Hayley’s shoulders tensed fractionally, betraying an old, deep pain. “No. My mom died when I was at college, and I never knew my dad.” She attempted a smile. “You have no idea how envious I am of your family. Seven sisters! I would have killed to have grown up in a big pack like that.”
Griff turned his glass absently, watching the amber liquid catch the light. “Ah, well, it wasn’t quite such a horde as you’re imagining. We were never all in the same place at once. Technically they’re my half-sisters, you see.”
“Oh.” Griff could see Hayley’s mind working as she put two and two together. “Oh. So that’s why you’re the only one who’s both a lion and an eagle.”
“Aye. I’ve got the same da as my lion sisters, and the same ma as my eagle sisters.” Griff grimaced a little. “I’m not ashamed of it or anything, but…I wasn’t sure how much you’d want me to tell Danny. It’s a bit complicated to explain to a wee bairn, especially one who doesn’t know about shifter customs.”
He read a hint of sudden wariness in the way she eyed him. “Um, is it usual for shifters to be…” She appeared to be groping for a word. “That is, to have kids by lots of different partners?”
Griff choked on his whisky. “Good God! No!” That was one misapprehension he really didn’t want her to have. “Quite the opposite, in fact.”
Hayley looked rather relieved, but also confused. “What do you mean?”
Oh, we’re flying into dangerous winds now…
Griff hesitated, wondering whether it was safest to just deflect her line of questioning. But clan loyalty meant he was reluctant to leave her with an erroneous bad impression of his kinfolk. Or, indeed, shifters in general.
“My ma and da met in their late twenties,” he said slowly, picking his words with care. “They both knew that they weren’t the love of each other’s lives. But they got on well enough, and they both wanted the same sorts of things, especially when it came to kids. So they settled.”
Hayley looked down at her hands. “A lot of people do.”
“Aye. Shifters are just like regular people in that respect. So they got married, and had me, and were happy enough.” Griff tapped his chest. “This was before it became obvious there was something wrong with me, ye ken. For a few years, everything was fine.”
Hayley’s round, pretty face was filled with compassion. “And then?”
“Then my da did meet the love of his life,” Griff said, simply. “So he left.”
Hayley’s mouth dropped open. “Just like that? Abandoning his wife?” She was suddenly as fierce as a lioness, outrage flooding her features. “Abandoning his child?”
“No, no, it wasnae like that! He didnae shirk his duty to me or my ma.” He took a deep breath, getting his emotions back under control. “Not like Reiner and you and poor wee Danny. My da would have stayed with my ma, if she hadn’t released him. But she knew that he would have been miserable. So she let him go. Though…she was sad, for a while. Very sad.”
Griff tossed back the rest of his whisky. He welcomed its searing fire, a distraction from the painful memories of that black time. Hayley said nothing, watching him.
“Anyway, a year or two later my ma met her mate,” Griff said thickly, when he could speak again. “So it all worked out for the best in the end. For everyone.”
“Except you,” Hayley said, very softly.
“Ah, well, I did all right. Got a passel of sisters and two loving homes out of it. Not many are so lucky.” Griff was painfully aware that his light-hearted tone was not fooling Hayley in the slightest.
She frowned, putting her empty glass down on the table. “So your mother let your father go just because of shifter custom? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend you, but that sounds…kind of awful. I get that your dad fell in love elsewhere, but I’m afraid I don’t think much of a married guy who lets his eye wander like that.”
“He didn’t,” Griff said, struggling to keep his voice even. It took all of his control to pretend that all of this was just of academic interest. “That’s where we are different from regular humans. Every shifter has one true mate. Many are never lucky enough to meet them. But those who do…well, that’s it. My da didn’t want to leave my ma. But he had to. He’d met his mate, and from that moment on, there was no one else he could want, no one else he could be with, ever again.”
“But how did he know?” Hayley pressed.
I shouldn’t be doing this.
Griff dropped his gaze, afraid that she would see the truth in his face. “He just did,” he said roughly. “From the moment he saw his mate, he knew. From her scent, from her glance, from the fire of her barest touch. He just knew.”
Even without looking at her, he could tell that Hayley had gone very still. He kept his eyes fixed on his empty glass. Her hand rested on the table a little way from his own.
Slowly, tentatively, Hayley moved her hand, until the very tip of her little finger just brushed his knuckle. So quietly that even his shifter senses could barely catch her words, she breathed, “Like this?”
He closed his eyes, fighting to control the surge of his blood at even that tiny contact. He should move away, he should draw back, he should stop this before it went too far…
Without his own volition, his hand turned, capturing her small soft fingers under his broad calloused ones. “Aye,” he said, still with his eyes closed. “Just like that.”
Yes! roared his lion, and yes! called his eagle. His two animals were in such accord, it almost sounded like they spoke with one voice. They beat against the bars of his mind, fighting to break the iron chains of his control. YES!