Chapter Five
Roman
She’s my mate. She’s my mate.
Despite the bone-deep satisfaction that had overtaken him since Mia had dozed off in his arms, Roman found he couldn’t sleep.
He felt like his entire body was vibrating with energy. His griffin was cavorting like a cub inside his chest, roaring and rising up on its hind legs to claw at the air.
Our mate! Our mate! We knew she was special!
It all made a strange kind of sense, now that Roman thought about it. The way his griffin had pricked up its ears and taken notice from the first moment he’d laid eyes on Mia. The irresistible attraction he’d felt towards her. The way the air between them had seemed to crackle with electricity whenever their gazes had met.
He hadn’t thought about his griffin side for so long that he’d never truly considered the idea of finding his mate. It had seemed like just another part of being a shifter that he’d laid aside when he’d chosen to exile himself and live amongst humans.
It hadn’t been something he’d wanted to do, but he accepted it as part of the price for his freedom. Besides, not even shifters who stayed and lived their whole lives amongst their own kind always found their mates. They could still fall in love and live perfectly happy lives. Roman had always assumed that that was what would happen to him too, when he met the right girl.
Clearly, his griffin, even neglected as it was, had had other ideas.
Turning his head, Roman looked at the face of the woman sleeping next to him.
Perfect. She’s absolutely perfect.
Unable to resist, he pressed a kiss to her forehead, gathering her lush, curvy body against his. Mia made a noise of sleepy contentment, before settling back into untroubled sleep, her dark hair spilling over his pillow like a shining ebony river.
The last thing he felt like doing was leaving her, but he also felt like he might explode if he didn’t at least move a little bit. His griffin was ecstatically prancing, exultant at having found its mate.
But... how will I explain this to her?
Roman gently eased himself away from Mia’s body. She didn’t stir as he stood up, wrapping himself in a robe before padding silently from the room, closing the door again behind him.
Finding his mate so unexpectedly also threw up a host of unexpected problems. Like how to tell her what he truly was. What his family was. And what being mates meant.
She said she wasn’t looking for just a one-night stand, Roman reminded himself as he made his way down the hall.
But would she still be in it for the long term once she found out what he really was? He would just have to do his best to explain, he decided, and hope that the connection between them would do the rest.
Anyway, she already knows griffins exist now, he thought as he stood and made his way down the hall to one of the guest rooms. The clothes Mia had been wearing would need a little time to dry – and Helena would probably insist on washing them for her. But there were plenty of spare clothes here. Going to a chest of drawers, he pulled out a pair of track pants and a big, comfy sweater.
As much as he hated to do it, he knew he should probably wake Mia and they should both get some clothes on.
Making his way back up the hall and re-entering his bedroom, he found Mia already awake and sitting up on the bed, her hair tousled and her green eyes wide open.
“Oh!” she said, shaking her head. “I wasn’t sure where you’d gone.”
Roman smiled, sitting next to her on the bed. “Sorry. I just thought you might like a change of clothes.”
“Oh – thank you,” she said. “That would be great. Rescuing animals is hard on your clothes, it seems.”
And speaking of which... Roman thought.
He knew he couldn’t let this go on any longer. Now that he knew she was his mate, there was no way he could hide the truth from her.
He drew in a deep breath.
But before he could say anything, Mia began talking.
“Um... will your family be home soon?”
My family?
Roman frowned, wondering why she was asking, until the comforter fell away as she moved, revealing one of her beautiful, bountiful breasts.
Oh... yes. That.
“Probably,” he said reluctantly. “I suppose we’d better look presentable in case they get back soon.”
Mia grinned. “Yeah. I mean... I’m all for meeting the folks, but I should probably be wearing more clothes when I do.”
Her smile was infectious, and Roman found himself returning it despite his irritation that he couldn’t just bundle her up in his arms and take her again until they were both left utterly exhausted, and the fact that he was going to have to have at least two very difficult conversations in the near future. One with Mia, explaining what he was, and one with his family, explaining that he’d found his mate, and that she was human.
“You can take a shower here,” he said, walking across the room and opening the door to the adjoining bathroom. He saw that Horace had had that refurbished too, in slick black marble and copper.
“Thanks,” Mia said as she rose from the bed. Roman had to hold back a groan of desire as her lush curves were fully revealed. She seemed to read his mind from the look he gave her and blushed a little, biting her lip and looking at him from beneath her dark lashes. She began walking toward the bathroom, before tossing a saucy glance over her shoulder at him. “Will you be taking a shower too?”
Roman swallowed heavily. “I will... and much as I’d love to join you, if I did that we’d probably never get out.”
Mia laughed, but he could hear the tinge of lust behind it. “True, true.”
So saying, she went into the bathroom, and shut the door behind her. Roman heard the rush of water as she turned on the taps. The sound of her humming drifted through the door a moment later.
He stood, rooted to the spot, knowing that he shouldn’t go to her, but also finding himself unable to leave. But the thought of her in the shower, her bare skin slick and shiny with moisture, her dark hair running in rivulets down her back...
You idiot. You complete and utter idiot.
His griffin was unhappy, snarling inside his chest.
Why don’t you just go to her, if you want her? She’s your mate!
Roman shook his head.
