I raise my eyebrows.“Sorry to disappoint.”
“That came out wrong. I mean, I know Dyaspora is worse than death. I hoped you died.”
I close my eyes.“We can’t have this conversation.”
“You got full of yourself over the last few decades. You’re mated to the witch, I get that, I don’t understand why that means we can’t talk.”
I growl.“Don’t call her that.”
Runa tilts her head, flashing her neck for a fraction of a second, as if to say:“sorry.”
I furrow my eyebrows and turn away. The irony isn’t lost on me that I call Aurelia “witch” all the time, but I don’t mean it the way Runa did. At least, I don’t mean it that way anymore. What worries me is Kai said Runa is sharing a tent with Viktor now. Did he tell her about Aurelia using magic against the wyvern, or is it a coincidence?
“How long have you been out of Dyaspora?”Runa asks in a softer tone.
“Two years,”I answer automatically. My mind is still racing, wondering if Viktor hasn’t been as quiet as Kai seems to think. I should go back to the tent, just in case Aurelia isn’t safe there alone.
“And you’ve been mated that whole time?” Runa prods.
“No.”
Hmm, that’s a fair question. Aurelia and I should probably agree on exactly what our story is in case anyone else asks how long we’ve been mated. I wonder if she’s still asleep. Maybe I should bring her something to eat?
“Are you listening to me?”
I startle and glance back at Runa.“No.”
She makes a frustrated sound and speaks out loud for the first time. “Are you angry with me?”
I stiffen when a few people glance our way, and what little chatter was going on in the nearly empty camp all seems too quiet.
“No,”I growl. It’s half true. I’m not angry about anything that happened years ago, but I am getting pretty pissed off that she won’t drop this subject and walk away.
Runa glances around and switches back to speaking mind-to-mind.“Is it her, then? She’s angry with me.”
“Aurelia has no idea who you are and wouldn’t care if she did.”
“Then I don’t understand the problem. Surely we can still be…friends?”
“We were never friends.”
Runa winces, but she doesn’t try to argue; She’s well aware that we were absolutely not friends.
I shared a tent with Runa for years, from the time I was twenty-one until I was sent to Dyaspora at twenty-five. In all that time, we never talked much outside of basic communication.
We were both away on hunts, and usually weren’t in the same hunting party. On the rare occasion that we were at camp at the same time, we fucked and not much else. We never had conversations in bed; I never felt all that possessive of her. I don’t even remember being all that worried about her going out on hunts all the time.
I think we talked about children once, but only because all wolves have lots of pups. I vividly remember being relieved that she didn’t want any yet. I didn’t either, not when I’d have to send them out on hunts the moment they turned twelve.
Still, despite all that, I must be remembering it wrong. I must have loved Runa at some point, because otherwise what happened to her never would have happened.
“I just wanted to say thank you, at least,”Runa says, cutting into my thoughts.
“For what?”
She gives me a pointed look.“You know for what.”
‘Course, I do. Runa is the reason I got sent to Dyaspora.
