Microsoft Word - Book 12 FINAL Read online

  Lev thought it was endearing how the man seemed to be worried about his reaction. He was a shifter, Lev didn’t know what kind, but knowing that he had fought the urge to mate him right when he saw him spoke to the kind of man Griff was. He wasn’t like the others he knew. "Let's talk about this later. I mean, tonight, we can go through this whole thing and sort it out."

  Griff nodded and paused. "If it makes any difference what so ever, I know we are supposed to have another mate."

  Lev opened his mouth and closed it gain. Wait, two mates? "How do you know?"

  Griff laughed and said, "Let's just say that my beast is a little unusual. I’ll explain later."

  ***

  Lev went back to work, but he called his step-father and left a message asking him to call him when he had a chance. Lev wanted to talk to his father before he went to dinner with Griff. It wasn’t that he didn't want to be his mate. It was that he didn’t understand what it entailed. And what about having a second mate! How would that work? Who was it?

  He had so many questions rattling around in his head; it was a wonder that he got any work done that afternoon. Luckily, it was a light day for crime. They were still working on the missing dispatcher and needed to track down a few leads about that. He read over all the interviews and reports looking for clues and seeing if he got that tingle that told him he was on to something. Even so, he was still stumped. At the same time, it wasn’t in him to give up; he would figure this out. He didn’t like cold cases. He looked at the clock and smiled, fifteen minutes, and he would be able to go.

  His cell phone rang, and he breathed a sigh of relief that it was his step-father calling.

  "Son, what is so urgent that I had to call before you stopped work?” his step-father's deep tone said. His step-father was his only support when he was in training to be a cop. Gregori had been crushed when the other children had driven his only child away from his home. Lev had never said anything, and he didn’t like to pry into the growing pains of a young adult. Being a wolf, he wasn’t up on human parenting and worried that he didn’t do the right things. So when the old Sheriff started making retirement noises, he made the calls to make sure that Lev got the job as Sheriff. And Quin promised not to ever tell Lev of his interference. Quin was happy to have his wayward pack member back in the fold too.

  "Dad, I need to ask you a few questions," Lev said quickly and then looked around to make sure no one was listening to him. Some of the Sheriffs were shifters, and he still didn’t trust them.

  "Sure, what is it?"

  "Well, remember when I talked to you about Griff?” Lev said hesitantly. He had told his step-father a long time ago, that he was attracted to both men and women. His step-father, being a shifter, hadn’t cared one way or another. He said whatever made him happy, he was okay with.

  "Of course the jeweler, I bought a necklace from him for your mother, nice guy."

  "Yeah, well we met for lunch today, and he said that we were mates, and he also said that we had another mate. When I asked him how he knew, he said because of the type of shifter he was," Lev said.

  There was a long pause and the Gregori said, "Congratulations. First of all, I can't tell you how happy I am to know that you have found your mate. As for the rest, I don't know what kind of shifter he is. Many of the people in town have wondered the same thing. They all thought he was some kind of cat since he belonged to a Pride, but his scent is unusual. No one has wanted to ask him either, it’s rude."

  Lev frowned and looked down at the paper that was in front of him. He ran a background check on the man. He was squeaky clean. Lev thought it was funny that he had received a speeding ticket when he was moving up to Colorado. That was all that was on his record. "How do you deal with two mates?"

  Gregori laughed and said, "Son, you are gonna have to play this one by ear. I have only had one mate, and I’m still trying to deal with just her. My advice would be to sit and talk with Griff, and bring him out to dinner. Your mom and I will want to meet him."

  Lev laughed, and they made plans to get together the next weekend. He wanted some more time with Griff to himself. He hoped that Griff would agree to come with him. He wanted Griff to meet the two people who meant the most to him.

  Time to go, he thought, and looked up at the clock again. He put the papers away and then shredded the forms he pulled on Griff. He didn’t want people to know he had done a background check on the man. With all the investigations going on right now, he didn’t want to get the man in trouble.

