by Zoe Chant
Griff’s eyes flared yellow, as bright and fierce as the heart of the sun. “Try. It.”
Reiner flinched back a little. He scowled down at the ground, breaking eye contact. “What if Danny wants me as his alpha?” he muttered.
“Then I would release him to you,” Griff said coolly. “If you can win his heart and trust, I’ll not stand in your way. But until then, I am his alpha, and you will respect my decisions for him. Is that clear?”
Reiner’s eyes blazed with frustrated resentment, but he grudgingly nodded.
I’m his mother! Hayley wanted to scream at both of them. Don’t I get a say?
But she didn’t dare interrupt. Whatever was going on was clearly a shifter thing. She couldn’t risk destabilizing the fragile peace agreement that Griff seemed to have negotiated with Reiner.
She knew that Griff could tell what she was thinking from the swift, apologetic glance he shot her. “Hayley, do you want Reiner to take you and Danny back home? Or would you rather that Chase take you and Danny, and I’ll go with Reiner?”
From the look Reiner was giving Griff, if the firefighter got into a car with him, only one of them would be coming out again. “We’ll go with Reiner,” Hayley said hastily. She hesitated, eying the glowering lion shifter.
He always hated not getting his own way. I have to be the bigger person, give him a way to save face. If he is going to be a real father to Danny, I’m going to have to learn how to compromise with him.
“We don’t have to go straight away, Reiner,” she said to him, forcing herself to speak respectfully. “If you want more time with Danny, that is.”
Any hope that he’d accept this peace offering died in the withering glare he gave her. “Thank you so much for offering me a few paltry hours with the son I haven’t seen in five years,” he said sarcastically. “It’s so generous of you.”
“I’ll just go say goodbye to Danny, then Chase and I will be on our way.” Griff took Hayley’s arm—to all appearances casually, but she could feel the tension in his strong grip. “Quick word, Hayley?”
“What is it?” she asked under her breath, as he led her away from Reiner.
He shook his head at her, very slightly. He didn’t speak again until they were at the other end of the clearing, where Chase and Danny were playing tag. Danny broke off his pursuit of Chase, bouncing happily up to Griff. The firefighter ruffled the cub’s fur, then looked at Chase.
“If you want to go say hello to Reiner,” Griff said to the pegasus, very quietly, “now would be a very good time.”
Chase’s ears flicked back and forth in apparent confusion. Then he snorted, tossing his head. He trotted toward the lion shifter.
Halfway across the clearing, he shimmered, turning human. Hayley was relieved to see that he at least kept his clothes on when he transformed.
“That should keep Reiner occupied for a few minutes,” Griff said, as Chase loudly hailed a somewhat bemused-looking Reiner. “No one can pay attention to anything else when they’re being subjected to Chase in full flow.”
“What’s going on?” Hayley was starting to feel very nervous by the level of secrecy. “What don’t you want him to overhear?”
“This.” Griff went down on one knee, so he could look Danny straight in the eyes. “Danny, this is very, very important. You must not tell your da that I can’t shift.”
Danny tilted his head quizzically. He must have said something telepathically, because Griff shook his head.
“No, he doesn’t.” Glancing up at Hayley, he added, “And we’re bloody lucky that’s true. He’d have challenged me in a heartbeat, otherwise.”
Hayley went cold as she realized the implication. “A challenge is a physical fight? He’d attack you in lion form?”
Danny’s tail lashed back and forth. He let out an indignant hiss.
“Shifter law isn’t always fair,” Griff said grimly. “Danny, if your da challenges me and wins, he’d become your alpha. And then he’d be able to order you never to see me again. He doesn’t like me.”
Danny’s eyes widened in distress. He made a plaintive mewling sound, which even Hayley could tell was the lion equivalent of why?
“Because he loves you so much. He wants to have you all to himself. He doesn’t want to share, not with me, not with your-” Griff stopped, abruptly, but Hayley knew what he’d nearly said.
Not with your mother.
“Griff,” Hayley whispered, her mouth dry with fear. “Reiner’s going to find out eventually.”
