Chapter 570 Chapter 570
The first day of the drive had been pretty relaxed, Griffin took turns between napping, snacking, and staring at the scenery, which was mainly trees and some rocks, and the odd frozen lake that was visible. She’d realized then that he’d been kept in the city his entire life. From that point, she became a tour guide, telling him odd facts about the areas they drove through. Blaise wasn’t a chatty person, and from what she’d seen about him, neither was he, yet they’d had a few conversations that hadn’t been awkward or uncomfortable.
She’d taken him into a small store in a mediocre town to grab some jeans and a few sweaters. He didn’t have a clue what he was doing. Griffin had no idea what size he was in anything, even his old size. A few times Blaise wanted to go over and bite the clerk for the odd looks she was giving them. It wasn’t his fault he’d never been shopping.
It wasn’t until four in the morning that she’d needed to stop for a short nap that she realized he was scared. She hadn’t picked up on it until that point. As she settled back in her seat, she watched him sit completely board straight in the seat, the gun white-knuckled in his hand, and he was turning his head non-stop, checking all around them. For a few minutes, she debated on just getting up and continuing to drive, but he’d noticed her still awake and assured her she could sleep. She had to admire that he was willing to sit through his fears so she could rest. His fear was justified, if Aiden Tomas got his hands on him again, she doubted he’d live through it.
It was day two, and he’d been silent since his early morning watch. She glanced over at him again, he just looked out the window, offering no conversation. Her phone ringing startled them both. She tapped the screen and answered.
“Blaise, it’s Devin. Illias told me where you are, and I need you to stop and do something quick for me.”
Eyebrows raised, she looked at the phone, “okay.” Wasn’t the plan to drive with as few stops as possible?
“One of the clans near your location isn’t responding to communication, I just need you to stop in and make sure everything is all right with them.”
She sat straighter, “of course. Have Illias send me a location.” She glanced at Griffin, who was also staring at the phone, “when was the last contact with them?”
“A few weeks ago, but we just want to make sure all is well.”
Blaise nodded and then tapped her phone when a message notification popped up. It was from Illias. “I have the location.”
“Be careful, don’t take any chances. Your main priority is to get Griffin to Ed’s.”
“I will. I’ll call after we get there.”
“Okay.” He hung up.
Griffin looked over at her, “is that unusual?”
“Not really, but with the discovery of missing clans, we check out any that haven’t been in touch or we can’t reach.”
“You’ll know if something isn’t right?”
Checking the message from Illias again, she glanced around them; they weren’t that far at all. “I’m sure everything is fine; they’re probably busy digging out after the storm.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
Her cat stirred, sensing he was nervous. “It will be fine; this is what I do.” She offered him a reassuring smile, “I’m not normally a babysitter.”
He looked at her for a few seconds and then smiled back. It never reached his eyes though.
~
Blaise walked out of the Alpha’s house and pulled out her phone. She opened Illias’ message and typed; power is down from the storm. They should have it back up by tonight. All is good here. Tucking it back in her pocket, she started walking toward her truck. Griffin had done as he was told and stayed inside it. She noticed that when he agreed, he pulled the gun out of the side of the door where it had ridden for the entire drive.
A group of four young males stood in front of the truck, watching her walk back toward it. She knew the look well, the one that said, ‘what is wrong with your face?’ Tucking her hands into her jacket pockets, she kept her head down so she wouldn’t rest them on her gun and be tempted to shoot them in the face. After this long, you would think she would be able to ignore it, but it still took her back to when she was a kid and the teasing and ignorance of others in her own clan.
She heard the hushed talk and snickers and kept going. Griffin got out on the other side as she opened the door to get in the truck.
“Can I help you with something?” He growled and walked to the front of the truck.
Closing the door, she rushed over, “let it go, Griffin.” She stopped in front of him and looked up, noticing how close his bear was. “It’s fine.”
He looked down at her; his expression was pure anger. “It’s not fine. They’re being disrespectful.”
She patted his chest. “I’m used to it.” Turning, she looked at the others, making sure her chin was high, and they could see the darkened side of her face, “you guys better move along.” They looked from her and then back to Griffin, before stepping back and turning in unison to go down the path she’d just come up. Blowing out a breath, she turned back around and looked up at him. “I’m used to it.”
His brows furrowed as he searched her face, “you shouldn’t have to get used to something like that. There’s nothing wrong with how you look, or your cat—who you should let out to smack them in the head a few times.”
She couldn’t help but grin but sobered quickly. Besides Emersyn when they were kids, she couldn’t remember anyone sticking up for her. “Hey,” she grabbed the side of his face and reached up and kissed him. “Thank you.” Her cat moved inside her, jolting her back to reality. What was going on with her? She’d just kissed the man. It may have been a fleeting smack of lips, but since when did she go around kissing people? She stepped back and motioned to the truck, “we should get back on the road.”
Griffin stood there and looked at her instead of getting in the truck; with his long arm span, he cupped the back of her neck and brought her closer in one fast move she hadn’t seen coming. He kissed her mouth firmly and then looked down at her. “No need to thank me.” Releasing her, he turned and got back in the truck.
What just happened? Shaking her head, she scowled at the ground, stomped over, and opened the door. Yanking her phone out of her pocket, she climbed in and put it in the holder. Without looking in his direction, she started the truck and put it in reverse. She needed to eat up as many miles as she could and try to get them to Ed’s by tonight. It would be pushing it, but she needed out of this small space with his scent swallowing her. She licked her lips and then regrated it. She could taste him on her lips.
“Was that wrong?”
She stared out the windshield. Not talking about it would have been better. “It was unnecessary.” Was she talking about the kiss or the whole scene? She wasn’t sure. Right now, she just needed him to drop it and leave it alone.
“I disagree.”
She could feel him watching her and wasn’t going to look at him right now. Her cat wanted her to gawk at him too. “We’re just going to have to disagree then.” She pulled out onto the main road and then reached over and turned up the radio, ending any chance of the conversation continuing.