Mar
She had to force herself to go wash and change clothes. His scent on her skin once more had settled the gnawing hunger of the last few weeks, but it did nothing for the man at the end of the corridor.
Valgar and she had indulged themselves in love making, and now it was time to face what her mate had done and to put it to rights.
Her alpha was sitting up on the bed when she returned, looking wary. Of course he knew.
“I am ready to hear what you have got to say,” she told him, settling on the armchair across the room.
Even under Valgar's joy at seeing her, there had been a bitterness that would not be denied. It grew sharper now.
He dropped his eyes to his own lap, throat working. She could see it even in the dim light of the fading day, soon they would be in the dark.
In a way, they already were.
“I did not— I did not act well,” he admitted, and she pressed her own lips together to keep from offering comfort.
His guilt was like a thick liquid he couldn’t swallow or spit.
“The Earl of Veolia did not tell him; that I wanted to bond him. So Quincy just— He found out in the hall when we were supposed to do it. I postponed it, but I couldn’t— I had already asked, Mar.
” He met her eyes, but couldn’t hold them, he did not need to be told it was not enough.
“And I couldn’t take it back. And Quincy couldn’t say no at all,” he added, hands flying up to cover his face and dragging through his white hair, nails digging in hard enough to sting.
Mar watched him with her heart in her throat, begging her to fix it. His pain was real, too, and she could want nothing but to soothe it.
But her hands and her words could not erase his misstep, only he could. The real kindness was to help him see that.
“He is scared,” she told him instead, letting it stand for a moment.
His description of their first meeting implied he had not missed it, but when you were an alpha, knowing was highly insufficient.
“I know you, Valgar. And this...” His violet eyes were on her face, full of pain and yet he did not look away.
“This is not— This dishonours not just you, but us, too.”
He flinched, but after a moment, he nodded. “I will fix it.”
“Good,” Mar told him, standing up. “I will go talk to his servant now, find out about his needs.”
She turned away to the sound of his feet hitting the cold stone floor.