Everlasting

Chapter 29

Griffin

I rubbed idly at my chest and sagged further into the overstuffed couch cushions. At this point, I'd lost track of how many hours I'd been watching cooking shows, but it was the least romantic television I could think of. Even home improvement shows were full of couples either searching for or fixing up their family homes. So, cooking it was.

The chef on-screen, who had just spent two hours of her life on what looked like an amazing meal, threw it all onto the plate in a big heap without even bothering to wipe the splattered sauce away from the rim. "Presentation!" I shouted at the TV, and tossed a pillow at it for good measure.

In all fairness, she had been out of time for plating and also, it's not like I could do any better. But it was still satisfying when the woman nervously set down the plate in front of the judge, who looked at it for all of two seconds before commenting on the presentation. I laughed just as Pop walked in. He looked between me and the TV with raised brows. "What's so funny?"

"You had to be there," I dismissed. He nodded and shifted in discomfort. Oh, no. I knew what this was about. "I'm not ready to talk to Wulf," I preempted.

Pop's lips pressed into a thin line, almost like he was trying hard not to smile. What about this could possibly be amusing to him? "Then you might want to clear out of here, because he's on his way."

"What?" I sat up, sending the rest of the pillows that had been piled into a fort around me scattering. "What do you mean, he's on his way?"

Pop held up his phone. "I just got a call from the security gate. Since Wulf isn't officially in the pack yet, they can't let him onto pack grounds without someone there to sign him in... unless I approve it."

My mind went back to the many times Wulf had come and gone from our territory over the past weeks, sometimes with me and sometimes without. Had they called my father every single time I wasn't there? That was so... so...

Embarrassing.

It was almost enough to distract me from the matter at hand: that Wulf was on his way here. I seriously contemplated running away again, but that was just a little too mean. I had to stop avoiding him sometime. It would only get scarier the more I kept putting it off.

"Thanks for letting me know," I said.

Pop nodded. "Sure. Do you want me to stick around?"

"Thanks, but no."

I thought Pop would leave, then, but he didn't. "Griffin? I know you've had a lot to cope with lately, but I think there's some perspective you might have missed. So many werewolves have human mates, and they make it work. Even with their mate not able to feel the bond and knowing nothing about the supernatural world, they are able to build a relationship. You've already got a huge head start on those people. Your mate knows what you are and he accepts it. Just something to think about."

Pop patted my shoulder on his way out of the room, and I was left alone. I felt a little annoyed he was butting in, and even more annoyed that I grudgingly had to admit that he was right. But knowing that didn't make me feel any better.

I strained my ears, waiting to pick up on the sound of someone approaching the house. Then I realized Wulfric would probably assume I was at my apartment in the pack house, not at my parents' place. Unless I went and found him, I probably had a little time to get my bearings and make a plan for what I wanted to say to him.

Except that ended up not being the case at all. I got up to run to the bathroom and check my hair, which was mussed and sticking out in all directions after I spent the last day lounging on it. I didn't even get to run gel through it before I heard a car parking in one of the spots near my parents' house. Based on the timing, Wulfric must have guessed I'd be here, after all. The idea warmed me and made me feel just a little bit more ready to have this talk.