We’re not getting into this now, he told it. I have to tell her what we are, first. And do you really want to deal with the fallout if the first time Horace sees me in twelve years is buck naked on the bathroom floor?
His griffin glowered, but didn’t seem to have a comeback for that.
Thought not.
***
Roman had to admit, he did feel refreshed after his shower. Mia was sitting across from him in the kitchen, wearing the clothes he’d gotten out for her earlier.
He had come downstairs to find her making a cup of coffee in the fancy machine on the countertop. Roman had never been much of a coffee drinker, despite the long hours he worked. It made his griffin hyperactive. But a cup right now sounded like an excellent idea.
“Mia,” he said as she set it down in front of him. “I feel like, before we take things any further... there’s a couple of things you should know.”
Mia lifted her coffee to her lips and took a sip, watching him from behind the light veil of steam that rose from her cup. “About you, you mean?”
Roman nodded. “About me. But about my family as well. We’re not... well, we’re not... quite what you’d expect, I suppose is the best way of putting it.”
Cocking her head, Mia regarded him with her bright green eyes. “Well, my family isn’t exactly what you’d call traditional either,” she said slowly. “My parents split up when I was young. My mom’s an architect. She lives with her boy toy in Spain now, I think. My dad travels around a lot, doing humanitarian work. He never stays too long in one place. I get letters from him from all over, I never know where he’s going to show up next. Last time it was Morocco.”
Roman laughed. “Well, that does sound unconventional,” he said, sipping his own coffee. “But I’m afraid that’s not quite what I mean.”
He set his cup down, taking a deep breath. How best to explain?
He’d never done this before. Not once. Everyone he had known growing up had been a shifter. And everyone he’d met since he left Skyhaven hadn’t needed to know.
“Mia, you know how the... creature you found in the snow was like... a lion with wings?”
Mia narrowed her eyes a little. “A bit like a griffin?”
Roman’s heart skipped a beat. “You might even say exactly like a griffin.”
She pursed her lips slightly. “Are you saying... griffins are real? That... I really did find a griffin in the snow today?”
Roman could hear the skepticism in her tone. “I know it might be a little hard to understand,” he said, hoping she could sense his sincerity. They were mates – surely she would know instinctively that he would never lie to her? “But honestly, that isn’t even the weirdest thing I have to tell you.”
He paused, and Mia lifted her coffee cup to her lips again, taking a long, considered sip. “Go on.”
“Well, Mia, the thing is – and I know this is going to sound nuts, but –”
He was interrupted by the sound of the front door bursting open, followed by a chatter of voices.
“Roman? Roman, are you here?”
Oh. Shit.
Even after all these years, he recognized the sound of Lavinia’s voice. They’d once been as close as siblings. She was four years older than him, and had always acted just like his big sister. His bossy big sister.
Who also apparently happened to have the worst possible sense of timing.
Mia glanced at him questioningly, and he couldn’t hold back his grimace. “I’ll finish explaining later. I promise,” he said, though he wondered just how long things could go on like this – and how he’d ever explain both Mia’s presence here to them, and how he’d explain his family’s... idiosyncrasies to her.
“I’m here,” he called out, rising and gesturing for Mia to follow him. “And I brought company.”
That was about as much warning as he was able to give anyone before Lavinia entered the room, followed by her two children, her husband Brett, two people Roman recognized as Kara and Jason with a little boy between them – and, finally, his Uncle Horace.
His hair was grayer than Roman remembered, but his face still looked just as he recalled it. The man who had raised him like a father, but whom he hadn’t seen in twelve years, ever since that last, terrible argument.
You choose your family – your clan – or you choose to leave, Horace had told him. You can’t have it both ways.
Roman swallowed. They’d both been stubborn. Horace in his insistence that griffins couldn’t live amongst humans, and Roman in his belief that he should explore the world and find out what it had to offer – and what he had to offer it.
Looking at Horace again now, he found it difficult to meet his eyes.
And from the look of things, Horace was having the same problem.
Roman wished he’d had a little more time alone with Mia before he had to introduce her to his family dramas.
Well, and the fact that we’re griffin shifters.
“Roman,” Lavinia said, her voice soft. “It’s... it’s good to see you. I’m glad you’ve come.”
Roman nodded, suddenly finding it hard to speak. To see his family again after so long... and on the same day he’d found his mate...
“It’s the nice lady!”
Roman was jerked out of his gloomy contemplation by a joyous shout. Looking to its source, he again saw the young boy – and a jolt of recognition ran through him.
The child had sandy hair, apple cheeks, brown eyes, and a spray of freckles over his nose – but that didn’t change the fact that Roman could tell immediately that it was Ayden, returned now to his human form.
Roman glanced at Mia. She looked extremely confused, and Roman couldn’t say he blamed her.
“Mia...” he started to say, but before he could get further, Ayden was speaking again.
“It’s the nice lady I was telling you about – she found me in the snow!” he said, tugging at Kara’s sleeve. “She saved me!”
Mia turned to look at Roman, her eyes wide and uncomprehending.
“I – I didn’t –” She shook her head. “I found a – a –”
Roman sucked in a deep breath. Moment of truth, I guess. “This is what I wanted to talk to you about.”