Chapter 37

Mara's POV

Jessa and Oren had been mated for twelve years.

That detail would have frightened me more if twelve years did not already have a very specific meaning in my own life.

Maeve examined both of them in the Ironwood infirmary while Soren stood near the window pretending not to listen and listening to everything.

Oren sat rigidly in a chair and insisted, "We were happy." Jessa looked at him for a long moment before answering, "Sometimes." When he said she had never told him she wanted to leave, her face tightened. "I tried. Three times. Every time I packed a bag, the bond made me sick before I reached the gate."

"That is normal mate separation pain," Oren said. Jessa's reply was quiet enough to change the room. "Maybe it should not be."

Maeve fini