RETH

Reth determined the last details, then assigned everyone tasks—or told the others who they'd need to delegate to. One by one, each of them left on the way to find other Anima to help on this most crucial of all nights.

Eventually, only Reth, Suhle and Charyn remained. Reth waited until the door closed behind Behryn and Hollhye—who had insisted on staying within sight of Behryn, that they must go together to find the people they needed. Behryn looked resigned, and Reth didn't have the heart to tell her it was going to take twice as long that way—which would mean Behryn would be twice as tired. He couldn't fault her. If his mate had been there, he wouldn't have wanted to let her out of his sight, either.

Reth had had to close the door on the sight of the two of them walking down the path under guard, their fingers entwined, and Hollhye leaning on Behryn's arm. It was exactly how Elia used to cling to him when she was scared or feeling protective. It made his stomach clench.

He shook off the yearning and turned to the two wolves who remained sitting at the table behind him.

Charyn glanced at Suhle uneasily, then back to Reth.

"Would you like me to leave?

"

Reth shook his head.

"I need to speak with both of you.

"

Suhle looked at him sharply, but Charyn took a breath and sat back in his chair, waiting.

Reth took the seat across the table from the two of them—Charyn a handsome, but heavier and much less refined version of his cousin. Suhle dropped her gaze to the table in front of her, but didn't fidget. She was remarkably calm, under the circumstances. But then, she'd always been amazingly cool-headed in a crisis.

It was after the crisis that she fell apart.

Reth sighed and fixed his eyes on her, though she hadn't yet looked up to meet his gaze.

"Suhle,

" he said softly. She tensed anyway.

"I have told you since we met that I would not breach your privacy, nor ask you to bring me anything that you did not… offer freely.

"

Charyn shifted in his seat, looking back and forth between them, obviously uncertain what was about to pass.

"Charyn, I applauded your courage in coming forward, and when I later realized you were Suhle's cousin, it occurred to me that there was clearly a thread of integrity in your family that… well, frankly, that I could use.

"

Charyn nodded to accept the compliment, but still looked confused.

Reth looked between them.

"Under any other circumstances I would never ask this of you, but I fear that without this information, even what Suhle has brought may not be enough. I ask you here alone, because I plan to tell no one else if you choose to answer me. And… and I will vow to you,

" he said reluctantly,

"that if you choose not to answer me, I will not hold it against you. I am aware that I am about to ask you both to breach the integrity with which you have acted consistently—and towards me. I apologize in advance for that.

"

Suhle's eyes snapped up to meet his, though she didn't move. Charyn just waited, his face expressionless.

"I need to know exactly how the wolf mind-link works, how deep it goes, whether you can breach another wolf's mind without their consent, and whether they can breach yours.

"

Suhle froze. But her cousin's eyes went wide.

"How do you know of the mind-link?

" Charyn choked out.

Reth blew out a breath and Suhle's jaw tightened.

"I guessed,

" Reth said,

"apparently correctly. I apologize for presenting that in such a way as to deceive you about my knowledge, but… but I am desperate.

"

Suhle made a small noise of disapproval. Reth gave her an apologetic look.

He'd skirted around this question in the past and she'd refused to entertain the conversation. The wolves were vowed to keep the mind-link protected and secret only to the Tribe. Suhle was a female of her word and always functioned always from a place of honesty—as completely as she could. She grieved when lies were necessary for the investigations she undertook, but she recognized the need for them.

Her vows to the wolves, her loyalty to her family and those she loved was untainted by her work for Reth. And actually, she prioritized her family over his needs—she wasn't actually his spy. She was a friend. Someone he admired. And a female he had asked to help him on more than one occasion.

He hadn't had a chance to speak with her when he'd banished the wolves, but he did already have spies within the tribe—though some question as to whether they would remain loyal under the pressures from their packs. But Suhle… he'd known she would want to stay at the Tree City. He'd hoped she would decide it was important enough to go to the encampment, but he never would have asked her to do it after seeing the way the wolves were throwing their honor to the winds. When he'd been unable to locate her in the days after his return from taking Elia to the portal, he'd prayed for her safety. On a variety of levels.

He knew she would struggle if the encampment proved to be the nest of violence Reth suspected it was.

Behryn had found Suhle training with her uncle when she was still a young adolescent and he'd seen something in her that most would have missed. He read the winds around her—the air of pain, but of strength, of integrity, and fear. He'd offered to take her to a training far more effective than that given by her Uncle.

Despite her shyness, she'd leapt at the chance to train with the Apprentices with the spirit of a warrior. But the first time he'd led her into the training ring with a male, she'd almost wet herself.

It hadn't taken Behryn—or Reth—more than that to figure out what must have happened, but she would never speak of it. Only assured them as she grew that she was both choosing servitude, and Devotion to the Creator, over personal ambition. And a family.

She planned to never mate.

Which made her the perfect operative. But Reth knew he was asking would challenge her on every level. So, he held her disapproving gaze and searched for the right words. For the honesty she deserved.