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She glared up at him, grave indignation rolling off of her in waves. “I understand.”
He snatched the bonnet from the table and handed it to her. “Your kapp.”
She looked down at the offensive accessory with palpable disdain. It was a symbol of submission, and her retrieval of the item a display of obedience.
Whenever his mother had been reprimanded in the past, she’d been disciplined in Council Hall, publicly flogged before the elders and males, and he’d been forced to watch so that he understood there could be no mercy when it came to protecting their ways, even against the slightest uprising.
His mother never cried. She would watch the elders in silence, blocking her thoughts as the lashes rained down, but her eyes said everything. No matter how many times they tried to discipline her, she would never be like the other dutiful females on the farm.
Her rebellious reputation impacted him in many negative ways over the centuries, branding their family as outcasts for years on end. He would not allow her actions to ostracize Delilah as well. While he’d adapted to a reclusive life, his mate would need more. She deserved more, and he would see that she got it.
His mother’s shorn red hair disappeared under the bonnet and she lifted her chin. “You will let me say my piece before I go.”
This quarrelsome behavior was confusing for his mate. He just wanted her gone. Steering her onto the front porch, he said, “Speak.”
“Any fool can claim a female, Christian. But it takes a male of honor to claim someone’s heart. Do not make the same mistakes your father made or you will find yourself alone. Try to consider how foreign this must be to her. Everything you do has a direct effect on your relationship and her trust. You’ll always be bigger, stronger, older, and more powerful. If that’s not assurance enough for your ego, that’s your issue, not hers. Relationships require compromise. If you don’t bend, I promise the bond you share with her will break. God controls many things, but a female’s will is her own.”
“I don’t want you involving yourself—”
She held up a hand. “Yes, you were perfectly clear in your dressing down of me. Just remember this, we have but one mate in this life. I hope your experience is better than mine.”
She was gone before he could muster a response and that was probably for the best.
His mother had no qualms when it came to judging others but ambivalently kept her own shameful past hidden from view. She might have experience and sage advice, but she also had a habit of projecting. He was not his father. How could he be, when he had no memory of the male?
He entered the house and found Delilah slinking up the stairs. “Where are you going?”
She tensed but didn’t pivot.
“Delilah?”
When she faced him, her expression wore a riot of emotion. “You didn’t have to talk to her like that.”
He frowned. “It’s not appropriate for her—or anyone for that matter—to interfere in the affairs of a mated couple. There are laws.”
She sighed. “Christian, I don’t have parents. My grandmother raised me, and she passed away when I was twenty. So many times in my life, I wished I had just one parent to go to when I was confused or scared.”
“I’m not a seventeen-year-old child,” he reminded.
“No, but you’ll always be her son. Maybe at your age you don’t feel the need for guidance. Maybe it’s a cultural difference I don’t understand, but I think she was only trying to help. And to be honest, I wanted her help. You can’t be my only source of knowledge around here or I’ll never catch up. I don’t like gatekeepers, and I don’t like the way you just spoke to your mother.”
“You’re disappointed.” His desperation to have her see him in a favorable light had him rethinking his words and actions.
“I’m a lot of things—mostly, I’m confused and scared.”
Fearful he might have been too rigid with his mother, he crossed the foyer to comfort his mate, but she held up a staying hand.
“I just want to be alone right now.”
Her rejection sank through him like cold poison constricting his veins. There was no deceit in her mind, only mental fatigue and worry. “There’s no need to worry.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You should be worried too, Christian.”
A prickle of fear teased up his spine. “Why?”
“Because I’m me and you’re you. No matter what brought us to this point, I don’t belong here.”
CHAPTER 9
Adriel paced in front of the bishop’s grand fireplace, venting her fury. “You didn’t hear him, Eleazar. He reminded me so much of his father, so absolute and arrogant.”
“Adriel, you should not have interfered. You know that. Family law states—”
“You males and your family law! I am so tired of hearing that used as an excuse. How can you even justify such rubbish after learning what Silus did to your wife?”
