Everlasting

Chapter 25

Griffin

It was a little disorienting to wake up alone in my childhood bed instead of my new place. It didn't help that Wulfric wasn't next to me. I still wasn't completely sure about what he did at night while I slept, but I loved knowing he was nearby, and he always crept back into the bed when he thought I was waking up. Sometimes I woke up before he got back, and would keep my eyes shut until he did. It was adorable.

Waking up like this, alone and with the memory of yesterday's awful revelations casting a shadow in my mind, was cold in comparison.

I checked my phone for messages (nothing since Wulfric's acknowledgment of my text from last night letting him know I was staying with my parents) and hurried downstairs, where I could hear the sounds of my siblings chattering and my fathers moving around the kitchen making breakfast. They didn't cook every morning, but at least half the time one of them would. Today, I didn't know if they were cooking because they felt like it or because they were still trying to cheer me up. I kind of hoped it was the second one, because I wasn't too proud to admit to liking my parents taking care of me sometimes. Especially on days like today, where I really, really didn't want to be an adult dealing with adult problems.

Like how I accidentally fed some of my life to my soulmate.

Or how awful he must be feeling about all of this. I probably should have stuck around to talk with him yesterday, but I was too overwhelmed at the time to do it. And then I made it worse by spending the night here instead of going back and spending it with Wulfric like we were used to.

I was going to have to talk to him today, but I had no idea what to say or how to feel.

When I got to the kitchen, Dad and Pop both had a little hitch in their movements as they not-so-subtly tried to get a good look at me. Then Dad turned back to the stove and Pop kept dicing tomatoes. It looked and smelled like we were having breakfast tacos today, and the thought had my stomach gurgling. The pack house always had great food provided by the kitchen staff, but it just wasn't the same as eating my dads' home cooking.

Meanwhile, Margo sat at the counter going on about her upcoming birthday (which wasn't all that soon, and which wasn't even the next birthday in our family). Apparently, she and her mate, Krish, were planning some massive road trip starting the day after she turned eighteen and Margo was trying to talk our dads into letting her do it a year early.

Yeah, like our parents would let her go galivanting cross-country at age seventeen. They couldn't possibly be considering it... right?

"...and after Yellowstone, we're going to visit these hot springs that are nearby. And there are places where you can go horseback riding! I've always wanted to try it and Krish already knows how, so it's perfect. And you know, his parents just got him a car with really great safety ratings, so there's nothing to worry about there either."

Dad was sort of nodding along as Margo spoke, and Pop's only contribution was to say, "We'll have to think about it, honey. Let's talk again later."

Margo squealed and clapped her hands in excitement while I gaped at them. Dad's eyes flicked toward me again and I finally understood. They probably weren't entirely following everything Margo was saying because they were too focused on me.

That was confirmed when Dad's eyes widened and he spun toward Margo a minute later. "Wait, you want to do what?" he asked, and I laughed.

Tyler bounded into the room with Blair on his heels, providing a welcome distraction. He reached onto Pop's cutting board to steal a piece of tomato and Dad freaked out so bad, his spatula went flying out of his hands when he reached out to snatch Tyler's hand back.