Chapter 2

Gryph

The ringing of my phone still came as a surprise. I’d gone without one for many years. There hadn’t been much need for a phone since my only visitor had been a stubborn succubus by the name of Alana Talbot. Her warlock husband had talked me into rejoining the world and acting as a bodyguard a while back. Now, I was getting requests to do the occasional odd job. I’d even taken some high-profile security work. It was nice being useful again, even if it meant admitting that I’d acted like a pup about my injury for all those years.

After being cast out by my pack, I’d been angry, bitter, and even suicidal at one point. Having lost my arm saving the life of the pack leader, it seemed beyond fucked up that they’d turned their backs on me. My reaction was ridiculous, and I knew it. This was how life was among werewolves. If you were viewed as defective, you were cast out. A century ago, a defective werewolf would have been killed. Much to the dismay of many older werewolves, we now had to live by the rules of the preternatural community. Other species believed casting out defective wolves was somehow kinder than killing them. Many of us who’ve been kicked out of our packs would disagree. We live our entire lives believing we can’t survive without our pack. It’s not easy, and I still haven’t totally adjusted to the changes in my life, but the ringing cell phone was a testament to the fact that I was getting there.

“What?” I demanded by way of greeting. Phone etiquette wasn’t one of my strong suits.

Allie’s laughter came over the line. “We really need to work on your phone skills, Gryph.”

“Nah, then folks will be calling me all the time. You know how popular I am,” I joked. “What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you had some time to do a little security work at Bliss,” she began. “There was a threat made recently.”

“What kind of threat?” I growled. It was harder for me to control my wolf when my emotions ran high, and threats at Bliss triggered my emotions for two reasons. First, Allie was not only my friend; she’d saved my life when she didn’t even know me. Allie had talked me out of jumping off a bridge during my darkest time. No matter how hard I’d tried to push her away, the stubborn witch kept coming by to check on me and make sure I had food. The second reason had to do with an annoying witch who had me torn between wanting to spank her cute little ass and wanting to fuck her until neither of us could walk. She’d have let me do either with the understanding that it meant nothing. No strings attached. That’s all I’d ever wanted before meeting Julia, but it wasn’t enough with her. My wolf and I were in total agreement on this subject; that sassy witch was my mate, and she wasn’t going to downplay what we meant to each other. I’d expected her to see reason by now, but she hadn’t.

“We received an email threatening Julia,” Allie explained. “Julia isn’t sure what to think. It’s kind of vague, so she wasn’t convinced we should call the police.”

My temper was running high with a threat to Julia and even higher realizing she’d considered ignoring it. “No threat should be ignored, Allie. I hope you decided to call the police. If not, you should call them now.”

“We called them,” she assured me. “The police seem to think it’s nothing, but we’re both concerned. To be honest, the police didn’t seem interested in doing much to investigate the email. They suggested we bring in extra security but claimed one vague email wasn’t enough to warrant an investigation. I’m the most worried. Considering what happened with me, I’m overly cautious. Julia agreed we should play it safe and have a guard with her at all times.”

I could certainly see why Allie was more wary than most. Just over a year ago, a serial killer had been targeting succubi, and she’d nearly ended up being a victim herself.

“You’ve got good reason to be cautious. Besides, cautious is smart,” I told her. “That kind of vigilance will keep you alive. I’m not really sure who to refer you to with the pack since I’ve been gone so long, but if you’d like, I could make some calls to other packs. The leader of the Sonoma pack will still talk to me. I can see if he’ll send some wolves down here.”

“I know this may be awkward considering your past,” Allie began. “The local pack can always help me if you can’t handle this, but you’re my first choice. I trust you, Gryph.”

“While I appreciate your trust, we both know Julia wouldn’t want me to be the one guarding her,” I told her.

“She was the one who suggested hiring you,” Allie explained.

“Why didn’t she call?” I asked suspiciously. It’s not that I didn’t want to be the one keeping Julia safe. I was simply concerned she’d fight me every step of the way, making it impossible to protect her.

“She was worried you’d be more likely to say no if she asked,” Allie explained. “I disagreed, but she’s concerned because things ended on a negative note between the two of you.”

That was certainly an understatement. I tamped down my anger at Julia for thinking I’d let what happened before prevent me from keeping her safe. “Where is she now?” I asked. It didn’t matter how difficult this made my life. I was going to make sure that sassy witch was safe.