“I’m sorry, Rose, but I can’t just let Reiner come in here and start chatting,” Griff growled. “You don’t understand. I can’t let him find out what I really am.”
“You’re trying to wear too many masks. It might do you good for some of them to slip.” Rose gave him a level look. “I mean it, Griff. My house, my rules. You do not have the right to decide who enters here.”
“You will r
espect Ms. Swanmay,” said Ash, making Hayley jump. She hadn’t even noticed him standing quietly behind Griff. For such a powerful shifter, the Phoenix had a remarkable ability to make himself blend into the background.
Frustrated growls rumbled in both Griff and Dai’s chests, but they didn’t try to argue with their Commander. “Let’s see if we can peacefully persuade Reiner to go somewhere else, then,” Griff said, not sounding optimistic. “Otherwise we’re going to have to somehow ride herd on him all night.”
“Or just get Chase to annoy him so much that he throws the first punch,” Dai murmured. He briefly touched Virginia’s bare arm, love and worry clear even in just that small gesture. “Stay here. Just in case.”
With a quick, apologetic wave of farewell to Virginia and Connie, Hayley followed the two men out of the pub. Gooseflesh pimpled on her arms as she stepped out into the night. It felt much colder after the warmth inside.
Reiner was looking both bewildered and besieged, with Danny clinging onto one of his hands and Chase onto his other sleeve. The trio were encircled by the pack of shifter kids, all apparently hanging onto Chase’s every word as he rattled nonsense at top speed.
“So then the actress says to the Bishop-” Chase broke off as Griff and Dai strode up. He let go of Reiner with a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank God. I really wasn’t sure how I was going to finish that in a way suitable for young, eavesdropping ears. Come on kids, who wants to go get something to drink?”
Griff set his feet, facing the lion shifter head on as Chase herded the kids safely into the pub. Dai took up position at his shoulder, green eyes narrowed behind his helmet.
“What are you doing here, Reiner?” Griff said bluntly. His fists were bunched, muscles tense and ready despite Rose’s warning. “I’m not having you spoil Danny’s Halloween. If you’re looking to start trouble, do it some other time.”
Reiner’s hand tightened on Danny’s. “I’m here because my son wants me here.”
“I told Daddy to come,” Danny piped up cheerfully. Hayley was relieved that he didn’t seem to have picked up on the hostile undercurrents. “I want him to share Halloween too.”
Hayley’s heart broke at his innocence, even as she wanted to throttle him for setting this up without running it past her first. “That’s very sweet of you, honey, but, um…I don’t think Daddy likes dancing and dressing up and all that kind of thing.”
Reiner bristled. “If my son wants me to dance, then I will dance,” he announced grimly. He looked like he’d have much preferred it if Danny had asked him to eat a nice heaping plate of worms.
“It’s okay, Daddy. I know you don’t like dancing.” Danny beamed up at Reiner. “I don’t, either. But Mommy does, so I thought maybe she and Mr. Griff could do that while you and me could go be lions instead. Because you said that your Daddy always took you out hunting at Halloween, so I want to do that with you too. Would that be okay, Mr. Griff?”
Griff blinked at him, looking as taken aback by this speech as Hayley was. “Ah…I think you’d better ask your ma.”
“Um…” Hayley remembered something that Griff had mentioned about traditional shifter Halloween customs. “Exactly what kind of hunting, Reiner?”
Reiner’s shoulders stiffened in offense. “I’m not going to take him hunting humans, if that’s what you’re asking. Deer or rabbits will have to do.” His gaze slid down her costume. “Real rabbits.”
Hayley wasn’t desperately thrilled by the prospect of her gentle boy sinking his teeth into some poor little bunny, but there was no denying that Danny was. He hopped up and down with eagerness, his face alight with anticipation.
“Please, Mommy?” he begged. “Pleeeeeease? I promise I’ll eat it all up, every last bit.”
Is that supposed to help? Shuddering with revulsion, Hayley shot a pleading look at Griff. He shrugged apologetically.
“We are lions, at heart,” he murmured into her ear. “Let him go. It will mean a lot to both of them, and I think we can trust Reiner this much, at least. In any case, I’ll know through the pride-bond if Danny gets upset for any reason, and Chase can always take us straight to them.”
Hayley sighed, giving in. “All right,” she said reluctantly. “You can go.”
“Yaaaaay!” Danny flung his arms around her. “You’re the best mommy ever!”
Hayley hugged him back, wishing that she never had to let him go. “Just make sure you stay away from roads and, and people and everything, okay?”
Reiner put a possessive hand on Danny’s shoulder. “I will make sure my son stays safe.”
“See that you do,” growled Griff, with a flex of alpha power in his voice. Reiner gave him a resentful glare, but jerked his chin in a nod.
“Mommy,” Danny said thoughtfully, letting go of her and taking Reiner’s hand instead. “We’re probably going to be up real late. Maybe I should sleep over at Daddy’s. Is that okay?”
Absolutely not! Hayley wanted to yell. But Reiner was staring down at Danny with such a thunderstruck look, like a man who’d just been given a present he hadn’t even known he’d wanted, that the words died on her tongue. “Well…but you haven’t got pajamas or a toothbrush or anything.”