ELRETH

The next day Elreth walked home alone from dinner at the market back towards the cave. Aaryn was gathering his people—the disformed that were joining them for the meeting that evening—and it was the first time she'd been alone all day.

Once she got past the bustle of the Tree City, she walked slowly, enjoying the quiet of the forest in the early evening as the shadows stretched and the birds began to sing goodbye to the day.

She was hopeful… and afraid to let herself hope, she realized.

That morning with the elders had been a much more peaceful, much more productive meeting. Aaryn had carried himself with dignity and strength.

There was a moment when one of the elders asked him to describe the experience of being disformed that had been playing over and over in her mind all day.

He'd sat in the chair next to her, should broad shoulders tense. But when the elders turned their attention to him, he didn't shrink. Instead he'd met each of their eyes as he spoke with strength and compassion for the Anima he saw as his people. And even though his possessiveness of them still made her neck itch, for a moment during that meeting she hadn't been watching her best friend, the male she'd seen walk through puberty and into adulthood. She hadn't even been seeing her delicious mate who was opening her eyes to so many joys and thrills.

She'd seen a leader, a male who knew himself and his people. He spoke with confidence, with assurance, with strength. When he got passionate he leaned forward and made certain he was heard.

He carried himself as… as a male who deserved to stand before these elders and show them the way and it made her breath hitch.

Her eyes caught on the spot where his collarbones peeked out of the neckline of his shirt, the way it pulled tight across his back, and the sleeves stretched on his bicep when he gestured with his hands.

For a few minutes, she didn't even hear his words, only saw the dominance wafting off of him, the determination and strength with which he put forward his view.

In the back of her mind, she was reminded of her father. But her father had never made her belly twist.

He was very good at this, she realized. He was very strong.

He was a good male.

And he put himself under her. That was the thing that kept ringing in her head throughout the day, whenever she had a moment to think.

Elreth knew she was stronger than most of the Anima. She had been her whole life. Male or female, it didn't matter. She always took the lead wherever she was, and the Anima naturally fell in behind her.

She'd taken it as her due.

But that morning it had come home to her: Her mate, her male, was stronger than she was. He did not follow her because she was dominant. He followed because he chose to.

He chose her over himself.

The thought made her want to weep. She'd known it, a little. But watching him that morning she'd marveled at how much more confident he was there than she had been the day before.

When the meeting had finished, and their questions had been answered, when it was agreed that they would announce the mating the following day, and choose a date for the Flames later in the week… Elreth had barely been able to keep her mind on the discussion.

Aaryn had turned to her when they left, smiling broadly and when they were out of sight of the others, he'd pulled her into his chest and told her how amazing she'd been.

Her.

But she wasn't as amazing as him.

It was humbling. And incredibly hot.

She'd been dancing in her chair at the market, wishing he was there, wishing she could express all of this to him. But he was eating at home with his mother, making sure she took the herbs the wise-women had prescribed. And he was gathering his people to come present themselves to her.

Because she was Queen.

Having him beside her was going to make her a better Queen. Because neither of them had everything that was needed for this, but together…

Elreth shook her head, smiling. Together they would be a force to be reckoned with.

A shiver ran down her spine when another image of him, smiling down at her, flashed in her head, and she groaned.

She needed to go back to the cave and be a Queen, not a flighty girl with a crush on her own mate!

As she forced herself to pick up her pace and get back to the cave, she prayed that Aaryn's mother was doing well enough that he'd be able to stay with her that night.

She was desperate to be alone with him again.

*****

AARYN

It had been a conscious choice to lead the others, walking first into the cave so he could be the first to see her.

She had seated herself in the largest chair in the living room, clean blouse and leathers on, her legs crossed at the knee.

When he walked in the door, her eyes locked on his for a breath as he walked toward her and the look sent lightning through his gut and straight to his groin.

He'd decided then that there was no way he wasn't staying at the cave that night. He needed to be close to her. And given the heat in her gaze, she needed to be close to him, as well.

Then they had both blinked and looked away. They had more important things to focus on just then. But he had stifled a smile when she shifted in her seat and her cheeks heated.

She was as affected by him as he was by her. Praise the Creator for that.

Now, over an hour into the meeting, everyone was tired and tense—but there was a strange mix of hope and wariness in the room.

No one was quite sure how to regard each other. But everyone wanted this to work.

As she should, Elreth had taken control of the discussion from the moment they'd begun, asking questions and demanding deeper answers when they weren't forthcoming enough. They'd covered things she knew—like the fact that the disformed had been organized formally when she was a child—and things that she didn't. Like the fact that some of the disformed who had disappeared over the years had gone into the human world to learn to blend in and find a new life there.

She'd given him one look when that came out—a look that told him very clearly that that shouldn't have been a surprise to her. That he should have told her. But then she moved on.

And she took Aaryn's breath away.

Elreth was incredible. Poised, confident, and not giving an inch. Her glossy red hair tumbling down her back as she sat with grace and patience through the entire process, asking pointed questions, but never with anger, until they made it to this point.

But the time had come for them to tell their stories, for her to understand their vision and Aaryn's heart was pounding.

It would all hinge on this.

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