Trevor
It had been a rough night, so I’d quietly slipped out of bed and gone down the hall to shower, hoping I wouldn’t wake Melina. Since she had a meeting at eleven, I figured I’d wake her in an hour to make sure she ate before she left. I hadn’t heard back about the bodyguard, or even mentioned it to Melina yet, and I couldn’t reschedule my own meeting this morning, which meant Melina would be alone. She’d already made me promise not to ask Demetrius or Ralph to go with her, but I was seriously tempted.
Julia had spent the night since it had been so late when we’d gotten back. I’d just finished dressing when I heard Julia yelling at someone near the front of the house. Cursing under my breath, I hurried toward the foyer to see what was going on.
I found my sister standing toe to toe with a mountain of a man. Julia wasn’t short, standing at five-foot-ten, but this guy had about eight inches on her. His blond hair was pulled back and secured with a leather tie, and he had a neatly trimmed beard.
“Listen up, girlie,” the giant began, and I saw my sister’s fists clench in reaction to his tone. “I’m not in the mood to play twenty questions.”
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded, drawing everyone’s attention. The giant turned to face me, and I met his almost yellow eyes. When I noticed the way his sleeve hung empty on the left side, my gaze dropped, recognizing who this was. I decided I’d have to kick Dylan’s ass later for not warning me he was sending a half-crazed werewolf to help protect my witch. Gryphon was one of Allie’s pet projects, and to the best of my knowledge, he hadn’t left the trailer he lived in for years.
“I’m not going to lose my shit if you look me in the eyes,” Gryphon stated, and I heard the amusement in the werewolf’s voice. When I looked up, Gryph’s eyes were no longer yellow; they were a pale shade of green, meaning he’d gotten his temper under control.
“Something tells me Allie’s puny little warlock didn’t tell you I was coming,” Gryph remarked.
“Must have slipped his mind,” I responded dryly.
Julia wasn’t looking any less pissed than she had when I’d walked in, which made me wonder what Gryph had said to set her off. Julia tended to be the most even-tempered of my sisters.
“Julia, this is Gryphon,” I began the introductions. “Gryph, this is my sister, Julia.”
“Can you explain to me why Goliath was pounding on your door? Or perhaps, you could help him remove his head from his ass so he can explain it to me. Apparently, the question was too difficult to answer when he arrived.”
Gryph’s eyes flashed with anger when he spun on Julia. “Someone needs to teach you some manners, little girl,” he growled.
“What would you know about manners?” she demanded, getting in Gryph’s face again, or the middle of his chest more accurately. He’d have to bend over for her to get in his face.
“Enough!” I shouted, which had them both glaring at me. I figured it was better if they were pissed at me rather than arguing with each other. I needed to fix Melina breakfast before a conference call, so I didn’t have time for this. “Gryph is going to help guard Melina.”
“Did you plan to ask me what I think about that?” Melina asked, stepping into the foyer.
“I’d planned to discuss it with you after you woke up,” I assured her, and turned, expecting to see an angry scowl. Instead, Melina gave me a sweet smile.
“That was a very thoughtful idea,” she began.
“Are you about to tell me you don’t need a bodyguard?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Actually, I was going to look into it today. I’m still annoyed that you did it behind my back, but I’d likely do the same thing in your position.”
Damn, I loved this witch!
“I talked to Dylan last night and asked if he could help me find someone, and he sent Gryph,” I explained.
“How you doin’, Miss Melina?” Gryph asked with a grin that made him look somewhat less formidable.
“I’ve been better,” she admitted. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“To tell the truth, I’m surprised myself,” he admitted. “When Allie said she needed me to do some bodyguard work, I told her to contact someone with the pack since they do that sort of thing. Who the hell wants a damaged werewolf to look after their safety?”
Julia snorted. “Someone break out the violin for Gryphon’s tragic tale.”
My gaze snapped to my sister, unable to believe she was being that rude. Even more shocking was that she didn’t look the least bit apologetic.
Gryph laughed, which was not what I’d expected. While this was the first time I’d met the notorious werewolf, I knew quite a bit about him. He’d been his pack’s top enforcer until about five years ago when there’d been a brutal pack war. From what I’d heard, that wasn’t as uncommon as most would think. In this case, Gryph had lost his arm in the battle. Had they managed to save the arm, it could have been reattached. Werewolves needed little in the way of medical intervention to reattach a limb. Unfortunately for Gryph, the enemies of their pack had destroyed his severed arm. Werewolves weren’t very accepting of those they perceived as weak, and Gryph had been forced to leave the pack. Allie had met him when he’d been considering killing himself, and she’d adopted him. Allie had a tendency to do that sort of thing. The reason I was surprised with Gryph’s reaction to my sister’s nasty comment was that his missing arm had been enough to make him contemplate suicide. It had ended his life as he knew it, and it was considered a weakness among the werewolves. Yet, here Gryph was, laughing at her accusation that he was wallowing in self-pity.
I was about to say something to my sister, when Gryph spoke. “You got a man to warm your ass until you learn some manners? Or, would you like me to take care of that for you? I only need one hand, and it would be my pleasure to handle that task.”
Julia’s mouth dropped open.
When Gryph inhaled deeply, a shudder ran through his body. “Yeah, I like the sound of it just as much as you do, girlie. Say one more sassy thing, and we can both have what we want.”
As Julia’s older brother, I was torn on how I should react. On the one hand, I didn’t like seeing Gryph coming on to my sister. On the other hand, I was pretty sure he wasn’t really coming on to her, but merely trying to prove her bitchy attitude didn’t bother him. At least, I assumed that was the case. Still, I had no interest in finding out if he’d follow through with his threat.
“I’d recommend keeping your mouth shut, Julia,” I warned.
Julia let out an annoyed huff. “Fine! You deal with the mangy wolf. Do you still need me back tonight to watch Mr. Whiskers?”
“Possibly,” Melina replied. “I guess we’ll need to discuss Gryph’s schedule first.”
“Why don’t you come by for dinner?” I suggested.
“Okay, I’ll be back at five,” Julia replied. “I’ll bring Oliver in case you need me to stay again. He had a blast playing with Mr. Whiskers last night, so I’m sure he’d be okay with another play date.”
“Where are the familiars?” I asked, surprised they weren’t in here sniffing Gryph. Julia’s familiar, Oliver, was a beagle who tended to lose it whenever a werewolf was around.
“They were chasing after a pair of bunny slippers,” Julia explained.
“Bunny slippers?” Gryph asked with a snort of laughter.
“Yes,” Julia told him with a sweet smile. “Try to fight your natural instinct to chase after them.”
“I’m working hard to fight my natural instincts,” he assured her, and this time my sister laughed.
“Sorry for being a bitch,” she told him. “I’m not much of a morning person. If you want to avoid my sassy mouth, as you put it, you should probably stay away from me in the mornings.”
“Damn,” Gryph muttered as my little sister made her way out of the room.
I did not like the way he was eyeing Julia, and there was no denying I acted like an idiot at times, which was the only explanation for what I said next. “My sister likes women.”
Gryph raised an eyebrow, waiting for clarification.
“She dates women,” I told him.
“You’re an idiot,” Melina stated.
I couldn’t argue that point. “Can we pretend I didn’t just act like an ass?”
“You mean, can we not tell Julia what you said?” Melina asked with a grin.
“Yeah, that,” I told them.