The artwork above is not mine.

•༻☾☽༺•

    The three of them sat in the living room silently. Azriel knew his brothers were waiting for him to talk. He would soon. He was letting himself calm down, finally. Now that she wasn't so close and her scent wasn't around, his mind was clearing.

    Azriel crossed his arms, looking at the paintings Feyre had left on the cabin walls. "When did you guess?" He asked.

    "I started suspecting when you told me you were ready to move on from Elain," Rhys replied.

    Cassian shifted his wings slightly. "It first crossed my mind after what happened in the clearing."

    "When did you first think of it?" Rhys asked.

    "I don't really know." Azriel knit his brows. "I don't remember a specific time. I just know that one day I began to wonder. I started to seriously consider it after the clearing." He leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands.

    "Do you love her?"

    Azriel thought for a moment. Did he love her? He was attracted to her. No, that was an understatement. He wanted her, desperately, but that wasn't love. Love was more than that. Azriel shook his head. "I don't love her. Not yet. I know that I'm falling in love with her though."

    He was falling in love with her smile. The fire that was visible through her eyes. The way she laughed and made jokes. He was falling in love with the way she was becoming more confident in herself. "Do you think she knows about the Bond?" He asked.

    They both shrugged. "Are you going to tell her?" Cassian asked. "Judging from what we've seen with Nesta and Feyre, it might be better just to tell her."

    "Then again, we all know how Elain reacted to Lucien saying it," Rhys added.

    Azriel closed his eyes, looking within himself. He could feel the Mating Bond now. He knew it had been there before. That was how Seren had seen him in the Spring Court. It was how she'd picked up on his emotions before, and how he'd done the same for her. Now, it was visible and prominent, but not yet whole.

    "I don't think she knows. The Mating Bond doesn't feel complete," he said.

    "That could be because you haven't fu..." Rhy leaned over and smacked Cassian's arm, interrupting him. "What?" Cassian shot him a glare.

    "We don't need him to become territorial while we're in here," Rhys said, rolling his eyes. "And you talking about Seren like that will definitely make him territorial."

    Azriel gritted his teeth, already feeling the instinct welling up. He drew in a steadying breath. "I'm fine, but Rhys is right. And I don't think it's because of that. The Bond is there, but it feels like it hasn't entirely connected with her. I can feel her through it, but it's not..." he trailed off. "I don't know how to explain it."

    "I know what you mean," Rhys said. "That's how it felt for me before Feyre accepted the Bond."

    "You didn't answer the original question," Cassian said. "Are you going to tell her?"

    Azriel shook his head after a moment. "I'll let her find out on her own. She's been treated like a possession all her life. I don't want her to feel like she's nothing more than a belonging to me. I want the Bond to be her choice." He rubbed his forehead, thinking. "I want all of it to be her choice. My only requirement is that I love her before we share a night together."

    "You've been with plenty of females you didn't love."

    "But they weren't my mate. Besides, she's never been with anyone. If I'm going to be her first, I want to love her and I want her to know that I love her." His thoughts began to spin just thinking about it. And we'd have to be careful. She's High Fae. I'm Illyrian. If we had a baby, it might have wings. There's so many things that could go wrong and...

    "Ok," Rhys interrupted his thoughts before they could spiral down a dark path. "Do we tell the others?"

    "Nesta, Feyre, Amren, and Mor can know," Azriel replied. "I don't want Lucien, Varian, or Elain to hear about it though. No one beyond the seven of us."

    "Why not Elain?" Cassian asked, arching an eyebrow.

    "Because I think she would tell Seren."

    "I'd be worried about Mor doing that," Rhys chuckled.

    "No, Mor won't. She'll understand why Seren needs to figure it out for herself."

    "Hm." Cassian folded his arms behind his head. "That leaves another issue. When we get home, you're going to take one look at her and..." Rhys smacked him again. "I was going to say, be overwhelmed by instincts," Cassian sneered.

    "I'm not going home right away," Azriel said. "I'll stay here until I feel like I can behave myself."

    "Madja won't like that," Rhys pointed out.

    "Madja will be happy I'm away from you lot. I won't leave the cabin until I'm ready to come home."

    Rhys nodded his agreement. Cassian draped an arm over Azriel's shoulder. "So, are you well enough to take the edge off that new territorial instinct?" Azriel arched an eyebrow. "Because let me tell you, those Illyrian leathers looked very nice on Seren's ass."

    Azriel whirled on Cassian before he could stop himself. Cassian laughed, catching his fist and pushing him back. "Outside!" Rhys shouted. "And don't break anything!" Azriel grabbed Cassian by the shirt and hauled him out the door.

