Page 86 of The Demon's Pet

“No,” I sputtered. “I… I don’t care what he thinks. I’m just glad to be free of my village and all those bullies.”

Os lowered his voice. “They may adore shifters here, due to their love of nature, but they can’t stand demons. If one finds out what you are…”

I swallowed, bitterness filling me at the thought that even if Zadis liked me, he wouldn’t truly like that side of me. “It’s not my fault there’s a demon inside me.”

Os sighed in commiseration. “I know. And it’s awful. But it is what it is. You’d be in danger getting involved with a fae. If you get close enough and you get discovered…”

“I get it,” I said, somewhat bitterly, standing with my hands in clenched fists. “I get it. I’m just wrong wherever I go. Too alpha to be an omega, too demonic to be celestial…” I shook my head. “I just shouldn’t exist.”

I started back down the path to the village, watching my feet and listening to the mulch cracking beneath me. The sounds of the forest at nighttime.

I could hear Os and Griffin catching up, calling out for me, but I ignored them, feeling too irritated to talk to anyone anymore for now.

It just seemed I couldn’t get things right no matter what I did.

19

I was walking fast when Griffin caught my hand.

“Cleo, come on. Talk to me at least.” He waved for Os to go on without us, and he did, with a heavy sigh.

“I’ll go find Sam,” Os said. “See if I can help wrap this up sooner.”

I turned to Griffin, tired and irritated by being interrupted with Zadis.

It had been the closest thing to a normal date I’d ever had, and I was enjoying it.

“You really should be careful of that guy,” Griffin said, pulling me past some trees to a clearing in the forest where the last rays of the sun were streaming through. We were far enough from the main part of town that no one could overhear us.

I yanked my hand out of Griffin’s and whirled to face him, ready to take all of my rage out on him.

When I saw his sweet, worried, handsome face, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

So I tapped my foot and took a deep breath to gather my patience instead. “I’m tired of you and Os, and even Sam, thinking I’m your business.”

“Well, you are,” Griffin said. “Sam’s business, I mean. I don’t know much about what happened before you came to my village with him.” He sighed. “But if I’m being overprotective, it’s only natural. We’re in way over our heads here.”

Something in me just snapped.

“You think I’m weak and in need of protection?” I pointed to the collar on my neck. “This represses my demon, but I can be all wolf, right here, right now. You want to go, kitty?”

“Cheese and crackers, no!” Griffin said, wincing. Apparently, that was the closest he could get to a curse at this moment. “I don’t want to fight you, Cleo. I just don’t want you to be unsafe by overestimating yourself.”

“I don’t overestimate myself,” I growled, pacing up to a stiff Griffin and jabbing my finger hard into his chest so he stumbled back a few steps. “Everyone else underestimates me. Why is it? Because I’m a woman, an omega? I’m getting a bit sick of your protectiveness, given that you’re all fine watching me with Sam.”

Griffin rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. “I’m not fine with you being with him. You’re a kind person, Cleo. I could sense it instantly when you accepted my animal, though I still had worries you were going to help execute me. But you called my lion beautiful. Not everyone reacts that way. Some think I’m a freak. So yes, I’m protective of you because we’re friends. But also, isn’t it natural?”

“What makes you think you can even protect me?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips stubbornly. “We’re both shifters, but I’m also a demon.”

Griffin put up a shushing finger, looking slightly silly. “Don’t say that. You don’t know how people feel about demons here.”

“Yes, I do. I know how people feel about them everywhere, and they’re wrong,” I said. “At least about creatures like me that seem to be a mix of some kind. I don’t want to hurt anyone or wreak havoc.”

He took a step forward. “Do you even know what to do if a man comes on to you?”

I merely glared at him, remembering all the alphas I’d thrown off of me over the years.

Then again, Griffin hadn’t been there to see me fight, ever. But just the assumption he made that I was weaker than him pissed me off.

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