RETH

It was hard to be certain through the tears, but Reth gathered that Elia had been trying to get Elreth to sleep, had been looking forward to some time with him alone, and instead he'd burst in like bear, getting Elreth all excited and being completely oblivious to his mate's efforts.

Reth felt terrible that she was sad. First he stood, Elreth still in his arms and gathered Elia to his chest, holding her and swinging them both, giving Elreth a dominating look when she tried to make him play. She'd sighed and put her little cub chin on his shoulder, but she stopped struggling.

Stroking Elia's back and murmuring to her that he was there and he would help, shushing her protests, he swayed with both of them—a movement that he'd noticed often settled Elreth quickly—until it was suddenly a tiny human bottom in the palm of his hand, and little fingers clawed into his neck.

Elia's cries had stopped quickly, but her breath was still jerky, so he enjoyed a moment of just holding them both together, one hand in Elia's hair, the other holding Elreth to his shoulder.

When everyone was calm again, he held Elreth to him tightly and tipped up Elia's chin.

"I will put her down,

" he rumbled quietly.

"Why don't you go lay down and rest? We can all have a nap before she gets hungry again.

"

Elia's face fell, but she nodded.

"Thank you, Reth,

" she whispered.

He leaned down for a brief, chaste kiss—the brothers had warned him it might be some time before she wanted him again, and not to push—then stroked her hair.

"Go rest. I'll come lay with you once this little monster is asleep.

"

Elia nodded, but her face was sad as she trudged out of the Great Room and down the tunnel towards the bedchamber.

Reth waited until she'd closed the door, then slid Elreth into the crook of his elbow and stroked her hair. She grinned and reached for his chin with grasping fingers, but he looked at her sternly.

"Your mother is tired and she needs a rest. And that means you need a rest.

"

She squealed, but he shook his head and let himself feel his authority.

"No, Elreth. It's time for rest now. For all of us. No more shifting. No more playing. We'll play tomorrow. Daddy's home in the morning. Okay?

"

She let her lips putter, but didn't squeal again when he laid her gently down in the basket, humming a song his mother had hummed for him when he was young and not feeling well, tucking the blankets around her and giving her looks whenever she struggled against them.

The cave was very quiet by the time Elreth nodded off. He was about to lift it and carry it into the bedchamber, but then he remembered something Aymora had told him weeks earlier.

"Sometimes your mate will need to just be a female without a cub. And sometimes she will need you as a male, not a father, Reth. Don't forget her.

"

He hadn't really been sure what Aymora meant—they'd both been so enamored with Elreth and full of joy to still have each other and her… but now he wondered if he had a clue.

The question was, was this a moment to leave Elia alone to rest? Or to come alongside her?

After a moment's thought, he decided she could have both. He placed Elreth's basket on the floor since having her on high places always seemed to make Elia nervous, and started towards the bathing pools. He would bathe and give Elia some time. Then he would leave Elreth to sleep and go join his mate in their bed together. Alone.

Perhaps then she would tell him what was wrong and he could fix it.

Nodding, because it was a good plan, he strode to the back of the kitchen and into the bathing pools cavern.

*****

ELIA

So frustrated and annoyed with herself for the tears, Elia stormed into the bedchamber and stripped with quick, aggressive tugs, growling when one of her buttons got caught because her breasts were bigger now and there was too much pressure on it.

Then she found herself standing in the middle of the bedchamber naked and her face in her hands. It had all gone wrong. Instead of this sweet, loving evening with her mate, she'd frightened him and forced him to tend to their daughter when she was entirely capable of it. And now he was going to come in here all worried and wanting to fix everything when really all she wanted was for him to leap on her and make her skin tingle!

Well… she was going to mop herself up and get in the furs, and when he came in soon, she would tell him there was nothing to worry about, and just pull him down into a kiss and wrap her legs around his waist. If that didn't get him in the mood, they had bigger problems.

Twenty minutes later—having passed the time remembering exactly what it felt like to have her mate between her thighs—she was restless and a little breathy. But there was no sound in the cave. Hopefully that meant that Elreth was going to sleep and Reth would join her soon.

But ten minutes later he still hadn't, and Elia started to get nervous.

And ten minutes after that her tears were threatening again. Didn't he want to be with her? To comfort her?

Elia threw back the furs and started across the bedchamber, but then, aware of her nakedness, she changed course to the closet at the side of the room. An image flashed in her head then of the very first night she'd been in Anima…

She'd been terrified and confused, trying to come to terms with Reth's Anima pragmatism when he'd told her, quite simply that her former life was over—something she wasn't ready to hear. But when she'd realized there was no way to fight it, she'd started to change her clothes into the furs he'd gotten out of the closet for her.

"Very good, Elia,

" he'd said. While she leaned down to take off her high heels, he turned back to the closet and shrugged off the vest he'd been wearing with its Lion's mane collar. As he hung it up, his back was revealed in the light of the lanterns. Elia's mouth had gone dry.

His muscles gleamed, crawling like ladders from his trim waist to the wide expanse of his shoulders. The line of his spine made a deep crease down the center of his back. But here and there, all over his body, his smooth, rippled skin was marred by white, puckered scars, some in deep, parallel lines, like claws. Others in half-moon punctures like teeth. And one at his shoulder blade that made Elia swallow to think what must have done it.

Then he unbuckled his belt and shoved his pants down and Elia's eyebrows shot up and she turned, trying to ignore the clinking and rustling sounds coming from where he stood that must mean he was removing all his clothing…

...Standing in front of that same closet, Elia snorted with laughter remembering her own naivete that night. And all the things Reth had done to try to make her comfortable and safe, despite the circumstances.

Her heart throbbed and that image of his back flashed again.

He was so good to her that way. Always trying to make her strong and safe and… happy. Something he'd never stopped, no matter what danger they'd faced.

She didn't deserve him.

And she needed to trust him, she realized. Things would be different now, when they made love. And maybe it would be weird, or take some getting used to. But she never wanted there to be a day that she didn't desire her mate—or he didn't desire her.

Elia took a deep breath and let go of the closet door. She didn't need clothes. She was in her own home. Alone with her mate and her infant daughter.

Whether Reth was thinking about her with desire now, or not, the time had come for them to return to each other. He was just going to have to accept that… before she lost her nerve.

Shaking off the desire to cover herself, she strode for the bedchamber door and yanked it open to go looking for her mate.