It seemed Elann appreciated his gesture, giving him a face to indicate her liking of what he said and his rubbing of her shoulder. It warmed his heart to hear her say she thought about his hometown a lot, dreaming about it even. It was a place that was dear to Noah’s heart, and so to see Elann was anxiously anticipating their arrival with good vibes made him feel good about it as well. The touch of her lips against his forearm, her hand holding his arm steady, all of it was just as welcome, especially after hearing her say what she did.

There was a quiet moment between them before she piped up with his name in question. He hummed in acknowledgement, waiting for her to continue. Elann continued but did so with words that made Noah’s insides squirm. She needed to ‘confess’ something held in her heart. Nervously, he listened as she voiced her worries: understanding how she failed to understand a lot about him, wanting to understand it more, going back on how he had once told her he sought to be more human, but recently he was acting more like the animal he was. She didn’t want him to fall ‘far’ into that side because she was his wife and bondmate. She asked if it was wrong of her to feel that way. Her voice was nervous, and the hold he had on her felt uneasy. She saw that the changes were happening since his mother and sister had arrived in Syliras, then wondered if it was all a dumb fear to have.

Noah licked his lips, taking a breath, thinking. Her truthful words didn’t add to the sense of comfort within him, telling him that she truly had the concerns. There were so many of them and it sounded like she had been harboring them until now. The reason being because of their fights on the matter of his changing behavior.

“I remember telling you that,” he said, “when we first met. I guess, now, it’s different. I decided before we bonded that I couldn’t really change who I was completely. Before you came I had tried for two years to be more like them, but couldn’t succeed. I’m just not good with people, and most of them thought me strange… weird… bizarre. The people that I liked the most were the hunters, but that was because they didn’t know I was a man. To them, I was an eagle, another hunter, a comrade.”

He exhaled. “I just stayed like that. I really don’t like Syliras. Before I met you I was considering leaving. Actually, I was waiting for Matilda to tell her that I was giving my room up because I was going to come back to Zeltiva. That’s when I met you, and you said we could see one another again, so I didn’t tell Matilda that I was giving up my room because you said we would see one another,” he said. “That’s off-topic though.”

“I guess, I felt like I couldn’t be… free in Syliras. The Knights were everywhere, the walls were high and sad. I could only be free when I was outside of the walls. I was really, really sad because of it. I was kind of acting human because I didn’t want you to not like me. When you found out that I was a Kelvic, I was scared you wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore. It was why I panicked in the Stallion the first time. You know, when you got angry because I wasn’t talking a lot?”

“I felt really confined in Syliras. When my family came I felt as if I belonged a little more, and now that I’m out here, I feel free again. It’s like someone saying you can only fly when they want you to, then suddenly you can fly whenever you want. It’s like that,” he said, taking a breath.

“I love my family, Elann. With them, I was the freest I’ve ever been. I guess, when they came around I wanted to be with them again. I missed that feeling. It felt nice to hunt with them again, and to see my sister and be with her again.” He shrugged. “That’s all.”

“I don’t want to say your worry is dumb, but I’m not sure how to feel about it,” he confessed nervously.