Everlasting

Chapter 27

Griffin

Wulfric slept in later than me in the morning. He was entitled to it; after all, it had been years upon years since the last time he slept. I was also selfishly glad about it, because I finally felt like I could react to his newly-restored humanity.

Last night had obviously been the exact wrong time to be celebrating, but that didn't take away the aching relief that Wulfric was no longer immortal. From here, maybe we could finally find our way into having an actual relationship. So far, all we had shared was sex and companionship. Don't get me wrong, it was nice – great, actually – but I wanted something more like what my parents had. I wanted to feel connected to him by more than just the mate bond, but I had no idea how to navigate that.

And there went my celebratory mood.

The alarm on my phone started blaring, and Wulfric sat up and started blearily looking around for the source of the noise. His cold, dark eyes glared at my phone before he shot me a miffed look. It was adorable.

"What is that racket?" he grumbled.

"That's our cue to get moving. We're due at the magic shop in forty minutes."

Wulfric blinked a few times, and I wondered whether he was intentionally quashing his reaction to that. I was dying to know how he felt about the ritual that would be performed this morning, lifting the curse from the rest of his family. "Of course," Wulfric said after a long moment. He shifted and slid awkwardly from the bed, wobbling on sleepy legs for a moment before glaring down at them and stalking toward the bathroom.

"That went great," I muttered sarcastically under my breath. But I wasn't upset. Wulfric had a right to be grouchy or irritable or angry or miserable or whatever it was he was feeling, especially today. And I knew better than to take it personally.

Wulf and I quickly got ready and ran out the door. We swung through the kitchen to grab some fruit and toast to eat on the way there, and soon enough, we reached my car. Wulfric stood expectantly at the door to the driver's seat while I lifted an amused brow at him.

"Yes?" I asked.

"May I drive?" he asked, and I handed over my keys without question or argument. It was probably some kind of control thing. Too much of Wulfric's life was changing around him whether he wanted it to or not. If having the literal driving wheel when the metaphorical one was blocked to him made him feel better, who was I to complain?

Besides, this way I would be able to focus more on my food. Or so I thought.

Wulfric got the car running and swung out of the parking spot. He nearly hit one of my pack mates who was walking to her own car, and would have if it hadn't been for her quick reflexes.

"Wulf!" I didn't mean to yell at him, but it just came out. I waved an apology to my pack mate and made a mental note to send her flowers or something later, and to give her a proper apology.

Meanwhile, Wulfric stared through the windshield and looked about a second from throwing up, so I leaned over him to open his door. Wulfric climbed out of the car after a quick fumble with his seat belt.

"Are you okay?" I asked, joining him outside the car.

"I don't know what just happened," he said in a small voice. "I should have known that she was there."

Except that Wulfric's vision wasn't as acute as it had been just yesterday. And when I thought about it, I usually only gave parking lots a passing glance around myself. It was much more reliable to use my nose and ears to determine how close I was to other people and vehicles. Maybe Wulfric had done the same?