GAR

The growl that erupted in Gar was so deep it felt like it came from his toes. He took a step between his sister and Rika and Elreth's eyes flashed her lion.

Her scent flared. If she'd been in her beast form her hackles would have been standing tall like his own mane.

"She is my mate," he growled. "You would put her in the hands of other males? You'd put her in prison?"

"I would put her wherever I can be certain she can do no harm until I have more information—you're my brother, you would challenge me?!"

Gar wanted to scoff. "If I put Aaryn in bonds you'd—"

"Aaryn would never present a threat to the people."

"And neither would my mate!"

"We don't even know if she is your mate yet, Gar. Stand down. Now." Elreth leaned closer. "Unless you want to challenge me, unless you believe this is your war to fight, you submit!"

Her words echoed with the Alpha power and Gar's heart raced. He wanted to roar. His body yearned to shift, his beast snarling for Elreth's throat—and that, more than anything else, stopped him cold.

His own sister. He imagined his own sister's death because she took caution with Rika?

Gar stopped growling and blinked.

Elreth didn't back down.

He shuddered, fighting the urge to submit—half of him desperate to prove his loyalty, the other half just as desperate to protect his mate. She struggled with demons Elreth didn't understand! Anything could happen if the guards got pushy or even just hostile.

But what choice did he have? Only one that he could see.

"I will submit," he muttered reluctantly. Elreth nodded like she'd expected it, which made his pride flare, but he swallowed it down. "But let me go with her. Make sure that she's safe."

Elreth's mouth fell open. "Gar, you are Alpha of the disformed and my war chief! I need you here!"

Gar's body trembled again, competing needs and desires tearing him apart from the inside out. Why couldn't his sister trust his judgment? Why couldn't his family ever see that he was working for the good of everyone, not just himself?

Then a small hand landed on his arm and he turned to find Rika looking up at him, her face apologetic. "It's okay," she said. "You stay here. Just come later or something."

"I'm not leaving you with strange males, I promised—"

"If I was in her shoes I'd do the same thing," she said, glancing past him at Elreth. "Honestly, I probably would have been harder on her. It's okay."

"It's not okay!"

"Well, what I'm saying is, it's only for a couple hours, right? Then they'll know. And.. and we'll know too, right?" she said, her voice falsely bright. But her smile faltered and Gar wanted to sweep her into his arms and flee the building.

But she stood there, proud even while she was fearful. Her lips pressed together and she didn't shrink. She was terrified, he could smell it. But she was also being honest.

Gar stepped close, so she couldn't see the others behind him and leaned into her ear, resting his cheek against hers, inhaling deeply. "I will not let them hurt you," he whispered. "Don't fear. It's just time, as you said."

She nodded quickly and Gar gritted his teeth, then turned to find Tarkyn and two of the guards hovering.

He eyed all three of them. "She is untouched," he snarled. "If there is so much as a welt on her skin when she returns—

Tarkyn nodded. "Don't worry, Gar. They're good males. We'll keep her safe and we'll bring her back."

Gar's upper lip curled away from his teeth, but he stepped aside so the males could bracket Rika, taking hold of one wrist each.

The sight of two males with their hands on her almost sent him over the edge. But Tarkyn gave him another slap on the shoulder and told the two to take her straight to the prison tree.

Elreth turned to the guards and Tarkyn. "Take her through the trees. We can't avoid anyone catching her scent if they cross your trail. But we can minimize the risk by not using the trails." Then she included the elders by scanning all of them as she spoke. "You all keep every word of this to yourselves. The people do not know there is a human among us yet."

The guards nodded and Tarkyn ushered them to the door. Gar was trembling by the time they left the building, yearning to go with them and watch over her.

But then he had a flash of inspiration. That little machine she'd brought!historical

Ignoring Elreth's eyes on him, he raced to the other side of the circle where Tarkyn had left the small unit with its screen. He'd seen how she tried to show Elreth how it worked, and sure enough, he was able to shift the image and watch the two males lead her away down the trail. He took a seat and fiddled with the buttons, praying he wouldn't do anything that would hide her from him, as Elreth turned back to the elders and began discussing which questions they should ask Rika, and ways they might rephrase those questions later, to double check that her responses were accurate.

He kept one ear on the conversation, stifling the urge to growl. They were questioning his mate—questioning her loyalty, her honesty! And his foolishness with it!

But Elreth caught his eye more than once, so he just clenched his teeth and forced the feelings down.

Rika was right. It was a few hours. They would get this sorted out today, and Elreth and the elders would see that she was who she said she was. And then they'd be free and she'd be with him..

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to imagine how it would feel to take her back to his tree and..

Holy shit, he had to introduce her to his parents. Gar went very still, overwhelmed with a combination of exhilaration and insecurity.

What would his father say? How would they feel about his mate being one of the enemy? He knew they wouldn't care that she was human—for goodness sake, his own mother had started fully human. But..

Gar blinked..

"We have to ask her if they know about the.. the change. From our blood?" he murmured.

Elreth stopped talking and looked at him sharply. "What?"

"Mom," he breathed, staring at El. "She became one of us. Which means the humans can too. Do they know that? Is that what she meant by healing? We have to find out?"

"How do we ask that without telling her, if they don't know it already?" Elreth asked him, frowning.

Gar growled. "She's not going to inform on you!"

But Elreth just stared at him.