Page 252 of The Lands Defying
I close my eyes and I bless the food.
“The earth is my witness, of the blood that’s been spilt. The moon is my eyes, that food will not wilt. The human is my mind, as I honor this feast. The wolf is my protector, as I safely eat. Zahariss.”
“Zahariss,” everyone echoes, and they move to grab the food.
Darius picks me up and moves me in his seat as he goes forward, and I sit and wait until everyone has gotten something to eat.
“I have never seen my brother so enamored with anyone,” Leo says suddenly, sitting on the bench behind me.
“Why?” I ask, turning to look at him.
“When his family died, he closed his heart off to anything. There was barely anything left for us or the people,” he replies quietly.
“That’s not true, he has always wanted to protect others.”
“Yes, but that was a sense of duty, not heart. Not like now.”
Has that always been the case with him?
I know Darius can be…hard. He’s an asshole, and I guess maybe they just see that side of him.
Commanding, arrogant, a leader.
But he’s more than that.
So much more.
He’s a protector down to the bones of him. A carer, a giver.
I stare at Leo as he stares back. “Thank you,” he says suddenly, and I blink.
“For what?”
“For opening up his heart.” Then he gets up to join in the line for food.
I sit there deep in my thoughts when I’m picked up and placed back on Darius’s lap.
“Eat” there is a large bowl of stew with some homemade bread on the side.
When he dips it in and brings it to my mouth, I wonder how his Elites see him. Doing this in front of them may be considered a weakness.
I subtly look around, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see small smiles on their faces for their Alpha, and that makes me smile too.
I open my mouth and let him feed me, and when he goes to feed himself, I stop him, a hand on his wrist.
I pick off a little bread, dunk it in the stew like he had done for me, then I turn, holding it up to his lips.
“What are you doing, Vihnarn,” he asks, but he takes the food from me anyway, chewing thoughtfully.
“Feeding your heart.” He pauses mid-chew, eyes bouncing between mine.
“Your presence already does that, it does not need more.”
I shake my head, butterflies swirling in my belly as I feed him more bread. “I will give you more, anyway.”
Seventy One
Rhea
