RETH

He stifled the growl that wanted to rise at the pure aggression in Brant's eyes. But he knew the question was valid—and had he been in Brant's chair, he would probably have been less calm.

This was the most crucial question yet, and he would answer it so.

"No. I did not. I knew her nature. Knew her heart. And knew what she'd been to me. I knew she was my mate. But she did not. When I was faced with the choice…

"

"You chose for your heart?

"

"No, I chose for my people. I believed then, as I do now, that Elia was the better Queen for the Anima.

"

"You expect us to believe that you had no hand, no knowledge, no intention towards a woman who you have just admitted held your heart, even when you were young?

"

"I expect you to believe that the Creator can achieve the impossible—what I believed to be impossible, anyway. And that He can use the ill-intent of the wolves to bring about the best future for the Anima.

"What ill-intention do you speak of?

"

Reth turned to the woman who'd asked the question. She sat next to Aymora who had remained quiet through this, which Reth found odd. She was older—these were all the elders of the tribe—but her hair remained only peppered with gray. Her face was kind but strong, and her eyes a piercing green.

"I believe that somehow—and I truly do not know how—the wolves learned of my attachment to Elia. I believe they knew I'd broken the Rite with Lucine and they did not remove her from it. And the reason they did not call me to face the charges, was because they thought she and I had formed an attachment. They planned to use Elia as a… tactic. Believing that Lucine would kill her easily—as did I when I saw her in the Rite. I sadly underestimated my Queen and her strength.

"I believe the wolves intended to show me my own weakness, to exert their power through Lucine, by placing the female they somehow knew was significant to met, in a position to be removed by their female. So that I would walk into my reign—her reign—seeing her as… dominant over my goals and hopes.

"

Brant sat back in his chair. Many of the women nodded, but not all. And the men looked very skeptical.

Reth took a quick glance at Elia, who stared at him, so sad. So worried. He winked again, but knew he had not been able to put the joy into it that would soothe her.

He yearned to touch her.

His eyes trailed over her—the mark on her neck looking like a dark smudge in the afternoon light and his stomach clenched.

They had to get through this. They had to be able to move past it.

They had to be together.

"I do not like this,

" Brant growled and Reth snapped his attention back to the councils.

"Manipulation and politics interfering in what should be the work only of the Creator.

"

"But that is what happened,

" Reth said softly.

"I can see it—can you? Just as I believed to find her, to have her was impossible, their machinations seemed utterly foolproof. Their intentions to bring themselves power through the Rite must have seemed as if it could not fail. Yet, the Creator found a way. And I am so grateful that He did—and not just for myself. For the people.

"

Brant stared, and Reth waited.

There was nothing else he could do.

*****

ELIA

She felt the tension in the room shift as the men went quiet, and she wasn't sure why. But all she could do was stare at Reth. Her heart ached for him, desperate for him to be seen clearly, for them to know the way he'd seen this, right from the beginning.

Her mate wasn't flawless, but he was honest, could they see that?

When he turned to look at her, his eyes full of grief, she was reminded of the night he'd told her all of this…

When he'd told her he'd slept with Lucine it had hit her like a bullet in the chest. She'd pulled her hands out of his grip.

"The one… you're telling me that the woman that killed all those others—that wanted to kill me—you… had sex with her?

"

He'd nodded.

"But I thought… I thought they were all virgins, like me?

"

"They were supposed to be,

" he croaked.

"When she approached me, she broke the Rite—she told me she was the chosen sacrifice for the wolves, and she convinced me… she was certain she would win and we would be together. I knew she was right—had you not been there, Elia, she would be my mate, and my Queen, and my skin crawls just speaking those words, but they are true,

" he said fiercely.

Her entire body had recoiled from him and he'd grieved it, rushing to try and comfort her.

"Elia, you cannot think—you must know it was not what I desired, or what I would have chosen. You know my heart lives because you're here and I wouldn't change a thing about that. I wish… I regret that night. Deeply—and not just for us. I regret it for Lucine and the place it has left her. Had I known you were coming, I wouldn't even have been tempted. I forced myself to it because I thought I had to find a way with her and I was afraid, honestly. I didn't want to combine my bloodline with the wolves—and Lucine…

" he trailed off miserably…

She'd been unable to deny that he spoke honestly that night, as much as she'd wanted to stay angry and wanted to punish him, she'd known. He loved her so much, if he'd known he wouldn't have done it. It was that purely simple.

But here he was, a suspected traitor just for holding her so close. She couldn't let them see him that way.

"Can… Can I please speak?

" she asked quietly, keeping her shoulders forward and not meeting Brant's eyes in the best attitude of submission she knew.

"Please?

"

"Speak of what?

" he asked, the words clipped.

Then she met his eyes.

"Speak of the ways that even in these circumstances, my Mate has honored both me, and the people, at cost to himself. To prove his heart?

"

Brant stared at her for several breaths and none of the others broke in.

"No,

" he said softly a moment later.

*****

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