Mated to the Warrior Beast

“It’s the right decision, El,” he said, his lips and tongue feeling too thick because his head was spinning. “With me there the chance of Zev being pushed to violence is a lot less, I think. I have forged a connection of sorts. He trusts Harth to bring us together so I can show him the truth. And… and if I can get him to agree to peace—at least as long as we negotiate—then you don’t need me on the other side to help you in the event of battle, because there won’t be one.”

He said it much more confidently than he felt.

“I agree,” Elreth said, though her face was stern. “But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the risk…”

Tarkyn listened numbly, his head spinning—should he tell El? Or, as Harth had correctly identified, was the risk too great that she would give up on peace.

He knew his Queen and admired her spirit. She remained afraid—he could scent it on her—but she wanted to push forward and try to fix her own mistakes. Yet… she was a leader, and a strong one. If she deduced that the risk of attack on her people was too great, she would do whatever she felt was needed to save them.

She’d been prepared to give up her mate to save the people last time. How far would she go now?

But his own indecision made the choice for him, because Elreth, having made the choice to send him, was now an arrow on track for the target. Single-minded and wasting no time.

“…we’ll keep the patrols wide, on the WildWood side of the ravine to give them plenty of space. I can’t imagine that he’ll want to meet on this side of it, but if he indicates that he does, just send a messenger. We’ll tell the patrols to give safe passage to anyone carrying a white flag—but be certain they won’t be given freedom to spy. They will be held at the border of the Tree City and I will come to them personally. Tell him that, Tarkyn. Tell Sasha that—we will not harm a messenger who comes in peace, and we will send our messages back by them.”

.....

Tarkyn nodded, rubbing a hand up and down Harth’s back more to soothe himself with the touch of her, than the other way around.

His mate didn’t smell scared. She didn’t feel weak. She was quivering with anticipation—and strength.

And that simmering anger that she was trying to tamp down.

He could hardly blame her. If he’d been separated from his people for this many days and under threat, he would have been anxious to get back too. And yet, he found a simmering tension of his own in his chest. Bubbling nerves. Fear of the unknown, or more?

It occurred to him that he hadn’t had to compete for his mate’s attention since they met.

Would that remain the case when they were among her people?

“Tarkyn?”

He blinked to find all three of them staring at him and realized with a whoosh of breath that he’d tuned out.

“I’m sorry, I’m thinking and got… what did you say?”

“I said, you carry your vows with you. You carry the pride of the Anima with you. I send you willingly, Tarkyn, but I am trusting you to… to seek the best for all of us. Not just you and your mate.”

Harth bristled and he pressed his fingers into her back when she took a breath like she might speak.

“What is best for our people is best for me and my mate,” he said quietly, doing his best not to show his irritation that Elreth would even think she needed to ask.

Elreth gave a short nod. “Then… then I beg you to please… come back safely, Tarkyn. I know this has been a rough week. I know I’ve failed you—all of you,” she said with tight eyes that scanned both Harth and Gar as well. “But it has been that simple. I failed. I am… not perfect. I am flawed. And I failed. Now I rely on you to help me correct my failure. I will do anything I can to bring our people together in peace. I will listen. I will own my responsibility. I hate… hate that I have to send you both into this on my behalf—”

“That is for the best,” Harth jumped in quickly as if she were afraid Elreth might try to move in a new direction. “Zev needs time to… cool down.”

Elreth nodded again, though her face got tighter. “Please… show him that I mean what I say: I will bring personal reconciliation. I will own my role in this. And I will do whatever I can to make amends, to show him—them—that we truly do want peace. To live as brothers, not enemies. Peace. Not merely truce. I offer peace.”

Harth nodded, though Tarkyn could feel through the bond that she was skeptical and anxious—and still angry.

He rubbed her back again. “I’ll show them, El. Don’t worry. We’ll find a way.”

They discussed means of communication and timing for the meeting. They set a date three days from then and Elreth had Tarkyn walk her back through all the details they’d decided to ensure he was taking what she would agree to.

But something niggled at Tarkyn, an aspect to all of this that kept nudging the back of his mind. A need for more allies.

Was it simply his fear of being surrounded? He didn’t think so. He was in no denial about the risk that Zev might take a form of revenge on him by imprisoning him to give him a taste of what Zev had been through. He prayed he could navigate that bravely. But that wasn’t what was bothering him.

He felt like there was a need for…

Then it dawned on him.

“Suhle,” he murmured.

Harth turned quickly, looking at him, startled. Elreth’s mouth snapped shut. Gar grunted.

Tarkyn turned it all over in his mind, but yes, it made complete sense. “Suhle and Lerrin,” he said with a look at Elreth. “Send them, too.”

“What?!”

“Suhle is… wonderful,” Harth said, startled. “But why—”

“They’ve been through this. They can empathize with outsiders—but they have the maturity and wisdom not to simply throw in their lot. They can… testify to the peace that’s worth pursuing.”

Elreth’s mouth fell open a little bit. “You’re right,” she said a moment later. “You’re absolutely right.”

Tarkyn nodded. “Tell them to come as quickly as they can. Tomorrow, if possible. We’ll introduce them—they never met Sasha and Zev, right? They’ll be an asset if they’ll do it.”

“They’ll do it,” Gar muttered.

Tarkyn shot a warning glance at Gar. Lerrin had barely softened with age. He was incredibly strong and independent. If he measured the risk as too high to his pack, he would flatly refuse—and likely leave WildWood if it was required to do so.

Suhle though… the female was both soft-hearted and yearning to serve, and as steely-spined as he had ever met.

He prayed for the quiet wisdom the female already possessed. She would see the vision, he was certain. It was why he’d asked to have her visit Harth. He wasn’t surprised she’d made an impression on his mate.

“Send them only if they go willingly,” he said, careful not to make it an order to his Queen. “But if they are, send them quickly.”

Elreth nodded again and Tarkyn breathed easier.