Broken Bough

Story by Taggart on SoFurry

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I totally didn't realize that it'd been six months since I'd published something. Time flies, right?

Well, with that in mind, I decided to work off of some ideas that friends had given me. Blame Pheeze for this one, three fucking lecher.


Kathy O'Reilly was perfectly aware of why she wasn't supposed to go walking beyond the gully. She knew the stories. She'd heard the warnings. She'd even seen photos of the injuries people had come back to town with after wandering out there.

Kathy O'Reilly didn't give one-tenth of a fuck. She was a bad bitch, and anything that fucked with her was getting a .308 between the fucking eyes. Let 'em come! She'd come back lugging a fucking trophy, and then her husband could sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up. Always fussing over her and trying to keep her in a bubble like she was some kind of china doll. She grew up in these woods! She'd been running and climbing and hiking out here since she was a kitten, and she had the skinned knees and scraped palms to prove it. In fact, that's all she had! Nevjer been mauled by some vicious beast, so her simpering bitch of a husband could leave off, as far as she was concerned.

She'd said as much, too, when she stepped off the back deck with her rifle in hand and radio on her hip, shooting a glare over her shoulder at the clouded leopard opening his mouth to, once again, protest her walk in the woods. A protest that was cut short by the look in her steel-grey eyes. He knew when he'd been beat. She made sure of that long ago. "I'll be back in a couple hours. Try not to have a heart attack before then." she growled back at him, stepping over the low rock wall that separated their property from the forest beyond. He watched her go silently, a clouded leopard herself, with those nice round hips and a firm ass, just made for jumping and hiking. He didn't see the sway of her breasts, the full braless bounce of them under her shirt as she jogged away into the dark of the woods, but he could easily imagine it while staring at the long sweep of her tail and the curly mess of silver hair running down her back from the gathered-up ponytail under her baseball cap. His wife always got fussy when she went into heat, and the smell of her need was something else this time, too.

Kat just kept jogging, her shoeless feet free to form and grip over the dirt path before her, one she'd run for years and years. One that she knew would take her beyond that gully and its warning signs and into the territory of the gryphons that everyone feared oh-so-much. It was disappointing, really. All her years of coming here, and she'd never once seen a damn gryphon. Not in person. You couldn't keep them in zoos, either, because the fuckers were intelligent. There were laws about locking up other sentients without just cause and such. Couldn't really put one in jail either, because you'd have to catch it, and you're not catching a gryphon. Not with a helicopter, not on the ground. Tranquilizers just didn't work, and they were too maneuverable. Plus, if you see one, supposedly, there are at least two others just waiting for you. But, no, Kat had never seen one in her life, as much as she'd looked. In fact, nobody in the past 50 years had seen one in this area, so she felt reasonably safe to go take a damn walk as she crossed over the gully and set foot on her old stomping grounds.

"Allright...home again, home again." she panted, slowing it down to an easy walk, drawing in quick lungfuls of the clean, fresh air around her. Nobody developed out here. The state owned the land and had made it a nature preserve because of those damned gryphons, but now, 50 years later, there was talk of selling it off, since nobody had seen hide nor hair of one of the beasts. Why keep the land pristine if there were strip malls to build, right? It's not like nature has its own intrinsic value or anything. She flicked her tail, as if casting off the annoyance of reality that would even bring that thought to the fore of her mind, and kept walking. The trails stopped at the gully, but there were dry riverbeds out here that served well, and she knew them all by heart. This one, for example, led right into a clearing about 300 yards off that had a nice sinkhole in the middle of it. She'd never gone down, but she plainly heard the sound of rushing water somewhere in the darkness below whenever she got close. It was also the only spot in the damned forest that had sun exposure for most of the day, and a favorite place for her to bask in the warmth. Preferably buck naked. Why worry, after all? Nobody ever comes out here.

She already had her pants off before she'd even cleared the trees, and by the time she stepped out into the clearing, her shirt and hat were in her hands, too. Which is why she fumbled with her rifle when she came up on the sight of something huge, furred, and feathered settled right in the middle of her spot, soaking in her sun! Something that lifted its avian head and fixed her with a slit-pupilled stare when her rifle clattered to the ground, along with her clothes. That same something that flared its wings and launched forwards, slapped a massive talon over the rifle, and towered over her by a head and a half. "Oh shit..."

