Redsand Canyon vultus

Finally he told her the truth. She couldn’t have known how much there was, or any of the details of what he was now sharing, but she had known that no one’s life could be as regimented and empty as he had described his to be.

One lover left behind, but still loved. Another leaving him… still loved. And Meadow.

She didn’t have it in her to judge him for the choices he’d made alongside others. She’d poisoned a man she never met and, in doing so, likely freed the Belen he spoke of. The only thing that was important was the way that he chronically, and consistently, denied himself happiness. But he hadn’t denied her.

So what did that make them?

She was quiet for a long moment after, and her anger drained into a tired and inevitable acceptance. She’d known this was coming. She’d counted on it every moment since they’d begun this entire dance. She just hadn’t estimated the form it would take.

Would you be happier, with him? Or with Meadow? She liked Reyson, but if Germanicus and Meadow had shared this, then obviously the attraction was mutual. It was their choice to make. If you would, your failure is staying. I deserve better than another lie. We all do. Mereo too. If his heart wasn’t here then the pack was doomed to splinter.

She didn’t love him, thankfully…. Not yet. But she knew that she could, if given the chance, and she mourned it silently as she stood there waiting for an answer. She could guess what it would be.