Page 163 of The King is Dead
She nodded. “Please don’t make me go away from him,” she whispered. “I don’t feel right when he’s gone.”
I slumped in my saddle. I knew what I needed to say. Knew it was right. Knew I’d been wrong. But, God help me, this wasIstral…
Still fighting tears and battling fear, I nudged my horse back into a walk, tugging at hers to turn around again until we were walking knee to knee and I no longer felt like speaking would make me cry. Then I cleared my throat.
“I won’t separate you,” I said quietly. “I give you my word.”
“Oh, thank you!” Istral lit up like the sun rising over the mountains. She leaned across to hug me tightly. “Thank you, Yilan!”
“You’re welcome,” I said, trying to mean it. “But if this is true, and you two are mates and there’s… well, there’s some things we need to talk about, Izzy.”
She straightened back into her saddle and gathered up her reins. “Very well.”
I didn’t think I’d ever wanted my mother back more. I didn’t think I’d ever felt less equipped to help my sister. My confidence was shattered. I thought I’d cared for her when she was hurt before. Thought I’d protected her. Thought I’d helped her heal. Instead, this whole time, she’d thought I blamed her? Shamed her?
How the hell was I going to explain this without hurting her again?
But then, in the middle of my whirlwind of doubt, the bond surged. I almost wept again as a wave of reassurance and strength washed over me from my mate. I looked back, but couldn’t see him, even though Iachedto have him closer just then, to draw on his strength and trust in me and…
And that was how Istral was feeling about Gall.
It smacked me between the eyes. And right in the heart.
My sister was growing up. Slowly. She would always need help. But she was not just a child.
She had a mate. And desire for him. And fear.
And I needed to help her.
I blew out a breath, then took Izzy’s hand.
“So, the first thing I want to tell you is that you should never do anything with a man—even your mate—if you feel afraid or uneasy. So that’s the first thing. You can say no. It’srightto say no if you don’t feel like you want to be close to him.”
Istral frowned. “I never don’t want to be close to him.”
I almost laughed. “Well, if it happens, just know… you can say no, and you aren’t wrong to do so. Do you believe me?”
“Yes,” she said with a shrug.
I wanted to drop my face into my hand. But I plowed on. “You’re going to get closer and closer the longer you’re together. But that doesn’t mean you’ll always agree or want the same thing. So just… choose your time to mate with him, Izzy. I pray he would never pressure you, but if he does, you look him in the eye and you tell him you’re not ready. When the time is right, you’ll find the way through together.”
“Find the way to what?” she asked, confused.
I cleared my throat. “You remember the horses? The mating? And the thing… that man did?”
She pinked. “Yes.”
“That’s… we do it a little differently, but it’s the way we cement the bond and… and get close. It’s a need with your mate, Izzy. And it’s good. But it can take some time to find your way to what feels good for you. What you enjoy, and what he enjoys. And what you can do together so that you both have a wonderful time.”
“It’s the shivers,” she said quietly.
I blinked. “The… shivers?”
She nodded. “When Gall lays with me, his… his… manplace gets hard. And he hugs me, and my body shivers,” she said, her cheeks flaming.
I couldn’t believe this had been going on right under my nose. I fought back the urge to curse Gall and instead nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
“But that feels good,” she said, tilting her head.