“I know,” Griff said grimly. “We’re on borrowed time. Let’s hope it’s long enough.”
“To do what?” she asked him, hoping against hope that he had a plan.
Griff straightened, his expression hard as stone. “To get you a really, really good lawyer.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Griff
“What do you mean, we can’t take Reiner to court?” Unable to keep still, Griff paced across the lawyer’s office. Frustration and anger boiled under the surface of his skin. “You’re a bloody fae hound, Michael! Since when do the Wild Hunt sit on their arses and let wrongdoers go unpunished?”
Michael’s professionally neutral expression didn’t alter, but his dark eyes flashed blood red for second. “We don’t,” the shifter lawyer said coolly. “But in the eyes of the law, Reiner Ljonsson isn’t a wrongdoer. Much as I’d like to pull him down for you, I can’t. And as your lawyer, I have to warn you that if you take Reiner to court over custody of Danny now…you’re going to lose.”
“But I’m Danny’s mother,” Hayley protested. Her brown eyes were huge in her frightened face. “Children always stay with their mother, don’t they?”
Michael shook his close-shaven, elegant head. “Not shifter children. That’s why we have our own court, to handle these cases. Our laws are designed to protect our children from being kept away from their birthright. Except in very, very exceptional circumstances, the shifter parent always gets custody.”
Hayley swallowed. “But…Reiner lives in Valtyra. Surely the law can’t really force Danny and me to move to a country where we don’t even speak the language.”
“Not both of you,” Michael said grimly, and Hayley went stark white. “Just Danny. I’ve looked into Valtyran law. As a non-shifter, you can’t even enter the country without a Valtyran sponsor. And from what you tell me of Reiner, he’s not exactly likely to be willing to do that. Griff, if you’re going to punch something, use that wall over there, please.”
Griff, who had indeed just been about to smash his fist into the nearest wall, caught himself. The one the lawyer was pointing at was covered in dents and scratches, some of them alarmingly deep.
His lion eyed the marks warily, its rage abruptly dimming. Territorial marks? They are very large. Very, very large. Are we trespassing?
“What in God’s name did that?” Griff asked, staring up at a particularly impressive crater near the ceiling.
“Wooly mammoth,” the lawyer said. He shrugged one shoulder. “Very touchy people, mammoths.”
Stupid cat, Griff’s eagle taunted his lion. Frightened of marks on a wall. And you think you can protect our fledgling?
Griff pressed his fist to his forehead, pain splitting his skull like an axe as his two beasts went for each other. He clenched his teeth. I don’t have time for this!
Deliberately, he thought of Reiner. His lion checked itself in mid-spring, while his eagle aborted its plunging dive, both diverted by the mental image of their common enemy. Griff took advantage of his beasts’ distraction to grab them both by the scruffs of their necks, forcing them back into their separate areas of his mind.
“Griff?” Hayley touched his hand, hesitantly. “Are you okay?”
Griff’s headache faded, washed away by the exquisite fire sparked by the lightest brush of her skin against his. His lion and eagle leaned forward in unison, yearning for more.
All her problems…and she’s still worried about me. I’m just another burden on her
.
He took a step back, thrusting his hand into the pocket of his jacket. “I’m fine now. Michael, tell me there’s something you can do. Or the next time you see me, you’ll be prosecuting me on murder charges.”
“I’m a fae hound of the Wild Hunt, Griff.” Michael’s eyes flashed red again. “Don’t even joke about that sort of thing in front of me.”
Griff matched his stare, not backing down. “Who said I was joking?”
“Griff, you can’t,” Hayley said. She rubbed her hands over her face, emerging looking wan but determined. “Reiner’s rich, but even he hasn’t got the funds to search all of America. I’ll take Danny and disappear, if I have to.”
Michael glanced up at the ceiling, a wince crossing his handsome face. “As someone who has to uphold child welfare even before client confidentiality, I did not just hear that.” He sighed, looking back across at them both. “Look, neither of you do anything rash. I said you would lose if you took Reiner to court now. I didn’t say ever.”
