“Aye. All’s well. For the moment, at least.” Which means that I should really let go now…
As if reading his mind, Hayley’s fingers tightened on his hand. “You know,” she said softly, “I was thinking earlier about how Halloween lets you pretend to be someone else, just for one night. I was thinking how much fun that would be.”
“That does sound like a grand time.” He looked down into her upturned face. “Who would you like to be?”
“Just a woman.” Tentatively, as if doubting her welcome, she leaned into his side. “Just a woman, out with her son. And her man.”
Griff drew in a short, sharp breath, longing piercing his heart like an arrow. He was fiercely aware of every point of contact between her body and his.
I shouldn’t. It’ll only make it harder to stop.
“Aye,” he said, his voice as soft as hers had been, as if reality couldn’t notice them as long as they were whispering. “I’d like to pretend that too. Just for one night.”
He felt Hayley’s tense muscles relax. She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Just for one night.”
“Why are you slowing down, Mr. Griff? Hurry!” Danny pulled at Griff’s other hand, straining ahead like an eager puppy on a leash. “I can hear music! We’re nearly at the party!”
A couple of betas from the local wolf pack were hanging casually around the entrance to an alleyway, ready to politely—or not so politely—turn back any too-curious mundanes. Recognizing Griff, they waved the three of them through without challenge.
Griff hadn’t taken Hayley and Danny to the Full Moon before. Normally, the shifter-only pub was also an adult-only establishment. Not that it was a rowdy drinking den—Rose Swanmay, the proprietor, made sure of that. But it was a place for shifters of all types to relax and enjoy the company of their own kind, which meant it sometimes got a little boisterous. Children were not exactly banned, but they were usually discouraged.
But not tonight. Tonight, strings of tiny orange lights crisscrossed the narrow alleyway, turning it into a magical, glittering tunnel. The outside of the old, whitewashed pub had been transformed into a witch’s cottage from a fairytale, with fake cobwebs under the eaves and a mysterious, glowing cauldron bubbling next to the door. Jack o’ lanterns grinned cheerfully, candles flickering in the dark.
“Wow,” breathed Danny and Hayley together.
Griff smiled, enjoying the astonishment and delight shining from both their faces. “Halloween’s a bit of a special time for shifters,” he said as he led them toward the pub. “Traditionally, it used to be the night we let our animal sides run wild. Most of us don’t go out looking for some poor soul to chase down anymore, but we do still like to let our hair down a bit.”
“There’s Chase!” Danny waved excitedly at the pegasus shifter, who was standing near the door of the pub with a giggling pack of children gathered around him. “Hello, Mr. Chase!”
“Danny! Excellent, another child!” Chase hurried over, his entourage of kids following him like a line of ducklings. “Listen, I have a big favor to ask you. Also, completely coincidentally, I just so happen to have a great deal of chocolate.”
Griff blinked at Chase as light from the open pub door illuminated the pegasus shifter’s face. “What have you done to yourself?”
Chase spread his arms wide, beaming. “I, my friend, have outdone myself.”
Chase’s previously black hair was now almost every color of the rainbow, dyed in thick stripes from red to violet—every color, that is, except blue. That seemed to have been reserved for the rest of him.
His flight suit was blue. His boots were blue. His hands, face, and every single inch of exposed skin: Blue.
Griff shook his head. “I haven’t the faintest idea how you did that. Or, more importantly, why. What are you meant to be, a Smurf?”
“Your cultural references are sadly outdated,” Chase informed him haughtily. “If you were as down with the kids as I am, you would instantly recognize who I am.”
“Oh my.” Hayley giggled. “You haven’t. You’re actually…?”
Chase shimmered. Kids screamed in joy as the powder-blue pegasus pranced on the spot, his rainbow-striped mane and tail rippling.
“RAINBOW DASH!” Danny collapsed with laughter.
“What on earth is a Rainbow Dash?” Griff said, bewildered.
“Don’t ask,” said Chase’s mate Connie, coming up beside him. She rolled her eyes at her mate, who was now shamelessly posing for his delighted audience. “If you’d told me this time last year that I’d be spending the night before Halloween painting a horse blue, I’d have laughed in your face.”
“I didn’t even know you could paint horses.” Griff’s sharp eyes noticed that none of the dye was coming off on the hands of the small girls enthusiastically stroking Chase’s fur. “Ah…that stuff isn’t permanent, is it?”
“It wasn’t meant to be. I think Chase may have accidentally embedded it into his skin and hair, though, when he shifted back to human.” Connie smirked. “You should see where the rainbow stripes on his tail ended up.”
Hayley came back from admiring Chase, wiping away tears of laugher. “Hi Connie.” She gave Chase’s mate a brief, warm hug. The two had become fast friends since Griff had introduced them. “So, you weren’t tempted to go for a matching outfit? You’d make a wonderful Twilight Sparkle.”