Chapter 104: Never Again - Part 2

~ ELRETH ~ 

Elreth hated to cry. Hated feeling weak. Only with her mate did she allow herself the freedom, and even then something within her always quavered.

So she was so grateful when Aaryn shushed her, sitting up straighter to pull her into his chest and stroke her back and hair. "El, you're carrying so much, stop trying to do it alone. We're all here to help. Ask Behryn to read the winds, you know he'll do it if you ask him to. Ask Reece! His talent is true. And he'll be honest with you."

Elreth went very still as the truth of her own blindness crashed over her.

He was right.

These males could help. They could show her at least some of what was happening under the surface. How had she forgotten that? How had she let it go this far without bringing them in?

Despair and choking self-loathing washed over her. What kind of Queen was she to have forgotten that.

"El—"

"I'm failing," she said, her breath hitching. "On every level."