Kathy O'Reilly suddenly gave far more than one-tenth of a fuck.

She also immediately started backpedalling into the trees. She should have just turned and ran, but raw fear hit her for the first time in her life, preventing her from turning her back on this thing. This gryphon. Which immediately did the last thing she expected...

"Oh, don't run..." it spoke, fixing her with a lifted eyeridge. "I would have to chase you, then."

Kat froze in place, staring wide-eyed and puffy-tailed at the huge creature before her, mouth agape with unformed words, or a silent scream, perhaps. The beast didn't particularly care. "I wouldn't scream, either. You won't be heard out here. And it's terribly annoying. I'm not going to hurt you." it continued, settling itself down on its belly and folding those foretalons in a catlike way, still pointedly covering her rifle. "I'm curious. You've been out here before. I recognize your scent." it forged on, and Kat's mind tried to process this beast speaking to her. In English. Speaking at all. Yeah, they were intelligent, but nobody had said shit about "intelligent!" While she ruminated on this new development, the beast blinked at her slowly, twitching a tufted ear. "Nobody else comes out here. But you do." it continued, twitching its wings. "Why?"

"...I...like to get away. It's quiet." she answered, shocked at how small her voice sounded. The gryphon scoffed and puffed its chest out. "Away? From your comforts? Do you have illusions that you are somehow wild? Not of the same ilk as those around you?" it rumbled, tail lashing.

"N...no. I..." she stammered, pressing herself back against a tree, frozen in place. "...I like being alone. My husband can be an idiot, and I like to be alone sometimes to get away from him and everyone around him."

The gryphon lifted its head and smirked, the back of its beak curling up. "Husband. Your mate does not please you, then why do you keep him as a mate? Some form of honor? Duty? Perhaps he has resources you do not?" it asked, leaning its head forwards, craning its neck out to get a good draft of her, snuffling. "Hum. Certainly not out of care for any kittens. Not a mother yet." it said, and Kat's tail twitched at something in the gryphon's voice. "I haven't let him yet!" she snapped, forgetting her fear for a moment. "I want him to snap out of his coddling bullshit before I let him raise a kitten. I don't want my kids growing up soft!" she almost-yelled, her eyes widening when it came to her attention that she's still in front of an apex predator with no weapon. And yelling like a lunatic.

For it's part, the gryphon just laughed, a soft barking rasp. "Ah. There's a reason. Fix a male, mold your mate." it chortled, twitching his ears. "Some males will not learn on their own, though. They should be shown, taught. They need an example to hit home." it crooned, and leaned forward until the top of that hooked beak rested on her naked belly, its nares flaring and blowing warm breath through her fur. That's when she caught the scent of the beast in full, and realized a whole mess of critically important things. This was a real, live male gryphon. If she could prove that it lived here now, then her woods would keep on being classified as a nature preserve, and safe from development. Second, if there was a male, there had to be a female, right? "Would your mate agree?" she asked, her voice trembling, her hand coming to rest on the beast's beak very hesitantly.

"Oh, I have no mate yet. I hope to find a hen who can give me strong, beautiful pups, but I haven't seen any around yet." he said, a look in his eyes that she couldn't decipher. "I will move on soon, and your space will be yours again."

Kat felt the panic rising inside her. No! The one chance she had to stop the state from selling off the land, and she'd lose it because there wasn't another gryphon? "Is there...anything I can do to make you stay here? If only for a while?" she asked, her tail lashing and ears pricking up. Surely she could come up with something, right? I mean, she could bring him food, or materials to build a den, or...

"There is. Bear my children." the gryphon said, matter-of-factly. Kat's brain locked up all at once in response, blinking stupidly down at the gryphon who's head was nuzzling just over that warm spot in her belly. "I..I'm sorry?" she asked, pricking her ears a little higher. "Wait, bear your...but I'm married...and I'm not even the same species as...what?"

The gryphon's smirk returned, and that look in his eyes was much more recognizeable to the leopard as mischief...and lust. "A trivial matter. You're feline. You'll make lovely pups with that fur pattern." he said, lashing his tail. "And so fertile, too." he purred, then lifted his head. "And I will fully admit to enjoying the thought of your husband having to watch your belly swell with my get. Perhaps even care for my pups until they're old enough to come with me." The glint in his eye was almost malicious at that point, pushing himself up to sit on his haunches, and giving Kat an absolute eyefull of a horse-shaming sheath hanging low under his belly, with a pair of balls tucked up tight, like a feral dog's. Huge things, each the size of her fist and maybe a little more; she could see them twitching and churning softly while that sheath swelled slowly before her eyes. Some part of her started hitting an alarm bell, warning her to get the hell out of there, but...now it wasn't fear that held her in place. It was an emotion just as primal, though...

