A Bird in the Hand

AARYN

"Oh?" he asked Gwyn cautiously, glancing around. There was no one nearby. They were completely alone.

Gwyn smiled. "You don't need to look like that Aaryn, I'm not going to pounce on you. I wanted to make sure you're okay? And I wanted to let you know… since Elreth took me as her Cohort—which I'm really excited about—I think I need to… maybe put more space between us?"

Aaryn blinked. "Okay. I mean, sure. That's… a good idea, I guess?" It was impossible to agree with her without insulting her, but Gwyn just smiled—though he didn't miss the hint of sadness in it. "Me too. Now, are you okay? Have you talked with Elreth? Sorted things out? Will you be joining us on the Court? It's going to be pretty awesome!" she winked.

Aaryn forced a light laugh, but he looked down. "Unfortunately, no, I won't be joining the party. But I'm… okay. Thanks for checking on me. But isn't Elreth the one you should be checking on?"

"I talked to her before you guys left. She was pretty steamed about it all. Did you… I mean, are you guys okay?"

He stared at her, scented her, and couldn't find anything in her body-language or scent that made him question her motives. He swallowed. "I don't know. That's the truth."

Gwyn winced. "That bad, huh?"

He shrugged. "I guess we'll see." But he felt like someone had sliced between his ribs and yanked his heart out of the wound. "It's nice of you to think of me. It's really late—you must be tired?"

"Not really," she admitted. "It's been a pretty amazing night for me, so I've just been… kind of at a loss at what to do with myself. The guys are drunk. So I was just wandering around and then I thought… maybe you needed a friend. That's all."

Aaryn blinked and found himself more touched than he expected. "Thank you," he said quietly. "You're a good friend, Gwyn. I'm sorry if I haven't really told you that before now. I've just… there's just been a lot going on."

She smiled easily. "You're fine. I know I came on a little strong for a while there. Don't worry. I have a new project to focus on now." And she winked.

Aaryn analyzed her scent again, and again found nothing. She was just speaking the truth.

"Thank you for thinking about me," he said quietly, then opened his arms.

She stepped into them, putting her cheek to his chest. "Thank you for not giving up on me. We're going to be seeing a lot more of each other now. So, let's just put the past behind us, okay?"

He nodded and took a deep breath. "Sure. It sounds good to me."

Then he opened his arms and she stepped back.

"I'll see you tomorrow though, right?" she said. "You aren't going to disappear on us, are you?"

"I hope not," he said honestly. "I just… I don't know how this is going to work with Elreth and… Like I said, I guess we'll see."

"Okay, we'll, if she's ever not at the market and you need a friend, just give me the nod. I'll come eat with you, or whatever."

"Thanks Gwyn."

"No problem. Take care of yourself, Aaryn."

"I'll try."

*****

ELRETH

She'd taken her father's advice and gone looking for Aaryn. But he hadn't gone straight home—she knew because his scent wasn't fresh. So she'd wandered back to the Weeping Tree just in case, but he wasn't there either.

She decided to try his home one more time… maybe even wait for him.

Her mind was full, her heart spinning, as she walked silently up the path back towards the Tree City. She was scared, but her father's advice kept echoing in her ears.

"There's nothing to lose by facing your fears."

She'd watched him live that every day, and he seemed to be doing pretty good, all things considered. So despite her pattering heart and too-shallow breaths, there was a part of her that was excited to find him and force him to talk.

If her dad was right and Aaryn had been in love with her for a while…

Elreth blinked.

In love?

She blew out a breath and shook her head. Was that even possible?

But the way her chest expanded when she thought of Aaryn's kiss, and the new way she kept seeing her memories now—the way he'd never sought a relationship with any of the females who'd shown an interest. The way he'd always prioritized her and her needs over his own. The way he'd put up with being outside what was left of his own Tribe to be a part of her pride…

It was all making a new kind of sense.

And it was all making her excited.

She crept silently through the forest alongside the path because she wanted to be able to hear anyone coming and avoid them—unless it was Aaryn. So it wasn't until she was almost at his Tree House and the trees around her became silhouetted by the cones of light that fell from the lanterns on the side of every other house, that she looked up.

And froze.

The breeze had picked up in the past hour and was blowing from the east, blowing right between them, so she couldn't get a scent on him. But maybe that was just as well.

Aaryn stood on his doorstep speaking quietly. With Gwyn.

Gwyn was smiling.

And so was Aaryn.

For a moment, Elreth hoped it was an annoyance to him. She begged the Creator—hating her own pettiness—for him to be tired and unhappy that Gwyn was there. How had they ended up together? Had he gone looking for her? Or had she run into him on the path?

She listened past the rustling leaves of the trees overhead, straining to pick up his quiet rumble.

"…Thank you for thinking about me," he said.

Then he opened his arms to her, and she stepped right up into his chest. Like she'd been there before, and she knew how they fit.

Because she had, Elreth realized.

A growl rose in her throat, and Elreth had to stifle it, her heart sinking as she heard Gwyn say, "Thank you for not giving up on me. We're going to be seeing a lot more of each other now. So, let's just put the past behind us, okay?"

And he just… held her. He was comfortable with her, Elreth realized. Because they'd mated already?

Her stomach twisted, yanking at her as Aaryn murmured, "Sure. It sounds good to me."

She put a hand to her mouth to stifle the roar of possession, of rage, of pure pain that wanted to come. Then, turning on one heel, shaking her head, refusing to hear anything else that passed between the two of them, she darted into the forest, running, fleeing from the spear that had landed in her heart at seeing him touch another female.