To Malk, what pet to buy was not a decision to be made lightly. Some people, friends included, had laughed at the amount of time he’d spent thinking about. Yet, while Malk could see the humor in spending over a year thinking about something so seemingly frivolous, he took his time all the same. After all it wasn’t just a decision that affected him, an animal somewhere was waiting to be adopted and Malk had a responsibility to make sure any animal he took home was the right one for him. It was something he considered important given the past few years.

Malk had spent the first half of his twenties building a small, but successful, merchant company, and the second half of his twenties trying to find somebody to share it with. Yet try as he might he’d never found the right person. Oh he’d met a number of nice women through friends or at parties, yet none of them ever really captured his eye. Now he was getting older, or at least older than most people who were still dating, and he’d begun to fear that he’d never find the right person.

After another mid-day get together, where he felt pressured to schmooze and rub elbows with whatever lady didn’t have a ring on her finger, he realized something. He had more fun visiting his friend’s dog than he did visiting his friend. And while his friend might not appreciate hearing that, it was never the less quite true. He decided that what he needed, if he couldn’t find the right person, was the right pet. A silly idea, quite laughable, but at least it would be some form of companionship. So he started to look into it.

What he found was, while Rigaby might not be a thriving metropolis compared to some other cities, it was large enough to cater to all sorts of eccentric rich folk and their silly fantasies. Of course there were dogs, cats, ferrets, birds, etc etc etc to be found but also more exotic things. Tame dragons large enough to ride, basilisks, cockatrice, things that were once considered dangerous monsters that had been, through time and effort, domesticated. Or at least domesticated enough to sell with only a short liability waiver and a no refunds policy. 

So, not wanting to choose incorrectly, Malk had spent most of his downtime thinking about just what it was that he wanted. So many options available, so many things to consider. First and foremost, he decided, he wanted a lifelong companion. Something that he could get to know over many years, who would be a faithful friend for life. Malk, as a human, might not live as long as some of the other races covering the world, but that still meant a good 50+ years easily. Of course this eliminated almost all of the mundane variety of pets, except parrots or maybe tortoises. Tortoises didn’t really strike Malk as ‘cuddly’ which was almost as high a priority as a long lifespan, so they were gone. Parrots seemed to delicate, not to mention loud, and Malk hardly wanted to accidentally hurt an animal friend by accident.

That left nothing but the more mythical animals. A fantastical menagerie of choices. He initially found himself pulled toward dragons, in part fueled by a child-like admiration of the noble beasts. Smart, sturdy, they could develop real relationships with their owners. They might not speak English, true, but they seemed to understand much of it all the same. On top of that when you wanted to buy a dragon for a pet you had to let the dragon choose you. You couldn’t just walk in looking for a blue one with fancy stripes, you had to introduce yourself to the young reptiles and the one that approached you was the one you were allowed to buy. Dragons made actual friends, not pets. They were too smart to be owned outright, they simply liked you and allowed you to take care of them in exchange for their companionship. 

Malk fell in love with that concept instantly. The idea of having an animal for a friend, legitimately smart enough to build an actual relationship. He even went out to a dragon breeder, but sadly none of the current hatchlings seemed interested in him. The breeder apologized and adamantly tried to explain that it just happened sometimes, and he shouldn’t take it personally. He said in another year there would be another hatching, and if Malk would only come back later surely he could find a willing dragon then. Malk thanked him for his time and tried not to let his disappointment show on his face. He tried not to, he really did, but he still felt rejected, hurt even. Perhaps that feeling is eventually what turned him away from the idea of a dragon pet, no more reason than him being a spurned and prideful fool. Either way, after more thoughtful study he found the pet for him. A gryphon. 

They were much like a dragon in many ways, they were incredibly smart, social animals. The more he thought about it the more he was sure, a gryphon would make the right companion for him. They were expensive to care for, even a single griffon demanded a huge outdoor aviary for it to be happy, but Malk didn’t mind. He was hardly living the opulent life of a massively successful trader, but he did more than okay for himself. It took about a year just to save up the money and build the space for his pet. In that time he visited a number of breeders in the city. It wasn’t a requirement to be chosen by a gryphon the way it was with dragons, gryphons could be convinced of you over time if necessary, but he had a whole year to find the perfect one anyway.

In the spring of the year he did just that. She was an adolescent already, older than a gryphon would normally be adopted, and her breeder was worried that the poor thing might end up going feral if nobody came along soon. For Malk it was an easy decision. In truth it wasn’t even his decision, the avian had her eye on him from the moment he walked in. What it was about him that attracted her he could never know, but attract her it did. She came right up to him immediately on seeing him, her beak clacking curiously, her bright golden eyes studying him. She pushed her head into his chest, smelling him, and in short order she was rolling around on the ground at his feet, demanding he scratch her belly within a few minutes of meeting him. The breeder claimed he’d seen nothing like it before, and was more than happy to hold the gryphon on reserve until Malk’s home aviary was ready. 

For months he had to wait, building things took time not to mention things like permits and building zoning issues. It was a mess and would have caused Malk endless headaches, except he couldn’t have been happier. He’d visit that breeder almost every day just to visit his pet, the waiting was intolerable but at least he was already building a bond with the gryphon. Eventually the breeder even gave him a spare key to the aviary so he could let himself in whenever he liked. 

The gryphon wasn’t even full size yet, and wouldn’t be for years, but her head came up to Malk’s chest and the weight of her would send him tumbling from his feet when she tackled him in greeting. He hadn’t named her, it felt odd to only think of her as ‘the gryphon’ for months, but he wanted to come up with something special. Eventually the work was finished and she could come home with him. 

The day he put a leash on her for the first time and walked her out the door was something else. Gryphons are very smart, and she knew what a collar and leash were for just from watching other gryphons come and go. The very second she saw them in Malk’s hands, as he walked into the breeder’s aviary for the last time, she went wild. Flying around the enclosure in ecstasy. Malk’s heart flew with her, he was already in love with his playful bird and she didn’t even have a name yet. It took hours to calm her down, delaying their trip home even more, even after the excitement of leaving had worn off she’d continued to flap about just to make Malk chase after her. He laughed and laughed while other gryphons in the area scuttled out of the pair’s way. 

Eventually he caught her or she allowed him to catch her, it was all the same, and he put the big leather collar around her neck. It fit comfortably right at the line where her avian feathers met her lioness fur, neatly dividing the creature into its two animal forms. The leash clipped to the collar easily and they both proudly, majestically, marched out the door and toward Malk’s home, located just outside the city walls. 

