Mated to the Griffin (Elemental Mates 5)

Everything was perfect. The rays of the morning sun were warming her face, she was clutching her second cup of coffee, she was all filled up on eggs and bacon, and her gorgeous mate was sitting across from her, gloriously shirtless.

But Auntie Mary still wasn’t answering, and she had no idea who else to call. They didn’t have much family left, and she’d never been particularly close to anyone. None of her distant cousins would have any idea what was going on with her dad. Auntie Mary was the only one who bothered to always keep up to date with family gossip.

Frustrated, she took another sip of coffee, then tried calling again.

And this time, at long last, someone picked up.

“Chiara, is that you?” the familiar voice of her aunt said. “Oh, thank god, I’ve been trying to find you!”

Chiara suppressed a sigh. Whatever her aunt had tried to do, it clearly hadn’t involved checking her messages.

“What’s going on?” Chiara said. “I was just calling to find out how Dad’s doing—”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! Chiara, where are you? Your father found out that you’ve sold everything and left for France! He was distraught; I couldn’t talk sense into him. He said it was all his fault—”

Shit.

“It’s all right, Auntie Mary. I’m back now. I’m doing okay—I’m doing fine, actually. I met someone...”

“Never mind about that,” her aunt said, sounding worried.

Chiara straightened. What was going on? If her aunt ignored the news that Chiara had finally found someone, something had to be very, very wrong...

“It’s your dad. He was worried for you. I couldn’t talk him out of it!”

Chiara’s heart was suddenly racing. “What did he do?”

“He bought a plane ticket and left for France. To search for you.”

Chiara slumped back into her chair, relief and horror rushing through her. “I’m not even in France anymore! And how would he find me there? I was hiking in the mountains...”

“I’m so worried for him,” her aunt said. “At his age, and all alone in a strange country!”

“He’ll be all right,” Chiara said firmly. “They do speak English there. Maybe he’ll just have a really nice time sightseeing in Paris.”

But what if he ran into another shadow dragon?

“Don’t worry—oh, Auntie Mary, please don’t cry! I’ll take care of it, I promise!”

It took another minute or two until she’d convinced her aunt that yes, she was completely sane, and no, the man she’d met wasn’t imaginary or one of her alien hunters.

By the time she ended the call, Jared was looking at her worriedly.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

She shook her head. “My dad... I thought he was angry with me for throwing my life away. Well, I guess he was. But he was also worried. I knew he was worried, that’s why he was so upset with me. But I didn’t think...”

She took a deep breath. They’d only just made it back home. And she hated to drag Jared away from his parents when they’d only just found each other.

But she also knew that she’d never forgive herself if she abandoned her dad now.

“He bought a plane ticket to France to go and search for me. Can you believe it?”

Even now, despite her worries, there was a warm glow inside her. Her dad hadn’t given up on her. He still loved her. He’d loved her enough to come after her.

“I can,” Jared said softly, smiling at her. “Wouldn’t you do the same if you had a child who ran away to search for aliens?”

Despite herself, she had to laugh. Wouldn’t that serve her right if her own kids turned out to be just as much trouble as she’d been!