Chapter 40: Griffin

40

GRIFFIN

S crambling up the rock face, it isn't lost on me that the beast has gone quiet. Diplomacy is not his strong point. Now that the fighting and marking is over, he has conveniently disappeared, leaving me to deal with the fall-out from his actions.

Ben and Jack wait a distance away. They don't want to disturb Kali with what's about to be said. Or done.

There was no time for discussion before, but from the look on Ben's face, he's decided now is the time to have it out.

"You took her? You knew where she was all along?" Ben lunges for me, his fingers just tangling in the front of my shirt, when Jack steps between us, using his big body to keep Ben away. "We were freaking out. The whole town was out looking, and you just let us?"

"Ben, you agreed only two seconds ago not to attack him!" Jack hisses, using his shoulder to shove Ben back.

I shake my head at Jack, and he loosens his hold. It would probably feel pretty good to get decked by Ben. Kali's too nice to hold what I did against me.

"I didn't know."

My quiet words don't register with Ben. Instead, he gets in my face and shoves me hard, sending me stumbling back a few steps. My beast remains silent. Me getting into a fist fight with her cousin isn't what she needs right now.

"She could have died up there. You wasted everyone's time and lied to our faces, when we'd already been through hell over John and the missing girls." Ben is furious, and rightly so. "What the fuck were you thinking? What if Jed had found her while you were pretending to search with the rest of us?"

Ben isn't trying to attack me anymore, but his eyes still glow, showing he's on the verge of it. Jack remains between us but stares at me too, jaw clenched and expression distrustful.

"I didn't know," I repeat. "I had no idea he'd taken her. He knew I wouldn't be on board, so he locked me out."

Ben and Jack exchange a look before Ben starts to growl again, deciding that I'm full of shit.

"I know that sounds ridiculous, but I didn't even know about beasts until I met Kali a few days ago. Why do you think I have so little control?"

Both men gape at me. That has their attention. "You'd never shifted until a few days ago? That's not possible." Jack looks horrified as he stares at me through new eyes.

"I don't know what to tell you." Shrugging my shoulders, I throw my hands up. "I was getting more and more violent and out of control. John suggested I come up here and work with him, that the outdoors would help me. I'm presuming he knew what I was and wanted me to meet all of you, be with my kind. Except then he went missing."

Ben nods, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Sounds about right."

John was a good man. Ben knows that's something he would do.

"And by the time I came up here to replace him instead, I'd already had at least one black out, and I was starting to get worried I was losing my mind." Looking at Jack, I grimace, remembering that night I bolted into the woods. "That's when we met."

Jack's eyes narrow, making sense of why I was acting so strange. It wasn't just the mate bond that made my beast see him as a rival, even though we hadn't even met Kali yet. He was wild and out of control anyway.

"That's what tipped me over the edge. Somehow, I ended up near her cabin, and she found me…" Holding Ben's gaze, I show him how serious I am. "She saved me from cracking up completely. Told me about my beast. Encouraged me to let him off the leash a bit."

Ben huffs. "How'd that work out for you?" He casts his eyes toward the cliff's edge, where Kali rests, hidden in the cave below.

"He might have taken his new found freedom a bit too far." I joke, because what else can I do? I can't go back and change things. I get it. I get that we fucked up, but all that matters now is that Kali's alive. "Everyone probably hates me, and my mate is going to be scarred for life from the experience, so nothing you can say to me is going to make me feel any worse." Blowing out a long, slow exhale, I force myself to calm. "I'll apologise to everyone. I'll do whatever I can to make up for it. I hate that everyone was unnecessarily worried."

Standing a bit straighter, I make sure they know I really mean this part. "But it seems like this shit with Jed was going to happen eventually, regardless. They just seized their opportunity now, while she was weak."

Ben purses his lips, still staring off into the distance. "John spoke to her parents not long before he disappeared. Said he thought Kali should leave Zora Hills, that living there would get dangerous for her."

John was a smart man. And if Kali was important to Evan and Ben, she was important to him. He was looking out for her, too.

"Did he have a reason to think that?" I ask, desperate to know what John might have uncovered.

Had Jed been planning something all along? Maybe this wasn't as opportunistic as I thought.

Ben shakes his head. "They only mentioned it to me for the first time when Kali went missing. But John never gave them any reason for what he said. Just that Kali needed to think about leaving town before things got nasty."

Suddenly, the void he's left behind hits me again, and I wish he was here to guide me through this. Ben's sad expression makes me think he's feeling the same. John knew something, but now, we might never find out what.

"Did you even know this place existed before today?" I ask Ben.

By the way his whole posture tenses and his expression darkens, I assume that's a no.

Jack answers instead of Ben, who's staring out over the incredible view. They both own the local adventure tour company and should know every blade of grass on these mountains.

"No. Never knew. I've been past these cliffs countless times, but I always thought it was sheer rock on the way down. Never knew there was anything up here."

If the owner of the local hiking store and a professional adventure guide didn't know these caves existed, it seems John was doing a good job of keeping them to himself. But why?

"Why wouldn't John have told anyone?" I ask, not expecting an answer from anyone. It doesn't make sense.

"Beats the fuck out of me. Just like I don't understand why he told you rather than his own kids." Ben sounds hurt. Like the fact that John never told him about this place was some kind of slight against him. He's about to march off, his emotions getting the better of him, but my next words stop him in his tracks.

"The cave is on the map, Ben."

Ben turns slowly, gaze intense, taking a big step toward me. "What?"

"What map?" Jack asks, confused.

Interesting. Ben hasn't told him about the map. Seems John isn't the only one who's good at keeping secrets.

"The cave. It's on the map. So is the hunting cabin. That's how my beast knew where to find it."

Ben stops moving toward me and turns on the spot, looking at the area around us with fresh eyes and trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together.

"So, John told nobody these caves were here?" Still spinning, Ben's eyes widen. "But they were important enough for him to hide the details of their location away somewhere."

Nodding, I let Ben process this news, hoping he'll find some useful conclusion that I couldn't. While Ben ponders what John's motivation was, Jack edges closer to the ledge of the cliff, head tilted to the side.

"What the hell was that?" Jack asks suddenly, and we all fall silent, the map forgotten now that there's a more pressing matter at hand.

Creeping closer to Jack's position, my heart pounds. Nobody could have snuck past us, and there's no way somebody could climb up the rock face. At least, not without proper climbing equipment and a good bit of time on their hands.

Jack leans over the edge and stares out, his attention being pulled by something down below. He nods and points out a small outcrop of rocks at the base of the cliff.

Immediately, my beast awakens, and the now familiar darkness seeps into my veins. We're not safe yet. Instead of standing here chatting, we should have been on the move.

Posture stiff, Jack turns back to us, eyes glowing. "There's someone down there. I can only sense one person, though. Could it be Henry?"

Ben shakes his head. "He's got too much going on. I doubt he's set foot outside the police station in the last forty-eight hours." Ben edges closer to Jack's side and peers down.

"Jed?" Jack asks, raising a hand to his brow to shield his eyes from the sun. "Would he be stupid enough to come here alone?"

I can't see anything moving, but my beast senses another presence, and he's not happy, but he doesn't want to leave Kali's side to go and investigate, either. It's not Jed. I know for certain he wouldn't come here without backup.

"I don't think so." Ben's eyes are glowing as he scents the air. "I think it's Jed's fucking sister."