Of course had the gryphon wanted she could have flown away right then, Malk would never have been able to stop her from flapping her powerful wings and leaving the ground. Even had those great wings been tied down she could have run off, her powerful leonine back legs chewing through ground faster than any human could have run. But she did not run or flee, and she never would, she was exactly where she wanted to be. She pushed her beak and her feathered head under Malk’s hand until he rested it lightly on her head as they walked. 

“I was thinking about your name,” Malk said, he had learned just how smart gryphons, and particularly his gryphon, were and talking to them like they were just another person seemed to be best. All the books on gryphon taming and rearing seemed to agree on that. The gryphon quirked her head, focusing on him with one golden eye, its slit pupil widening and contracting with interest. “I have a few suggestions, but I thought, maybe, you’d like to choose? Since it’s your name and all.” A pleased chirp and a clacking beak told him his suggestion was a good one.

“Okay how about this. I was thinking that you might want a powerful name, something noble and courageous sounding. Is that right?” The bird pinned its eyes and shook its head causing its feathers to rustle against each other. “No? Uhhh, well there goes most of my suggestions. You don’t want to have a pet name do you?” Again the gryphon shook her head. “A silly name?” A quick shake. “Exotic? Proud? Simple?” Each guess brought a quick shake and an expectant look. She couldn’t talk but she squawked and chattered at him, trying to communicate what she wanted. She was looking for something specific.

Malk just started listing off adjectives, making wild guesses. “Loud, strong, meek, important, feminine…” A loud squawk and a strong nudge on his leg nearly knocked him off balance. The gryphon was emphatically nodding, her mouth open. “Feminine?” Another nod. They were walking down a wide street leading toward one of the great gates in the wall. A gryphon in the road was enough to raise a few eyebrows but not much more and other people flowed around the pair, busy with their own affairs. “I don’t think I even know any feminine names. I spent all my time thinking of great gryphon names like Slagathor.” He tried to hide his smile behind his mouth but found himself laughing out loud at his own joke anyway. The gryphon looked at him flatly. 

“What about Esmerelda? That’s pretty feminine.” The gryphon walked calmly at his side, mulling it over. She tossed it around in her mind, as if examining it from all sides. Finally she nodded. “That’s a very pretty name, Esmerelda.” He said, using her name for the first time. She squawked and puffed up her head feathers companionably, one wing stretching out to rub his side. He smiled down at her. “It’s rather a mouthful though, what about something shorter like Ess, or Rel?” Esmerelda clacked her beak at the second one. “Then it’s settled, Rel for Esmerelda. A very pretty name for a very pretty gryphon.” 

Home was still a short walk away and Malk spent his time telling Rel all about it. He talked about his house of course, and how he had installed wider doors and tougher floors so she could come inside without breaking anything. He talked about the large aviary that connected his home to the barn, it had a net over the top of it and plenty of trees and rocks to climb and perch on, and he had made sure to put it on the sunny side of the house so she could sunbathe in the daytime. The barn was where she’d sleep, of course, and he could leave the door open to it so she had somewhere to go when it rained if he wasn’t home and the house was locked up. He droned on amiably. 

Rel listened to it all and padded along merrily at his side. She was expecting something small, despite what he said, but when they actually reached it she was pleasantly surprised. ‘Large aviary’ was putting it mildly, Malk had spared no expense and she couldn’t even see the back of it, the fine mesh net stretching across the tree tops, supported by tall wooden poles. She’d shared an aviary half this size with more than a handful of other gryphons. She leaped onto his chest as he was pointing things out, her leonine hind legs holding her up while her avian fore legs latched onto his shoulders. She buffeted him with her wings, flapping excitedly, while he laughed and tried to keep his feet under him during the vicious attack. 

Malk was ecstatic to see that she liked it so much, he walked her into his house and through the large back door that exited into the aviary. There was no entrance to the space directly from outside. He unhooked the leash and set it in a basket that hung on the side of the house. He tried to remove the collar as well but Rel squirmed in his arms, stopping him. She chirped at him, a bass sound from deep in her chest, and pulled her head away. “Want to keep it on?” he asked. “That’s fine, if you change your mind I can take it back off.” She tossed her head and the leather rattled lightly, her face seemed to say ‘okay, but I won’t’.

“Either way, come check this out.” He started walking toward the barn, Rel took a more roundabout route and flew around the space he had provided, checking out her new home. It was hardly past noon, Malk had made sure he would have plenty of time today, wrapping up any work and leaving the office quite early. He had more than enough daylight to let Rel flit around the area to her heart’s content, she’d meet him in the barn eventually.

He looked around the open space, hay covered the floor and where there wasn’t hay there were various furs and cloths. Rel would make a nest out of those later, when she was ready, until then they were piled as neatly as possible and left where she would find them. The barn contained all sorts of things he might need, tools of all kinds, extra bales of hay, a trough for water. He had considered hiring somebody part time, just to come in and take care of all the chores associated with owning such a large pet. It wasn’t the amount of money that it would have cost him that made him decide against it, in truth he just wanted to spend more time with the animal, even if some of that time was hard work. He pulled a stiff brush from a shelf on the wall as Rel walked in. 

She already had a leaf stuck in the feathers on her neck and he chuckled at her and pulled it out. She chattered her thanks at him. “This space is all yours, it has some things in it for me too, tools and such, but feel free to move them if you want them somewhere else. As long as you don’t break them, I don’t mind.” She nodded, her golden avian eyes were so intelligent. It was a shame she couldn’t actually speak a language he could understand. She seemed to understand him perfectly, it felt unfair that he couldn’t understand more than the general feel of her responses. “Last important thing,” he pointed to a big white box with a rope tied to a handle, “this box has all your food in it. I have more in the house, there’s more space there, but if you need something to eat its right there.” He pulled on the rope and the door swung out, revealing the chilled space full of cuts of meat. “Honor system though, don’t eat it all too quickly.”

Rel pushed her beak into the space. It was cold to the touch, which was odd, but she ignored that and grabbed a furred piece of meat. It tasted like rabbit, she gulped it down in a few tosses of her big head. Malk nodded and shut the door, the cold air flow stopped. “Shut the door too, the magic that runs these things isn’t cheap.”

He sat down on the floor amidst the clean hay, the brush still in his hand and sighed deeply. He held his arms out, open wide for embrace. “Now come here, I can’t believe you’re finally here!” Rel squawked loudly and leaped forward, knocking Malk backwards and sending up a cloud of hay dust where he landed. She kneaded his chest with her avian talons being careful not to hurt him, much like a large cat might, and he laughed underneath her. When he managed to sit upright again she closed her eyes happily and he brushed her fur, from the line of feathers on her neck all the way to the large plume of feathers that was her tail.

