Page 99 of The Seeker
Why was he arguing with the Fallen? He hated to admit it, but Vasu was right. The outcome would be the same. He had no doubt that he could make Meera fall as deeply in love with him as he was with her, especially once their magics were linked.
Why did it matter?
It just did.
Was he being selfish? If he was, it wasn’t for himself. Or was it? He didn’t want that shadow hanging over their relationship. Didn’t want Meera to ever question why she had chosen him.
But did it matter to Meera or just to him?
She won’t be able to see past it now.
Rhys was very afraid that the angel was right.
Chapter Eighteen
Meera was stripping palmetto leaves with Ata. “Men are infuriatingly emotional.”
“I agree.” Ata split the palmetto leaves with her teeth and wove them into the sturdy basket between her legs. “I often told Akune that he needed to cool his temper.”
“He has been the one pushing to be mated ever since he found out we werereshon. And I wasn’t averse to mating, I just wanted to be sure he was certain of his feelings and not purely operating on fate.”
“Beingreshondoesn’t guarantee a happy mating,” Ata said.
“Exactly!”
“It merely guarantees you are mating the person heaven designed for you. But if you’re a miserable person by nature, you still might be unhappy with that.”
Meera paused. “I’m not a miserable person.”
“You don’t seem to be. If Rhys is resisting the mating now, perhaps he avoids happiness.”
Meera frowned. “Rhys doesn’t avoid happiness. That’s not what this is about.”
Ata curled her lip. “He likes to complain.”
“But in a teasing fashion,” Meera said defensively. “He’s not a negative person. It’s just his sense of humor.”
Ata shrugged. “Perhaps.”
“He’s a very generous person. Miserable people aren’t generous.”
“You know him better than I do, so I will leave you to judge that. Perhaps he’s fickle and his feelings have changed.” Ata reached for another strip of palmetto. “You definitely want to avoid a fickle mate. His feelings would be changing all the time. You’d never be able to depend on him.”
“Rhys is very dependable,” Meera said. “He’s not fickle.”
“Odd for his feelings to change like that then.”
“It’s not about his feelings,” Meera said. Or was it?
“Don’t you understand it would kill me if you chose me because of an obligation?”
Did Rhys fear that Meera would regret their mating? That she would come to resent him? That he would someday be an obligation?
“He would never be an obligation to me,” Meera said.
Ata looked up. “Who said that? A mate is a gift. Especially areshon.”
“Yes, Rhys said the same thing.” Her fingers felt frozen. He’d saidexactlythe same thing.