  He walked into the changing room and took off his uniform. Thank goodness he had made sure that he kept clean clothes in his locker, in case he went somewhere after work. It saved time from running back over to the west side where his apartment was and then back to Griff.

  Griff stood in front of his storefront waiting for Lev. He smiled when Lev approached and then said, "I thought I would cook dinner at my place. That way, we can talk freely."

  Lev nodded and followed the tall man to his truck and watched his muscular ass as he walked. My gods the man was built. He was tall, probably a shade taller than Lev, and his hair made him want to grab a hold and run his fingers through it. His eyes were amber colored, which were so large and sexy he could drown in them. Lev felt almost boring with his military flat top and boring brown hair and brown eyes. And Griff's features were rugged and masculine where Lev's were more angular and unremarkable, and he had a beard to hide a scar he received when he was young. The kids who bullied him had thrown him down a well and Lev hit the rocks as he fell and cut his cheek badly.

  He hated even looking at the mark, and so he had grown a short beard to hide it. But looking at themselves in the windows as they walked by, Lev thought they made a handsome couple.

  Griff held the door open for him, and he hesitated. He must have felt his unsure feelings, and Griff said, "I can bring you back to your truck whenever you want."

  Lev nodded and slid into the passenger seat then watched as Griff walked around to the other side of the truck and hop in the driver's seat. When he started the car, an oldie's station was playing, and Lev laughed out loud. He loved to listen to the oldies too, although his truck was set to the popular country station from a nearby town.

  They drove in silence for a few miles out of town, and then Griff turned into a large gated subdivision that had seemed to pop up overnight. He knew from the other sheriffs that it was the Pride from Texas that owned this land. It turned out they had bought this land several years ago and had been building houses all along. The high brick and stone fence and the gate were actually the newest item along with a row of new mailboxes outside the gate. As they drove down the streets, Lev admired the homes that littered the land, many of them familiar. Griff wound his way through the street and finally came to a house built on the back part of the land. His house and yard butted up to the tall wall that surrounded the property.

  The house itself was a sprawling ranch style, and it was huge. The outside was made of a combination of logs and stone, giving it a rustic feel. The landscaping was beautiful with its small ponds that held fish, lush grass, and indigenous flowers. All-in-all, he was surprised it was a bachelor's home.

  When they walked in the front door, he wasn’t surprised to see the inside was the same.

  Neat and tidy, decorated in a rustic western look with a rock fireplace he could imagine laying in front of during one of the normal snow storms that came to Colorado. The colors of the furniture were rich chocolate browns and wooden tables.

  "The kitchen is this way," Griff said and led the way through the large home. The kitchen was in the back and had a marvelous view of the mountains. He looked out at the patio that ran along the back of the house. He could see there was at least one other sliding glass door that led out to the back; he wondered if it was Griff’'s bedroom.

  The kitchen was done in brown marble and stainless steel appliances. Griff opened the refrigerator and pulled out fresh veggies and some meat. He began preparing what looked
like a succulent steak that would be smothered with freshly sautéed veggies.

  He felt his stomach grumble and sat down at the table. "Beer?” Griff asked him.

  Lev nodded, Griff pulled two beers out of the fridge and opened them. He went back to the meal preparations, and Lev watched him. "So, mates," Lev said, and Griff laughed.

  "Yeah, I thought that freaked you out a little. I just wanted to get it out there. So what are you thinking?” Griff said and popped a pepper in his mouth.

  "Well, I gotta tell you, I was freaked out. I told you that I wasn’t really comfortable around shifters," Lev said and Griff nodded.

  "I get that. And I better tell you now, what kind of shifter I am, because I’m not exactly the usual wolf or cat. My parents weren’t the same species, first of all. They went against the grain, took a lot of shit about it within their families. That’s why we moved here. So they wouldn’t have to be shunned. With Argus's Pride, they were able to finally be in the open," Griff said.

  "So, what are your parents?” Lev asked curiously.

  Griff blushed and lowered his head. "My father is an eagle, and mother is a lioness."