Gryphons couldn’t purr, despite their feline features, they just weren’t built to do that kind of thing, but Rel chittered and chattered happily. The sounds she made formed their own complex language, one that Malk had 50 years or more to learn. In time he might be able to actually understand her. For now he was content assuming these ones just meant she was happy and he ran the brush in long even strokes down her side.

The afternoon passed in a flash, Rel never left his side and he never left hers. The day would come where he would be at work or otherwise missing and she would be glad she had all that space in her aviary, but today she contented herself to follow him around. Her claws ticked brightly as she stepped on the stone floor inside Malk’s house. It used to be all fine hardwood but he had scratched that badly enough just moving chairs around, a gryphon would have torn it to pieces in seconds. 

The evening found him reading a book by the fire, Rel lying regally at his feet. It wasn’t cold, and it was almost uncomfortably hot with the fire lit, but Rel had seemed interested and wouldn’t stop chittering at him until he started one. The book was engrossing but it could hardly draw his attention away from his new friend. 

He had spent so much time learning about gryphons, talking to breeders, reading books on their care, and he still felt overwhelmed just by her presence.  For starters she was huge, already the size of a large lion and barely more than half grown. He’d designed things like the doors in his house with an adult gryphon in mind and looking at the empty frames combined with the shape sleeping at his feet made him realize just how much Rel there was going to be some day. 

He got up to make himself some dinner, being careful not to wake her. He stepped carefully around her and tried to avoid making any noise when he walked, yet when he looked into the living room through the door of the kitchen one big golden eye was gleaming at him. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. Just making some people food. Did you want anything?” She could get it herself, but it was polite to offer anyhow.

She stood up lazily, taking the time to stretch her limbs. She leaned backward to stretch her fore legs, her feathered tail raising and fanning out. Her position gave Malk a good look at what had previously been hidden under her tail. He quickly averted his eyes, even covering them with a hand. Sure, she was an animal and not subject to the same rules of decency as a human, but she was a SMART animal, and that made it feel somehow worse. She caught him still hiding his eyes and clacked her beak at him, making a sharp snapping sound by bringing it together quickly. What she meant by that he had no idea but it didn’t seem to matter, she was eyeing his food so he fished out a few hunks of raw meat from another one of those white boxes in the kitchen. Quickly forgetting about his pet’s impromptu display.

It seemed too easy to just hand them to her, so instead he thought to make a game of it. He mimed throwing one at Rel, it took a few times until she got what he was trying to say. She backed up a few paces and chirped when she was ready. He threw the first piece badly, it didn’t even make it far enough for her to have had a chance to catch it. She gave him a flat look and picked it up off the floor, holding it in her beak. She walked forward and gave it back to him before once again backing up and chirping. 

The second throw was much better, her talons scrabbled along the slippery stone floor as she tried to skitter to the side and snatch it out of the air. A deft movement of her head and the snap of her beak and she caught it neatly. No sooner had she done so than she threw her head back and the piece disappeared. Such were the rules of the game established, she could only eat it if she caught it.

In hindsight Malk, even Rel, should have seen trouble coming before it did. This was a great game, one they’d actively enjoy playing later, it was just not a great game to play inside the house instead of the wide open space of the aviary. A few short tosses led to some quickly devoured morsels but the last one went errant. It was far too wide for Rel to catch but her pride was on the line and she went for it anyway.

One bounding leap and her hind legs sent her careening toward the scrap of meat. On the upside she managed to snag it, evident glee shining in her eyes for the split second before she realized she couldn’t stop. The stone floor didn’t give enough traction for her to prevent herself from sliding across it, and she ran shoulder first into a small table that stood against the wall in the living room. The wood splintered, the table shattered, and books and ledgers went flying pell-mell through the air, landing in a wide array across the room. Loose leaf papers still floated slowly downward like rain when the gryphon looked up sheepishly.

A single sheaf landed near the fireplace and quickly ignited. Malk felt himself being to panic but the sheaf burnt up and crumpled quickly without accidentally spreading the fire further. He ignored it and ran over to Rel. It would take a bigger hit, much bigger, to actually hurt her, of course, but in the heat of the moment Malk was only thinking about her. She was staring at the floor through half lidded eyes, embarrassed, ashamed even, but perfectly fine. She stood up, the splintered remains of the desk falling away from her feet. 

She chittered sadly and refused to meet Malk’s gaze, but he gently grabbed her by the beak and stroked the feathers on her face. “It’s okay, it’s just an accident. They’re going to happen, don’t worry about it.” Rel glanced around at all the books and papers strewn about the room. Malk just shrugged, “Nothing important I’m sure, it’s late we’ll deal with it in the morning.” He hugged the neck of the big critter and she finally settled down. 

“Are you full? Need me to throw another one?” He asked, and laughed. Rel just chittered at him and clacked her beak again, but she seemed happier. He ruffled the feathers on her head, she closed her eyes and leaned into his hands. She seemed to enjoy it, Malk wasn’t sure he would ever quite get used to the idea of petting a creature nearly as large as he was. It was almost unnerving, she was so big she could hurt him just by playing too roughly, though she never would. He could see her being careful with her movements around him, it was sweet. A small, non-verbal, way to show she cared. 

A yawn welled up from deep in Malk’s chest and he stretched his arms outward. His mouth gaped and he tried to stifle the noise he made with the back of a hand. “I didn’t really mean to go to bed this early, but today has been such a long day. I think I’ll turn in.” Rel stood and watched him as he briefly tided the room, most of the mess from her little accident would be left for another day but it wouldn’t do to put bootprints on the back pages of a ledger. The fire had burnt down to coals and he poured sand on what remained. 

“Alright, good enough for now I suppose. C’mon, you don’t have to go to bed yet, if you don’t want, but you can’t sleep in here anyway.” Malk threw the back door open, a wide double door, it clattered against the side of the house. He held a hand out, gesturing at the gryphon to head out into the aviary, but she didn’t move. 

“Now’s not the time to be stubborn, girl. You can’t sleep in here, there’s no room. Even if you fit in the bedroom you’d tear the mattress to ribbons. Your bed is outside.” Still the gryphon did not budge. When Malk tried to slip a finger through collar and lead her out it was like trying to move a rock, one twice as heavy and half as stubborn as his bird. He sighed and brought his hands to his hips. If she thought she could walk all over him she had another thing coming, he’d been more than kind so far, he didn’t need this headache. He stood, feet wide, glaring at the bird. 

