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GAR

Gar and Elreth had almost had each other\'s throats before their father threatened to knock their heads together if they didn\'t start acting like adults.

Gar hadn\'t backed down, and neither had Elreth, but their father was smart enough to walk between so eye-contact was broken and they could both walk away without being the one to retreat.

Gar turned away, but ground his teeth. He didn\'t care that Elreth was Queen. Didn\'t care that she was dominant. She wasn\'t putting his mate in chains.

Aaryn\'s face was pinched and pale, looking between them as Elreth ordered that the guards would walk before and behind Gar and Rika, and they\'d all move back to the security building for the meeting. When Gar didn\'t resist and they\'d all started to walk, Elreth shifted into her lioness to run ahead, and Gar was glad. He had needed a minute to stop his hands twitching towards her throat.

Aaryn had walked with them, but silently. The male had lost weight, Gar realized. That wasn\'t a good sign. He made a mental note to talk to his mother about leaving some fattening snacks in the cave.

Rika walked at his side, her arms wrapped around her own middle. Gar ached to reach for her, to hold her somehow, but she seemed so withdrawn, he was afraid he would only startle her.

It was instinct to put his hand to her lower back as they walked into the building, but he was glad he had when they got inside. The hall was chaos.

Most of the elders had already arrive and stood in clusters speaking urgently, some with arms crossed, others frowning and jaws hard.

A fist of guards were in the room with Tarkyn, watching the crowd as if they feared a threat from within it—and to a man their eyes locked on Rika as she entered. Gar didn\'t miss that they began to spread then, positioning themselves around the room—including next to the door.

The guard whose arm he\'d broken attended Tarkyn for a moment. The Captains looked at Gar over the male\'s shoulder, his expression unimpressed. But he gave the guard an instruction, and the male left the building, in search of a healer, no doubt.

Tarkyn shook his head slowly, but didn\'t approach, for which Gar was grateful. He didn\'t want to fight with the Captain.

He ushered a pale and uneasy Rika towards a seat on the other side of the circle where he could watch her and the crowd at the same time. But they didn\'t sit. Gar didn\'t feel that it was wise. The hair on the back of his neck was slowly rising. The room stank of tension and confusion.

Elreth stalked between groups of Anima, obviously filling them in on why she\'d called them back early, and Gar clenched his teeth to hide his rage.

His mate wasn\'t lying!

Voices were rising higher, movements becoming more erratic. Gar rolled his head on his neck, his hands clenching to fists at his side. But he was so busy watching his sister and the elders, measuring them. He didn\'t pay close enough attention to Tarkyn and his guards.

With Tarkyn watching, a pair of them approached from Rika\'s other side.

Gar whipped his head around, a growl puttering in his throat as he found the male already standing next to her, taking her by the wrist, while the other spoke.

He didn\'t even wait to hear the words, but snarled and stepped around Rika, breaking the guard\'s grip on her—not quite as forcefully this time, he didn\'t think he\'d get away with another broken arm—and putting himself between Rika and the guards.

But there were more of them, and Gar cursed they flowed towards them from every side of the room until he was turning, pulling  Rika behind him, snarling at them not to touch her.

"Gar," Tarkyn said, the only one with his feet planted as the guards and Gar moved around him. "We\'re only making sure—"

"She hasn\'t lied, she\'s only helped and you will not put her in bonds!"

Then another guard appeared from Gar\'s right and put a hand to Rika\'s shoulder. With a small grunt, she turned and broke his grip herself in a defensive move he hadn\'t known she even knew. But now the guards were closing and Tarkyn was snarling at Gar while Gar growled in her defense.

"EVERYBODY JUST STOP!"

The words rang with Elreth\'s Alpha authority, and they all froze.

Gar had been in the process of turning to put himself between Rika and the guard. His arm was back, pulling Rika into his back while Tarkyn was stepping towards them, and the guard\'s face was twisted into a snarl.

They made a laughable pageant of alpha male bullshit, as Mam\'Amora would have called it. But Gar was overcome with the urge to roar, to force these males back and away, to gain his mate space. He shuddered with the urge to shift and reached for Rika behind him, though she seemed to be side-stepping…

What was happening to him?

Elreth\'s shout had rolled off into a growl that he only registered when it stopped. His sister stood in the center of the room, glaring at all of them.

"Captain, set your guards for the doors and windows. Lhern, move the elders to their seats. Messengers, line the walls and wait. And Gar!"

Gar met her eyes, but didn\'t let his expression change.

His sister just shook her head slightly. "Even the Queen is accountable for her words and actions as they affect the tribes. Your mate will answer for her statements and we will find the truth." She stepped towards them slowly as she spoke. "And if she is proven a liar, or a threat, she will be bound and imprisoned. And you with her if you do not stop interfering! You will not be allowed to attack our own people in defense of one who isn\'t!"

Gar opened his mouth and Elreth snapped, "Yet! She isn\'t one of us yet, Gar!"

There was a murmur in the room and Gar couldn\'t measure whether they took Elreth\'s side or his own.. A growl started in his throat.