Page 158 of Moon Craving

No more than he could rid himself of the desire, no-- the need--to keep his wife. Not

that he had much of a choice. Were he to banish Abigail from the Sinclair holding, he

banished any hope of children to carry his Chrechte lineage along with her. As a

true-mated Chrechte, he was not physically capable of engaging in the mating act with

anyone but Abigail. At least, until that mating was severed through death, or a betrayal so

great, even his wolf spirit would reject her.

Apparently, his wolf was not bothered by Abigail's perfidy. He felt as possessive

and protective toward her as ever. He still craved her approval and the opportunity to

scent her in his wolf form. It was a craving that grew stronger each day, becoming acute

when the least incident indicated another man's encroachment on what he considered his

territory.

The wolf had howled in displeasure at the sight of the furs Guaire had slept on in

Talorc and Abigail's bedchamber. Talorc had wanted to throw the damn things out the

window. He hadn't, showing remarkable restraint in his opinion. Particularly when his

mate had rolled them up so carefully, her scent mixing with Guaire's on the fur.

His angel had much to learn about the Chrechte nature.

And him.

She claimed to love Talorc, but in the same breath, Abigail had indicated she

thought him capable of throwing away his wife for something so insignificant as an

inability to hear. Surely that was a grief she had to bear, not him. Her deafness did not

impact him except that he had to be more diligent in his protection, knowing she was less

aware of her surroundings than he had believed.

It also explained the times he thought she ignored him when in fact she simply had

not realized he'd been speaking.

How could that be a bad thing?

Yet she had hidden the truth with a diligence that both worried and impressed him.

No Chrechte had ever hidden their nature with more talent and ingenuity than his wife hid

her deafness. When the time came for him to trust her with the secrets of his people, he

could not doubt her ability to maintain his confidences.

But he could not help his concern at the knowledge she had deceived him so well