That's when the idea hit her. The gryphon would stay if he had a family to raise. The preserve was plenty big enough for at least four others, and it would ensure that the forest stayed unmolested. Plus, she'd get to show her husband the consequences of being such a fucking pussy. The cherry on top of it, of course, would be getting her heat sated by that monster of a dick; something twitching low in her belly at the sight of that sheath bobbing softly. "So...if I let you...get me pregnant, you'll stay here." she asked carefully, her tail twitching. The gryphon nodded slowly and perked his ears even higher. "And if my husband refuses?" she continued? "He might lose his mind if this happens... He might not believe that its a gryphon litter, and it's for the good of nature."

"Then I will convince him." the gryphon purred. "In fact, we should convince him right away."

Kat opened her mouth to reply, but had no time before the gryphon launched himself upwards, gripping her shoulder and yanking her up off of the ground like the bird of prey he was, the cat yowling in terror at being flung high above the treetops in the grip of this predator. On foot, the journey took her about ten minutes, but in the air, with those strong wings beating and tracking directly towards her house by following the scent of her heat, it took a minute or so until she was dropped gently down onto the wood slats of her deck, still naked, unarmed, and attempting to straighten her fur while the gryphon settled down beside her. The nearest neighbors were easily within earshot of that, so Kat quickly threw open the double doors to the living room, to get the gryphon under the cover of their roof and away from prying eyes.

Which is just about when her husband was scared within an inch of his life by a gryphon strolling casually in front of him while he watched TV, eyeballing him like a piece of meat. "JESUS SHITTING MARY AND JOSEPH!" he yowled, almost climbing the couchback while the predator just looked at him and smirked. "I hope..." the gryphon said. "...That he has at least some redeeming traits. Courage is not one of them."

Kat slammed the doors closed and blew out a breath, running her fingers back through her hair. "Don, shut the fuck up. He's not gonna hurt you." she said, her voice exasperated. She'd forgotten how vexing he could be just by being there. "Look, some shit's about to happen, and you're going to just have to deal with it. I don't want them bulldozing the goddamn forest, and this guy just showed up there today. I need him to stay, so they keep it protected. So I cut a deal with him." She sighed, pulling her hair back into a ponytail and tying it up with a rubberband from the end table. As bewildered as her husband looked right now, staring at his wife's naked body after she'd left for the forest fully clothed, he had no clue what was about to happen. She smirked a little herself at that. "He wants pups. He'll stay if he can have children. So I offered to give him some."

Don's eyes bulged out and his mouth flew open to protest, to scream, something, but Kat's hand gripped his muzzle and forced it closed. "Shut up. You're going to agree to this, or so help me god, I'm going to do it anyways, and then tell everyone how you couldn't please me, so I had to go fuck a gryphon." But, despite her threat, Don's head still shook, and he gripped her wrists, trying to pry her hands off of his mouth, kicking and thrashing. "Perhaps I can try..." the gryphon purred, sliding forwards until he was nose-to-nose with the leopard, who was suddenly quite still. "You will not only allow her to do this, but you will HELP me get your wife pregnant. You will participate in this, and you will ASK me to put my pups in her. You will be honored to have your wife's belly filled with the future sovereigns of the air. You will care for her as she grows heavy with my children, and you will help raise and support them with pride until I come for them. If you do not..." he purred, resting the edge of one hooked talon against the belly of the leopardcat male on the couch. "I will find you, and I will tear you to pieces, and I will eat your heart to remove your weakness from this world, and then I will fuck another litter into your wife on top of your grave. You cannot stop this. Do you understand me?"

Kat blinked at the gryphon, opening her mouth to say something, but he only had to glance at her to silence her. That look was terrifying. Terrifying enough, it seems, to overcome Don's objections, who nodded briskly as he shook in mortal terror on the couch. "Excellent." the gryphon chirped, sitting back and bunting the edge of his beak against the side of Kat's neck, whispering something softly that Don's ears couldn't quite pick up. Whatever it was, it had the married leopardgirl suddenly smiling and shaking her head. "Allright. Good..." she said, chewing on her lower lip and looking over her shoulder, making a pleased noise. "So, you said he should help. How do you want him to help?" she asked, pulling a blanket off of a recliner behind her and tossing it on the ground. "Spread that out, Don. I don't want to hurt my knees."

