ELRETH

At some point in the dark of night, the only light in the cave was the moonlight seeping in around the edges of the door, Elreth woke feeling cold.

She blinked and it took a moment to remember where she was, but she sat up to find her bearings, then reached over for Aaryn… but found only cold fur.

Frowning, she pulled the top fur around her as she slipped off the platform and shuffled through the cave, shivering.

Where was Aaryn? Was he sick?

Hurrying for the door, she swung it wide and rushed out, to find him standing just a few feet outside, naked and bathed in moonlight, staring at the river that gurgled and hummed, the music to their "honeymoon."

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, rushing forward to wrap her arms around him, and the fur.

His skin was freezing, but she could feel the warmth of him underneath. He pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her, tucking the fur in tightly to keep them both warm. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm sorry I woke you."

"You didn't. I got cold," she said. "And you're freezing. What are you doing out here?"

"Just… thanking the Creator," he said softly, still staring at the river over her head.

She waited, knowing there was more.

He sighed. "I woke up and I was looking at you," he said sheepishly. "You're beautiful when you sleep. But you look really young, too. And it reminded me of that first day when you helped me. Do you remember?"

Elreth nodded. She'd been eight. She'd known of Aaryn—at least, she'd noticed him around. Liked the way he carried himself. But he always looked just a little bit hunted, and that bothered her. The one time she'd gotten close enough to scent him, she'd realized he was disformed—which explained the way his eyes were always darting around, looking for danger.

She'd wanted to get to know him, but he was older, ahead of her in training, and a wolf. Their paths just didn't cross, except at the market or other gatherings. And she knew he didn't like attention. If she'd singled him out there, everyone would have been watching.

It had become a game, following him when he didn't know it. Trying to learn about him. See if there was a way she could insert herself into his life.

She didn't know why she was so drawn to him, but she hadn't been able to let it go.

Her mother had noticed and chided her. If she was going to chase boys, she needed to wait a few years. And following them around wasn't the way to do it. Elreth was horrified that she'd been found out.

But she still couldn't let it go.

Then that day had come. It was a weekend afternoon. She'd been on her way back home and seen him leave the market—and seen the three boys run up behind him. She wondered at first if they were friends. But the wariness in his scent, and the way he kept eyeing them told her quickly that they weren't.

She'd followed them deep into the forest, trying to come up with excuses to give if she was noticed. But none of them saw her. If they had, perhaps it wouldn't have happened.

But she was so, so glad it had.

That was the first time she'd seen the utter cruelty some of the disformed faced. And it made her raging angry.

She'd struggled not to jump in the second the boys began to taunt him. But when one of them talked about seeing if they could scare him into shifting—then all three of them took beast form and he was trapped there… she hadn't even thought about it.

She'd leaped into her beast—not as big as the three wolves, but she would have gambled that her jaws were stronger. And she was a Princess. Even if they could beat her, they wouldn't. She knew that. So she'd run it, full of confidence. And sure enough, each of them had run, yelping, or taken off back home—the last one in tears—before she was done.

When she realized they were all gone and this male she'd been following was staring at her, she hadn't known what to say at first.

"Are you okay?" She knew he wasn't, but what else was she supposed to do?

He'd angrily swiped the tears off his own face, cursing himself. She'd pretended she didn't notice. When he didn't answer, she thought maybe he hadn't heard her. She tried a new approach. "I'm Elreth," she'd said. "Do you want a snack? My mother will make it."

But he'd just gaped at her.

She frowned confused. "Do you speak?"

His face twisted in anger and her stomach sank. She was forever saying the wrong thing to people.

"Yes, I speak," he'd snapped. "But you can't be friends with me. You're the Princess."

"Pfffft." She knew her parents wouldn't care. She also knew other people would. But she'd already decided not to let that stop her. She'd tossed her shining copper hair over her shoulder and turned towards home. "My mother doesn't care. Come have some cookies…."

"I remember," Elreth said quietly.

"All it would have taken was that one day going differently," he said quietly. "Have you ever thought about that, El? That we just happened to be in the same place at the same time? And if we hadn't been… none of this would have happened."

Elreth squirmed. "Well, I wouldn't say it would never have happened…" she said, sheepish. She'd never told him she'd been following him for weeks.

"You know what I mean, though," he said, stroking her back. "One little change. One different friendship, or different day… one thing that drew us apart early on… but that didn't happen and now look at us," he breathed. "Look at what we're going to do. El, you're literally going to be a living legend. Little females are going to tell their grandpups about the day that you took dominance. You'll be written in the histories—"

"So will you!"

"That's my point!" he said happily. "I just… I can't believe it. I can't believe this is our life. I'm so grateful. And I needed a minute to say that. To think about it. That's all."

They stood there, holding each other, until Elreth took a deep breath. "Do you want to come back to bed now?"

Aaryn nodded and let her go. She unwrapped herself from him, grieving the cold for him. But he just took her hand and led her back into the cave, stopping to close the door, then leading her to the sleeping platform… where he showed her exactly how grateful he was.

*****

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