Chapter 34: Chapter 34

I was with a cup of coffee in my hand, seated on the couch, and groaning constantly because the universe was so cruel for making me suffer with a hangover when I didn’t even get drunk. My head kept on pounding despite the fact that I’d taken painkillers. I must have had bad karma or something.

When I heard the doorbell ring, I felt myself groan even more at the thought of having to walk all the way to open it. At first, I stayed back hoping that either Brielle or Emrys would go to open it themselves but it was almost like they were still sleeping or something. I made a mental note as I stood up to tell them to get a maid or something.

Opening the door, I had to flinch from the brightness as I let Hiro in and shut the door almost immediately to avoid contact with the devil’s best friend, the sun. Hiro looked too happy for some reason I couldn’t identify and waited until I was in the living room before I could listen to whatever had her all perky.

“Diva, your tattoo is beautiful,” Hiro gushed almost shouting.

I raised a brow and raised a hand to clutch the side of my head since she was making my headache turn into a migraine. “I don’t have a tattoo.”

She crossed her arms and gave me that look Leon gave me whenever he didn’t approve of something. “Okay, how drunk were you last night?”

“Not too drunk but…oh wait, I remember asking Emrys to take me there,” I said with a sigh suddenly remembering that I had gotten tattoos. That explained the soreness.

It wasn’t like I’d gotten the temporary amnesia that came with being drunk. I’d simply forgotten all about it and was so used to not having tattoos that when Hiro mentioned it, it completely skipped my mind.

“Well, they are beautiful,” she said with a wide smile. “How do you know about that?”

“I texted you, remember? I was the one who tracked your phone down and sent your location to Emrys so he could get you because I was busy at the time. That and Milo mentioned you when he came back home.”

“Right. Two of you are still dating.”

She frowned. “Why do you make it sound like it’s a bad thing that we are?”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just so frustrated and I don’t have the mental energy to be enthusiastic about anything.”

“You know, this is December. Practically the end of the year and in a few days, we’ll be in a New Year. You can’t let yourself ruin the year before you get into it.”

“I’ve never spent New Year’s Day without Leon in a long time and I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

“What you need right now is something to get your mind off him and today, you, Brielle, and I are going shopping for dresses for the New Year’s party Emrys is throwing.”

“I don’t think that’s how I want to spend my Saturday especially the one I’m mourning the loss of my best friend.”

“Don’t you love shopping?” “Leon used to shop for me.”

She sighed and gave me this look that told me she thought I was making it unbearable for her. “Look, I know you miss him and all but…”

“Missing him is an understatement.”

She rolled her eyes and continued, “…but you need to learn that some people come into your life to serve their purpose and once it’s time for them to leave, they will.”

I looked at her and felt the tears prick my eyes as I said, “Leon told me those exact words when I lost my siblings.”

She sighed and looked deep in thought probably thinking of what to say to make me feel better, when Brielle walked in with a yawn and noticed Hiro sitting beside me. She smiled and walked up to us then sat on a stool opposite where we were seated.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming over, Hiro,” she said with a bright smile that was a total contrast to my depressing demeanor.

“I wanted to surprise you guys but Moody Paris is a mess and I think this calls for emergency shopping,” Hiro said and Brielle tried to protest but she said, “Look, I know you have a lot of clothes but we need to do anything to cheer her up. I’ve known her for a short while and I’ve never seen her like this.”

Brielle looked at me and sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you, Paris. I just need you to snap out of this mood you’re in.”

I didn’t say anything and just looked up but it seemed the world was bent on making me remember Leon because everything reminded me of him. I wondered if he was feeling as bad as I did and was probably thinking of a way to come back. The sad part was that, if there was one thing I actually knew about Leon, it was the fact that he never went back on his word.

He promised he wouldn’t leave.

Well, there’s a first time for everything.

Emrys walked up to me with a perplexed look on his face, his phone was in his hand like he had just received a shocking news. “Did you and Leon have a fight or something?”