  Lev stop to think and then he felt the light bulb come on in his head. "Shit, you’re really a Gryphon!"

  Griff nodded and said, "Yep, not too many people know that, so I would hope for now you would keep that to yourself. Argus knows, and I am going to the Alphas soon and let them know. Usually when the parents aren’t the same type of shifter, the children take after one parent or the other for their shift, and the blended features come out more in their human form. Gryphon's are kind of the exception to that rule, or at least it seems to happen more with this particular mating."

  "That is so fucking cool," Lev said and then paused. "Sorry, I got a little excited there."

  Griff laughed and then turned on the grill that was in the middle of his island. They talked and got to know each other, not mentioning the mating yet. Lev was still not sure how this was all supposed to work. His father said to play it by ear, and he was trying, but the anxiety was getting the better of him. By the time that Griff placed a plate in front of him, he was ready to break.

  "Mating?” Lev burst out.

  Griff looked at him in surprise and then laughed. "Yeah, we’re mates. I knew it when I saw you."

  Lev snapped his fingers and said, "The first figure you gave me was a Gryphon."

  Griff nodded and then laughed. "I carried that around with me until I met my mates. I knew I would give that to them when we met. I still have the matching one to give to our other mate."

  "Wow," Lev said and then picked up his fork. "I will just get this out there, I’m bi-sexual."

  "Okay, well so am I, and though I love that we are having dinner and getting to know each other, you don't have to worry. A Gryphon has to have both their mates claim them at the same time. It has something to do with being a hybrid; we aren’t sure of the why's more of the what-not-to-do's," Griff said.

  Lev laughed and nodded. "I know that I am just throwing things out there, but I’m nervous. I don't quite know what to expect or do."

  "I think we are doing things just right, getting to know one another until our other mate comes is just about the right way to handle things," Griff said and then continued to eat.

  “Um Lev, you mentioned at lunch that you hadn’t spoken with your dad about the fights you got into growing up, is that true?”

  “Yeah, where are you going with this? It’s in the past now.” Lev answered.

  Griff reached over and grabbed his hand looking deep into his eyes “You’re my mate, and I’m very much attracted to you. It’s not going to take much for me to fall in love with you. It hurts me to see and feel that you’re still bothered by this. I’m not trying to stir up ghosts; I think I know what happened, hear me out okay?”

  Lev looked over at Griff seeing the emotions in his eyes. This beautiful man was falling in love with him? He couldn’t speak; his throat was too dry, so he just nodded.

  “Okay, then just to make sure I’m right, did Brian, the old alpha, ever beat on you?” and Lev shook his head no, still unable to speak.

  “That’s good, then the information I found out today is correct. This has been a huge multi-cultural misunderstanding. The Millikan pack is the first shifter/human mixed pack known to exist. Normal shifter wolf packs are similar to animal wolf packs in that they have a hierarchy. Each pup needs to find where they fit in that hierarchy. So those with alpha and beta tendencies pick fights with others in the pack. Dominance challenges to see, which is the stronger. So the taunting, teasing and fighting were their ways of testing you. They say you as the pack member they had to get past if they wanted to move up higher in ranking.

  The fact that Brian didn’t come down on you or get mad when you joined the state police shows that he also recognized your strength. Did you lose a lot of those fights?”

  Listening to Griff talk, Lev was able to get a handle of his emotions “No, I wasn’t about to show my belly to those bullies, I stayed in no matter how much I hurt. The only times I lost were when they ganged up on me, how can that be a proper challenge?”

  “It wasn’t and if you had told your dad, they would have been punished for it, maybe they were, and you don’t know. What you have to realize now is that you are strong you are higher in the pack than those guys. You’re a natural leader, and they will back down from your strength. By their actions, they were treating you like a pack member; they were including you in their regular pack activities. You didn’t understand and didn’t ask.”

  Lev looked at Griff in amazement his entire past had just been turned on its ear. He suddenly let out a laugh and a big grin. “If that’s true, then wow, just wow.”

