Mated to the Griffin (Elemental Mates, #5)

by Chant, Zoe

  “Fuck me,” Chiara’s dad murmured, staring open-mouthed at the storm dragon. “It’s real. It’s really real!”

  “It’s all real,” Chiara said, her own eyes lingering on the house where Naomi was waiting for her mate.

  Jared moved to her side, and as he wrapped his arm around her, she leaned her head against his shoulder.

  Soon, there would be another dragon in Mountain View.

  And maybe, this time next year, it would be joined by a tiny griffin...

  Epilogue: Chiara

  They weren’t quite finished with redecorating the house yet, but they’d decided that the second floor could wait for a few more months.

  After all, there were more important things in life than picking new colors for the guest rooms.

  Like turning the generously sized but terribly boring living room from something that looked like a sterile hotel lobby into a warm, inviting place. It had been one of the first rooms they’d tackled, and they’d already spent countless evenings in it, catching up with Jared’s parents and Chiara’s dad.

  And today—today, their remodeling of the house would have its reward.

  Pleased, Chiara looked around. Everything looked perfect—but not like it had come straight out of a magazine selling overpriced high-rise apartments to people who’d never even use them.

  They’d gone with a warm color scheme to go with the lovely hardwood floor. Instead of pristine furniture that was all glass and steel and chrome, they’d gone with wood painted white, and large, comfy sofas in a light shade of cream.

  Paired with the huge windows, the room was filled by light now—and not just because it seemed that wherever they went, the light followed them.

  The new centerpiece was a golden statue of a griffin, perching on a marble plinth. It had been a gift from Jared’s parents.

  “It looks lovely here,” Marianne said warmly as she entered the room. “So much better than letting it all waste away in our mountain.”

  “And you’ve got a right to it,” her mate added. “These were never our treasures. We guarded the Light, as so many guardians before us did. Everything we guardians accumulated belongs to the Light—and its new champions.”

  “We’ve talked about it, Dad,” Jared said, amused. “Those books and scrolls are way too valuable. They’d have to be stored correctly—and we’re planning on a house filled with kids and crayons and tiny fingerprints.”

  “We’ll guard it for you.” His dad still looked reluctant. “But you know that you only have to ask—”

  “You’ve already given me so much.” Jared raised his arm, showing off a golden bracelet with embossed griffins, their eyes made from tiny sapphires. He ran a finger along the gold, smiling faintly. “This means a lot more to me than all the gold in the world.”

  There was a matching bracelet clasping Chiara’s own wrist. Hers was smaller, more ornamental and feminine. Apparently it had been worn by a mated pair of guardians a thousand years ago.

  Even now, Chiara couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

  It made her feel a connection to the long line of griffin shifters who’d kept the Light safe for such a long time. Maybe she wasn’t a shifter—but just like those griffins so long ago, she and her mate were bonded and had fought the shadow of darkness.

  And there was more. Jared’s parents had gifted them a large box full of treasure: jewelry made from gold and silver, strings of beautiful pearls, sapphires, rubies, diamonds, and emeralds.

  It was overwhelming, and sometimes, Chiara still felt like a child playing pretend when she opened it to pick and choose what to wear.

  She might not be a princess—but she was the Lady of Light now. With or without gold.

  Jared met her eyes. He was smiling faintly, and Chiara knew that he was thinking about the same thing.

  That they didn’t need gold or emeralds or diamonds to be happy—but that there was something that felt right in claiming the guardians’ legacy.

  This was who they were. The fight they fought had been fought by many, many generations before them.

  They were a part of that now. And they were proud of this legacy.

  A moment later, there was the sound of laughter coming from the garden. She recognized the voice. That was her dad—and he seemed to be in a good mood.

  Amused, she made her way to the glass door that led outside. It seemed that a few of their guests had been early, and now she could see why.

  Naomi stood in the garden, looking radiant as she showed off the newest addition to their shifter town. Both her dad and the sheriff were currently bent over the tiny infant, making admiring sounds while Gregory proudly watched.

  A new generation of dragons would grow up in Mountain View. No wonder the town was excited. Everyone here loved Gregory and Naomi—and Chiara could understand why.

  For all that Gregory was a powerful dragon shifter, he truly cared about this town and the people in it.

  And Naomi had been delighted to have another human woman settle down here. Not once had anyone made her feel out of place—not even when Chiara told them about her past job, back when she was writing about the great supernatural conspiracy she was trying to expose.

  Of course, she was no longer doing that, even though now she knew that werewolves were real. But to her great surprise, she’d found that she quite liked their werewolf sheriff. And she definitely wasn’t going to expose Sheriff Banner to the human world.

  No, she had better things to do now. After she’d teamed up with Liana, the ocean dragon’s mate, to hack into her alien conspiracy friends’ database, she and Liana had kept talking.

  Liana was running a very successful game that allowed her players to breed colorful dragons. And she’d been intrigued by all of Chiara’s tales about the supernatural things she’d once believed were out there.

