Christmas Griffin - Zoe Chant Page 0,75

the proud new owner of a Christmas sweater featuring a red-nosed husky dog. The twins whooped over matching toboggans as though they were Cole’s age, not freshmen. And Delphine unwrapped a stack of books that made her double over with laughter. He didn’t understand until she tilted the covers towards them.

They were the same series of airport thrillers that she’d so completely failed to read up in the cabin.

“Maybe you’ll have better luck getting into them this time,” he deadpanned.

Delphine gulped back another burst of laughter and wiped her eyes. “I hope not.”

There was more food after the presents. The teenagers all headed out to cause trouble in the snow, laden down with their new toys and bags of candy, while the adults and a miraculously dozing toddler settled down in the living room.

And then the first extra visitor arrived.

Hardwick’s griffin was on alert from the first whisper of wings outside. Jasper and Hank were already looking up when he glimpsed golden eagle wings at the corner of the window and, a few minutes later, heard a knock on the door.

They all exchanged a look. Sara sighed and smoothed down her skirt. “I know who that is,” she said carefully. “I’ll go and ask what they—”

“Absolutely not!” Jasper declared. He leapt to his feet and was blocking the living room door before she could even move. “You’re our guests. I’ll let them in.”

It was one of Delphine’s cousins—the older one with the Flintstones name.

“Pebbles!” Delphine exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

Her mate was with her. They both looked nervously around as Delphine’s mother made quick introductions. Then Pebbles burst out:

“We couldn’t stay there any longer! It’s awful. Grandmother and Grandfather said—”

Her mate’s expression pinched and Hardwick sensed the strange mental whisper of private telepathic chatter. Pebbles’ chin went up.

“You’re right. That’s family business.” Her expression settled. “Auntie Sara, Delphine, we want you to know that we’ve decided—”

Hardwick braced himself. He’d guessed that the revelation that the Belgrave line didn’t run ‘true’ with Delphine might cause problems for Pebbles and her bird of paradise mate, but however panicked they were now, he didn’t trust them not to twist lies around their words.

“Wait.” Delphine stood up and moved in front of her cousin. Between them and him, Hardwick realized. “Before you say anything, you have to know that Hardwick can sense it when you lie.”

Calculations flashed behind Pebbles’ eyes. “Oh, that’s—”

“And it hurts him.” Delphine’s voice flattened. “And if you hurt him, I’ll throw you out of here, family or not.”

Hardwick’s heart filled. His mate was protecting him. From her family—the same family that, a day ago, she would have thrown herself into traffic to appease.

But not him. The light in his chest flared, and the emotion that flowed through it from his mate was as good as a word: Mine.

He was hers. And the same as she was protecting him, he would make sure she found the confidence and trust in herself to defend herself as much as she was defending him.

“Oh, er, that’s…” Pebbles looked lost. Her mate took her hand.

“Tell them, then,” he said.

Pebbles drew herself up. “It’s chaos down there,” she admitted. “Everyone’s fighting. You just left. And I thought—it wasn’t fair, how they abandoned…”

Hardwick sucked in a breath. It wasn’t a full lie, but it was close enough.

Delphine actually growled.

“I mean—I mean they started looking at us, too, and Grandmother asked if we were sure we wanted to have children, and how she understood that young people these days sometimes wanted to have c-careers instead, or travel, and that if that was what we wanted then it would be just fine with her.” Her face went blotchy, red vivid against white. “They’re not even mates! They’ve been pretending all this time that Belgraves are so, so blessed, and the truth is it’s all a lie, it’s all fake. She said we shouldn’t…”

Her voice wavered out and she buried her face in her mate’s shoulder. He stared at the rest of them, his gaze defiant, and Hardwick wondered how much it had taken from the other man over the years to be a part of the Belgrave clan, surrounded by their cultish self-absorption.

Delphine had wanted to spare him that. The day by day, week by week wearing away of his own beliefs and wants and hopes against the driving force of Belgrave selfishness.

“So, we are here now,” Pascal said. “Not as fast as you, though.”

“Did they throw you out?” Delphine asked, her voice tight.

He shrugged, but there was