Danny stopped directly above Griff, but even from the ground Hayley could tell that he was still a couple of feet out of the firefighter’s reach. She wanted to call up to ask what Griff was going to do, but didn’t dare distract them again.
“That’s good, Danny,” Griff said. Carefully, he drew up himself up to a crouching position on the branch. His bare toes gripped the bark.
He can’t possibly be considering standing up on that twig?
If he had been, he thought better of it. With a grimace, Griff dropped back down to straddle the branch again, rubbing absently at his left knee. “Danny,” he said, very calmly. “In a moment, I’m going to ask you to do one more thing. But you’re going to have to trust me.”
Danny made a small, suspicious noise, half-mew and half-growl.
“No, I’m not going to tell you yet. When I do, I need you to let your lion instincts take over, without your human mind getting in the way. I promise you, I won’t ask anything you can’t do. But for this to work, you need to trust me as your alpha. Your lion will understand what that means.”
“What are you doing?” Hayley called, unable to help herself. She couldn’t control the tremble in her voice.
Griff made a short, quelling gesture at her with one hand, never taking his eyes off Danny’s. “In return, I’ll give you this promise. I will keep you safe. I will protect you. I will never, ever let anything harm you, not while I have breath in my lungs and blood in my body. That’s what an alpha lion does for his pride, and that’s my promise to you. So. Will you trust me?”
Danny had gone absolutely motionless, not even the tip of his tail twitching. Hayley couldn’t move herself, every muscle frozen rigid by a combination of terror and Griff’s magnetic, compelling charisma.
“Good,” Griff said softly. He locked his legs around the tree branch, freeing his hands. “Then as your alpha, I tell you…jump.”
Hayley shrieked, her hands flying to her mouth—but Danny was already in mid-air. Without a second of hesitation, he leaped straight into Griff’s outstretched arms.
“There now!” Griff hugged the cub close, rubbing his cheek against the side of Danny’s muzzle in an oddly feline gesture. “Well done, laddie, well done.”
Hayley rushed forward, hands stretching futilely upward. “Danny!”
“Let’s get you down to your ma,” Griff said to Danny, tucking him under one arm. The little cub snuggled against him, leaning trustingly against Griff’s broad chest.
Hayley hopped impatiently on tiptoe as Griff descended, a little more awkwardly than he’d gone up. Danny leaped for her before Griff had even reached the ground, claws tearing the firefighter’s shirt in his desperate haste to get to her. Hayley staggered as he barreled into her, nearly knocked off-balance by his surprising weight. She clung to him, tears finally spilling down her face at the feel of his little heartbeat hammering against her chest.
“Steady now, lass.” Griff’s strong hands grabbed her shoulders, supporting her as her knees threatened to give way. “It’s all right. Everything’s fine now.”
“No, it’s not! My baby’s a lion!” Hayley’s relief gave way to a familiar sense of parental outrage at her offspring for having made her worry in the first place. She thrust Danny out at arm’s length, glaring at him sternly. “Daniel Jamie Parker, you turn back human right this instant!”
Danny scrunched up his face, his little lion nose wrinkling. He let out a plaintive, distressed squeak.
Behind her, Griff chuckled ruefully. “It’ll be easier if you aren’t shaking him like a wee rag doll, Hayley.” Gently but firmly, he pushed down on her shoulders, guiding her to sit on the grass. “Let’s all just catch our breaths for a moment, hey?”
Hayley cuddled Danny on her lap, stroking his soft, spotted fur. “He will go back to normal, won’t he?” she asked anxiously.
“Oh, aye,” Griff said, and the tightness in Hayley’s chest eased at the utter certainty in his tone. “Just needs a little prompting, that’s all.” He knelt down next to her, the slightest hint of a wince flickering across his rugged face as he bent his left knee.
“Are you okay?” Hayley asked. She’d noticed him favoring that leg earlier.
“Ah, just been a while since I climbed a tree,” Griff said lightly, though she was oddly certain that he was in a lot more pain than he was letting on. “What about you? How are you feeling?”
“Me?” Hayley said blankly. It had been so long since anyone had been concerned about how she was doing, she almost couldn’t process the question. ?
??That doesn’t matter. What-”
“Yes, it does,” Griff interrupted, with a hint of that strange, commanding tone he’d used on Danny. “You’ve had quite a shock. I have a friend who’s a paramedic. Would you like me to call him? Don’t worry, he’s a shifter too.”
“Shifter?” Hayley latched onto the strange word. “Is that what…” She gestured helplessly at both him and Danny.
“Yes, we’re called shifters. There are quite a few of us, all different kinds, even just here in Brighton. And you still haven’t answered my question.”
Hayley shook her head, trying to grasp the idea of a whole secret world of people who turned into animals. “What question?”
“How. Are. You?” Griff spaced out each word clearly, poking her shoulder lightly in emphasis.