She flushed at the thought, looking away from Jared to try and gather her thoughts. Why did he have to make it so hard to think?
Now that the shock of his sudden revelation was passing, she had to admit that he wasn’t at all like the werewolf or the dragon shifter.
And what he’d said rang true. If every shifter was like the werewolf she’d seen, then why weren’t the papers full of articles about them? Surely it would be impossible to cover up werewolf attacks.
Someone was keeping them under control. And if Jared was right—if there were good people among the shifters who just wanted to live in peace—then it would make sense that they’d have some sort of shifter police and government.
“I believe you,” she said slowly. “I believe that you didn’t try to trick me. After all, you could’ve just stolen my map when I showed it to you. But you helped me instead. And you saved me.”
Just like that, the sadness vanished from his face. Instead, his eyes shone with hope, the brilliant, irresistible blue of the summer sky.
There was no trace of shadow in them. He might be a shifter—but he definitely wasn’t one of Zane’s cronies.
She was absolutely certain of that.
Chapter Twelve: Jared
Jared felt himself relaxing a little when Chiara at last stopped glaring at him.
“I’m still not happy you didn’t tell me,” she said. “And just for the record, this doesn’t mean that I’m officially changing my stance towards the supernatural world.”
“Shifter world,” he couldn’t resist saying. He tilted his head at her, smiling a little. “Makes it sound less like we’re trapped in a bad B movie.”
She huffed a surprised little laugh, her eyes no longer quite as wary. “Shifter world.” She rolled her eyes at him—but she was smiling. “And thanks for rescuing me. Without you, I’d probably be dead now. I didn’t think to buy any charms against dragons.”
Jared felt his own smile widen. “Do those actually work?”
Chiara shrugged. “I haven’t been eaten by werewolves yet, have I? Of course it could also mean that there simply aren’t that many werewolves around...”
“Well, if you ever find a working charm against evil dragons, let me know. I know someone who’d be very interested.”
“Really?” Chiara asked, then yawned. “You know what, by this point I don’t care anymore if you’re besties with an entire coven of dragons.”
“A council of dragons,” Jared corrected, laughing so
ftly. Then he stood, looking around the small bedroom. “But you’re right. You should sleep. It was an exhausting night.”
“You can say that again,” she muttered as she slumped back onto her pillow with a sigh. “My entire body hurts.”
Jared stretched his shoulders. Even though he was used to flying long distances, he’d never flown that fast before. He’d known only one thought: to find his mate before it was too late.
Now his own muscles protested. His exhausted griffin wanted nothing more than to pull his mate into his arms and sleep with his face buried in her adorable mermaid hair.
He made himself turn away from her.
In a cupboard to his left, several woolen blankets were stacked. Probably because it got very cold in winter.
Now he took the blankets out and spread them on the floor.
“What are you doing?” Chiara asked after a moment.
He gave her an apologetic look. “I’d take the couch, but... we don’t actually seem to have a couch. And I wouldn’t fit into the armchairs they’ve got in the living room.”
“No, I mean...” Chiara hesitated for a moment. Then she pulled back the blanket and gave him a challenging stare. “You rescued me. You went after a dragon for me. I’m not letting you sleep on the floor after that.”
Jared let go of his blanket, looking up at her from his position on the floor as warmth began to spread through him.
Maybe he hadn’t ruined everything. Maybe she could really forgive him...