AARYN

"So…" Reth said later as they sat on the couch, waiting for the females to be finished talking. "How was the rest of the honeymoon?"

Aaryn shifted his weight. He didn't mind talking about this stuff, but he knew he had to be careful to protect Elreth from embarrassment. He cleared his throat as an image of Elreth, riding him in the water bloomed in his mind.

"Most of it was… incredible," he said sheepishly.

Reth didn't look at him, which Aaryn appreciated. "Incredible for her?"

"Yes."

"You're certain?"

"Well, I'd say ask her yourself, but you know what she's like with this stuff. Trust me, Reth, it was wonderful. Both of us didn't want to come back."

"Neither of you looked very happy when you showed up."

"It was a shocking end to it all. She's… still grappling with that. The whole disformed thing is… it's tough between us."

Reth grunted and took a sip from his drink. "Stay close to her in the coming weeks," he said cryptically a moment later. "There's a strange thing that happens when a female gives herself for the first time. It kicks the tails of the instincts of the males nearby—and the same can be said of the females around. They'll see you with her, see the way you adore her, and it will make them want you for themselves. It will settle down, but those first few weeks can be… tricky."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Females are strange."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Reth said dryly. "There was one time, when we first mated and I claimed her and things were really a struggle—not between us, but there were a lot of Anima who didn't respect Elia and… it was just tough. She'd just gotten mad at me like the day before for dominating a male that touched her—I was a little raw around the edges then. I didn't do it gently. Anyway, she gave me this big lecture about not being cruel to the males just because I was jealous. Then the next afternoon she walks into the market where I was talking to some of the females and one of them flirted with me—disrespectful, to be sure. But Elia was too new to understand the Anima dynamics. I didn't even think she'd notice. But," he began to chuckle, "she got right up in this young lioness's face and dominated her." He giggled for a few seconds, and Aaryn smiled. "Then she took me home and—well, it was just funny. She couldn't even see that she'd done exactly the same thing she got mad at me about. Completely blind to it. Not that I cared, to be honest," Reth said with warm smile. "I was just glad she wanted me enough to fight for me."

"I have the opposite trouble, I think," Aaryn said. "She's so busy fighting everyone, all the time, sometimes she forgets she doesn't have to fight me, as well."

Reth growled.

Aaryn nodded and they both stared at the carpet. "Wouldn't want to live without her, though," Aaryn said quietly. "Even with the fighting."

"Creator's pure truth," Reth responded. "Sometimes I wonder if she fights because I need it and I just don't realize it because I'm too busy sharpening my wits to meet hers to realize that she's making me stronger."

Aaryn thought about that. He knew there was a nugget of wisdom in there somewhere. He could see the glint of it peeking through.

"Of course, if you tell her that, I'll deny it to my grave," Reth said and took another drink. "The last thing I need is her thinking I approve of her strength. I'd never get a moment's peace."

Aaryn chuckled with him that time and rubbed his eyes. "Creator's Light, yes. Love is many things, but peaceful isn't one of them. Not with a Hyrehyn, anyway."

Reth snorted. "Don't blame me. She's her mother's daughter."

Aaryn turned and stared at Reth.

"What?" the older male said, his brow pinched into lines.

Aaryn stared a moment longer, then shook his head. "Nothing. Nevermind."

Reth rolled his eyes. "Look, the truth is, we wouldn't love them if they weren't strong. We need our match, otherwise we'd just become peacocks. But if you want my advice—something I wished I'd known sooner—it's that actually, you want to challenge her more. Especially Elreth. When Elia and were first together I was so besotted with her, I didn't challenge her a lot. I just let her do what she did. Be herself. Which is great. But I'll tell you, we all need challenging. The stronger we are, the more challenge we need. I think… I think I created more problems for her by just letting her walk her own way early on. Not because she had such bad ideas—we needed her ideas. But because I set her up for failure in the eyes of others."

"How? If she had good ideas and she was strong, why did she have so many problems?" Aaryn had been present at enough family gatherings to have heard all the stories—both funny and frightening—about Elia's earliest year in the Anima. Aaryn was glad he hadn't faced the same vindictive targeting. Being disformed was bad. Being an unexpected human queen who was physically weak and empathetic had apparently been worse.

Aaryn had never faced assassins.

"Well, people don't like change—just as you guys are seeing now. When you add to that that I was so besotted with her, I didn't try to teach her, didn't ask her to modify. At least, not until she'd already had problems. I kept putting her in a position to learn the hard way—then be frustrated because I hadn't given her what she needed to navigate it better. Don't do that. It's not good for either of you. You end up fighting battles you could have avoided."

"But… I don't want to change Elreth, either."

Reth nodded. "I'm not suggesting you tell her to change who she is. I'm saying, push her. Push her to get better. To listen. To learn. To adjust where it will help others. If you can see a pitfall coming, tell her about it. Either she listens to you and changes and it's better—or she doesn't, but she learns that you had her best interests at heart."

"You forgot the part where she gets spitting mad at me for not just going along."

Reth nodded. "True, true. But that's what I'm saying. Don't be scared to challenge her—and don't reject the challenge she brings to you. Iron sharpens iron, Aaryn. The two of you are best positioned to see both the best and the worst in each other. If you never let someone else point out your flaws, they stay flaws. Be humble. Use your mate—and be the mate she needs. You'll both be grateful for it down the line."

Aaryn thought that through and took a sip of his drink. "Okay, I'll take that advice on one condition."

"What's that?"

"That I have permission to come sleep on your couch whenever she kicks me out of the cave."

Reth's laughter boomed through the tree, then he slapped Aaryn's shoulder. "Only if you return the favor!"