•༻☾☽༺•

    Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel were absent from the breakfast table the next morning. Seren piled food atop her plate and dug in. Feyre and Mor were chattering away. Nesta and Amren occasionally joined in. Elain ate in silence.

    "I had the strangest dream last night," Feyre said. "I thought Azriel came into our room, raving about something. He was stark naked."

    Seren choked on an apple slice. She cleared her throat as Feyre gave her a quizzical look. "That's an...interesting dream." She'd had a similar one, only Azriel hadn't gone to Rhys and Feyre's room. She wiped the blush off her face and continued eating.

    "Speaking of Az, where are the three Illyrian Babies?" Mor asked. She took a bite of pancakes.

    "I have no idea," Nesta replied.

    "I hope they're being careful," Feyre muttered. "Azriel is supposed to be resting."

    "Don't worry, Darling. He is." Rhys strode into the room and pressed a kiss to Feyre's cheek. He bent down to Nyx's bassinet and kissed the top of his head.

    Cassian followed him in, covered in bruises. He had a nasty black eye. Seren winced at the sight of it. "What happened to you?" Nesta demanded.

    "He hit a bird," Rhys answered. Cassian pressed his lips into a thin line. "Az decided he wanted to stay at the cabin while he recovers so we took him up there. Cassian flew into a flock of birds on the way home."

    Mor burst out laughing. "That's the best story I've heard in a long time. Well done, Cass!"

    "Ha, ha. Thanks, Rhys," Cassian grumbled. "That's exactly what happened."

    Seren looked at her plate, biting her lip. Did he decide to leave because of me? Because of what almost happened last night? Is he angry? The shadow curled against her tightly.

    "He'll be back soon," Rhys said, watching her carefully. "He just felt like he needed to have some peace and quiet and we all know he wouldn't get that here."

    "We'll make up for lost time when he gets back," Mor promised.

    "Or he'll do it himself," Cassian snickered. Rhys rolled his eyes.

    Seren tuned them out and continued eating, even though her appetite had decreased. He was just gone and now he left again? Without saying anything? Maybe I should reach out to him and...no. He left because he doesn't want to be bothered.

    Breakfast was over at last and Seren joined Rhys, ready for training. They waited as Feyre gave Nyx to Mor. Once she joined them, they winnowed to the new clearing. "Start with winnowing again. I have a new assignment for you afterwards," Rhys said.

    Seren nodded and began. Rhys stepped closer to his mate and they began to speak quietly. She winnowed from one end of the clearing to the other. Rhys and Feyre glanced at her, then spoke again.

    Seren gulped and winnowed. Maybe Azriel's shadows told him the truth last night. Maybe he told Rhys. She shook her head. No, if he did that, they would have already questioned or killed me. Something else is going on. She just didn't know what.

•༻☾☽༺•

    Four days passed without a word from Azriel. Rhys and Cassian gave no answers whenever Seren asked about him. She didn't know what it meant. All she knew was that the longer he was gone, the more she felt his absence.

    Seren sat in the garden with Elain, weeding the flowerbeds. "Mor is going to start showing me how to use two daggers," Elain said. "And maybe I'll learn how to use a sword after that. How's your sword training going?"

    "Good. Cassian seems to be impressed," she replied. "Is Rhys still going to send you and Lucien to the Spring Court after what happened with Tamlin?"

    Elain sighed and pursed her lips. "Honestly, I don't think so. If Tamlin didn't recognize Azriel, then he might not recognize Lucien. Even if he did, there's no guarantee that I'd be able to get close to him without him killing me."

    "I know you wanted to go, but I'll be glad if they decide not to send you. I'd rather you be alive."

    "I just want to be useful," Elain said.

    "You're making yourself useful."

    Before Elain could reply, wings flapped overhead. Seren shot to her feet, recognizing Azriel. She glanced back at Elain. "Go," her friend said.

    Seren waited no longer. She ducked out of the garden and ran to the gates. Azriel met her there. "I'm sorry," she blurted out. "For what happened. I'm sorry if I made you leave."

    Azriel caught her by the shoulders, a concerned look filling his eyes. "What? You didn't make me leave. I mean...never mind. Why do you think I left?"

    "Because of what happened, or what almost happened. I didn't mean to upset you." Seren looked away, an ashamed blush heating her cheeks.

    "Seren, you didn't upset me. If anything upset me, it was the fact that we were interrupted," Azriel said gently. He lifted her chin, meeting her eyes. "I left for another reason. I just needed some time to myself."

    "Are you sure?"

    "I'm sure." He searched her gaze, a different kind of light in his eyes. She wasn't sure what it meant. "I need to talk to Rhys." Azriel pulled away. "We'll pick up our training tomorrow."

    He disappeared into the house before she could reply. Seren worked her hands together, nervousness flooding her stomach. After a moment, she rejoined Elain.