Goodbye, Mom

ELRETH

Aaryn didn't immediately move from his crouch in front of the wolf, so she wasn't sure what he planned to do. She swallowed hard. Listening to him talk to his mother this way, knowing the pain and fear that underlined every word—all the memories of his adolescence that she shared. The days he'd be quiet and tense, barely talking, because he was worried about Delarys, or because she'd seemed unhappy and he was afraid she'd get worse… Elreth knew better than any other Anima what he'd been through, and she knew even she hadn't witnessed half of what he'd endured.

Anger against Delarys, that she'd put him through this after everything else—and right after they mated—rose in her chest. She had to clench her teeth and refuse to give it room.

She was reminded of that moment back in the Security Council when they'd laughed about Gar and how she'd known he deserved it, yet still wanted to come to his defense.