I didn’t want to talk about it but I was wondering how Emrys knew since I’d made sure I wouldn’t tell him. “Why do you ask?”

“That’s my answer then,” he said as he placed his phone in his pocket and acknowledged Hiro with a nod. “He just called me and he…he called it off.”

It was my turn to be confused. “Called what off?”

“I shouldn’t be telling you this especially since it seems Leon didn’t tell you himself, but you should know. The first time you and Leon met, he stayed because he was attracted to you and after a while, he chose you as his mate.”

“He did what?”

“Yeah, and the only reason why he hated me was because you liked me. Animal instincts and all that.”

“Couldn’t he have chosen someone else instead of me since I didn’t see him that way and all that?”

“There’s something that makes weregriffins different from every other species and I think it’s their ability to respect the ones they fall in love with. You see, they have this way of knowing who the one is for them. That person they want to spend all their years with and once they find that person, once they choose that person, they never love anybody else whether the one they love rejected them or died. It’s forever. It’s what makes them so brilliant and respected.”

My eyes widened at that and everything began to make more sense. “You said he called something off.”

“I’m not the first person who showed interest in you,” he said with a chuckle. “Everyone that showed interest in you, not human of course, Leon marked his territory and drove them away. Sometimes, it resulted in wars and all that but Leon had always won. I wasn’t letting you go so, of course; it would have resulted in war but Leon let me have you. He has never done that.”

“Without me being aware?”

He laughed. “Does it matter? It’s the thought that counts.”

I pondered on his words and I suddenly felt sad. “If you and Leon had gone to war, did he have a chance at winning?”

“I’ll tell you the plain truth and it is that on any normal day, we would never be able to defeat his kind with the kind of means they devise. He would have won no matter what. It just makes it much harder that this time he would have been fighting with something we didn’t have.”

“What is that?”

“I think that’s a story for another day,” Emrys said with a small smile as he pecked me and walked away.

Have you ever felt like you were drowning and just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, you hit the bottom of the sea? Well, if you have, that was exactly how I felt when Emrys left me to deal with the load of information he’d dumped on me.

I stared at Brielle and Hiro who were suddenly avoiding my gaze and asked a question I already knew the answer to. “Did you already know about it?”

“I had my ideas but he didn’t tell me directly,” Brielle said with a shrug. “You?” I asked referring the question to Hiro.

She sheepishly smiled. “Yes. Avyanna knew, basically everyone in Qethen knew, and I heard about it from her. He claimed you without even knowing.”

I finally let the tears that had been waiting to flow, fall. I bit my lip and raked my hands through my hair. “He hates me, doesn’t he?”

“It’s not completely a bad thing. You guys will realize it was just a hurdle you have to eventually move on from,” Brielle said with a shrug. “He might not even be in love with you. It could be because he accidentally claimed you.”

Hiro growled. “You know nothing about weregriffins. It was no accident. It never is. It’s a connection, a bond that can never be severed.” Her eyes softened. “He knew why King Stefanos, his father, wanted him to stay away from her, what he would do to him if he didn’t, and he still went after her. Do you doubt that he is in love with her?”

Brielle bowed her head looking like a child being scolded by her mother but I sat up straighter because I was actually interested in the topic. “What do you mean by that?”

Hiro sighed and exchanged looks with Brielle. “I…I can’t tell you.” “Why?”

“It’s not in my place to. I’ve already said more than I should. The last thing I want is to get in trouble with Stefanos.”

My eyes widened. “So, there are more secrets?”

“The Minos family is not one to be involved with,” Hiro said and Brielle nodded causing me to groan. “I think that emergency shopping is necessary right now. You need to get your mind off all these.”

I didn’t want to go shopping but she was right. I needed to every and anything to get my mind off Leon and focused on something else. “I’ll go with you on one condition.”

“What?”

I sighed feeling like I was about to sell my soul to the devil. “You’ll buy me food and chocolate.”

“Deal.”