Eventually Rel did move, but not toward the door. She walked up to him and put her head into his chest, putting her beak down and butting into him with her feathered forehead. He softened instantly, determination melting away under the bird’s gentle touch, and took his hands from his hips to ruffle her feathers again. “What is it? Do you just want to spend the night with me?” She nodded, with her head pressed against Malk’s chest she practically pushed him off balance as she did. “You can’t Rel, it’s not that I don’t want you too, but you literally won’t fit through the door to the bedroom. It’s out of my hands.” The gryphon made a quiet keening noise, a low pitched whine, begging, or perhaps grieving. An oddly distinctive noise.

Malk gave in, one day wouldn’t hurt at least. “Okay fine, I’ll sleep in the barn. Is that what you want? Me to get covered in hay and wake with a kink in my back?” He huffed and flapped his arms dramatically but he went to the bedroom to change. Normally he’d sleep in the buff, but he wasn’t about to do that on a bed of hay, not to mention doing that next to his pet. He came back to the living room carrying a pillow and wearing an old tattered pair of slacks and an equally worn shirt. 

“Alright, lead the way you stubborn pest.” He was joking and she was smart enough to hear it in his voice. She chirped happily and almost pranced out the door, feathered tail held high. Again Malk was shown the animal’s nethers. He looked away quickly but the image of the dark, nearly black, skin forming a neat fold in the light tan fur stuck with him. He followed her outside with his eyes down, averting his gaze pointedly. He shut the doors behind him and when he looked toward the barn Rel was once again decent, her tail covering the parts of her that Malk would rather remain hidden. Idly he thought about mentioning it to her later, but explaining a human’s sense of decency to a gryphon seemed difficult.

He made his way to the barn as he thought about what he saw. He supposed he should just get used to it, as her owner it was inevitable he was going to see it from time to time. It shouldn’t even be a big deal to him, even if it did look quite similar to a human’s. He resolved not to worry about it next time it happened, he wouldn’t be looking for it, of course, but it seemed a good idea to just get over it.

When Malk reached the large wooden structure Rel was already inside. One of the large fur mats that had been piled up was in her mouth and she was carefully arranging it aside other mats already laid down. Making her nest. Malk shut the barn doors, not bothering to latch them. There was no fire to see by but a bright full moon shone outside, it’s silvery light filtering in through the large windows. 

The bed was finished, apparently. To Malk it just looked Rel had turned a few small piles into one big pile, but she seemed pleased with it. Who knows how gryphons decided these things. “Okay, here we go. I’m out sleeping in the hay to keep you happy.” He tossed his pillow on the ground, near the nest, and went to lie down. 

Rel reached out and in one swift moment grabbed a corner of the pillow and flicked it so it landed askew on the assorted furs. She admired it’s placement and chirped to herself. Malk grunted, unamused, “Okay, so the pillow is yours too. You know you can’t get away with this every night.” He knelt down in the hay, it was itchy. Rel nudged him and, when he didn’t respond, nudged him again, twice as hard, making him fall to his side. He landed, one arm held out to steady his fall, on the furs and the gryphon chattered at him. 

He looked at her questioningly, “What? Do you want me to sleep on the furs instead?” She chattered again and then, realizing he wasn’t getting the picture, simply nodded and gestured to his pillow with her beak. Malk felt a little bashful, he had been curt with her, even if it was jokingly, and she had decided to give him her own bed anyway. “Are you sure? I guess if you don’t mind.”

He crawled on hands and knees to where his pillow lay and straightened it. The furs were not quite as soft as his own mattress but it would be appreciably better than lying in the hay. He settled down and tried to get comfy. A feathery wing fell on top of him. He coughed, the light dander of the feathers going down his throat and the wing lifted. When he opened his eyes he saw Rel lying beside him, her four paws tucked underneath her. Not giving him her bed, but sharing it with him then. She had covered him in a wing and tucked her head underneath it as well, leaving them in something like a tiny feather covered cave. Or at least she had before he’d startled her and she’d pulled away.

Malk held his hands palms up, “Sorry, didn’t expect that. It’s okay, you can put it back down.” She churled and settled back down to sleep. The feathery blanket blocked nearly all the light but he could just catch one golden rimmed eye looking lazily at him. Something very near a purr but with a more lilting airy sound was rumbling through her heavy furred chest and Malk could almost feel the vibrations himself. He’d chosen the right pet for sure. This was nice, sleeping next to the large animal, having her offer to share the bed so he could be comfortable. As he drifted off to sleep he idly wondered how much it would cost to widen the bedroom door, and if they made gryphon proof mattresses.

***

The sight he woke up to was somewhat less comfortable than the one he’d fallen asleep with. It was still dark, not even a predawn blue hue lit the sky outside the window, yet he could see well enough in the moonlit night. He lay on his back and, unnervingly, could feel a faint warm breeze on his crotch. Rel lay crouch at his side, no longer curled over him protectively but with her talons tugging at the waist of his pants, pulling them to his knees. His cock hung free, half aroused, and a gryphon’s beak poised only an inch above it, the gentle heat of her breath wafting over him. Her eyes widened when she saw him watching her, but only slightly before they slimmed and eyed him keenly.

He scrambled to pull his pants up, snatching them away from Rel’s talon. She tried to hold onto them. They caught and tore, a small hole being ripped open easily by the razor tip of the gryphon’s claw. She chittered at him and clacked her beak but didn’t move a muscle otherwise. “Fuck’s sake, what are you doing? You scared me half to death.” The gryphon didn’t answer, not even a chirp, but she did stand, her golden eyes gazing at him with their piercing light. He clutched his pants, holding them up, and stood, backing away from the avian. 

He was uncomfortable. When she moved toward him he very nearly tried to defend himself, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that she had been trying to hurt him, still he backed further away. He was simply panicky from being awoken so. The gryphon had no intention of hurting him, when she saw his flinch she stopped. Tense moments passed, Rel watching her human closely. Instead of advancing further she turned around and stepped away. Malk thought the exchange might be over but as he watched warily she crouched down, wings held tightly to her sides, and raised her tail. 

It was no accident this time. Perhaps it hadn’t been the other times as well, but Malk couldn’t deny the firm intent of this motion. She was presenting herself to him, openly and without reservation. Her leonine hind legs were crouched under her, awkwardly squatting and propping her hind end up. Holding up what she so wanted him to see. Averting his eyes never crossed his mind. Not only were her nether lips clearly visible, they positively dripped with arousal. He was struck by how human they looked. A thin line of near black skin, gaping ever so slightly, with a clear trail of fluid staining the fur below her entrance. The gryphon cooed, a gentle warbling note and held her avian tail higher, fanning the feathers in an inviting display. 

