Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

ELIA – Human World

Movement in the room woke her. She didn't open her eyes because she knew it was still night and the cave was always so dark anyway, there wasn't much point.

Her back was cold, lacking the great, steel heater of a body that usually warmed it. She rolled over to find Reth—but even as she moved she became aware of the straight, falsely plush mattress beneath her rather than the soft furs, the perfectly rectangular pillow under head rather than the stuffed pads they used in the cave, and every cell in her body screamed against what she remembered. When she reached out, there was no warm body, no depression in the bed next to her. Nothing.

No one.

"Oh, Reth," she whispered through lips pulled tight against tears that wanted to overwhelm her immediately. "Please, be safe. Please."

A softly cleared throat let her know she wasn't as alone as she'd thought. Her eyes flew open and she sat up, but it was only Gahrye, sprawled in a massive chair near the bed, a small round table between them with a tray of food, and three different drinks.

She stared at them.

"I wasn't sure which you'd like, so I brought them all. They're very different to ours," he said. His voice was desperately flat and… steely?

She reached for the water and frowned at him. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm just… adjusting," he said without meeting her eyes.

Elia blinked. Gahrye had never deceived her before that she was aware of. But damned if she couldn't smell the lie on him. She took another mouthful of the water, still staring at him while he continued to avoid her gaze, then she put it down and sat up, realizing she was still in the disgusting, dirty, bloodied clothes she'd crossed the traverse in. The last clothing Reth had touched on her—

"I'm sorry about that, but I didn't want to wake you," Gahrye said, grimacing. "They left fresh sheets. I think I can figure out how to put them on while you use the shower if you want to."

"I am going to shower," she said, pushing off the bed and walking towards the bathroom without looking back at him. "But when I come back you're going to tell me what's wrong. We've got enough shit happening already, Gahrye, can't start off by hiding things from each other. We're going to have to figure out a way through everything."

"It's nothing, Elia—"

"You're telling me!" she snarled, whipping her head around to glare at him as hot, pulsing anger suddenly filled her chest. A tiny voice in the back of her head whispered a warning, but she shoved it away. She'd had the most stressful week of her life, topped off with being forcibly removed from her mate. She had a reason to be erratic.

Gahrye's eyebrows popped up. "Are you okay?"

"No," she said plainly. "And neither are you." Then she turned back towards the bathroom. "That's my whole point."

*****

When she got out of the shower there was a set of clothing set out for her on the bathroom counter and she almost cried for that little, unspoken kindness.

What was wrong with her? She felt like a pinball, slamming between emotions in the blink of an eye.

Then she looked down at her stomach—flat and hard because of the training she'd been doing. She was fit in a way she'd never been in her life, and yet this place seemed to already be sucking the life out of her. And yet… there was something within her that was different.

With a sigh and still fighting tears, she pressed her hand flat against her lower belly. "You're causing trouble already, my girl," she whispered. "Go easy on me, okay? It's been a rough week."

Then she dressed and vowed not to bite Gahrye's head off, even if he was stubborn.

*****

Twenty minutes later she was forcing herself to remember that vow as Gahrye sat across from her, slumped into his seat, face flat and emotionless, jaw tight—and refusing to admit that what was bothering him was more than just the adjustment to the new world.

"You are with cub," he said, an edge of venom in his voice that she'd never heard before. "And we are here alone. I was going to go begin the study, look for help, but then I realized… as soon as I leave—even just this room—you're alone. There's no one else. And I can't… how am I going to keep my vow to Reth if I can't even leave the room without leaving you alone?"

"Gahrye, we both know it's impossible for you to be in my presence every moment. We'll work it out. Apparently these Guardians have all kinds of resources at their disposal. Plus, I'm strong now. Much stronger than most women here. If anyone attacks me, they'll have a nasty surprise," she said, waggling her eyebrows to try and make him laugh.

But he just glowered at her. "Strong for a human, perhaps," he muttered. "But it's not the humans that concern me. What if the wolves come through?"

Elia blinked, then swallowed. "If they'd been intending to do that it would have happened already. They would have followed us—"

"Bullshit, Elia! Stop saying what you want to be true instead of what we both know is a genuine risk!"

"Do not speak to me that way!"

"Why not? Because you're Queen? You told me to always be honest with you—especially if you were doing something stupid or offensive, well guess what?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Elia leapt to her feet and Gahrye followed a heartbeat later, both of them leaning over the table between them. "I sleep a few hours and suddenly you're this sullen… teenager!"

His mouth dropped open, his upper lip peeling back from his teeth. "Me?! You're acting like… like Reth after he claimed you!"

"Do not speak my mate's name like that!" she growled. "I am your Queen, and your friend. Tell me what the hell is going on with you? What happened while I was asleep?"

"Nothing, that's the entire point!"

Her hands clenched to fists. "I don't believe you!"

Gahrye scoffed and turned from her to pace the room, raking his hand through his hair.

Elia's already roiling anger ticked up a notch. "I am your Queen," she said, pulling rank in a way she had never used with him before. "You're going to tell me what's going on," she growled. "Or we're going to have a very serious problem."

Gahrye held her gaze and his jaw twitched. But he didn't speak.