With Wren by his side, he at last felt complete. Guilt played with his heart. Could he have replaced his sister so easily? When what about Whisper and Metztli? They too had claim to his loyalty and his honor. Just as Blackthorne had. Zharko shivered once down his spine, knowing one day his world would consume him. He could feel himself recoil, but still he would never leave them. He would never leave Wren.

Bloody eyes followed her gaze to the still snowy peaks of Spirane. For a second his hackles rose in uncertainty. He did not know if he would be allowed entry into packlands. It was not as though his face could be overlooked and forgotten. But is Wren wanted to go, they would go into the peaks and find the goats she spoke of, taste the forever snow, and explore a land she had never seen. Do you think your Grandmother would still be there to greet you? Suddenly he felt self conscious. What would a grandmother think of Fate’s pairing of them? How much would he care?

Zharko’s face snaked back to look at her, his eyes hardening briefly at her question before softening again when they actually saw her. Cruel. he answered sharply at first. Short, to the point. Angry. With a heavy sigh, he gave her the information she had been seeking. I was born a Prince of Iromar. There was no love between my mother and father, and they had no love for us. I have a…. Had a sister…. The memories flashed in front of his eyes. One, his father snarling at his sister and him getting in the way. Two, the only laughter they shared. Another… him pounding the skull of his other sister into the stone floor of the grotto. My father had a number of mates. I have more siblings running around. He hesitated for a moment, thoughtful. I don’t know most of them. But I would like to. He did not know if they would be like his father.

He was quiet for while as they traveled through the lands of Moladion until at last he looked at her again, once more the corner of his life twitching in a quiet hope. Starting a new life without them? Where? ...If not with your family, with who? It was too much to hope she would want to ask him to truly be by her side. Even more to hope she would return one day with him to Iromar. No matter her answer, he would ensure she was safe. Never again would she endure what had happened to her under the rule of Blackthorne. Even if he was not the one by her side, he would make sure she was protected where she was, in a place where she could be brave as she wished. Spirane? After all, that was the first place she had asked to go.