The gryphon chirped softly, pushing his head against Kat's side, watching as her husband spread the blanket out on the floor with terrified glances backwards at the horse-sized beast standing in his living room, nuzzling his wife. "I want him beneath us. He should help me inside you. Maybe, he should help steady you while I rut." he rumbled, lifting his head to bump the underside of a breast. "He should watch closely. I want him as close to you as he can be when I put my children in your womb. Children should always be close to their father, hmm? Even at the beginning." he continued, laughing softly in that soft bark-rasp of his kind. "He should be looking forward to being a father, hmm? Are you, little male?" he asked Don directly, who just hunched his shoulders and ducked his head, a look of anguish on his face.

"Kat...please don't do this...You can't really...want to let an animal...what will the neighbors think!?" Don pleaded, holding his hands out towards Kat in the most helpless gesture yet, which just inflamed that anger in the leopard even further, her lip rolling up and tail lashing. "Oh, I really do, Don. I want that forest to be protected. And I want him to fuck me. Have you seen how big he is? Oh, buddy, I won't even -feel- you after him. I want his pups kicking in me." she growled, striding slowly towards her husband and cupping his chin in her hand. "Not yours. His. I want my babies to be gryphons. Maybe someday, you'll convince me to let you have one, but it won't be today...Get on the floor. You're gonna be a daddy."

Don tried to twist away, opening his mouth to protest, but the gryphon was there instantly, gripping his shoulder in those talons and slamming him down on the blanket, onto his back with a yelp. "Obey, or I will eat you." he snarled at the husband, and then lifted his head to smile at Kat. "Straddle him, and lift your hips for me. Ensure his arms are free. He will need them." the gryphon rumbled, letting his eyes roll up and down Kat's nude form again, feeling his sheath thicken up suddenly. Kat felt a smile curling her lips, and twisted over her husband's body, setting her knees just below his armpits and pushing her calves under his shoulders at the gryphon's direction, biting her lip as she lifted her bared, rosette-clad ass upwards over Don, who could only admire the upward curl of her tail, and the dewy, glistening split of her labia below. But suddenly, the light was blocked out by the mass of the gryphon settling overtop his wife, leaving him in darkness until his eyes adjusted, and caught a sight that sent his body rigid.

His wife was dwarfed under the beast, its heavy haunches settled overtop her hips, but the truly scary sight was the massive swell of the bestial sheath bulging and pouring forth a thick, mottled-black shaft that had to be at least as big around as a 40-oz beer can. Glistening with its own lubrication, the thick spire had a swollen glans with a curious, pointed tip, dusted with little rubbery nubs that were startlingly close to his own barbs. More, and more of that heavy pole came erupting out of the gryphon's sheath, and Don just gaped at it....nearly a foot of flesh bobbing, with a thick ridge running underneath the barrel of the gryphon's cock that bulged out in a wave from base up to the tip, and spurted a long, ropy, crystalline line of gooey precum to splash across his wife's cunt and thighs. "...holy...shit...' he squeaked, to which the gryphon chuckled softly and leaned his head down over Kat's shoulder. "You hear that, lovely? He sees what you're about to feel..." he purred, flexing his cock to make it slap up against his belly a few times, leaving strands of precum connecting them. "Now, male, take me in hand, guide me in. And be careful, or I tear you in half." he crooned, wiggling his hips to set his cock swaying.

Kat shuddered softly, feeling the gryphon's chest settling against her back, those huge foretalons settling in front of her arms, and hearing him command her husband to seal her fate. "Mmmh! Is he big, baby?" she panted, feeling the hot rope of precum splashing into her fur. She expected no answer, but just wiggled her ass backwards a little, bowing her lower back and pushing her cunt backwards between her thighs a little more. Don didn't disappoint on either, refusing to answer his wife, but he did wrap his hands around the tacky, swollen cock hanging over his face, and realized that it took both of them to encircle the hot, pulsing thing, feeling the urethral bulge swelling softly under his thumbs. He felt like he was on autopilot, like it was a dream, but a gentle lift of his arms, and the nubbed glans dug into the furrow of his wife's pussylips, the heat of her washing over his tip, the mouth of her cunt lipping and clenching invitingly at the beast while she gasped softly on top of her husband. Don got to feel that thick tube pump under his thumbs again, and the wet squirting sound between Kat's labia heralded the wet splatter of enough gryphon precum on his chest to easily double one of his own loads.

