“You are blaming me for your frustration with your wife?”
“No one else is responsible.”
Undeterred, Reva moved closer to his side. “What are you most angry about? Having to make adjustments to your behavior to please your woman, or are you displeased with the woman herself?”
“She isn’t as I expected her to be,” he complained.
“You have been raised since birth to expect the changes that would occur when you found your tru-mate. You are searching and becoming disappointed that such isn’t happening with your bride. I warned you of this when you reached manhood, and I told you a Viking tru-mate wasn’t in your future. The Martian half of you is instinctively seeking a closer tru-bond, which will never be there, while your Viking half thinks you will never be content if the Martian isn’t.
“My sister would laugh often after many husbands came to her and told her that they had been given the wrong tru-mate. Viking males don’t lightly take the loss of their freedom or emotions. It is the Martian side of them, which makes them settle on a particular mate. One grounds the other. Because you will never have a tru-mate, the Viking part of you will never be content; the Martian side of you is.”
Reva’s voice took on a mocking tone. “What if the seeress is wrong?” She mimicked the words that had been going around in his mind constantly. “What if I chose wrong? That is the true cause of your distress, not your soft-hearted, gentle bride. You don’t trust in me or yourself.”
“She isn’t as I expected her to be.”
“I don’t suppose you’re her ideal mate, either.” Giving a small laugh, Reva moved to stand in front of him. “Raine is important to the future of the clan.” She imploringly stared into his eyes, as if she could share some vision with him. “My loyalty will always belong to our clan, but the other clans need the path that Raine will clear for them so we can live as before Xioarius tried to destroy us. Most importantly, whether you’re willing to admit it or not, you need her. Deep down, you think the gods are punishing you for not giving you a tru-mate. They aren’t. Raine is your gift from them … to all Vikings. She will lead us to whom is destined to accomplish what even your father wasn’t able to achieve. She will make us whole.”
When her impassioned plea didn’t get the response from him that she wanted, she exasperatedly gave him her back. “If you truly feel as if I’ve made a mistake in my vision, then I will confide my vision to the chieftain. He will make Raine his bride, and mayhap my vision will still come to be.”
Skars turned toward her abruptly. “Raine is mine.”
Reva didn’t attempt to hide her gloating expression. “Then what are we arguing about?”
Skars tiredly rubbed his temple at being outmaneuvered by the seeress. “Nothing. But could you at least try teaching my wife not to be so softhearted?”
“Aw … I cannot.” Laughter shone in her eyes. “Her soft heart is the only way she will fall in love with her Viking husband.”
Chapter 20
Raine
Raine uncomfortably watched Skars leave. Why hadn’t she taken advantage of leaving when he had given it to her?
Milly’s pinched expression spoke volumes that she was holding back.
The elevator door had barely closed behind Skars when Milly’s eyes traveled down every inch of her body. Rudely, Milly shoved Silvia aside to interrupt Brinn’s telling her how nice they were all being treated.
“Some of us are clearly being treated better than others.” While making sure she spoke low enough that those who were standing next to her could hear, Milly also made sure, from the position she was standing, they would be unable to see the jealous way she was looking at her.
Licking suddenly dry lips at the hateful way Milly was acting, Raine took in the clothes the others were wearing. They were clearly human clothes. The women had been provided with jeans or loose cloth pants with a mixture of different types of either long- or short-sleeved tops. Lucas had been provided a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Dropping her gaze, she saw they had all been given new shoes as well. In fact, all the clothes appeared new.
If she had found the clothes while out searching for supplies, she would have thought she had found the holy grail. They would have been ecstatic if she had brought the finds back with her. None of the others seemed discontent with what they had been provided with except for Milly.
Raine already knew what had Milly so upset. It wasn’t that her clothes were different from the others’. What had her angry was that she had something Milly didn’t. Every member of their group had learned to keep harmony by giving Milly the first choice of anything.