Malk panicked. This was no something he had been expecting and he found himself repulsed by the thought. Overwhelmed by what he saw he ran for the door. His torn pants threatened to fall down his legs and trip him so he held them in a vice grip as he pushed the door to the barn open. The doors flew open and clattered noisily against the side of the building. Rel did not follow but a mournful keen chased him all the way back to the house. The same note she’d made when he told her she had to sleep outside earlier, but tenfold louder.

Malk burst into his living room, shutting the back door behind him. It muted the gryphon’s cry slightly, but not completely. Books were still strewn about the floor and even more still littered shelves and tables that had not been upended earlier that night. He frantically sorted through them, picking them each up one at a time and reading their covers, throwing them away with little care until he found one he wanted. Caring for Gryphons was the title, one of a few pet ownership books he had bought, if the answer wasn’t in this one it just might be hiding in another. He read until dawn broke. He knew he had seen something about this before, had skimmed a chapter somewhere. That cry tickled a memory in his mind, maybe something explaining what had happened, advising him on what to do about it.

Eventually he found it, in a book named, somewhat prophetically, Your Gryphon and You. 

‘Chapter 12 
Mating Habits of Gryphons. 

You may not believe in love at first sight when it comes to relationships, and many would agree with you, but gryphons certainly do. Many an owner has lost a treasured pet when their gal spotted a mate and became utterly obsessed. Courtship and mating rituals vary by species but all gryphons share a few common traits. Female gryphons will eventually choose a male, often becoming extremely friendly to him even if they haven’t met before, and additionally will absolutely never change their minds. If your pet has her eyes set on a neighbor’s bird the only option is to try and convince your neighbor to share him or put up with the soulful cry of a spurned female for the rest of your life.’

Malk’s hope sunk as he read down the page. It only got worse from there, it described symptoms, behaviors, and all sorts of signs on how to tell when your pet had chosen it’s life partner, and there could be no doubt of it. Rel had chosen him, from the way she’d first acted on the very first day he met her it had been set in stone, according to the book, but what could he do about it? It was impossible. 

The sun was free of the horizon and he could still hear her crying, she had been at it for hours and, according to the book, would continue to cry most days away. According to the pages before him it was a sad life for a lonely female, and worse, a mere pat on the head and a ruffle of her feathers wouldn’t suffice. A spurned gryphon female would waste away, refusing to eat or drink except sparingly. Gradually losing weight, their health deteriorating, until their chosen mate came back or they died of hunger, or grief. A grim tale and one Malk could remember reading once, now that he was thinking about it, but had never expected to have to deal with for himself.

He stared at the wall, lost in thought, until he had to go to work. He changed, ate breakfast, and left mechanically, devoid of any thoughts save what to do about his friend. He felt like he could hear Rel’s cries more than a mile off, it wasn’t until he got to within the city walls that he realized they were just continuing in his own guilty mind. He did something then that he had never done before, not once in his years running the business, he got absolutely tanked at work. 

He had a single, partly empty, bottle of high quality scotch in the bottom left drawer of his desk and he had the foresight to buy a second one from a store on his way in. The seat of his pants hit the chair and a crystal glass hit the desk. The older bottle was empty by lunch. 

This wasn’t Malk at all, he rarely drank in the first place. The bottle in his desk was mostly just for celebrating with clients or employees. Today was a day of firsts it seems, first his encounter upon waking and now this. He dropped his head onto his desk, it hit with a dull thud. The pain of the impact joined the electric buzzing of the alcohol and the heart wrenching keen of Rel in his mind. 

How could he handle this? He had been so happy yesterday, so sure that he’d made the right move by choosing Rel. How could he let her suffer without him, turn her away and buy a new gryphon? Surely that was the only choice, he couldn’t keep her like this, he would have to move on and replace her. How could he ever do that? Yet the alternative was equally unthinkable. Give in to her and mate? That was the only thing she would accept, sleeping in the same bed and spending time with her would only work for so long. Eventually he’d have to actually fuck the gryphon. It… no, SHE was an animal! A smart animal to be sure, but an animal none the less. It was wrong, it wouldn’t be treating Rel the way she deserved. It was assault, rape!

Another glass of golden liquid sloshed over the rim of the glass, wetting Malk’s hand on the way to his mouth. He’d locked the door to his office and seen to it that nothing was to disturb him unless the building was literally on fire. He was perhaps more vehement with his secretary than he’d needed to be, she’d get a bigger bonus this year for putting up with him, but it would at least mean nobody saw him like this. 

A dreadful truth popped into Malk’s mind and, once there, could not be ignored. Sending Rel away would be worse for her than giving her what she wanted. Raping his gryphon would be better than the grim future Your Gryphon and You had painted. Even if he sold her, or sent her away, he couldn’t live with himself knowing what she would be going through. Simply putting her out of sight wouldn’t fix that.

He sighed. If he couldn’t live with sending her away, then how was he going to live with himself if he didn’t? If he gave into her? What was rape anyway, sex without consent? A dog couldn’t give consent, anything you did to a dog was, by definition, illegal. Rel though? He’d seen how smart she was already, the law might say she couldn’t give consent but couldn’t she? In a way hadn’t she already? Malk realized he was rationalizing, but it started to make sense all the same. It was a moral grey area he could live in if it was to benefit Rel. 

He leaned back in his chair and pushed the bottle away, his head spun uncomfortably already and he didn’t need to add any more fuel to the fire. If it wasn’t innately wrong to pork his gryphon, than why not? What prevented him from just going through with it if not a moral highground? He’d long since given up hope on finding a wife, or even a lover. Whatever he wanted it wasn’t going to happen for him, and here was this lovely girl who had already decided she wanted nobody else. Why should he even question? Because she was an animal? Part of the entire reason he chose a gryphon in the first place was because they were more than simple animals. A lifelong companion is what he wanted, something he could build real friendship with. Might this be even better.

It was starting to sound better and better in his alcohol laced mind. The scotch seemed to help strip away his inhibitions and let him focus on the issue more objectively. Or at least he hoped it did, he hoped he’d feel the same way when he was sober. He looked around the office and realized that he could slip out of work right now instead of waiting for the end of the day. He wasn’t in any shape to do any real work anyway, and he didn’t need an excuse to go home at his own company. He almost considered it, just to end his friend’s sorrow all the sooner, but better still to cool off. When the room stopped spinning, that’s when he’d go home to Rel. He prayed he’d feel the same when it did, for both their sake it seemed the kinder option.

