Hideaway Strath Quiet when I'm coming home

As she often did, she studied his face while he considered her question. She wasn't sure how the subject of Mal would make him feel. Would he question her loyalty now that he knew how conflicted she was over her best friend and how he would respond when she told him she was never returning to the forest? She had never lied to Kynareth, though, and she wouldn't start now. If they were to be mates—husband and wife, then she should be able to tell him anything, and vice versa. And when it came down to it, she trusted Ky with her life, so she could trust him with this too, and to help her make her way through the murky waters that lay ahead of her. 

She could read nothing on his face, which made her wonder if he was hiding some feeling from her. He had always been fairly open with showing her his emotions, so to see nothing was strange. The thought was momentarily forgotten when he began to speak. She knew his words to be true: it was inevitable, and if Mal loved her, then he would let her find her own way in life. But she knew he would think this way was the wrong way and that he needed to save her. But she didn't need saving. During the most difficult times in her life, there had never been anyone to save her, and it had taught her a very valuable lesson—only she was responsible for saving herself. She frowned, thinking deeply about what he said.

He continued as she silently considered things, her frown deepening as he told her to be prepared for the worst. She felt his next words in the center of her heart; they burned there and the heat spread outward, engulfing her heart and causing great pain in her chest. She might have to let him go. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she had known that as a truth, but she had refused to entertain the idea because it hurt too much. But now it was out in the open to be felt wholly. She tightened her jaw, her expression unreadable but her gaze swirling with confusion and anger. He will not be happy; I'm sure of that. I think he will try to get me to go back with him, no matter what I say. Something else Ky had said really stuck with her—that she would be stronger in the end. She needed to be stronger, especially if they were going to have children. But she also needed to be stronger for herself. She was tired of being weak. Kynareth wasn't weak; he made his decisions and dealt with whatever fallback resulted from them. She could do that too. Her gaze turned almost pleading then. If he comes here, then I want a chance to talk to him without the entire pack jumping on him, she said evenly. I need a chance to talk to him, and whether not he loves me enough to understand what I want, I don't want him to get hurt. But there was more to that. And an attack against him would likely bring a war to our home, Simmik pointed out. A war I'm not sure we're quite ready to fight yet. She sighed and nuzzled her face into the fur of his neck while she pressed her body as close to his as she could; she needed the comfort of his large, strong form against hers to ease the turmoil now swirling in her mind. Promise me that you'll let me talk to him first, now matter what, she spoke into his fur.