  In the end, it was Liana who’d suggested a new project to her. A game for older teenagers, where players would have to puzzle their way through mysteries, finding hints and secret treasure maps and dealing with aliens, vampires, and werewolves who were all following their own secret goals.

  And who better to come up with those adventures and mysteries than Chiara, who knew more about alien conspiracies than most other people?

  “Chiara!” her dad called out when he could finally tear himself away from the adorable infant and found her still in the door. “Hurry up! There’s someone here who wants to meet you.”

  “Hey,” she murmured tenderly when she’d finally made her way over, bending down over the baby. “Look at how tiny you are.”

  “Not for very long,” Naomi said, looking exhausted but happy. “I’m determined to enjoy the wingless state. Who knows what trouble he’ll get up to once he starts to shift.”

  “You won’t be trouble, will you?” Fascinated, Chiara touched the tiny, curled fist with her finger. “Look at you. I bet you’ll be the sweetest little dragonet to ever fly around this town.”

  “And I bet he’s going to be a lot of trouble,” the sheriff said, his usually gruff tone replaced by one of awe. “And we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Chiara found herself smiling at Naomi when she drew back.

  Both she and Gregory still looked overwhelmed with joy. Chiara found herself the tiniest bit jealous—would that be her and Jared next year?

  Yes, she told herself firmly. And there was no need for jealousy anymore. Not now, when she was mated to the best man she’d ever known.

  Anyway, with the remodeling still underway, they could use a few last quiet months. And when they were done, there’d be lots of space for a whole bunch of little griffin shifters to run, play, and get dirty—and to invite their dragon shifter friends for sleepovers.

  “There they are!” a voice called out from behind here. A moment later, laughter and excited voices filled their garden when more and more of their guests arrived.

  Chiara soon found her arms filled with flowers and presents.

  All around her, people wer
e milling, admiring the garden and the changes they’d made. Not that the gorgeous garden had needed much. Mostly, their changes consisted of buying benches and comfortable chairs and a canopy swing, so that they could actually spend long, warm summer evenings out here with their friends.

  And then a shadow raced across the grass.

  A few seconds later, a second shadow followed, then a third.

  When Chiara looked up, she saw three magnificent dragons getting ready to land. The dragons of earth, water, and fire had arrived at last, each of them carrying their own mate on their back.

  Jared laughed when he saw them circle around the house.

  “Make some space, people!” he called out with a grin.

  A moment later, one by one, their friends landed in the northern part of their garden, immediately shifting to make space for the next dragon shifter.

  Chiara couldn’t bite back a smile at the sight.

  This was one of the things she’d never had to worry about before when thinking about which apartment to move into. Fortunately, their garden had space enough for an entire flight of dragons—or griffins. Except for the days when they’d filled the garden with guests and tables laden with food, of course.

  “There she is!” Liana said in delight, thrusting a box of donuts at her. “Congratulations again!”

  Chiara found herself laughing as she peeked into the box. Most of the donuts were green—and decorated with tiny chocolate alien faces. A few of them were orange and looked like flying saucers.

  There were some things she’d probably never live down. But for some reason, she really didn’t mind.

  “Congratulations,” Autumn and Damon, the earth dragon, added when they came up to her as well, hugging her.

  “I’m so glad Jared finally found someone,” Autumn said. She smiled. “It really was about time.”

  “Flying from coast to coast to do the chimera’s work is no way to spend your life,” her mate agreed. “And what good is duty if you forget the most important things in life?”

  “Ha,” Jared said as he came closer. “As if you weren’t exactly the same before you met Autumn.”

  Amused, Chiara watched as the gathered group of shifters started to discuss which of them had been the worst.

  Finally, when there was a break in the argument, she declared, “You’re all wrong, you know.”

  That was enough to make them all fall silent. Puzzled, they stared at her.

  “There’s no one here who was worse than Jared,” Damon stated after a moment. “Not even I, and you know how much I love my work.”

  “Oh, there is.” Chiara grinned. “And you all know it too. It’s the chimera. Has he even left his cave in the last century?”

  “That’s not fair. He doesn’t count,” Timothy said.

  Damon nodded in agreement. “No one’s ever going to get him out of that cave. And it’s too late for him. He missed his chance to find his mate. He’ll never have anything but work for distraction.”

  “He’s got audiobooks now,” Liana argued. “Ginny told me that he’s listening to two or three books a week now.”

  “And that after he told us for years that he doesn’t want any of the scary human technology near him.” Timothy chuckled. “Still, I’m glad that he’s enjoying life as much as he can.”

  The tiny infant in Naomi’s arms made a small sound, and a moment later, all thoughts of the chimera were forgotten. Instead, Chiara watched in amusement how the group of powerful dragon shifters gathered around Naomi in delight, oohing and aahing over the newborn dragon shifter.

  “Have you finally decided on a name?” Jared asked.

  Naomi nodded.

  “Well?” Gregory demanded eagerly.