***

Late in the afternoon, on the way home, Malk continued to roll the decision through his mind, hoping to find some new facet that would make him feel better about all this. No matter how he examined it he still felt like he was somehow hurting Rel. The liquor had left him, and while he didn’t exactly regret the decision he’d come to, he still felt like there must be a better way. Yet, when he got close enough to his house to hear the wailing cry of the gryphon, he knew she was hurting already. He knew one way he could make it stop, and if it helped her than it had to be worth it. 

He shut the front door and locked it, even pulled the shades on all the windows as if to hide the shame he felt. When he walked through the living room and out the backdoor he did not notice the boot prints he left on the papers strewn across the floor. 

When he neared the barn Rel quieted, probably hearing the crunching ground beneath his heavy soled shoes. Yet when he opened the door the sight was nearly worse than the sound had ever been. The hay, which had been neatly spread across the floor earlier, was thrown about in uneven clumps. Feathers littered the area and claw marks gouged the bare floor where the hay had been torn away, heavy jagged lines across the hardwood. If he needed further proof that the gryphon was unhappy the heavy marks that marred the walls and floor were it.

Rel herself lay curled on her fur and hide nest. He had not known gryphons could cry but tears streaked through her feathers, leaving them haggard and uneven. If he felt bad before his heart nearly broke when he saw a crumpled pillow lying clutched in her talons. It was stained with tears but completely undamaged, she may have torn at the very floor of the building but she’d kept his pillow safe, and close at hand. 

She watched him hopefully as he sat down beside her. She pressed her head into his lap and he tried to straighten the unkempt feathers that had been disrupted by her tears. He was quiet for some time, his presence alone seemed to calm the gryphon. Her chest heaved less and she pushed her head into his hands, happy with the attention. Simply contact alone would work for a time, he could put certain acts off until later. He considered it, but ultimately it seemed best to just get it over with. He took a deep breath and began to talk. 

“I’m sorry I ran away. If nothing else you deserved better than that.” He’d practiced what he wanted to say before he left work and on his walk home. Apologizing for running away when she was emotionally vulnerable last night seemed important enough to be said first. His fingers caressed her feathers, trying to put them right, but her golden eyes still looked wet. 

He sighed deeply, his chest heaving with the weight on his shoulders. “I don’t want to leave any room for doubt.” He looked into her eyes to stress the importance of his words. “You can understand me, Right? You’re smart enough to do that?” She nodded in his lap and he exhaled the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “All of it?” She shook her head this time, than nodded again when he asked “Most of it?”

“I want you to understand something. I know you might not fully get it and the book says that it is instinctual behavior and you aren’t responsible or necessarily even conscious of the decision but… I’m rambling.” He tried to calm his nerves with a heavy sigh. Rel’s golden eyes watched him intently. “I know what you want, having me for a mater, and I want you to understand that this isn’t going to be easy. I’m not a gryphon, and I will never be one. If you want me you’re going to be giving up on having a more normal life. We could try and find you a gryphon instead, the aviary is big enough for two and you might be happier with one of your own kind instead of me.” Malk was somewhat surprised at the slight jealousy he felt at saying that. The book insisted that gryphons never change their minds, but it felt right to try. Rel just stared up at him. 

“Knowing that, Esmerelda, do you still want me for a mate? I think I can do that, for your sake.” Her eyes lit up, the tension in her limbs lifted and she nodded emphatically. Malk grimaced, it was a long shot but he’d still somewhat hoped. “Are you absolutely sure?” She nodded again, this time pulling her head from his lap to stand and prance about the room, all traces of her previous mood disappearing before his eyes. He wished he could be as happy as her. At least any thoughts about him somehow doing her wrong by giving in were gone, she understood fully what she was asking. If she wanted him anyway than he couldn’t possibly be hurting her by giving in. It still felt wrong though, deep inside, even if logically it shouldn’t.

He stood up from the bed and watched her dance around, her legs prancing lightly as she held her paws off the ground like some kind of show horse. That reminded Malk, there were no saddles for gryphons, they wouldn’t fit right and the animals wouldn’t put up with them anyway, but there were stories of people who flew at least short distances on their pets by simply hanging on. He wondered if Rel might let that happen. After all, it seems that a ride on her back would be less of a request than a ride in her nethers. He blushed at the thought.

It took a few minutes for Rel to calm down, and when she did Malk was happy to see she wasn’t trying to immediately present herself again. He didn’t want to wait, not after spending most of the day getting his courage up, but he was happier being allowed to go at his own pace. The gryphon put her fore paws on his shoulders and rubbed his head with hers. He ran his hands along her flanks, feeling the soft fur run through his fingers. 

“There’s just one thing left to do then. If we’re going to make it official anyway” If a beak could be said to smile mischievously Malk would have sworn Rel’s was. “Just, let me lead okay?” She nodded and then, against belief, winked at him. She surprised Malk at how human like she could be, just how much intelligence was there in that avian mind of hers?

Malk’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He was downright giddy, but there was no reason to waste time. When his hands went to unbuckle his belt Rel watched him intently. He remembered what she had been doing last night before he woke up and decided to ask about it. “You were just trying to sneak a peek, weren’t you?” She nodded, her eyes locked on his crotch. Probably she hadn’t even meant to be caught and had only been so forward when she was, like a child reaching for the entire box when she’s caught sneaking away with one cookie. “Well, okay then, if that’s what you want.” 

He hurriedly shed the rest of his clothes, afraid his nerve would fail him if he went slowly, checking and double checking that he’d closed the barn door behind him. Nobody would be able to see in even if he didn’t, it only opened into the aviary, but he felt so wrong that he didn’t want to be caught anyway. He kicked the shed garments into a crumpled pile by the wall and stood there. He felt embarrassed being naked in front of her, even if she was an animal those eyes were much too admiring for him to feel normal. She was very clearly enjoying the view. 

She walked, stalked even, in a circle around him, perusing him from all sides. His cheeks burned as she brought her avian face inches from his flaccid member. He held his breath and garnered his courage again, “You can touch if you want, just be gentle.” She may as well, he figured, if he was going to go all the way why not let her enjoy herself.

She instantly took him up on his offer, pressing her beak against his privates with haste. He reflexively jumped back, from shock more than anything, and the gryphon pulled back afraid that she’d hurt him. He waved his hands apologetically, “Sorry, just didn’t expect you to move so quickly. Go ahead, I’ll try to stay still.” He hung flaccid in the air, nervousness and shock conspiring against him. He wasn’t making an impressive show for his new mate, but she didn’t seem to mind. 