Hope rose in Hayley’s face. “You mean, there’s something we can do to help win a favorable judgment?”
“Possibly.” Michael steepled his long fingers, leaning his elbows on his polished desk. “It depends how far you’re willing to go. For example, if you were to marry a shifter-”
Hayley didn’t even wait for him to finish. “Griff, will you marry me?”
YES! Griff’s lion and eagle roared as one.
“No,” he said, roughly. He had to look away from the shocked hurt in her eyes. “That won’t work. Tell her, Michael.”
“Legally, he’s not a shifter,” Michael said to Hayley, apologetically. “By definition, a shifter has to be able to shift. Otherwise any human criminal could claim to be one of us, and demand to be judged according to our laws. It doesn’t matter how you, or me, or anyone may personally view Griff…according to the law, he’s just a regular human being.”
Hayley stared at the lawyer. “Are you seriously advising me to marry any old random shifter? What do you expect me to do, get one out of a mail-order catalogue?”
Griff let out a brief, humorless bark of laughter. “No need for that. John Doe owes me a life-debt.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting down a migraine as his animals howled with rage at the merest idea of giving their mate away to someone else. “Bet he never expected me to call it in like this.”
“I am not marrying John!” Hayley said hotly. “Not even for pretend!”
Michael coughed, looking a little embarrassed. “Ah, it would have to be for real. The court would see through a fake marriage.”
“Well, there you go.” Hayley folded her arms, glaring at the lawyer. “Do you have any practical suggestions?”
Michael spread his hands. “If this comes to court, your only chance of winning custody is to demonstrate that you can provide Danny with a supportive shifter role model. If you can’t do that through your mate, the next best thing is to have multiple close shifter friends. You need to get yourself—and him—integrated into the local shifter community. As quickly as possible. Fortunately, you shouldn’t have any problems there. Griff’s very well-connected.”
Hayley bit her lip, glancing up at Griff. He could read her expression as clearly as if her thoughts were printed above her head in glowing neon letters: But that means we’ll have to spend a lot of time together…
His eagle keened a high, piercing cry of loneliness. She fears we will plummet out of the sky, leaving her alone in the storm. She does not want us at her wingtip. She knows she cannot rely on us.
“It’ll be all right,” Griff told Hayley, forcing the words past the ache in his chest. “I just have to make the initial introductions for you. You’ll be able to take it from there by yourself.”
She looked down at her hands, her hair swinging forward to shadow her face. “Okay,” she said, very quietly.
Michael cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “The longer you can keep Reiner in the dark, the better. I have to reiterate, it’s best if you can keep this out of court entirely. If he does find out, I strongly recommend that you settle with him privately, if you can. Persuade him that it’s in Danny’s best interests to stay with his mother.”
“That would require Reiner to become an actual alpha, rather than an insecure beta spoiling for a fight,” Griff said darkly. “We’ve probably got a better chance of me learning to shift.”
“What a good idea. Please do that.” Michael shuffled through papers on his desk. “It would make my life immeasurably easier. Now, about the other matter-”
Griff held up his hand, forestalling him. “Hayley, would you mind waiting in the car? I’ve got some…private business I need to discuss. This will only take a moment.”
Hurt flashed across Hayley’s face, but she left without argument. Griff waited until he’d heard the office door swing shut behind her downstairs before turning back to Michael. “You have it ready for me to sign?”
“All in order.” Michael slid the paper across the desk, along with a pen. “I can witness it now, if you like.”
“Good.” Griff flipped through the pages, quickly checking that everything was as he’d specified. “I appreciate the rush job. How much do I owe you?”
“Oh, call it a few bottles of your mother’s best Scotch. It doesn’t take long to draw up a will when there’s only one beneficiary.” Michael cocked a curious eyebrow at Griff. “Why don’t you want her to know?”
“Because she’d probably argue.” Griff scrawled an awkward, left-handed signature. “It’s easier this way.”
Michael’s gaze flicked to Griff’s crooked, frozen right hand. “That’s new,” he observed, quietly.
