Then he did something very strange. Keeping his head bowed, he knelt to lay the check at their feet.
What is this? Some sort of trick?
“If you think you can buy Danny-” Hayley started.
“Hayley,” Griff said, very quietly. He’d gone still as stone, his expression utterly blank. “Do you mind if I handle this?”
Hayley threw up her hands. “Be my guest. I have no idea what’s going on tonight. Is everyone drunk? Is there something in the air?”
“Quite possibly,” Griff murmured. He looked down at Reiner, who was still crouched on the floor, head bowed. “Why?”
Reiner didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Because…Danny says you are a good alpha. I, I think perhaps I do not actually know what that means.” His mouth twisted, rather ironically. “But in any event, I do know that you are certainly stronger than my brother. Stronger than any lion. No one could challenge you. No one could shame me for not being able to.”
Griff blew out his breath. “We’ll…think about it. I can’t give you more answer than that right now.”
Reiner nodded submissively. “Thank you.” To Hayley’s complete confusion, he picked up his check, pocketing it again as he rose. “That’s all I ask.”
“Okay, spill,” she finally demanded, after they’d said goodbye to Danny and gotten in the car. “What on earth was all that about?”
Griff glanced at her sidelong as he drove, his expression still rather thoughtful. “If a lion wants to join a pride, it’s traditional to lay a gift at the alpha’s feet.”
Hayley could barely believe she’d heard him right. “Reiner just asked to join your pride?”
“No, he asked to join our pride. He was laying the gift at your feet too. He was acknowledging you as the alpha female.” Griff shook his head ruefully. “Believe me, I’m as shocked as you.”
Hayley chewed her lip. “Do you think it’s a ploy? A way to infiltrate us, and get closer to Danny?”
“No.” There was absolute certainty in Griff’s tone. “From his body language, he was completely sincere. He genuinely wants to join the pride.”
“Something must have happened when he went home to Valtyra,” Hayley said slowly, thinking back on Reiner’s subdued behavior ever since he’d returned. “Maybe his old pride kicked him out.”
“No, I would have been able to tell if that had happened.” Griff drove in silence for a long moment. “Reiner used to think that being an alpha meant crushing everyone else down and ruling by fear and intimidation. He got that idea from somewhere. I think…I think he went home to his own pride, and compared it to ours. I think, perhaps, his eyes have finally been opened.”
“Mmph.” Hayley folded her arms over her chest. “Well, I’m not yet ready to start feeling sorry for Reiner, of all people. Let alone welcome him into the family with open arms.”
Griff’s mouth quirked in wry acknowledgement. “That’s more than understandable. And as alpha female, you’ve got the final say in whether he ever joins the pride.”
Hayley studied his profile. “But you’d let him join, if it was up to you?”
Griff didn’t answer for a minute, his eyes on the road. “I can’t help imagining a scared little boy with amber eyes, without anyone to teach him what it means to be a real lion. I can’t help wondering if that scared little boy is still trapped somewhere inside an angry, scared man.”
Hayley put her hand on his, on top of the gearstick. “You’d save everyone in the world if you could, wouldn’t you?” she said softly.
The laughter lines around his golden eyes creased as he glanced at her. “Comes with the job, I’m afraid. But enough about Reiner for one night. I’m not having him spoil things even when he doesn’t mean to.”
“Agreed.” Hayley noticed that they were heading for Griff’s house, rather than into the city center. “Hey, I thought you said we were going out on a date, not just back to your place.”
“Oh, we’ll go out, I promise.” There was an odd undertone in Griff’s voice, half-laughter, half…nervousness? He parked the car outside his house. “I just need to pick something up from home first.”
Hayley had assumed that meant he would run in while she waited in the car, but he came round and opened her door. She gave him a narrow-eyed look as she took his hand. “What, can’t you get this mysterious thing for yourself?”
In the darkness, his eyes glowed with a faint, warm light. “Actually, I need you to carry it for me.”
Hayley was starting to have an inkling about what was going on. It therefore wasn’t entirely a surprise when she walked through the front door and into a heady, perfumed cloud of roses and jasmine.
Fragrant blooms overflowed every surface, transforming Griff’s simple house into a glorious bower. Tiny, flickering candles provided a romantic light. Even as her heart started to pound with anticipation, Hayley couldn’t help being amused by the fact that they were battery-powered LED tealights, rather than real candles.
Trust a firefighter not to leave flames unattended…