. She’d been so caught up in her own pain that she hadn’t considered what would have caused his state. He refused to meet her eyes now. Instead, he glowered at the doorway and said, “What do you want, Ashton?”
The youngest of the metallic dragons was attempting to grow a beard. The moustache was spotty, parts of it so light that it was almost the same color as his skin. “I saw the hood! You ripped it in half like it was a paper plate.”
Griffin growled. He took a menacing step forward. Ashton was unaffected by his cousin’s aggression and kept going.
“Did he catch you? I mean, you still have all your body parts, so I’m going to assume that Jasper doesn’t know. You tore it apart with your bare hands. That’s quite the feat, but was it worth it?”
Lilah studied Griffin’s profile. All this time, she thought he’d been avoiding her because he was anno
yed with her despair. She never considered that he was working through his own emotions. It was, perhaps, the most male way to work through trauma. It also sent a message to Jasper.
Griffin blamed his cousin for all this. Why, Lilah didn’t know. She stared at Griffin as if all would reveal itself if she watched him long enough. His features didn’t reveal anything. He was a solid wall of fury aimed at Ashton, who appeared to feel nothing in the face of a man who’d dismantled a car by brute force.
Ashton passed his cousin and leapt to sit on the corner of the bed. “So, have you figured out what color your beast is yet? You’re a pretty woman, so I would think your beast would be just as pretty.”
Her cheeks warmed at the unexpected compliment. No one had ever openly called her pretty without wanting something in return. While she would have thought Ashton was looking for something, his features were far too honest. He didn’t seem to be hiding any ulterior motives, only enjoying time spent with his family.
“Well, I, ah…” Lilah didn’t know what to say.
“Ashton,” Griffin growled. “If you don’t get off my bed this instant, I will dismantle you. Starting with your dick. Do you hear me?”
Ashton perked up. “Someone is touchy today. Should I tell Kennedy to make you something to eat? Are you hangry?”
Griffin roared and reached for his cousin. Ashton bolted for the door. She thought Griffin would give chase and make his cousin pay for his annoying ways, but Griffin never left her side. He stopped at the door and turned back to her.
She offered a soft smile, still feeling a little queasy. Though, she had to admit that Ashton’s antics had lifted her mood. There was a nonchalant way in which he said everything. He made it seem like just another day. That’s all it was.
Just another day.
“Are you ready to go out? We can drive as far away from these idiots as we can get.”
Lilah nodded and let him take her hand to help her off the bed. Just when she thought the pulsing in her core would overtake her senses, her stomach let out the most offensive growl she’d ever heard.
Aurum Court Dragons: Boxset Books 1-5 Page 47