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“Onprobation, your highness,” he cuts in, smooth as hell, studying me. “And yet you let her boss you around? Demand to be included on expeditions she does not need to attend?Shoutat you in earshot of your subordinates, who allabsolutelyheard her tonight?”

Slowly, General Amir shakes his head.

I collapse a bit, my will evaporating on a sigh. Suddenly, I miss my father’s guidance very, very much. Even if he is being a jackass about Nadia’s humanity.

“What the hell am I supposed to do, sir?” I turn my hands palm up, completely without answers.

General Amir laughs gently and breaks out of his steely demeanor, leaning across his desk toward me. “Cole, if anyone understands howtemptingit can be to simply let Nadia have her way to keep the peace, it is me. Or perhaps her younger sister, the only person whotrulystands up to my girl and wins.”

I raise my eyebrows at this, surprised anyone has that honor.

“But there isabsolutelyno reason for you to give her that kind of access. Not to appease her. Not to give her information she wants, perhaps deserves. Not to satisfy your own guilt.”

I hold General Amir’s gaze, slowly beginning to shake my head. “She’s a nursing student now, General Amir, but one dayshe’s going to beQueen– a position that is fully entitled toallof the clearance that I have. That I will ever have.”

General Amir tilts his head in mock surprise. “Oh, have you asked my daughter to marry you?”

I narrow my eyes.

“Has she said yes?”

My eyes only get narrower. “She barely lets me talk toher, sir. You know this.”

“I do,” he murmurs, smiling softly, I think deciding to go easier on me. “Can I speak to you plainly, Cole?”

“Sorry, is this…not speaking plain?”

Amir huffs a laugh, smiling genuinely at me now. “As you’re aware, my boy, I have long studied wolf history. I understand your culture and your traditions. I would venture to say that I understand the Children of Solace far better than you do as well.”

I nod, agreeing to it. General Amir is an expert – I’d never counter that.

“But,” he continues gently, “I am ahuman. And so is my girl. So, you’llforgiveme if I proceed through the rest of this in quite…human terms.”

“All right,” I say, growing wary.

“If you want to date my daughter, Cole,” General Amir says quite softly, “I will support you. But you’vegotto play by human rules, whichareharder.”

I feel a blush rise to my cheeks – because even if I’ve already declared in this conversation that Nadia will be my Queen, this feels, somehow,somuch more intimate.

General Amir watches me as he speaks. “We don’thavemating bonds in our world – don’t have bonds at all. We don’tunderstandthem in the visceral way that you do. When you walked down those steps and declared to everyone that Nadia is your mate, everyone in the roomexceptNadia understood howserious, important, andtruethat is to you. Even those amongst you who do not have mating bonds remember, on some level, the ties between parents and their pups. It isrealto you.

“Amongst us humans?” he continues. “Love, relationships – they’re all faith. And I don’t expect Nadia to accept upon faith alone that shebelongsto you in some way because some ambiguous deity who means little to us has marked her as such.”

My face reddens and I shake my head. “I don’t believe shebelongsto me.”

“In a way you do,” General Amir says quietly, frowning slightly. “It is part of your words, between an Alpha and a Luna, yes? You are mine? I claim you? Fated mate? There is…a belonging there which is more intense than that we refer to when we say ‘my husband’ or ‘my wife.’ There is an element of choice in those that is different than a mating bond.”

“She is free to choose,” I whisper. “Of course she is.”

“Yes,” the General snaps, rather loudly, making me jump as he leans forward. “Sheis,Cole. And if youwishmy daughter to love you, you will have toearnher heart. If she finds you unworthy, I’m not going to try to talk her into respecting your claim. To me, a human father, you are precisely like everyothergood-looking young man who has come knocking at our door.”

I freeze at these words.

Slowly, General Amir smirks at me. “What?”

I frown, shifting uncomfortably in my chair. “Other…young men?”

He laughs, low, I think mildly entertained. “That’s a question for Nadia, Cole. Not me. But yes, you’re not without competition. And certainly, there are some against whom she has less prejudice.”