Bab 544: Terms & Conditions

RETH

He'd shocked her.

He and Elia stared at each other, both of them tense and poised, like prey hidden in the grass, aware of a predator nearby and waiting to see if it would pounce.

Elia was clearly overcome with the idea of sentencing Gahrye to time apart from his mate. And he loved her for her compassion. But Reth was far more concerned about how her lip kept pulling back from her teeth, than the fact that they were arguing.

She needed to calm down.

"Elia," he said, as reasonably as he could, "I'm not without feeling. But you weren't here. You don't understand. I do not wish grief on Gahrye—especially not since he's done such a good work in keeping you safe and getting you back here. But I wasn't aware of his situation, and I made a vow to Gawhr. He leads the bears and he can be erratic even at the best of times. I can't just break my word because it's now inconvenient."