ELRETH
Aaryn's face looked so drawn—lines alongside his mouth and eyes, smudges under his eyes from lack of sleep.
Elreth blinked, forcing herself to stop obsessing about the war before them, and turning her mind instead to her mate, who'd been running around after her and taking her orders all day, while he carried his own grief, and stress and…
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to just order you around."
Aaryn frowned. "I don't care about that. I'm saying… are you listening to me, Elreth? We're talking about the humans being here in a week, maybe. That means that's the time we've got. That's it. Those are the only days we can bank on having together."
He was horrified, and Elreth's stomach plunged to her toes as well. She hadn't thought about it in those terms.
Not only was it possible they only had a few days, but those days were going to be full of danger and stress and—
