AARYN

He waited until she'd been gone a few minutes, then he got dressed and left himself, avoiding thoughts about what a coward he was and how he'd let her go by herself into the City, in case people smelled him on her.

The scary part was, he wasn't afraid of whether she could handle that. He was afraid of seeing the people's reaction—of feeling that he should, for their good, not take her as mate.

But it was too late! They had the bond already, even if it was faint. No one in Anima would expect them to deny it… but they might expect her to give up the throne. Or they might—no. She was strong enough for this. And she had him to back her—and her father, too.

She could do this. He knew it.

He was just needed to stop acting like a pup and put his Alpha pants on. Show them what he could do.

Or would that make them even less likely to support him, if they thought he might be stronger than El?

Aaryn groaned and pushed the thoughts out of his mind. They would meet with the elders, and go from there.

He was in the meadow outside the cave before he thought of Gar—because the door to his treehouse was open and swinging in the breeze. Aaryn changed directions and headed for Gar's tree house instead. He needed to have a word with the male about antagonizing Elreth. If Gar wanted to keep things quiet, he needed to do better at avoiding conflict.

Passing Reth and Elia's tree house as he walked was an odd feeling. Like there was a cloud hanging over the place. He'd never felt that before—or rarely, anyway. Reth and Elia didn't normally fight at all, and when they did, it was usually short, sharp, and they both moved on fast.

Aaryn prayed that would be true of this conflict as well. He didn't like that he'd been the catalyst for it. He would have to apologize to Elia…

He reached Gar's front door and walked inside. "Gar?" he called.

There was no sign of life on the main floor, and the curtains on the windows hadn't been opened. The house was dark, despite the morning light creeping in around the edges of the thick curtains. He started up the stairs that lined the wall. "Gar, are you awake?" he called.

Well, the male would be awake now, he supposed, with a grin.

"What time is it?" Gar groaned as Aaryn reached the top of the stairs and crossed the landing to the bedroom door.

"Breakfast time," Aaryn said as he walked into the pitch black room.

Gar lay on top of the blankets, stark naked, and a pillow over his face.

"What is with you people thinking it's normal to be up with the sun?"

"It is normal to be up with the sun, Gar," Aaryn said good-naturedly, taking the chair that sat sloppily in the middle of the carpet, several feet from the desk. "You're the weird one, brother."

Gar groaned again. "What do you want?" Then he yanked the pillow off his face and sat up. "You told her, didn't you? I fucking knew it!"

"No, no," Aaryn said, putting his palms up. "She was good about it. I told her it was your story to tell."

"Bullshit. She never stops asking questions once she knows there's something she doesn't know. She's like a dog on a scent. She can't stop sniffing until she gets to the bottom of it."

Aaryn pressed his lips thin. "Well, I told her that you were helping me and the disformed, but that you'd asked me to keep it to myself. So, if she's still sniffing, it's probably going to be at your door. Good luck."

"She seriously accepted that from you?"

"She's my mate, Gar. And my oldest friend. She knows I take other people's confidences seriously."

Gar stared at him. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"She lets you away with… so much. More than anyone else."

"Maybe that's because I'm awesome."

Gar snorted. "More like, it's because you're mating her."

"No, I'm not, thanks to you. I get the joke, okay? Ha ha. But if you ever put her in that position again, you won't have to wait for her to tear your throat out, because I'll do it myself. You hurt her last night, and put her in a very vulnerable position in front of another male.

"You're welcome. But in my defense, I seriously didn't think it would go that far. I figured you guys would be hot and heavy and Dad would walk in and it would be funny. I didn't think she'd jump straight to mating. She's always been so… disinterested."

Aaryn wanted to leap to her defense, but he couldn't think of a way to do it without describing her passion, and he didn't think she or Gar wanted Gar to hear about that. "Just don't do it again. It won't be funny."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

They both sat there, staring for a minute, then Gar sighed. "Fine, so, how much did you tell her?"

"Nothing more than what I told you: She knows you're helping the disformed, she doesn't know how. And I told her that if the Kingdom ever needed what you're doing, that you'd be well equipped."

Gar groaned and fell back against the pillows. "She's going to guess and she's never going to leave me alone."

"I really don't think so. She was clueless last night. She really thinks you're still partying."

"That's because I'm a party animal," Gar said slyly.

Aaryn sighed. "Grow up, Gar. I'm not one of your human girls. I don't think this stuff is cool. You're taking too many risks in my opinion."

"Good thing I don't give a shit about your opinion."

"Liar."

Gar grunted, but didn't answer. He lay there, staring at the ceiling. Aaryn sighed. "I take it things with Reth haven't improved?"

Gar shifted on the bed, his face going tight. Aaryn waited.