Unafraid by Cat Miller Page A

feeling washed over Griffin and he followed Mason who ran up
the grand staircase and down the long hall to his bedroom. Griffin
stopped at the door when Mason entered his bedroom. A moment later
there was an anguished female howl from inside the room. Debbie had
made that noise. He barged into their private space ready to fight
off whoever had made his friend’s sweet mate make that agonizing
sound.
    He found them huddle against the wall in the
master bathroom. Mason cradled a fragile and terrified Debbie on
his lap. Mason was apologizing to his pretty little mate while
actual tears slid down his face. Griffin scanned the room but they
were the only ones there. It took a minute for it all to sink in.
It seemed Mason and Debbie had a very strong bond already. Debbie’s
link to Mason was so strong that she could feel his pain. While him
and Mason where beating each other to a pulp, Debbie would have
been hurting along with Mason and she would've had no idea why she
was in such pain. It must have terrified her.
    In that moment when he should’ve been feeling
remorse, Griffin’s chest burned with jealousy. His friend had what
he hadn’t known he wanted until Tessa. How could Mason know this
kind of love and still want to deny Griffin the same connection?
Griffin knew why though. Tessa was human and that was unacceptable.
Even if he tried to bond himself to her, it might not work. He
could be forever linked to a human who could leave him and never
look back if the blood bond didn’t take. Even if the bond did take
it was a huge risk that would end his life in the Vampire Nation,
as well as leaving the House of Vaughn with no one to fill his seat
on the Council if they refused to accept his human mate. It would
be a disaster for his family.
    Griffin backed out of the room without a
word. Watching the couple hold onto each other so tightly in
wordless comfort made him feel like an interloper. He would
apologize to Debbie another time. For now he would go home, to his
real home in the vampire owned building he had occupied for the
past five years and lick his wounds. He doubted he would ever
return to the hastily bought condo he had invested in so he could
be with Tessa. Whether she believed it or not, he loved her. The
condo hadn’t been a place to hide her until he was finished with
her. He’d bought it to keep her safe under his roof in the kind of
home she deserved until he could find a way to get out of his
bonding to Sarah.
    His intentions didn’t matter anymore. The
futility of the situation wore him out emotionally and mentally. He
couldn’t find even one example of a couple successfully breaking a
bond prearranged by their families. He had consulted lawyers and
combed through every reference book pertaining to bonding law and
the validity of arranged bonds he could find in the Council Hall’s
vast library. Even if he found a way out, he would still lose
everything for choosing a human. It was hopeless and Griffin was
sick to death from thinking about it.
     
    * * *
    Griffin returned to the structure and flow
that was his life. He had a business to run, employees to support
and his duties as a fledgling Councilman to keep him busy during
the day. His parents were pleased to see him return to his normal
routine and the days went by slowly.
    He hunted when it was absolutely necessary,
but he took no pleasure in the act. No one tasted like his Tessa.
Her blood was sweet and satisfying while running down his throat.
When he fed from Tessa it would sustain him for days longer than it
should. He believed her supernatural sight somehow made her blood
stronger, richer with the nutrients he needed to survive. He knew
he would never again have the honor of burying himself between her
legs while he suckled the slender column of her neck.
    There had been several social events he’d
been required to attend but Griffin just couldn’t dig up the
interest he used to have for rubbing elbows with his peers or
admiring the lovely