Rel came at him again, slowly this time, and instead of touching him with her eagle-like beak she opened her mouth and a slim pointed tongue stuck out. It didn’t stick far out of her mouth, barely at all really, and it wasn’t dexterous like a human’s tongue, but its touch was soft and warm and just the slightest bit wet. Malk found him enjoying the attention in spite of himself. She touched him delicately and took her tongue back in her mouth, savoring his unique flavor. She seemed to enjoy it, quickly returning for another, longer, sample. Malk felt himself starting to become aroused, animal or not it was hard to resist a willing tongue’s touch. She eyed him as he grew and he wondered just how much she knew about sex. 

She explored him with her tongue then, the powerful and dangerous creature moving daintily and with great care. She seemed to want to touch him all over, certainly Malk felt she took her time with a thorough examination. Not just his tender areas either, though she certainly spent time caressing him there, but all over. She examined his legs and his chest, his arms and his back, admiring and appraising the man she had chosen. He nearly jumped in surprise again when her beak pressed between the cheeks of his ass and her thin tongue prodded against the hole there, however truthfully, once he got used to it, he didn’t mind that attention either. He told her as much and she cooed at him, spending an especially long time there, intently pleasuring him. Malk eyed her beak thoughtfully and wondered.

Before she was finished Malk was sporting a far more impressive figure than earlier. A man’s body responds to certain stimuli, even if it is from a gryphon, and Rel had certainly noticed. She stared wide eyed at him, eyeing the drop of pre that glistened on his tip. “It’s okay, keep going.” He reassured her, closing his eyes in delight as her slender tongue touched his thick member. He was encouraged by her caring touch, even now she licked across the tip of him and along its underside. He shuddered as a wave of pleasure coursed from his toes up. She was not without skill. 

It felt better than he had imagined it would. Maybe it was just the erection talking but he was starting to feel generally excited. He had somehow assumed that it would be like two dogs rutting, mechanical and emotionless, devoid of connection or core. If so it would have been something he would have to simply endure for the sake of his pet, but this was different. As her tongue gently caressed him, exploring his parts, tasting him, experiencing him, he realized that she was being so gentle, loving even. This didn’t have to be something he didn’t enjoy, if she was sincerely into this than he could be as well. She was showing that she cared for him, maybe even loved him, and that seemed to make all the difference. After all, he loved her as a pet already, if she could feel real love for him than he could return it.

Her tongue was inflexible and her beak hardly fit for anything more exotic, it was intimate but hardly stimulating. She churled deep in her throat, gentle rolling noises that he took to mean genuine pleasure. He found himself wanting something a bit more fulfilling. She was clearly enjoying herself, and, while he didn’t exactly dislike her attention, he wanted to be enjoying himself just as much. He pushed her beak away gently, stroking himself in front of her and coaxing another drop of pre to slip from his tip. He encouraged her to take it, which she gladly did, before he pulled back.

“Turn around,” he said, and she chirped excitedly, a light glinting in her eyes. She eagerly crouched into the same mating position she had adopted the night before, anticipation coursing through her. With her tail turned upward and her hips raised she looked so inviting that Malk almost wanted to bury himself in her immediately. He knelt behind her, his hips lining up nicely with hers, a fortuitous twist of fate he felt, though she would eventually grow larger. His cock was slick from Rel’s tongue bath and her entrance was ready as well. He ran the underside of his cock against her lips, smearing her fluids through her fur in a messy trail, a sharp chirp came from his mate. Her lips pushed to the side and wrapped slightly around his shaft. He felt the tiniest twitch of her body when his dick ran across the nub at the tip of her pussy. 

Malk smiled to himself, it was a place to begin. The lure of her was strong and his cock tip lay half buried in her, her lips wrapping around him gently, but he pulled away. Rel looked back him over her shoulder and tilted her head questioningly. He smiled at her coyly and gently rubbed the leonine lips before him. “You should stand up, I have a surprise for you.” She offered no complaint, eager to see what he was about.

With her standing and him still on his knees he found himself face to cleft with her silken treasure right in front of his eyes. Unable to wait, unable to resist, he opened his mouth and ran his tongue along her from tip to tip, pressing her lips apart and sliding between them. She tasted earthy, just slightly sweet and not at all unpleasant. A taste he could grow to love. Her tail sprung skyward in alarm at the sensation, it flagged sharply, the myriad of feathers spreading out like a fan. He scratched at the base of it, where small downy feathers met fur and her beak clacked. 

“I can’t speak gryphon Rel, you have to let me know some other way if something feels good.” He scratched the underside of her tail again, his fingers tickling just above the feathered beast’s puckered tailhole. She pushed her weight back into him, pushing her lips to his in a unique lover’s kiss. “Does that mean keep going?” He laughed, speaking awkwardly around the sensitive flesh that pushed against his lips. He was asking sarcastically but she turned her head to the side and nodded emphatically anyway. The feathers on her neck rustled gently with the force of her nod, her eyes locked on his. 

“What about this?” His lips already pressed to hers he sought the hidden gem at the tip of her folds. She was like a human but not, distinctly gryphon somehow. Her slit was shorter than that of a human’s but her entrance was warm and waiting where he expected it and her clit, small and hard, lay hidden in the base of her cleft. He wrapped his lips around it’s head gently and rolled it in his mouth. Her hips didn’t push back into him like he expected, she stood stock still. He continued to suckle and tease at her clit. He began to wonder if maybe she didn’t work quite like a human despite appearances, if she wasn’t reacting to this, when he felt her quiver and she came on his face, hard. 

He wiped his cheeks with a bare arm, grinning broadly. She tasted even better fresh and she leaked so readily now. He stuck a finger in her still quivering hole and sucked the moisture off it. Rel didn’t need to tell him she liked that, he could feel her squeezing his finger and physically begging it not to leave. He spread her lips wide with his thumbs, fully revealing the glistening opening of her sex. Her walls pulsed gently, he could see each shiver. With his tongue he could feel them even more closely when he slid it in her, the gentle clamping pressure on it as he worked it inside her. He was tongue deep in a gryphon when he realized he had spent his entire day worrying for nothing, this was where he wanted to be. She loved him, needed him, and he loved her. What was more normal than that.

Malk wondered idly, if a gryphon could come like that, what would happen if he kept going? Would she reach a rapturous peak or was that the extent of a gryphon’s sexual gratification? Male gryphons weren’t equipped to pleasure their females like this, so what would happen if someone did? There was only one way to find out.