Griff made a noncommittal noise. He pushed the will back to Michael. “Thanks for this. It’s a weight off my mind to know that at least Hayley will be taken care of financially when something happens to me.”
Michael cast him a level look as he countersigned the document. “You mean if something happens to you.”
“No,” Griff said simply. “I don’t.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Danny
Grown-ups, Danny had decided, were just plain weird.
He couldn’t understand it. Everything was wonderful, yet Mommy, Daddy, and Mr. Griff seemed determined not to be happy. They all pretended that they were, but Danny could tell the difference.
Daddy came round nearly every day to take him out into the woods to be lions together. When Mommy hugged Danny goodbye, it was always a little too hard and long, as if she was still worried about Daddy picking him up. Danny couldn’t work out why. Daddy had gotten a booster seat for the amazing car, after all.
Danny loved being lions. Daddy was always much happier on four paws than he was when he was a person. When he was a person, he talked too much about how Mommy and Mr. Griff were doing things wrong and how much better everything would be if he was Danny’s alpha.
It made Danny feel strange and nervous when Daddy talked like that. It was better when they were just being lions. Everything was simpler as lions.
Mr. Griff was around a lot, but somehow it felt like he wasn’t. It was like whenever he played with Danny, his lion was a very long way away, keeping a wary distance. And he never, ever touched Mommy. That was wrong, Danny knew, though he wasn’t quite sure why. It was something to do with needing to have both a mommy alpha and a daddy alpha in a pride, otherwise there wouldn’t be any new little lions. Simba worried about it a lot, anyway.
Mommy worried a lot too. Danny could hear her crying sometimes, late at night, when she thought he was asleep. She didn’t know that Simba let him hear her. Sometimes he really, really wanted to climb out of his bed and into hers, to give her a big hug and tell her everything was going to be okay.
But he didn’t dare. Mommy always thought that she had to fix things all by herself. If she knew Danny’s big plan, she might ruin the whole thing.
The problem, Danny had decided after careful thought and a lot of discus
sion with Simba, was that Mommy and Daddy hadn’t properly understood their places in the pride. Mommy was supposed to be Mr. Griff’s mate—which was like being married, but more so, according to Simba—but for some reason she didn’t seem to want to be. And Daddy was supposed to be beta, helping defend the territory and raise the cubs, but for some reason he didn’t want to be.
It was all very strange. Why didn’t Mommy and Daddy want to be in Mr. Griff’s pride? Couldn’t they see that Mr. Griff was the biggest, bestest alpha ever?
Danny had tried to explain all this to Daddy, but he just got all grumbly and snarly and wouldn’t listen. It was like he was jealous of Mr. Griff, which was silly because being an alpha or not wasn’t something anyone could help. It didn’t make Mr. Griff better than Daddy, any more than Daddy having a nice car meant he was better than Mr. Griff. It just meant that they had different jobs.
Danny had learned a lot about alphas and being a shifter from Mr. Griff and his friends. Mr. Griff had amazing friends.
That was what had given Danny his idea. Mr. Griff had introduced him and Mommy to some of his friends who were mated, and that had made it clear to Danny that Mommy and Mr. Griff just weren’t doing it right. They needed someone to help them out.
Danny and Simba had a plan. They were going to make sure that Mommy and Mr. Griff became a proper alpha pair. They were going to make sure that Daddy realized that Mommy and Mr. Griff were a proper, mated alpha pair. Then everyone would be in the right place, and everyone would be happy.
And they had the perfect opportunity to carry out their plan, because soon it was going to be a very special day. A day when nobody, not even Daddy or Mommy or Mr. Griff, could possibly be sad. The very best time of year, apart from Christmas! Danny could hardly wait.
At Halloween, he was going to fix everything.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Hayley
“It’s Halloween!” Danny shrieked at the top of his lungs, the cape of his Mike the Knight costume flying behind him as he ran in excited circles around Hayley. “It’s finally Halloween! Hurry, Mommy, hurry!”