Page 11 of The Lost Nation

I cocked my head to the side. “Did he now? Well, I suppose these are extenuating circumstances if there ever were any, but feel free to still visit the females afterwards if you wish.”

Her arms came around my neck as she grinned, nuzzling against me.“Iknewyou would tell me. Youalwaystell me what I need to know.”

My inner draken preened at her praise, and I had to tamp down the urge to take her right then and there.

Do it. Do it now, before the others get there first.You know that's what Benedict has been doing.

I clamped down on those instincts, knowing it didn’t matter in the long run.

Wren glanced up at me, her eyes wide and pleading.“So what does it mean?”She asked, twistingher head back in vain to try and glance at the patch of wing that had previously been white. Now it was filled in with a beautiful mix of all our colors.

I sighed, and gave in.“When a mated female's wings fill in completely, it means she it ready to have children. It means she is happy and content with the mate or mates she has chosen."

The wings in question drooped slightly as she frowned. “Oh.”

I touched her shoulder lightly.I had to tread carefully.“Do children not please you?”

She jerked, as if I had interrupted a train of thought. “No, I mean...I figured it would happeneventually, since it was the entire reason Benedict took me after all.”

I winced at the reminder of how she’d first come to live with us, back when we had still been trapped under the mountain.

Her eyes flicked to the ground“I just…”

I lifted her chin up gently.“Does this have to do with Thad?”I asked softly.

Wren still refused to talk much about her time at the fortress. Benedict and Ronan thought it was somehow too traumatic for her, and that she didn’t want to move on. I knew Wren better than that, however. My guess was that she was trying to protect usby sparing us the gory details.

Wren sat down on a rock and turned away from me.

I decided to come out and say it, since I didn't think anyone had yet.“It’s alright if you developed feelings for Thad while you were there.”

Wrenflinched, then went still. I waited patiently. Unlike her other two mates, I had plenty of that.

A small sob escaped her.“Hechainedme. He let Severnbeatme.”

I sat down next to her. “What else?” I asked softly.

Tears ran down her cheeks, but I waited, holding her. Wren had cried plenty over the pain of the white magick since she’d come home, but never overThad or killing Severn.I had a suspicion she needed to.

She sniffed loudly.“He also helped me get over my fear of water. He told me things about himself that no one else knows.”

I put a hand on the bottom of her back, and moved it up and downgently.

She hiccupped.“When another demon threatened me, heskinnedthe demon and tacked the carcass to the front gate as a warning to the others.”

My hand froze, my jaw dropping slightly.Damn. “Do you love him?”I managed, proud of how even I kept my tone.

Her body hunched more into itself, and I put my arms around her. Then her hard exterior broke, and she threw herself against me. “Ishouldn’t! He wasawful, then sowonderful!How could I have been sostupid?”

I held her tightly.“You’renotstupid,” I said firmly, feeling her racing heart thunder against me. I held her out from me slightly and ran one hand down her inner wing joint. She shuddered and went still, and I smirked. I had no qualms about fighting dirty in order tocalm down.

I met her eyes.“Thad probably feels awful about everything that’s happened. I’m guessing he views a mateship as taking advantage of you.”

She sniffed. “It wouldn’t be anything worse than what Benedict did, and I forgavehim.”

Yikes. It was true, though.

I ran a hand through my hair.“Benedict isn’t Thad, and the situations were quite different. You can’t compare them, and you’ll drive yourself mad trying. Why don’t you give it some time, and then just talk to him?”

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