Moonsong Glacier Snowdrops

The panther was conflicted; the matter seemed far more complex than wanting or not wanting — but perhaps it was his own perception that was skewed, and Simbelmyne had the right of it. Either way, he took her words with a tiny tuck of his chin.

"You would make a good wife," he agreed, an uncharacteristic shred of insecurity making his voice small. "I worry more that I would make a poor husband. These past months especially, I have felt... weak. I am capable of caring for myself, but others... it has been daunting. I've been a rover for so many years."

He searched her eyes again, wondering if this made any more sense to her than it did to him. And did she think less of him now, knowing that he doubted himself?

"I want to see you taken care of," he told her, "and I thought that someone else could do it better."

Thought, past tense. This was what his tone suggested, anyway. In truth, he did have another man in mind — only not as an alternative so much as an addition.

"But I am bringing my father and Sulukinak to Moontide," he went on. "We will live amongst the seal hunters. I will raise my family alongside his, and we will be strong enough together — all of us — to care for one another."

He knew this; the knowledge burned like a bonfire in his heart and shone through his lamplike eyes.

"And I would make you very, very happy," he vowed. "If you would still be mine."