Chapter 167: The Day of Flames - Part 1

AARYN

Aaryn stayed the night at Gar's in the spare bedroom, and woke late after being awake most of the night. His eyes were bleary and puffy, and he still didn't have any appetite. But his first thought was that tonight he would finally be with Elreth, totally, completely. Tonight they would walk the Rite of the Flames and Smoke. Tonight they would complete the bond.

Tonight their lives together would begin.

He leapt out bed and had to stifle the mating call—and a cheer. He still had many hours to go. He was going to have to pace himself.

When he got downstairs in Gar's Tree House—which was almost identical to Elreth's old house that her parents now used, with a wide open Great Room downstairs that had dining, kitchen, and living, then stairs that climbed the back, rounded wall of the hollowed out tree to the next level where the bedrooms were.