Chapter 556 Chapter 556
Griffin’s heart pounded hard when three men stepped into the room. He stood up because Blaise did with quick movements. He watched her incline her head to the man standing in front of the other two. He had to be their prince; he was too young to be a king. He wasn’t what he’d pictured as a prince, with his shaggy brown hair and casual clothes.
“We don’t need formalities,” the prince told her.
“Dev.” Raquel went over and hugged her brother.
Griffin looked away from the tender scene. Love within a family he never understood. Come to think of it, he didn’t understand love in any other form. The one man with the prince looked so familiar, his pale eyes and white hair, he thought for a second it was Lindon and then realized he was too young to be.
“I’m not him,” he said in a low tone.
“I-I, sorry, the resemblance—”
“He’s dead.”
Griffin felt his shoulders go slack, “good.” There was nothing else to say. That man not being in the world was a good thing, plain and simple.
As the prince introduced the man to his sister, Griffin glanced at the other man that stood there in a stiff pose, his awkwardness was very clear in his expression. When his amber eyes turned to look at Griffin, his heart felt like it jumped into his throat. He never thought he’d ever see those anguish-filled eyes again. “You got away.” It came out in a whisper, and he couldn’t stop the smile that followed.
“You know each other?” Blaise stood between them, looking from one to the other waiting for an answer.
“We do.” Griffin nodded but didn’t look at her. He couldn’t believe he was standing here, a free man. “We spent a year at the camp together.” Noah was here. “Watching each other’s back and trying to stay alive.”
Noah’s blank look cleared, and he turned to the blond man. “He looked after me when,” he inhaled a deep breath, “when I got my scars.”
Griffin nodded his head quickly, “as a punishment so I could see what happens if you disobey.”
“Can I go take Aiden out? I’m a good shot.”
The prince barely glanced at the man asking, “not yet, Blair, we have to shut it all down, the head of the snake won’t stop it, that are too many nests.”
Noah moved with stiff motions across the room and stopped right in front of Griffin. “I would have died if it weren’t for you.”
Griffin tried not to see the images of his bloodied body and failed. “I never would have survived the camp without you, so we’re even.”
The rest of the room faded until it was just them standing a few feet apart watching the memories flash behind the other’s eyes. Noah’s expression softened for a split second before he grasped Griffin’s shoulder in a tight grip. “You’ve gotten bigger.”
Griffin smirked and smacked his arm, “so have you.”
“A bear huh?”
“So I’m told.” He still hadn’t accepted that fact.
“What’s that like?”
Griffin blew out a breath, “I don’t know, we haven’t figured out the communication part.”
Noah snorted, “be happy about that, they don’t shut up once you do.”
“I’m sorry, but is Noah showing actual emotion?”
Noah dropped his hand away and glanced at Blair, “it happens.”
Blair smirked, “oh, I know, but it’s usually your beastie thing, not happiness, or whatever this is.”
“Noah, you’ve helped the alliance a lot this past year.”
Griffin watched Noah stiffen again as he turned to face the prince.
The royal man motioned to Griffin, “do we need to worry?”
Noah turned back to him, and Griffin held his gaze, unable to prevent the response to the pain he could see his childhood friend’s eyes, his only friend of this lifetime, and he felt his own water under the appraisal.
“No,” Noah finally said in a voice that was much deeper than moments before. “All we ever wanted, even at our reunion when I lay bleeding out at his feet was to get away and pay back all those that had destroyed us.”
His heart was trying to beat out of his chest and then it wasn’t. Without him doing anything it started beating slowly, gently, and steadily. The fear and memories were suddenly not there, and peaceful anger filled him instead.
“Griffin.”
He felt a light touch on his arm and looked down at Blaise.
“Breathe it away.”
He frowned, not sure what she was talking about. He felt fine.
“Your bear,” she squeezed his arm and he looked down to see the muscle in it was pulsing in a strange way.
His bear. He blinked wondering why things looked so vivid and different.
“Hey.” Noah stepped over and cupped the back of his head and held it, “which ones are yours?” His friend’s voice was more like an animal growl.
Griffin sucked in a breath, “Mylar, Davison, and Aiden.” His half-sibling’s name was spat from his mouth. “Yours?” He held Noah’s look and didn’t blink, even though his eyes were no longer that of his friend but were now animal eyes.
“Roger, Al, and that little prick Mario.” Noah released his neck and held up his hand.
The thick scar in the center of his palm took Griffin back fifteen years to the two of them huddled in the darkness, whispering their pact to one another. He looked down at his hand to see the mirrored scar on his own palm. He slapped his hand into Noah’s light grip.
“Great. Now we have two that do the scary beastie.”
Noah released his hand and then turned to Blair, “jealous?”
Blair grinned. “No, maybe.” He quirked an eyebrow, “What was that?”
Noah stepped back, “something that used to get us through the tough times.”
“Like a blood pact?”
Griffin looked at his palm, “or as close as we could do with a dull fork to cut our palms.” He glanced around to see Blaise looked angry, more than her normal cold look, and Raquel was hugging Boone, tears running down her cheek.
Devin rolled his shoulders and blew out a breath. “As much as I’d like to see a Kermode bear up close, can you try not to have it happen indoors?”
Griffin looked to see his arm was normal size again. His new normal size. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Blair chuckled, “my life’s moto lately.”
Devin pulled out his phone and looked at it. “Our reinforcements will be here in three hours, and then we’re moving to another location and having some discussions.” He studied Griffin for a moment. He expected to see animosity on the other man’s face when he looked at him, but that wasn’t what he saw.
Recognition clicked in Griffin’s brain. “I’ve seen you in photos,” all movement in the room paused, “Aiden has photos of you—with Rayne.”
Devin glanced at Blair and then looked back at him. “Where?”
Griffin shook his head, “I don’t know. Somewhere outdoors, a lot of trees in them.” He cleared his throat. “I’m glad she got away from him. She would have been his pet, not his wife.”
Devin’s expression hardened to the point where he looked like a man that wanted vengeance. He spun around and looked at Blaise. “Where is that information he gave you?”
Griffin watched Blaise go over to her bag and get out the details he’d written down. He cleared his throat, “I just,” he motioned to the door, “need some air.”
Devin paused and looked him up and down, then glanced at Blair.
“I’ve got him,” Blaise handed the map and notepad to her prince.