“I don’t…know,” he heaved. The effort of talking was almost enough to knock him out again.

Eithan stepped forward, his polished, black boots entering Trey’s line of sight. He felt a sharp pull at his wrists, and then he collapsed to the floor, droplets of blood splashing up his legs and feet.

“That’s okay,” Eithan said, crouching slowly like he had all the time in the world. He smiled, leaning forward until his pale face was only inches away from Trey’s. “I don’t mind helping.”

JAREN

Home. After weeks of being gone, he was finally home.

Seeing the coastline fill the horizon was always a sight that brought him comfort, but pulling up to the dock with his mate by his side was something else entirely. A sense of rightness that no words in either language could explain.

They’d arrived in Ocridal, a fishing city that was surprisingly clean despite its horrid smell and reputation for its foul-mouthed occupants and drinking. It’d always been more his style than the capital, and he usually spent a few days enjoying its distractions before heading inland. It was an easy place to lose himself and release the tension that always built during his scouting trips.

But things would be different this time around, given he had zero intentions of staying longer than a single night. He was eager to see his fathers, but it was more than that. The longer they delayed, the more eyes would settle on Veralie, and the higher the chance someone might suspect who she was.

He wouldn’t have risked staying at all if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, but even he couldn’t travel much farther without adequate rest and a real meal.

It was about a two-day trip on horseback from Ocridal to the capital, Naris, and if he so much as mentioned going another two days without a bath to his aitanta, she was sure to break his nose again.

He chuckled. No, with all the petty fights they’d been having lately and the frustration he felt building inside her, she was more likely to strangle him with his own intestines rather than deliver a quick hit.

Gods, he couldn’t wait for his fathers to see her. If they thought she’d been a handful as a child, they were in for a treat with her as an adult. Jaeros, she’d get along with fine, but Dedryn? She and he were going to butt heads even more than Jaren had with him.

Veralie thought her human mentor had been stiff and surly, but Jaren could all but guarantee he was nothing compared to Dedryn. Ded’s stoic demeanor made Jaren seem downright sweet and tender.

Luckily, his father had Jaeros, who was ornery and compassionate to a fault, to smooth away his rough edges. Complete opposites, they were the definition of a perfectly mated pair.

But regardless of their demeanor, they were both going to shit themselves when they saw her. She may have only lived with them for a few years, but they’d accepted her as their own as willingly as they’d accepted him a few years prior.