  They finished their meal with comfortable conversation, and then Lev helped Griff clean up the dishes and the kitchen. They seemed to work well together, like they were very in tune with each other. When one moved, the other matched his movements; they joked about who was going to wash and who was going o dry. It was very domesticated.

  When they were done, Griff turned to him, looked at him with passion in his eyes, and said, "How about we go and watch a little television?"

  Lev shrugged and followed the other man into the living room he had seen when he entered the house. It was very tastefully decorated in deep greens and blues. He really liked the way Griff had made the home look so welcoming. The couch was huge and plush with a lot of pillows all over it. Griff sat in the middle leaving him a choice of either side to sit, or move to the large chair that was on the side.

  Lev decided he wanted to be close to the man and sat down next to him, touching his thigh as he sat down. Lev felt the tingle of awareness at being this close to Griff. If this is what it felt like to be with mates, then he was all for it.

  Griff had the remote in his hand and turned on the television. He flipped through the channels until they agreed to watch the sports channel. They talked about the teams and were both surprised that they both liked the same teams and sports. Football season was going to be fun, Lev thought.

  Griff let his hand drift over and hold Lev's as they talked. He was shocked that he didn’t feel the awkwardness that you would on a first date, or someone you just met. Griff touching him seemed natural.

  "So, you said that you had to be with both your mates in order for us to claim you," Lev said, clearing his throat a little.

  "That’s just claiming it has nothing to do with sex,” Griff laughed.

  "Good," Lev said and leaned over and kissed him. He pulled his head firmly toward him, letting him know that he wanted him badly.

  Griff moaned into his mouth and then opened his lips, allowing Lev to explore his mate's mouth. The kiss deepened and they dueled with their tongues, both seeming to fight for the best angle.

  When Lev pulled back and saw Griff's eyes, he should have been scared shitless. They turned yellow with a little green. They seemed to glow at him, and then Griff made a strange noise. If he ha
d time to think, Lev would have compared it to a growl and a purr at the same time.

  Griff captured his lips again and leaned forward, forcing him back against the cushions in the couch. He wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew; he was lying in the couch with Griff sprawled on top of him. They were about the same size, so they fit perfectly together. Lev felt Griff grind his cock against his thigh, and he reached down and grabbed his ass, pulling him closer.

  The man was sex on a stick, and he was ready to lick him up. Lev pushed back a little and pulled Griff's shirt up and flung it off. He ran his hands across his chest and sighed when he felt the rippling muscles. Griff held so much power; he could feel it under his hands as he smoothed them over his chest. He pushed him until they lay side-by-side, and then Lev moved down a little and captured Griff’s nipple in his mouth.

  Griff groaned and held the back of his head. "Ah, yeah, you feel so good. I have never felt like this before with anyone. I am so lucky to have found you."

  Lev smiled and then nipped at his skin and looked up. "I need you."

  Griff pulled at Lev's shirt until they were chest to chest and Griff said, "I will give you all that I am."

  Lev put his forehead against Griff and inhaled the man's scent. His step-father told him when he was young that it was how shifters told each other apart. Lev could never understand it until right this moment. Griff smelled like crisp, clean mountain air. He leaned in, kissed him slowly, and felt him run his hands down his back, exploring him.

  Suddenly, Lev felt the impatience of feeling Griff's naked form against his, and he moved his hands down and began to undress both of them at the same time. First unbuttoning his pants and then doing the same to Griff. He kicked off his shoes and then used his own feet to help Griff get his sandals off.

  Slowly, but easily, their clothes began to fall off of them while they kissed each other and murmured encouraging words at the same time.

  When they were finally naked, Lev let out a breath of relief, pulled Griff back over him, and just felt. He explored his back and hips, his chest and ass. He felt his growing erection against his own stomach. He was almost afraid to look down because of the size he was feeling. Shit, the man was hung like a bear. Lev wanted to laugh at his own joke, but the feelings he was having prevented him from even taking a deep breath, let alone form two words together.