Page 31 of Unforgivable Fate

Griffin threw a punch that was blocked. He immediately rotated and swung his leg out. His opponent jumped to miss having his feet kicked out from under him but when he landed Griffin was here. He shoved, taking him to the ground, and a whistle blew.

“Nice one, man.” His opponent, a guy named Blaine, held out his hand and Griffin took it, pulling him back to his feet.

“You too. I thought you had me for a second there.” Griffin chuckled.

“Next time.”

“We’ll see.” He clapped his new friend on the back before moving to the outer edge of the spectators to grab a bottle of water.

He’d been working out with the Crescent Pack Enforcers for almost a week now and this was the first day they hadn’t totally kicked his ass from the word go. He had never been an Enforcer before in any pack. He hadn’t been trusted enough in his old pack and he’d only been passing through the others. He knew he still had a long way to go to prove to Leo DeLuca that he was worthy of the honor of being one of his chosen Enforcers but he was trying.

When Darius had invited him to work out with them he’d thought the big Pack Alpha’s Mate was looking for a way to punish him for his brother’s sins. He had been pleasantly surprised to find he was wrong. Darius truly seemed to think he would make a good Enforcer someday. He never singled Griffin out for a mistake or put him up against someone twice his size. He was a good leader and he gave advice as he saw necessary but otherwise simply took everyone through their exercises and moved on.

Griffin liked to think that Darius was giving him a chance even if Nova hadn’t found it in her heart to do the same yet. If Griffin was sticking around, he would need to make himself a valuable part of the pack. If he was mated to a DeLuca wolf, a Seer at that, he would need to prove himself. Training with the Enforcers and then, hopefully, becoming one, would be a great way to show Leo DeLuca that he was serious about making things here work and being part of his family.

Something told him Darius knew that.

He was wiping sweat out of his eyes with the hem of his t-shirt when his wolf stirred inside of him, taking note. His senses instantly went on high alert and he dropped his shirt. He turned to where his wolf was nudging him to look and his heart leapt when he saw Nova strolling into the town square.

She hadn’t seen him yet but he knew any second her own wolf would alert him to his presence so he took the precious moment before she caught him watching her to soak her in. She’d been avoiding him. He was sure of that much. Two days had passed since they’d kissed for the first time in the Pack Alpha’s kitchen and then made out like horny teenagers desperate to get off in the backyard. Yet he hadn’t caught sight of her since. He was worried he’d spooked her even though he’d tried his hardest not to and she was the one who had instigated the make-out session. Still, seeing her now, it took all of his strength not to rush towards her.

She looked beautiful, as always. Her locs were piled on top of her head again and she wore a long-sleeved shirt that clung to her small curves with cutoff jean shorts that showed off her legs. It was similar to what she’d been wearing the last time he saw her and he assumed it was her preferred look. It worked for her that was for sure.

Her eyes suddenly met his and he offered a smile and waved. She ducked her head a little but waved back before averting her gaze and hurriedly walking on her way. She stuck to the other side of the square from where he and the Enforcers were working out and he sighed as he watched her disappear from sight.

“She still giving you the cold shoulder, huh?”

Griffin turned to find that Darius was standing close to him. He hadn’t heard the big man walk up. He didn’t know if that was because Darius was so well trained or if he had just been that distracted by a single glimpse of his mate.

He wanted to tell Darius that nothing about Nova was cold. All he saw when he looked at her was heat. The bond between them had sizzled just from that one moment of eye contact. But from what he’d learned of the pack, of the DeLuca family and of Darius Moreno’s connection to them, he’d helped to raise Nova and likely wouldn’t appreciate Griffin mooning over how sexy she was.

He cleared his throat, “I think we’ve reached lukewarm.”

“Sounds about right.” Darius chuckled, “How’s the mating heat treating you?”

Griffin winced, “Slowly burning me up from the inside out. I swear it gets worse every day. I try not to think about it, try to keep my mind off her like maybe if I don’t think about it then it won’t hurt so much but…”

“But it doesn’t work.” Darius finished for him with a knowing nod.

“Yeah. How’d you know?”

“I dealt with a drawn out mating heat myself so I know a thing or two about it.”

Griffin raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Leo was wary of your bond at first too?”

“No.” Darius gave a rueful sigh, “I was the wary one. I pushed him away, or I tried to at least. I refused to give in to the heat, certain that it had to be my choice and not some sign from fate or a biological response.”

Griffin knew he was gaping and tried to pull his mouth shut. He hadn’t heard anything about the Pack Alpha’s mating since he arrived here. He’d never had guessed there had been tension to the mating. After all, they were so good together and clearly in love. The male-male dynamic had surprised him since he’d rarely seen it himself but nobody in the Crescent Pack even seemed to realize it wasn’t commonplace so surely that couldn’t have been the issue.

Darius smirked, “It’s not what you’re thinking. I didn’t fight it because he’s male.”

“I… well… I didn’t mean…” Griffin fumbled awkwardly but Darius waved away his comment.

“It’s what most people would assume. It’s not as if male mating pairs are uncommon but, they weren’t always as acceptable as they are today.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“No. It’s fine. I brought it up, not you.” Darius shrugged, “Just to be clear though, I didn’t push Leo away because he’s male. I never gave much thought to that part. For me, it was more about all the changes that came with accepting the bond to the Crescent Pack Alpha. I don’t know what you’ve heard, or what Bear’s told you since he’s pretty much the biggest gossip in the pack, but when I met Leo I wasn’t a Crescent Pack wolf. I was actually the Moirae Pack Head Enforcer back then.”

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