What she was asking was serious, and she seemed to understand it. It may not mean much to a Were-cat, for the males of his kind had no involvement in the rearing of a child, but Tarrin wasn't born Were. His human sensibilities rebelled against what she was asking. But there was no way even the human in him could look into the desperation in her eyes and say no. It was too important to her, and he wouldn't deny her the one thing she'd dreamed of for a very, very long time.

He reached up and put his paw on her arm. "It's not a bother, Mist," he said gently. "You don't have to think that you have to never see me again if I do what you want."

"Will you? I'm begging, Tarrin! Please?"

"It's too important to you, Mist," he said calmly. "I wouldn't deny it from you, no matter what. If it's what you want, then I'll do it. But you have to get permission from Triana. If she catches us in here, she'll flay us both."

She nearly jumped up and down. And she was trembling. She reached down and put her paw against his cheek, then she turned and literally ran out of the room. She almost didn't get the door open before trying to go through the doorway. She left it open after nearly breaking it down trying to get out of the room. She was certainly in a hurry.

Tarrin blew out his breath and laid back down. What was he getting himself into? He wasn't afraid of Mist; what he'd seen was too much from her heart to be a lie. She'd wanted a child all her life, and Tarrin realized that he was the only one around who could fulfill that lifelong dream. He had healed her, but now he had to give her more to complete her dream. And he found he was willing to give her that. He felt so sorry for Mist, he had so much compassion for her, he would do anything she asked if it helped make her feel better. He didn't love her, but what she wanted of him didn't require love.

All he hoped was that she didn't close herself up again after getting what she wanted. He didn't want her to be alone. That was a fate worse than death, as far as he was concerned. He would give her what she wanted. He just hoped she would be his friend after that was done.

He could hear them in the hallway now. "Triana!" Mist said in a strangled tone as their voices came audible. "I'll be careful, I promise! I wouldn't dream of hurting him!"

"I don't know, Mist," Triana said in a hesitant tone. "He's still tender. Something like that would open that wound again."

"Triana, I swear that I'll be as careful as possible," she said in an adamant voice, all wheedling and emotion banished for it. "He understands, Triana. I know that much. I've wanted a child for so long, and he's the only one-"

"Laren is only a few days out, Mist," Triana said in a reasonable tone. "You won't hurt him."

" No," she said fiercely. "I don't know him, and I don't trust him. Tarrin gave me back my womanhood, he deserves to be the father of my cub. I want it to be Tarrin. Nobody but him."

"So, you're saying that you trust Tarrin enough to-"

"I trust him," she said bluntly.

There was quite a silence from the hallway. "Alright. But if you open that wound, I'm going to rip out your spleen. Do you understand me?"

"I won't put a claw on him, Triana."

"It's not your claws I'm worried about," she snorted. "Go on, before I change my mind."

" Thank you!" Mist said with an explosive release of breath. Then she was back in the room, door closing behind her. Her paws went to the tail of her ragged shirt the instant the door was closed. "I'll be very careful, Tarrin," she assured him as she pulled her shirt off. "I won't hurt you, I promise."

"I trust you, Mist," he said calmly as she shrugged off her pants, then quickly yet confidently came up to the bed.

"I believe you," she said in a sincere voice as she gently got into bed with him. She put no weight on his chest as she leaned in and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. "I believe you."

Tarrin learned two things from his interlude with Mist. First, that his physical condition was just as delicate as Triana said.

The second was that he had earned Mist's undying loyalty.

She had admitted as much to him afterwards. She had been so concerned for his condition that it nearly made it impossible for them to carry through with it, but Mist's powerful impulse to have a child finally overwhelmed her fear of hurting him. It hadn't hurt too much, but it was worth the disocomfort to bring about a little healing in Mist's tortured soul. Mist had been alone for more than half her life, living on the fringe of everything, a prisoner of her own fear.

But she was a prisoner no longer. Centuries of isolation flooded out of her in words, as she confided in Tarrin an entire lifetime of pent-up emotion, experiences, and secrets. She told him absolutely everything, leaving nothing hidden, giving to him the totality of her in a display of the trust that had so newly found its way into her heart. She had had no one else to talk to in so long, nobody that she would trust enough to hold the information that she gave to him. She was an intelligent woman, understanding that it was her instincts that wouldn't let her get close to others, yet still incapable of conquering them. Until now. Tarrin's selfless act of charity had restored her body, and it had also allowed her to find the courage to overwhelm her fear and reach out to him. At first, it had been solely because he was male, and was the only one that could get her pregnant. But after she thought about it, she confided, she realized that he was the only male she would allow to get that close to her. She had been struggling against her fear at first, even at the very thought of it. Mating with him would require intimacy, a willingness to put herself in a position where he could harm her. It required trust. She hadn't had that trust at first, but then she understood that she would have to trust at least one male enough for him to get her pregnant. Tarrin was injured, he was weakened, and he had the mighty Triana's respect and affection. Those were enough in her mind, at first, to attempt to try. She'd felt she could maintain control, and mating with a weakened male would allow her to retain the upper hand. But then, she'd told him, she realized that he wouldn't harm her. Not because he couldn't, but because he wouldn't. She realized that, and when she did, she realized that she did indeed trust him.

Trust him enough to submit her safety to him and go through with the mating, to put her naked throat within reach of his claws when she would be in no condition nor position to guard against her own safety. She knew she'd be vulnerable during the mating, but the very thought that he would try to harm her had become ludicrous to her. But still, knowing it was one thing, but believing it was another. That was why she had been so nervous. She had really reached deep into herself to bring herself to ask him, and he had fortified her own security in her decision when he had agreed. Not because he wanted to mate with her, not because she didn't look like she was going to take no for an answer, but because it was what was best for her. He was willing to mate with her because it was what she needed, not what he wanted. That concern for her well being had solidified her feeling of trust for him, had set it in stone in her mind and heart.

Forever after, Tarrin would be someone she could trust.

She laid beside him on her side, looking at him with those green eyes as her fingers gently tested the bandage for signs that the wound had opened again. He'd found that she was even more attractive when her ragged clothes were off, all soft skin covering hard steel for muscles, a form and figure that begged to be touched, fur that was surprisingly silky to the touch, and a responsiveness that would drive a male of any species wild. Mist's senses were acute, even for a Were-cat, and that made her surprisingly sensual for a woman who had shunned contact for centuries. The tight defensiveness that had marred the beauty of her eyes was gone now. He knew it wasn't gone forever, but when she felt that she was secure, when she was alone with him, it wouldn't be there. That was when he understood Triana's warnings. Mist was feral. That would never change. But at least she had managed to shunt off some of that fear and distrust. She had learned to trust again, even if it was just one person. That was a significant step for her, a step back towards being able to function in Were-cat society. She would always be feral, but he hoped she wouldn't be as feral as she had been when he first met her. That was where he could be, where he could end up.