Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

GUESS WHAT? This book will be COMPLETING in early December! *Flails* I can't believe it's finally happening. I'm already grieving losing my time with Reth. But, I'm also SO excited to share the whole picture with you! Keep an eye on my announcements over the next week or two because I'm planning a BIG giveaway and Christmas event for early/mid December for all of us to celebrate and say goodbye to Reth & Elia together! Gaaaaaaahhhhh!

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GAHRYE

Gahrye prayed she wouldn't flee as Suhle's eyes went wide and her brows flew up. "I am not… I do not think—"

"You definitely are, of that I have no doubt at all," Gahrye rushed in to reassure her. "But not everyone who can do this work should." When she looked confused, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "If it were up to me I would reveal everything, explain the whole picture, but the Creator has given me great caution. For now… for now I say… will you help us identify those among the Anima who carry this scent?"

"It was so faint," she said hurriedly. "I only identified it because I was so close and I had contact with so many… I started to find the similarity between them."

"Exactly what we need, Suhle! I've only ever smelled it one person that I'm aware of. You could likely teach me—"

"No, Gahrye, I can't—"

"Please, Suhle, you have to understand, I wouldn't ask, except—"

"I am already committed. So many things I must do. I cannot give significant time to anything new!" Suhle's eyes were wide, her face alarmed.

Gahrye raised his hands as if in surrender because she looked like she was about to bolt, and they were talking too loudly. He took a breath and dropped his voice to a whisper.

"I'm sorry, I got excited. I haven't explained this well. Just hear me out, please, Suhle." She no longer looked like she would run, but she eyed him warily.

"Very well," she said quietly.

Gahrye licked his lips and prayed for wisdom with his words. "I'm not asking you to do work, exactly. Though I will ask for just an hour or two of your time to help me with the scenting, but… but what we are doing. Our purpose… it is to build strength in those among us who have the ability to do this. Those who can scent evil and who have been equipped to fight it."

"I am not a fighter," Suhle said quickly.

"Not that kind of fighting," Gahrye said with a smile. "Trust me. This kind of fighting… it is for truth. For… for the Creator. It is… being in the right place at the right time and giving what you have to protect others."

"That is a very big purpose, Gahrye. And I will support you in it. I will do what I can to support any Anima in it that have this… this scent ability," she said, confused. "But I cannot… there are things in my life that you do not know. I cannot give myself to another task. Not now."

"You won't have to," he said happily. "Most of the time you'll just go about your life. But if you smell a wolf, or any Anima, with this scent on them, please, tell me? Bring me to them so I can scent them as well? This is the calling of your Queen. She is determined to help her Mate eradicate this evil from the people. But in order to do so, we have to move in secret. We cannot give them any warning. Please, Suhle, that's all I ask for now. Just keep your nose attuned to this and look for it among the people. Please?"

She hesitated, but then nodded. "I will tell you if I scent others," she said.

"Thank you. Now, I have to ask you to tell no one that we came out here. Or what I've told you about the Queen's purpose. The Creator has been very specific that we must hide it from others to keep ourselves and those who are vulnerable protected. The Queen will carry this burden for everyone. Even the King, do you understand?"

She nodded slowly. "You tell no one what you're doing. How many others have you identified so far?"

"You're the first one," Gahrye said, scratching the back of his neck when her eyes widened. "But we have only just started. I have been… trying to find the key to all this. I'm very grateful, Suhle, because you've just given it to me."

She took a deep breath. "I am glad to have helped you, of course."

"Can I… Will you consider returning here with me later, another time? There is much that I want to show you, but I will need time and right now… right now we have to find those among the people that we can. We need to remove them."

"I will… I will think on it," she said, then looked down. "There is some chance I will not be here much longer—because of my own purposes. But if I am here… I will think on it, Gahrye. I want to help you if I can. I am just not as certain of my calling in this as you are, that's all."

He nodded, his gut twisting with desperation at the idea that she might be perfectly suited to this, but still say no.

That was one option he hadn't really considered. But then, she'd never joined the Outsiders. Never aligned herself with the disformed.

Perhaps she was one of those who tried to avoid the others, so as not to be identified with them? Gahrye hoped not. She didn't strike him as that self-serving.

"Thank you for thinking about it," he said quietly. "Whatever you decide… we will respect you, Suhle. This isn't a purpose for the faint-hearted. It isn't something you can do if you are pressured or not truly committed. So I will not push you. But please… please consider it deeply and as quickly as you can. I believe you could be very skilled and you could definitely assist me… Nevermind. I will wait. Just know that I am certain—certain—that the Creator has equipped you in ways that he has not equipped other Anima."

"How could that be" she asked quietly. "In what ways?"

Gahrye stared at her, everything within him yearning to tell her, to make her understand.