Two fingers slid into Rel as easily as one did and he started a slow easy movement working on her. He felt her body respond, her hips gently rocking against his hand. Each calm measured push forward put his hand in her to the knuckle, her insides firmly gripping him even during this relaxed movement. He thought about how it would feel on his cock rather than his fingers and another drop of pre slicked his tip, excited out by the thought alone. 

He focused his mouth entirely on her clit, trying everything he could imagine. He swirled his tongue around it, gently lapped at it, flicked his tongue across it in short harsh motions. Anytime he could feel her tighten on his fingers he redoubled the efforts of his tongue, focusing on whatever movement had caused the reaction. 

The gryphon came easily and repeatedly, her tunnel soaked with arousal. He slid a third finger into her, she was amazingly tight for a creature her size but she seemed to like feeling good and full, feeling a big male inside her. He settled on a rhythm with his tongue, caressing and fondling the stiff nub on his mouth. His fingers moving ever faster, her own hips matching his rhythm in time. 

He grasped at the fur on her hindquarters with his free hand, needfully pulling at her. She vocalized call after call, chirps and squawks alike, what they all meant Malk couldn’t say precisely but he understood her need. The frenzied pace they set continued, Malk tucked under the gryphon’s raised tail, focusing on nothing but pleasuring the great animal. Esmerelda breathed heavily, her furred chest heaving, talons and claws alike scraped at the fur under her feet and she tossed her head back and forth. 

Her body stiffened first, each muscle clenching. Malk felt it on his fingers as well, an intense hard pressure that he had to fight against despite the ample lubrication of her juices. He finger fucked her as hard as he could, feeling the tension in her building, roughly plunging his fingers into her warm and hungry cunt. His tongue fondled the gryphon’s clit frantically. 

A low call echoed in her throat, a husky warble, vibrating in her chest. Her wings suddenly extended in magnificent display, nearly touching opposite walls of the room in their wide reach. Released from her tension and her stiffened muscles she pressed her haunches back hard against Malk’s hand and mouth. He hilted her with his fingers, pressing hard against her lips, the clamped tightly on the invading digits, a rippling pulse to their movements trying to milk seed from them in vain. Cum dripped from her in a clear stream and he caught some in his mouth to better savor the moment. 

The call died and her wings refolded against her back. She was still breathing hard and Malk placed a gentle kiss on her lips as if to seal a job well done. He wrapped his cum soaked hand around his rock hard member and caressed himself. He was still unsatisfied even if she had been fulfilled. He could allow her a moment’s respite while he enjoyed his own hand, lubed with her cum, if she needed. 

Esmerelda looked back at him, hand wrapped around stiff cock, still kneeling by her haunches, praying at her altar. Far from needing a rest, she needed more. An insatiable lust for the mate she had selected, he had proved to be unlike a gryphon in some respects but the tingles that still ran through her body only reinforced that she had made the right decision. To feel his hips pressed against her backside was the only thing she was still missing. She settled into position easily, her strong limbs could withstand his thrusts even as they still prickled with pleasure. 

Malk saw his mate move, saw her crouch before him and lock eyes with his as she did so. Her golden irises seemed somehow brighter than before but his true attention was now on the tip of his excited shaft and how it lay nestled in a heavily slicked cleft in her fur. It slid in with little ado, no fanfare played, no band marched, but in a way it felt to Malk as if life had just started a new. Her walls squeezed him, first gently, testing, and then far more tightly. He fit in her as if made for the privilege, she felt exquisitely tight, unbelievably warm. 

He took her virginity there on the floor of the barn. Though he would only come to look at it in those terms later, where he would reminisce about the first time he’d truly gotten to know his love Esmerelda. The time when they had become mates for well and good. In that moment, however, he only sought immediate desperate release inside the tight hole before him. 

His earlier ministrations had left her wet, so wonderfully wet, and his balls slapped against her fur with bright squelching noises. There was no need for him to slowly work up a rhythm, he needed her and she wanted him. There was no need for build up or teasing, only pure unabashed need remained. Her walls worked his shaft with lustful vigor, pulsing and throbbing with each harsh thrust of his hips. The feathers of her tail tickled his chest whenever he drove himself to the hilt. Her hips flush with his and his raging manhood fully enveloped her feline warmth. 

He hammered into her, riding her roughshod, her powerful form standing strong under the pressure. Her haunches were firm and unyielding, her entrance wet and welcoming. Malk’s chest heaved with deep moaning breaths, his brow slick with sweat. His hands frantically grasped at the gryphon’s hips, finding purchase in great handfuls of fur, pulling her body to his as he forcefully entered her again and again.

Each backstroke brought a gentle needful squeeze from her. Her walls begging, pleading, with him to stay locked within her depths. Each gentle squeeze earned a hard and fast ram back inside. He rode her hard and fast, well and truly fucking the bird feline hybrid. His lust built, his need for release became imminent and overwhelming. He longed to fill her aching loins with his potent brew though he knew it served naught but a pleasurable end. All the same he yearned for that pleasure and so did she. 

A final thrust. A powerful slap of hip to hip. His fingers locked on her haunches, digging into her fur pulling her back into him and him into her. Against all odds he felt another shuddering orgasm pass through his mate, one more pleasurable cascade of feelings to flow through her, brought on by the lustful motions of his body. Instead of feeling her excitement on his fingers he felt the full force of hit on his cock. Her walls flexed and squeezed his length in their vicelike grip of velvet and he went over the edge. His balls ached and squirted their contents into the gryphon. Great heaping gushes of it. It mingled with her own clear cum and oozed out around his cock. Dripping down his balls and the fur of her haunches. Wave after wave he felt welling up from the bottom of him and squeezing wetly into her. Her walls not releasing their hold on him until every last drop he had was spent within her. 

The mating was complete, Rel would have her chosen mate and he would have even more than the friend he had thought he wanted. An animal lover, now and forever. More than he had asked for yet all that he had wanted. 

The two held position in a blissful glow, Malk reluctant to leave the warm embrace of Rel’s haunches. He would return there again that night, and many nights after, to sample her body. While their first time would not actually prove to be their absolute best experience with each other, topped by yet unimagined heights of romance to be seen by the pair later, it remained the most memorable. The moment where both of them became absolutely sure in the decisions that had brought them there. 

They kept their love secret, there was no need to share what they had with anybody. Malk fixed the bedroom to accommodate them both and then, when Rel grew even larger and once again couldn’t fit, he spent the next month sleeping with her in the barn until it could again be rectified. He didn’t even mind.

And yes, if you were wondering, he did one day, many many years later, manage to ride his love and they flew together for the rest of their lives.