Everlasting

Chapter 2

Griffin

I felt dirty.

I looked down at myself and my bedpartner and sighed. No, I was dirty.

How did this happen again? When Kitana invited me out last night, I had agreed to go on the condition that she wouldn't let me go home with anyone. And she had promised. "You're walking in with me, and I'll be damned if you don't leave with me," she'd said.

Well, it looked like she was damned.

I shifted carefully, doing my best to get out of the bed without waking my bedfellow, who was thankfully still conked out. At least it was a man this time. You didn't have to worry about pregnancy with a man.

My clothes were flung around the room and I rolled my eyes. Some people seemed to think it was hot if they vigorously undressed you, but in the moment, I never realized my clothes were being thrown around and in the morning, it wasn't sexy to have to crawl around the floor looking for them. I found everything but my second sock without too much difficulty and I seriously considered leaving it behind in the interest of getting out of here as quickly as possible, but I caught sight of a flash of white under the nightstand. Good. Let the only sign I'd ever been here be dirty bedsheets.

After verifying that my wallet, phone, and keys were still tucked into the pockets of my jacket, I slipped out of the apartment. A woman was entering the apartment across from this one and raised her eyebrows at me, but I ignored her and headed outside.

As soon as my eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight, I made a call. I felt too conspicuous, standing there out in the open while I waited for my cousin to pick up the phone. When it went to voicemail, I wanted to curse. I even seriously debated leaving a string of foul language in a voicemail, but she never checked her voicemails until the inbox was full and it just wasn't as satisfying knowing that. She needed to know how upset I was with her today.

I hung up and tried my sister. No answer.

I clenched my phone in my hand and considered my remaining options. Uncle Magnus would be working, and since he was co-alpha of our pack, I really shouldn't interrupt him to come pick me up from a booty call. Aunt Mel would be furious to know I hadn't waited for my mate (as though that ship hadn't sailed a long, long time ago). Neither of their mates, Uncle Lachlan or Uncle Jason, would keep this from my parents.

Which meant I might as well bite the bullet and get this over with.

I called my Pop, Felix. You'd think he'd be the scarier one to deal with since he was the head warrior in our pack, but he was actually a huge softie. Besides, disappointing him never felt nearly as bad as disappointing my other dad, Everett.

He answered on the second ring. "Griffin? You never came home last night. Are you okay?"

See what I meant? He could always make me feel good, even in a bad situation. His first reaction was concern for me, not lecturing. "Yeah, Pop. I'm good. But... I need a ride."

I waited through a too-long silence, and I thought I could imagine the exact look of disappointment on his face. "Where are you?"

I looked around, but didn't recognize my surroundings. "Um, hang on one sec." I quickly pulled up the map app on my phone and shared my location with my dad, then put the phone back to my ear.

"We'll be there soon."

We? Damn it. "Okay. Thanks."

"I love you," Pop said, and I had to smile again even though I knew I was in trouble.

"Love you too."

We hung up, and I sat down on the curb to wait. After maybe ten minutes, a scent wafted in the air. Someone was growing nearer. The scent tickled my memory, and it took me too long to realize it was the person whose scent I currently wore. I would have cursed, but I didn't want him to hear me. I ducked behind a car in the parking lot just before the apartment door swung open, and I held my breath while I waited to be discovered.