The Sentinels When you come and break my heart, free my blood.

Lotte responded in kind to her twin’s gentle grooming, keeping utterly silent as Dagfinn spoke. Now and again, a murmur of surprise, sympathy, or interest slipped from her dark lips, but she made no interruption otherwise. Following her winter-eyed littermate’s monologue, there was only silence for a long, thoughtful moment. A very large part of her wanted to rip the throat from the female who had caused Dagfinn such pain — what sort of selfish bitch would tell such a vicious lie, especially to a soul as full of laughter and light as Dagfinn’s? Indignation brewed stormily within Lotte’s argent eyes, but she hid it from her brother, dipping her muzzle to preen comfortingly at the fur of his chest and throat. It wouldn’t do to berate the female, for no matter her transgressions, Dagfinn had treated her as the males of Enok Tundra treated their wives and the future mothers of their children — there was nothing easy about the welter of feelings he must now be experiencing.

For a moment, Lotte found it difficult to speak for fear of that indignation leaking out into her tone and making it brittle and sharp-edged. Sighing softly, “My twin,” she intoned in the language of their beloved home, grooming him as their mother would have, nuzzling firmly at the base of each flattened ear to force them to stand tall and proud. Lotte was sure of one thing: he had nothing to be ashamed of. “You did right by Amber,” she murmured, stamping down the angry little voice that said Amber ought to have done right by Dagfinn, “but your heart must be twisted in knots.” It was Lotte’s nature to speak frankly of emotion the same way she might have spoken of the weather or a great hunt, and she paused as she pressed a soft lick against her twin’s cheek. She did her utmost, but finally she couldn’t hold her tongue anymore: “I don’t like that she used you,” she informed him flatly, stating the obvious. She kept back her death threats, though, which was a miracle in and of itself. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, nosing lovingly at his shoulder.