"Mmh...Hot...you're ready, lovely." the beast purred down at the trembling cat, and hunched his hips fowards gently, spearing the mouthing hole with his drooling tip and burying it in the tightest, wettest little deathgrip of a cunt he'd had the pleasure of violating in a long, long time. "Ohhh, I love bipeds...always so eager..." he groaned, his cock lurching violently as the first three inches of his dick stretched out the leopard underneath him. Kat was too busy squealing out in an incomprehensible mixture of syllables, because her pussy was immediately overstuffed, nearly to the point of pain! Her claws dug into the blanket, her hips trembled, and her body shook, squirming on the end of the gryphon's dick. The same gryphon who tugged back just a little, over the watchful eyes of the cat's husband, who's hands were still holding onto that preslickened dick in awe, and then crammed himself forwards again, driving another scream out of the wife underneath him as he packed half of his dick up into her twitching little cunt, this time. Don just blinked, watching the gryphon's dick disappear further and further into Kat's belly. Another thrust, another...the gryphon is almost all the way inside his wife, and he gets his first real look at those balls bouncing tight in their sack, jiggling with each thrust, and swollen so large, they seemed to be straining to burst free.

Kat couldn't think, she couldn't talk. She could only scream and hunch and push against those thrusts, feeling the heat of a bare, raw dick pushing up into her unprotected belly. It was...so wonderfully, evilly dangerous, a thrill that she never let her husband have. Her body carried on when her mind shut down, working with its singleminded instinct to get this male to dump his balls inside her. "Fucking...big..." she finally managed to articulate, shaking and squeaking when the nubbed tip finally crammed up against her cervix, the point of it rimming around the twitching orifice. Her claws refused to untangle from the blanket, her hips unable to move for the massive stretch of dick shoved up between them, throbbing violently and squirting precum so hard, she can feel it washing at the mouth of her womb, and the pulse of it running up the beast's dick. "Is...Is he all...the way...in, honey?" she gasped back at her husband, swearing she was going to split in half with the gentle, methodical thrusts of the beast above her. Don could only stare in horror at the last inch and a half of pulsing, black-and-pink flesh throbbing between his wife's widely-stretched pussylips, while watching the gryphon's balls gently pulse with each new squirt of precum he poured up inside her. "...N-no..." he whined, realizing why that last bit of dick looked odd.. "...He has...a knot..."

"Jesus fuuuck...." she groaned, squirming her ass while each hunch of the gryphon's hips pushed up at her cervix again, those rubbery nubs plucking and tugging at her insides in ways that only a cat could truly appreciate it. Each backward pull of that heavy, slippery dick made those barbs strum her folds, sending sparks up through her body to pool somewhere deep in her core, her ovaries trembling in brutal eagerness to let their genetic load drop into the path of this great beast's seed. "Fuck...I want it in me..." she hissed up at the gryphon, clenching as hard as she can around that gently-rocking belly-wrecker. The gryphon just crooned down at her and hunched forwards a little harder, driving a yelp out of the female. "You'll have it..." he rumbled. "Hold her hips, male. Brace her for me. Gryphon pups need to be /fucked/ into their mothers." he hissed as he drew his hips back a good, long way, then rammed fowards until he hit bottom and drove a squeal out of her. Kat's thighs shook, her tail drumming violently against the gryphon's side as the beast started to rut into her, hunching his hips and arching his back to pound into her cunt like an animal, battering her cervix and driving thick drools of precum back out of her overstuffed twat to drool on her husband's chest.

