RETH
Reth stood there, hands over his face, with all of them watching and his stomach churned so he wondered if he might vomit. But he knew he couldn't give in. He couldn't fall apart. And he couldn't make anyone else choose. He was King. He was Alpha. It was his responsibility—and no one else should carry the consequences if this went wrong.
He almost raised his head to look for Elia, to ask her with his eyes to come be close and rest her small hand on his back and hug his side the way she had so many times. Then he remembered, and even though the separation hit him all over again, he was so grateful… so entirely, unfairly grateful that his mate did not stand in the path of this… annihilation.
He was King. He was Alpha. And he was the only one whose mate was utterly without risk as this clash with their enemies loomed.
