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RIKA 

Gar\'s mother, Elia, had urged her to sit on the edge of the bed, and even though it felt weird, Rika had been oddly eager to sit close to her. She felt uncomfortable about being included in all these little family conferences, but when Elia sat down next to her, she sighed and put her hand on Rika\'s knee.

"Thank you," the older woman said. "Thank you for loving Gar and for pushing on even when it\'s been so frightening."

Rika nodded. "He\'s easy to love."

Elia\'s face lit up even as tears welled in her eyes. "Yes, yes he is. And I\'m so glad that you can see that. He needs you Rika… I need you to protect his heart for me. Please?"

"I… of course. But… how?"

Elia gave her a broken smile. "Tell him. Every day. Remind him that you love him. Remind him what he does that you admire. Because he\'s so strong, but you have to understand, he\'s strong because he\'s so easily wounded. He had to become strong to endure it."

Rika blinked as those words sifted into her heart and… fit. "I think… I think I understand that," she whispered.

Elia nodded. "I thought you might. That\'s why you\'re so perfect for him. But it also means that you two have to always turn towards each other. If you both get hurt at the same time, if you both turn away… you\'ll destroy each other. Rika, please… I know we haven\'t had a chance to know each other, but I\'m begging you, please don\'t ever turn from him."

Rika swallowed hard. "I won\'t. I promise."

Elia pulled her into a hug. "Thank you. I have been so worried about him. About what would happen to him. El loves him, but she isn\'t a nurturer. He needs… he needs someone\'s sunlight to bathe in. To thrive. Be his sunlight, Rika and you\'ll never want for anything, because he\'ll put himself at your feet and he\'ll never look back.

"There aren\'t many men alive who will truly love with their whole hearts, but he\'s one of them. And he adores you."

"I know," Rika said, squirming in the hug. "I just don\'t know why."

Elia pulled back and smiled at her. "Because you were made for each other. And when that\'s true—when you\'re True Mates—it\'s unavoidable. You might as well surrender to it."

She gave an odd emphasis to the word surrender and Rika watched her. That word always threaded cold through her gut, but in this conversation… it felt different.

"There\'s something I want to give you," Elia said after a moment. "I know it won\'t mean much to you. But… this is something very special. And when it was clear Elreth wasn\'t going to mate within the pride, I prayed that Gar\'s mate would… would have this heart for him."

"What is it?"

Elia sat back and pulled something from a pocket in her jacket—a bundle of blue fabric. "It\'s a scarf," she said, her lips trembling. She offered Rika the little bundle and Rika took it, marveling at how light and soft it was. "There\'s a very special, very private tradition within the Pride. I received this scarf from my Pride mother—she\'d used it with her mate. I gave myself to Reth with it, and I\'m giving it to you now because… because I may not be here to provide it later. This isn\'t a step you take in your mind, Rika. This isn\'t something for you to take action on today. I\'m giving this to you for the day that it feels right, okay?"

"Okay." But she was still confused. She looked up from the beautiful scrap of fabric to find Elia\'s eyes bright, but fierce.

"The tradition within the pride is that when you are… wholeheartedly given. There isn\'t anything within you that holds back from you mate. The day you know not only that he was made for you, but that he is the only one. That even if something were to happen to him… that you wouldn\'t… you\'d never take anyone else. Ever… that is the day you offer yourself to your mate."

Rika stared. "How?"

"You tie this around your neck, and before witnesses, you offer your throat. If he chooses to take you, he will unwrap it and take your throat. It is… a simple thing, but trust me… there\'s a unique, er, attachment that the Anima have with throats and—"

"Yes, Gar explained. And I had… observed," Rika said with a half-smile.

Elia returned it. "Good, then you understand the symbology. So this is an extension of that. Except, this goes beyond a… a gesture. It\'s a vow."

"A vow of what?"

"A vow of forever."

Rika relaxed. "That\'s no problem! I already vowed in the wedding—"

"No, Rika," Elia put her hand back to Rika\'s thigh. "The way it was explained to me by my mother is that this this vow extends beyond the grave. If Gar died while you were young you\'d be vowing before his tribe that you\'d never take another male. Ever. At all."

Rika wanted to brush it off as easy, but the look in this woman\'s eyes…. Rika swallowed and nodded.

"I want you to know, Rika, I\'d normally never bring this up until it looked like you two were moving that way. But I can\'t be sure I\'ll be here later to walk you through this, and I\'ve begged the Creator for this moment, so please… don\'t take this as my instruction, okay? This isn\'t something for you to do on a whim. This is how you will cement your relationship, publicly, within the tribe. Only some mate pairs do it, and many of those, even only when they\'re older. So there is no… expectation, you understand?"

Rika nodded, examining the beautiful fabric. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Thank you for telling me. I hope… I hope we\'ll get there."

"I do too," Elia said, her voice light with joy, yet heavy with emotion. "And I wish I would be here to see it, but if… if things progress and you need more information, speak with anyone in the pride, they can tell you. Especially the older females."

Rika nodded, swallowing a pinch in her throat as it came home to her that this was a place where she was being embraced, not just by her mate, but by their entire society. "I don\'t know how to say thank you," she admitted. "I wish—"

"The best way to thank me is to love my son," Elia choked. "Love him with abandon, and never leave him alone. Always remind him how good he is, and even if you fight, always take his side before others. He needs that person in his life—he needs that from you now."

Rika nodded again. "Thank you. I will. I promise. I will."