Don just gawked helplessly at the sight of that huge, mottled dick slamming his wife hard enough to make her thighs jiggle, the wet slurping and squelching sounds of her sex getting thoroughly, irreparably ruined by the wild beast mounted up on her back, an eyefull of those jiggling balls growing tighter by the second only adding to the absolute despair of the cat, as he looped his arms around her hips and did his best to hold his wife steady for the gryphon, wincing each time he bottomed out inside the squealing feline. It'll be over soon, he thought, trying to force down the shame and humiliation. It'll be over, and the beast will leave, and he'll figure out what to do after he's no longer at risk for a mauling. Kat, however, was screaming and yelping her head off, squirming her hips around while they got pounded forwards and dragged back by the plucking swab of the gryphon's barbs inside her, gasping for breath as the beast's tempo gained in speed, feeling the swelling ball of his knot start to slap and pummel her pussylips into a flushed, bruised mess. "HHHoly shiiiiit!" she wailed, her head swimming, lights exploding in her eyes as another orgasm was wrenched out of her core to ricochet around inside her trembling body, cunt clamped down around the massive spike battering her cervix open bit by bit.

"Hnnh! Gonna! Get me! Pregnant! Honey!" she whined around the violent contractions in her belly, dropping her chest down until her breasts flattened out over her husband's hips, which simply lined up her womb's mouth for even more direct punishment as the great beast crooned happily and started jamming himself deeply between her thighs, forcing Don to watch that knot stretch her open more and more. The deeper he went, the wider Kat's womb was forced to yawn, and the harder the leopard came; the orgasms building on themselves until that nubbed glans finally punched up through her cervical mouth and into the deepest, hottest part of her belly, spitting and drooling precum all over her womb, defiling the walls with genetic threats of what was to come. And with that pop, Kat screamed to the ceiling when that heavy breeding tie popped up between her lips, and BULGED out violently. The cat's cunt grabbed at it, squeezed behind it while the gryphon kept grinding and shallowly pounding away, panting steaming breath between her ears, and Don was forced to watch yet another indignity as her mound began swelling out with the force of the tie. Nothing to stop it now...

The gryphon's head tipped back, eyes rolling back in his head. Kat's jaw fell open, and Don winced visibly as the beast's heavy balls jerked, the base of his sheath swelled out, his knot throbbed savagely, and a belt of the hottest, thickest cum Kat had ever felt in her life gushed against the roof of her uterus and flooded the heated little pocket without the barest shred of protection. She could scream no more, her breath stolen from her, only able to gently buck her hips in time with each new liquid rush flushing into her womb, pouring heat into her deepest parts. Don found himself similarly speechless, watching the swells of that thick tube under the gryphon's cock bulging out and running up into his wife's cunt, the faint liquid rushing sounds of the animal's seed filling her belly brought to his ears, until her womb was too full to hear more. But by then, he had the distinct privilege of watching her belly slowly round, first just a bulge below her navel, and then more and more a widening swell as billions upon billions of whiptailed sperm began their wicked task of stampeding up into the horns of her belly and mugging those eggs he'd forced out of her. He could do nothing but watch as the gryphon condemned him to a fate of knowing his wife carried the child of another.

Kat, however, couldn't be happier if she tried. The feline was hunching, squirming her ass around, trying to milk that thick, knotted dick for everything it was worth, whimpering happily at the massive pressure and heat growing inside her, imagining she could just feel the great beast's sperm working their way deeper, making a mother out of her on top of her husband. "Fffuck yessss..." she finally groaned, still gently twitching nearly a minute later as the gryphon's balls finally started to run dry. It was right about then that she heard the beast chuckling, the gentle touch of a curved beak to the back of her neck. "Raise them well for me. And perhaps, if your husband hasn't learned his place, I can repeat the lesson..." he purred, lowering his weight onto her back, forcing her down flat onto Don and pressing his freshly drained nuts to the husband's forehead, letting him feel the gentle aftershocks thumping through his cock.

"...I might need a refresher, myself..." she laughed back, which sent a shock of fear down Don's spine. She wouldn't...

Would she?

-EPILOGUE-

Eight months had passed. Three city council meetings and an investigation by the Department of Natural Resources had come and gone. With several confirmed sightings of a gryphon now stalking the forest, the entire area had its status as a nature preserve renewed. There were grumblings about how a single male gryphon could really hold up progress. Why, it didn't even have a mate! Surely it would just leave, right? Kat laughed at the thought, resting on her back deck, naked as a jaybird with her broadly-rounded belly rising to the sun. No, she thought. A single gryphon couldn't hold the territory. But there was no risk of that gryphon going without a mate. She smiled, resting her hand over the dome of her belly, stroking it lovingly. And in a few weeks, the worry about it being only one gryphon would be laid to rest.

Certainly wouldn't be a problem as long as she had something to say about it!