“Yes,” Lucy said.“Rafael and two of his brothers were targeted this morning.Since the men went after them with rifles, they weren’t aware—”
“Quinn said the contracts didn’t come through her.”Kyllian cut Lucy off so Quinn wouldn’t hear the part about the Stone brothers being Gargoyles.
“But you didn’t ask her,” Lucy argued.
“She heard your question.”Kyllian tapped a button and put Lucy on speaker, hoping she wouldn’t catch him in the lie.“Sorry, but I had you on speaker.Let me talk to Quinn and call you back.”
“Yeah, okay.”Lucy hung up on him.
“What was that about?”Quinn asked.Kyllian squeezed the bridge of his nose.Keeping secrets was necessary, but sometimes it was hard.
“Three of my niece’s mate’s family were targeted this morning.”Kyllian didn’t want to explain Lucy’s mate wasn’t a Gryphon.
“Let’s go to my office.If there was a contract and it didn’t come to me, maybe I can figure out who took it.”
Kyllian followed Quinn.When she sat down behind her desk, he took the chair opposite and crossed his ankle on his knee.While she tapped away at her laptop, he studied the female, thinking back to when Ryker told the Hounds about their new handler.Havyk asked if Quinn was hot, and Ryker had responded,“She’s not bad, but she’s older than you and way too serious.”Meeting Quinn for himself, Kyllian could understand the sentiment.Well, the second, because the female was so much more than not bad.To him, she was gorgeous, even if she never smiled.Knowing what little he did about her, Kyllian didn’t imagine Quinn had much to smile about.How long had it been since she’d interacted with someone other than her father?Kyllian only knew about wolves in the wild, and they were pack animals, not solitary creatures.Did she have friends who came to visit?Or were she and Trenton too paranoid to allow anyone into their home?
As much as Kyllian loved Sutton and Rory, he’d go nuts if he only had the two of them in his life.He loved his brothers.He adored the twins.Kyllian was enjoying getting to know little Mateo and watching him come out of his shell the longer he was around the others.Quinn didn’t have siblings to hang out with.To get into trouble with.Cause chaos with.She only had her father, and to Kyllian, that was a sad existence.Not that he found fault with Trenton; the male was solid.But spending twenty-four seven with a parent was completely different than having a brother or sister to confide in.
“I’m not finding anything,” Quinn muttered as she continued typing.Kyllian’s beast rumbled in his head.Kyllian had been ignoring his Gryphon’s insistence that she was their mate.He didn’t deny she was beautiful.Or fierce.Seeing as how they didn’t have fated mates, he wondered why his beast was so adamant.
Her Wolf calls to me.
Literally?
Yes.She says you are her destined mate, but Quinn is against claiming you for some reason.
Probably because we’re not wolf kind.
I think it goes deeper than that.I feel so much sadness.
Someone hurt her.But if she never leaves...
This level of heartache is long reaching.
Quinn had been explaining her past to him before his phone interrupted them.It was possible whatever she had yet to tell him was related to that pain.Kyllian couldn’t imagine something so bad to keep someone holed up, especially a shifter.The need to let the animal out was like needing air to breathe.The Hounds were lucky in that they could shift into their Eagle and take to the sky.
“I’m not finding any chatter,” Quinn said.“But that’s not unusual.Most people who hire mercenaries keep their business private.Are you sure these men didn’t deserve the contract?”
“I’m sure.”
“Then tell me what you’re hiding.If they were targeted and still alive, these assassins aren’t very good at their job unless there’s something else at play.I can see one shooter missing, but three?”When Kyllian didn’t respond, Quinn sat back in her chair with a huff.“I get it.Keeping secrets, that is.Not your story to tell or something like that, right?Look.I don’t want my true nature spread to strangers either, so don’t worry about it.”
“Until about a year ago, I thought Gryphons were the only shifters out there.I won’t tell you what the others are, but I will tell you these are the good guys.They’ve been around as long as Gryphons have, which is since the beginning of time.”
“You said they are your niece’s mate’s family, so I guess mating between the species isn’t frowned upon?”
“Unlike Gryphons, these others have fated mates.Lucy was welcomed with open arms.”
Quinn chewed her bottom lip, looking across the room.When she turned her gaze back to Kyllian, she asked, “If Gryphons don’t have fated mates, how do you choose who to spend your life with?”
“From what I’ve been told, those who have found their other half say they just know.Or at least the beast does.Maveryck lived with his girlfriend but didn’t feel strongly enough to claim her.Since she was human and wanted the ring he wasn’t offering, she left.Four years later, she showed up with twins and just handed them off to our family and walked away.Soon after, Mav was on a merc job, pitted against a female assassin.When they met face-to-face, they didn’t kill each other.This little Russian spitfire grabbed his heart as well as those of his twins.Now they’re a happy family.”
Quinn tilted her head a fraction.“And that makes you smile.”
“I want all my family to be happy, but the twins make me smile, yes.Those two little boys light up the world.”
Quinn frowned harder.“And do you want that?The mate and kids?”
Kyllian could feel the turmoil in her question.He really needed to find out what happened in her past to cause such sadness.“It’s complicated.”Best to get this conversation over with sooner rather than later.“I would love to find the other half of my soul, but she’s going to have to be understanding with my lifestyle.”Kyllian uncrossed his legs and stood, walking over to the cabinet where the liquor was stored.He helped himself to some whiskey before answering.“Not many people are aware of this, so if you would keep it to yourself, I would appreciate it.I am a Dom at a BDSM club.My specialty is pain.It doesn’t have to be sexual, and most often it isn’t.”A low growl sounded from Quinn’s throat, and Kyllian’s Gryphon rumbled in his head.It liked the jealousy.“If I were to find my mate, all sexual encounters outside our relationship would cease immediately, but I enjoy the service I provide.I’m good at it.Some people need a different type of therapy.”
“Would you give up being a Dom if your mate asked you to?”
“Being a Dom is as much a part of me as my Gryphon.Unless my mate liked a good flogging to allow me that release, then probably not.I’m not saying I wouldn’t compromise.I would give up doing private sessions that were sexual in nature.But to me, the perfect mate allows you to be your true self.They don’t ask you to temper the parts of you they might not understand.They accept you completely.Like with my brothers and their mates.The females might not like that they’re mated to mercenaries, but they not once asked them to give up the job because it went against what they believe.They understand the job is providing a service to humanity – taking out the trash.What if you found your mate and they asked you to give up being a handler?Or leave the solitude of your home?”
Quinn picked up an ink pen and twirled it between her fingers.“I would tell them to go fuck themselves,” Quinn muttered just as her computer pinged.With Quinn focused on the screen, Kyllian relaxed.He might be her true mate, but if her reaction to him being a Dom was any indication, things between them wouldn’t work.
She just needs time.She’ll come around.
Maybe.