Laura Jo Phillips by The Gryphons' Dream: Soul Linked#5 Read Free Book Online Page B

were gone the Gryphons sat back down, their appetites suddenly gone. 
    “What happened?” Rand asked.
    “I don’t know,” Olaf replied.  “She just turned white for no apparent reason, then all but ran out of the room.”
    “No, there was a reason,” Rudy argued.  “I think it was a response to something you said.”
    “What did I say?” Olaf asked in surprise.  “I know I didn’t say anything offensive.  I was talking about business.”
    “You said that if you cannot trust family, then who can you trust,” Rudy reminded him.  “That’s when she shot to her feet and left.”
    Olaf nodded thoughtfully.  “Yes, you’re right.”
    “Do you think she was betrayed by her family?” Rudy asked.
    “I think it’s a distinct possibility,” Rand replied. 
    “I cannot imagine what that would be like,” Olaf said, shocked by the idea. 
    “Nor can I,” Rand agreed.  “It would be devastating, that much is certain.”
    “Yes, it would,” Olaf said.  “I wish that we could ask her about it, but she has done nothing to indicate she would appreciate our curiosity into her personal life.”
    “No, she hasn’t,” Rudy said.  “Olaf, I have to admit that seeing her without the Controller has not changed my feelings about her, though I cannot really say what those feelings are.”
    “No?  Mine have certainly changed,” Olaf said.  “But not in the way I expected.”
    “As have mine,” Rand said.  “I do not understand it.  Why do we feel so attracted to this woman who hides her face, barely speaks, and is most definitely not our Arima?”
    “Don’t forget that our people have been mating with human women for centuries now,” Rudy pointed out.  “There is nothing unusual about a Clan Jasani male-set falling in love with a human woman.  Our fathers certainly loved our mother.”
    “That’s true,” Rand said.  “If we had met her three or four years ago, we would not think twice about exploring these feelings we have for her.”
    “But we didn’t meet her four years ago,” Olaf said.  “There is no changing that fact, or the fact that Arimas have been found.  Without human women our people would not exist, and for that we must honor them for all time.  But Clan Jasani are born to mate with one specific female created for them alone.  The time for us to return to waiting for our Arima has come.”
    “Because four Arimas have been found is not a promise that we will find ours,” Rand pointed out. 
    “No, it is not a promise,” Olaf agreed.  “But there is a chance.  What if we mate with a human woman, and then discover our Arima?”
    “What if we let a woman we care for slip away, and never find our Arima?” Rudy countered.
    “Are you saying that you are in love with Aisling?” Rand asked.
    “No,” Rudy replied thoughtfully.  “I do not really know what it is that I feel for Aisling at this moment.  She raises many feelings in me, most that I do not fully understand.  What I’m saying is that we cannot see the future, so why plan our lives around what may, or may not happen?”
    “Let’s not forget our dreams,” Rand said.  “We promised to wait for the woman we have all dreamed of.  Regardless of who, or what, she may be.”
    “The question is, is Aisling that woman?” Olaf asked.
    But that was a question none of them had an answer for.
    ***
    Karma followed Aisling back out to the garden, catching up with her as she reached the center pavilion.
    “Aisling, are you all right?” she asked when Aisling stopped walking.
    Aisling stood with her arms crossed tightly in front of herself, her head down, a curtain of dark red hair hiding her face.  But Karma wasn’t fooled.  She’d been watching Aisling for weeks now.
    “Come on Ash, tell me why you’re so angry,” she urged.
    Aisling’s head came up, her green eyes wide with surprise, though the golden ring that glowed when she was happy was now dark with anger.  She opened her mouth, then closed