Page 17 of Crescent Warrior

“Give him a chance, little one,” Dru whispered sadly, cupping her cheek.

Her face crumpled and she looked away, wishing he didn’t see through her the way he did.

“He has come all this way.”

“He could have waited a week and then we’d be there,” she muttered mutinously, swiping her finger under her eyes to brush aside the appalling tears that were brimming.

“And take the chance that you would find an excuse not to go?”

Her eyes widened, but his expression was amused.

How did he know I was trying to find a way out of the trip?

“What, am I too old to know these tricks? Come now, have more faith in me than that.”

“He didn’t want me before he knew I was his mate,” she insisted, lifting her chin.

He gave her a deep chuckle, shaking his head.

“The ignorance of youth,” he sighed before patting her cheek warmly as he had done since she was a pup. “It is a folly to waste a single minute you have with your mate on this Earth.”

His eyes blurred with sadness and memories before focusing on her once more.

“And so many have already passed. How much more time do you think the Gods will gift you with if you continue to squander it?”

She swallowed, looking away from him.

“He hurt me,” she whispered, her voice breaking.

I’m so weak when it comes to him.

“We hurt each other, little one. It is what we do. Mistakes are made, but we must remember to forgive. Without forgiveness, my Iris would not have been mine.” He cupped her cheek again, gently. “She was like you. She had a big heart, and it was hurt quickly by those that she let into it. Take my advice before I go. Let me see you reunited with your mate.”

She squeezed her eyes shut again, wishing her tears weren’t leaking fast and furious now.

“Don’t go,” she whispered.

He gave her a small laugh before hugging her tightly.

“Do not ask me for something I cannot give,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her head.

He was so much smaller in her arms than he used to be. Dru always seemed larger than life to her, and his loss would hurt more than any other she experienced in the past.

“Give her a kiss for me when you meet her,” she cried instead.

The chuckle came from deep in his chest.

“I will be too busy giving her kisses of my own.”

They both laughed then, and he pulled away, wiping her tears with his thumb. Patting her dry cheek, he simply nodded at her, having said what he needed to before he walked away.

She stared after him, her throat raw and burning. It was then that she noticed Anna, their human chef, glancing at her from where she stood at the stove, trying to give her privacy.

“That old man is such a handful,” Hippolyta laughed awkwardly, swiping at her eyes.

“And he didn’t eat anything,” Anna called over her shoulder. “Be sure to yell at him later.”

Hippolyta tsked, making her way over to grab something for herself and Dru. She was putting soup into a bowl when Ambrosia came up behind her, slapping her on the back.

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