ELRETH

Elreth frowned and sat back, staring at Aaryn who still wouldn't meet her eyes. "I'm afraid to leave you," she admitted. He was carrying so much!

But Aaryn pulled her back into the hug and whispered in her ear. "I love you, so much. And tomorrow I want to celebrate that. I want it to be a day of joy. But I think the only way that's going to happen is if I… face this tonight. Get it out of my system. Otherwise I'm going to bring it with me tomorrow, and I don't want to do that. Do you understand?"

"You can't grieve for a lifetime in one night, Aaryn. I wouldn't expect you to."

He shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I mean… I just need to give this some time and space and… take a step. Trust me, El. I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just need to be alone."

Elreth sighed and stroked his hair, staring into his pinched and pained eyes. But then she nodded. "Okay. I get it." She tightened her fingers in his hair. "But screw that whole staying apart thing. When you're done, come to the cave so I can hold you? We won't do anything. I just… I want to know that you're okay."

He shook his head and forced a smile that made her stomach pang. "No. This is one tradition I think is going to make tomorrow special," he said. It's just one day. If I need you, I'll come. But I don't think… I think I'll just go back to Gar's like we planned. Don't worry. He's good to me. He knows when I need to be left alone. He won't tease me. He probably won't even be there," Aaryn said with a forced grin. "You go rest. I'm going to grieve, and then I'm going to sleep. And tomorrow will be a new day."

Elreth hated leaving him, but she understood. And with only a few more protests, she unwound herself from his arms and got up, squeezing his hands before she walked slowly away, out from under the tree, and towards the cave.

But very, very soon after that, she started to run again. She considered giving over to the beast, but she needed to feel the wind on her cheeks, and push her body to release some of the tension. So she ran as fast as she was capable of running in her human form, and she didn't stop until she made it to her parent's tree.

She barely knocked, shoving the door open and rushing in to find her parents standing in the living room, facing each other, like they'd been talking about something serious. But they both looked at her with surprise when she rushed across the wooden floor and threw herself into her father's chest.

"Hey, hey!" Reth murmured, closing his arms around her just as tightly as she clung to him. "El, what's wrong?"

"Thank you for not dying!" she squeaked into his chest. "Thank you for not being a traitor! Thank you for… for being a dad! I love you! I love you so much!"

There was a hesitation and she could feel her parents looking at each other with confusion as she blubbered into her father's chest. But he just rubbed her back. When he spoke, she listened to his deep voice rumble in his chest and it made her feel like a cub again.

"I love you too, sweetheart. And… you're welcome? But… Don't get me wrong, I love the outpouring. It soothes an old dad's heart. But do you want to tell me what happened that made you feel like this?"

She told him then, in between hiccups and cleared throats, about Aaryn's mom giving him a letter from his dad, and that was why the wolves howled.

By the time she had pulled out of his arms and was done outlining what was in the letter, how much it spoke to her—so how much more must it have spoken to Aaryn?—her parents were staring at each other worriedly.

It was nice to see them looking at each other with something other than fear, or anger, she realized. She looked back and forth between them as they had one of those silent conversations they'd always had, and her heart expanded.

They were going to be okay. She could feel it.

"Did you want to stay here tonight?" her mother asked her suddenly. "So you aren't alone?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. Ironically, if she couldn't be with Aaryn, she didn't want to be with anyone. But she'd had to come and hug her dad and remind herself that he was real and alive and not going anywhere. "I want to be alone. But pray for Aaryn because he's really grieving and he says he's still going to stay with Gar tonight, and—"

"I'll talk to Gar and make sure he doesn't pull another stunt," her father growled, his face going stony.

"No!" Elreth put a hand to his chest and he looked down at her, shocked. "No, Dad, thank you, but… Gar is good to Aaryn. He likes him. And he won't hurt him when he sees he's already hurting. Gar's a good place for Aaryn to be. I just… I just wish he could be with me. But that's for tomorrow. We'll survive. And so will Gar. You don't need to say anything. Gar will take good care of him."

Her father looked confused. "Coming from you, that's high praise."

Elreth shrugged. "I've learned some stuff about him recently." She studiously ignored her mother and kept her eyes on her dad. "I'm still mad at him for being such a jerk, but… I can see more of his good side now."

She risked a glance at her mom and discovered her, hands to her mouth, beaming in pride, nodding in agreement with Elreth's words.

Her father looked more skeptical, but he pulled her into his chest for another hug and sighed. "Don't you worry about tomorrow," he said softly. "You're right. Everyone's going to survive the night and make it there. and when you walk the Flames and Smoke, this will all fall away. You're going to have a wonderful time."

"I know," she said with a reluctant sigh. "Thank you."

*****

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