"I am trying hard enough!" Inara screams back at Ivory who was helping her. Abir takes a deep sigh and holds her.

"You trying hard is not the answer. Your wolf won't get triggered to come out if it isn't some important situation." He says to calm her down.

After it was decided that Inara would attend the council meetings too, she was hell-bent on getting to know her wolf. Her reason? She didn't want anyone else to keep protecting her. She would make herself strong enough.

"And this is an important situation too!" Inara was adamant.

"It isn't," Ivory says irritatingly. "It has to be some life or death situation. You don't know a thing about being a wolf in the first place. And a few days of us teaching you basics ain't gonna do the trick."

"Maybe you aren't trying at all!" Inara comes up close to Ivory, almost as if she would punch her.

"Maybe Alaska (Inara's Wolf) doesn't want to come out given how you have treated her for the past few years!" Ivory screams back, knowing it would hurt her. But Abir was there to slow down the two hot-headed women.

"Ladies, ladies!" he comes in between them. "This isn't the time to fight amongst ourselves. Ivory, apologize to her. You know the reason why she did what she did and it wasn't her fault." He turns back to Inara, "And Inara, we are trying our level's best to bring out Alaska but she is your wolf. More than anyone else here, you are the only person who is gonna let her free."

He takes her hand and caresses it calmly, "It will take some time but don't lose hope. I know you want to protect yourself but forcing your wolf to come out won't help it. Just let it happen naturally. Just breathe." He inhales air and indicates her to do the same.

Zade was watching the whole training thing from the front porch of the house.

"It's tuff, isn't it?" Damon walks up from behind and surprises Zade.

"Of course, it is." Zade replies, looking away from the trio. "They are trying to fit in years of training into a few days."

"You should tell her," Damon suggests.

"What?" Zade looks at him, confused.

"That you love her." Kyros startles him from behind. Zade clicks his tongue. He wasn't ready for this conversation, again!

"I don't." Zade denies it even though he knows they won't buy it. "It is just the mate bond, that's all." That is how Zade assures himself.

"Are you sure?" Damon pries.

"I am pretty sure." Zade nods confidently as he looks back at Inara trying to control her anger and using it on someplace productive. Like chopping firewood.

"You remember what I told you beside the lake that day?" Kyros asks.

Zade remembers and smiles. "A staple can hold things together but it needs to tear the paper to do so." He chuckles, "From what I remember, it was Blizzard who said this."

"Potato, potatoh. It doesn't matter who said it but it came from the same brain." Kyros defends himself but Damon nudges him from the back.

"Aren't we going a little off-topic?" he whispers.

"Ah, right. Sorry, um, so..." Kyros continues, with a serious face this time, "As the staple tears the paper to hold it together, love requires a little amount of risk too. You might have an evil maniac behind you, consequences of a broken treaty too, but you have to take the risk. If your urge to be together is more than the dangers, you should be willing to take the risk."

Kyros smiles when he looks at Zade thinking and gives a high-five to Damon from behind.

"You two are terrible at giving love advice." Zade smiles and goes back inside the house, surprising both of them.

Damon hits Kyros on the shoulder, "See, I told you were terrible at giving love advice! You should have just let me talk to him."

"Did you have a better plan?" Kyros remarks back, "Admit it, both of them are stubborn and stupid."

Damon takes a deep sigh. He knows Kyros is right. "One thinks that the only way to protect the other is to push them away."

"And the other thinks the latter has completely given up on the idea of them being together." Kyros completes the sigh.

───── ❝ The next week.... ❞ ─────

"They have decorated the town well." Inara gazes out of the car window. The whole group was traveling back into town for the D-day. Abir and Ivory were in the car with Inara, Zade with Kyros, Damon, and Odin in another.

The town was looking beautiful. They arrived at the borders just when the sun was setting down to announce the dawn and the streets lit up. Pretty white and yellow lights were strung up as if to welcome them but they knew better, it wasn't for them.

"It is all to please the Elders," Abir says, swerving to take a turn to their street. "I don't know if revealing the truth and convincing them would even work."

"Let's not lose hope, okay?" Ivory rubs his shoulder. "We have to give it a try at least."

"Speaking of which, have you tried talking to Zade?" Abir directs the question to Inara.

"No, she was busy ignoring him." Ivory throws her a murderous but 'just kidding' look.

"I have already told you guys about it." Inara ignores the topic altogether.

"And you are repeating our mistakes." Ivory says, turning back to her, "You are making that decision all on your own without giving Zade even a chance to think about it."

"That boy was ready to protect you, mate bond, or no." Abir joins in, "You are just taking away his chance to make a decision which involves the 'both of you'." He emphasizes the last part.

"And now I understand why you guys did the same for me. I am sorry to act in that manner earlier when you were going through the exact same dilemma of protecting me or telling me the truth." Inara replies.

"That's not what we meant." Ivory gives up.

"But she is gonna take it that way." Abir stops conversing too.

After an excruciatingly long hour of silence accompanied by small talks, Inara could finally see her house. It was the same as she had left it.

"We are here," Abir says, unbuckling his seat belt.

"Where is Damon's car?" Inara asks when she gets out of her seat. She was sure that they were following them but she might have slept for some time.

"They insisted on going to their ancestral house first. Kyros too. They'll meet us directly at the council meeting." Abir says, taking out their luggage from the trunk.

"When is the meeting?" Inara asks, looking a bit nervous.

Ivory notices it and hugs her, "Don't worry. You have so many people around you. And I don't think Victor will try to do anything with the Elders present there."

"What you need," Abir joins in the hug, "is some rest. The meeting is in three hours."

"Oh my god!" Ivory exclaims, "This means we have only half an hour for dress and makeup. This surely is a nightmare!" she frantically runs inside the house, leaving a giggling Abir and Inara outside.