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*****

AARYN

Aaryn stood watching his mate stalk towards the cave, her mother on her heels. He knew Reth had taken the wrong impression from all that, and now he was going to have to answer for it. But in that moment, all he cared about was that Elreth looked so tense, so brittle.

Was it fear? Or anger? Or both?

Probably both.

As soon as they disappeared into the cave and the door swung closed, Reth turned to him and rumbled, "What the hell did you do?"

"That's not what's wrong now," he said.

Reth lifted a single eyebrow. "So you did do something?"

Aaryn sighed and met his gaze. "We had a fight, yes. And it's not resolved yet. But we came back together afterwards, and we are in this together, and will remain in it together. What she's upset about now is…" He hesitated, looking around, realizing they were out in the open and any Anima might come strolling down the path and hear them before they realized they were there. "Can we go into your Tree? I've got some things to tell you. And they aren't about me and El."

Reth rubbed his scruffy jaw—he'd been a lot less diligent about shaving since he wasn't King anymore, Aaryn noticed—then started towards the Tree. "Sure," he said. "My home is your home, Aaryn."

Aaryn was touched and followed the older man, grateful. He would talk to Reth about the fight with Elreth too. And he would listen to what the man had to say. Maybe he'd see it more clearly than Aaryn did.

*****

They sat at the dining table across from each other. Reth was leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed, frowning.

"…the female—the woman—is terrified. She's completely unequipped to be here. He can take care of her, I know he can. At least, unless a predator takes beast form and outright attacks her. But that's not the point. It turns out they've done this several times." He almost mentioned Gar, but caught himself. He didn't think Reth knew yet, what his son was doing. It was something Aaryn had always thought Gar would benefit by sharing. Now he wondered if he knew why Gar hadn't.

"From what we can tell, there's at least six—possibly eight—that have come through. Some from before I was Alpha, and some more recently. But it sounds to me like anyone who's been central in the disformed—people we've been training—if they get really restless and want to go… I understood that we were encouraging them to make a life in the human world where they would be admired. But at least some of them are finding mates and bringing those mates back here. They've got some crazy idea in their heads that there's some other settlement or group or something, and they're all heading out to find it. I mean, we don't even know if they're alive! We might be stacking up bodies in the desert and not even know it—especially the weak humans—and all because they're chasing some fairytale—"

"It's not a fairytale," Reth growled. He wasn't looking at Aaryn anymore. He'd turned his head to stare out of the window. The little muscles in the corner of his jaw were twitching.

Aaryn blinked. "It's not? Who's out there?"

"I can't… there's… look, Aaryn. There are some people in our society who are good people, but for a variety of reasons, they either won't be accepted here, or can't live among us. Those people are… under my watch. But they have their own society. We communicate. They are trustworthy. But they don't live here with us, and they can't. You'll just have to trust me on that."

"So, you knew the disformed were defecting to join these people?"

Reth shook his head. "No, I didn't. I didn't think they knew about them. But to be honest, I'm glad if they do. I'd rather see them there, among their own. Those people are all… outsiders, for one reason or another. They wouldn't turn anyone away. Not even humans."

"Why didn't anyone tell me this?!" Aaryn growled. "I could have been sending them people safely!"

"You weren't even supposed to be organizing your own tribe, Aaryn. Don't expect to be treated like an Alpha when you raise leadership without the crown's permission—you're lucky I didn't tear out your throat when I learned about that!"

Aaryn sighed. "I'm sorry, Reth. I am. I'm… I'm coming to understand all of this a little better through El and what she's facing. But I promise. I have always brought the outsiders towards the Crown, not away from it."

Reth just stared. "And now you're learning what it feels like to find out your people don't always choose to share everything with you. I wonder where they heard about the others?"

Aaryn shrugged, but he couldn't hold Reth's gaze, finding himself suddenly very interested in a speck of food that had dried onto the table and been missed in the clean up. He picked at it with his fingernail. "There have always been rumors, but I thought they were just wishful thinking on behalf of people who felt disconnected. I know there has to have been Anima who've left over the years, but I just figured they were out there alone, or maybe in a small group… I don't know. I never imagined a whole other City."

Reth scoffed. "It's not a City. You were right with the word settlement, I think. There's a small number of them. They have a leader. By now I'm guessing they've formed packs and herds. Flocks. But they'd be very small. Not much more than family groups. Although, if the disformed have been joining them… who knows?"

"Do the elders know about this? I know Elreth doesn't."

Reth rubbed a hand over his face and clearly took a moment to decide whether to answer. "No, they don't. At least, they haven't heard it from me," he said finally.

Aaryn's eyebrows popped up. "You hid them from the elders?"

Reth shot him a warning look. "I encouraged certain people to leave us over the years, and encouraged them to band together, and some—the leaders—have been wise enough to keep in touch with me occasionally. Just in case. They are under their own rule, but they… acknowledge mine."

"Will they acknowledge Elreth?"

"The next time I hear from them, I guess we'll find out," Reth said dryly.

Aaryn huffed.

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