  “It’s your party,” Naomi said, giving Chiara an apologetic look. “I don’t want to—”

  “I don’t mind. Really.” Chiara’s heart filled with warmth when she saw Naomi relax.

  It was true—technically, this was some sort of mixed housewarming and wedding party. But she already had her mate by her side, she had her dad back with her, and her mate had found his own parents.

  There’d been so many blessings bestowed upon them that she’d be blissfully happy even without this party.

  She didn’t need to be the center of attention for every single minute today. What she’d wanted was exactly this: all of their friends here with them. A day to finally relax, show off what they’d done to the house, and celebrate the fact that they were all here together. That they were all family.

  And that included the latest addition.

  “Jayden Drago,” Naomi said earnestly and pressed a kiss to his tiny head. Then she looked up, beaming. “What do you think?”

  “That’s lovely,” Marianne said. She was looking down at Jayden with a mix of wistfulness and excitement.

  Chiara knew what she was thinking: that she’d missed way too much of her own baby’s life.

  But also that there’d be time enough to spoil her grandkids in a million ways to make up for all that lost time.

  “It’s a beautiful name,” Chiara agreed.

  Jared’s arm came around her waist. His lips brushed her ear, making her smile, and then he nudged her a little.

  Together, they made their way over to a group of flowering bushes.

  “Everything okay?” she asked him when he drew her into his arms there, half-hidden behind a thicket of white, fragrant flowers.

  Light fell down on them through the leaves of the tree that grew above, painting spots of green and gold onto his face. Light was shining from his eyes as well—as if his body couldn’t quite contain the passion and the fierce courage of the heart within.

  “I just wanted a moment.” He reached into his shirt, and then he pulled the amulet free which he’d worn for as long as she knew him. Even now, it was shining with light.

  It was the only thing he’d had of his parents. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how much it must mean to him.

  “I want you to have it,” he said earnestly. “I’m not a dragon. We griffins don’t care about piles of gold—not more than the next person, at least. But this—it would mean a lot to me to know that you’re wearing this.”

  She thought about arguing with him. She couldn’t even imagine him without the amulet he’d worn for so long. But through the mate bond, she could feel his determination and his love.

  He really meant it.

  “You’re my family now,” he said. “Just as much as they are.”

  “We’re family.” She couldn’t hold back a smile as she looked over to where her dad and Jared’s parents stood, united by their gushing over the tiny dragonet in Naomi’s arms—and their desire for a grandkid of their own.

  They really were a family now. All of them.

  She reached back to pull her hair out of the way. The pastel colors shone in the light that fell down on them, and she marveled once more at the person she’d become.

  She’d thought she’d become someone new. Someone completely different.

  But that wasn’t right. She was still herself, the same person she’d always been. Just happier. Just braver. No longer afraid of what was out there.

  When Jared fastened the amulet around her neck, the gold suddenly lit up.

  She drew in a deep breath. When she closed her fingers around it, she could feel the gentle thrum of energy against her skin. Light was shining out from between her fingers.

  All around her, light filled the garden with sudden brilliance.

  When she looked over to where their parents and guests had gathered, she saw that they’d stopped admiring tiny, sleepy Jayden to look around in awe.

  And then Chiara saw where the light was coming from.

  Golden lights were dancing through the garden. They swayed, soaring here and there, like fireflies that had appeared during the bright day.

  Curiously, Chiara tightened her fingers around the amulet a little. In response, the dancing flecks of light dimmed.

  When she
looked up, Jared was watching her, curious and surprised.

  “I didn’t know it would do that,” he said. “Do you mind?”

  “Do I mind?” She smiled at him, feeling the warmth of the light in her hand increase. “I love it!”

  And I love you, she whispered through the mate bond.

  Then she released the amulet and spread her fingers.

  All through the garden, the lights suddenly gained in intensity, dancing on invisible currents of air as their guests broke out into delighted cheers.

  A moment later, the tiny lights began to settle on branches, leaves and flowers, until it looked like the garden was covered all over in fairy lights.

  She laughed, feeling joy stream through her as the golden light of the mate bond mixed with the brilliance of the light that was contained within Jared’s soul.

  I love you, he silently whispered back.

  And then his arms wrapped around her and he lifted her, twirling her around.

  All around them, the lights came dancing and whirling, as if the element of light itself wanted to join in their joy.

  Chiara could see the lights clinging to Jared’s hair like tiny butterflies. And when she leaned in to kiss him at last, they took flight once more, fluttering all around them in a trail of golden light while inside her heart, the mate bond blazed brightly.

  They’d truly come home at last.

  ***

  A note from Zoe Chant

  Thank you for buying my book! I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like to be emailed when I release the final book in this series, Mated to the Chimera, please click here to be added to my mailing list. You can also visit my webpage, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter. You are also invited to join my VIP Readers Group on Facebook!

  Please consider reviewing Mated to the Griffin, even if you only write a line or two. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative.

  And keep paging through to read a special sneak preview of The Christmas Dragon’s Mate.

  ***