Jade Fern Grove klagelied

She was lucky; she would never know the true meaning of the words she said to him, only the thawing effect it had on him. She had to assume she'd said exactly what she meant to. Frayed pieces of her soul reached for him when he stepped toward her. All the past offenses, grievances held against him, gone in a moment.

She went to him and pressed her face into his broad chest, fearing that he would pull away again. Knowing that her heart could not take rejection again now that it beat plainly for his eyes to see. She should not have gone without sleep. She was not thinking clearly.

But even if she was, this was perhaps the first time they had connected in a more meaningful way than prideful politics since the conception of their cubs. She could not regret this, even in spite of the thorns that clapped dreadful around her throat when she shook her head against his fur.

I can't, she whispered hoarsely. The pack had spoken. He had let them. He— but it didn't matter. Something pulsed in her chest, a desperate plea spoken before she could contain it: come away with me. You, Phaedra, Thade... Come with me. We can go, we can start over. We don't need them.