Despite his vexation, Valko listened as he casually strode across the large, open floor. A chest against the foot of the bed he and Ylva had made love in the night prior contained a small collection of leather trousers and loose shirts made of cotton. He clothed himself slowly, unable to challenge Gunter in his logic. A pack so small had little chance of performing any kind of heroic rescue. Antony undoubtedly had more wolves than that guarding Ylva at any one moment. Attempting a rescue would have been pack suicide, surely, but knowing that did not dampen the flames of anger licking at Valko’s heels. Old friend or otherwise, Gunter had little right to judge him.<br/><br/>“Well, as you can see, Ylva is more than safe here,” Valko said, voice stern and unyielding, not unlike the tone he had used to speak to Ylva’s deliverer the night before. “I want Ylva to stay with me, but if that desire wasn’t shared, there is nothing I could do to stop her from venturing out on her own. She is no prisoner.”<br/><br/>Valko took his place on a bench opposite of Gunter, across the length of the dead fire pit. He rested his elbows on his knees, wringing his large hands together and quietly listening as Ylva spoke. She was defending their relationship--if it could even be called that--while admitting if she desired more, she could not commit due to Antony. This confession came as no surprise to Valko, though her words sat ill with him, settling on his ears like tiny pinpricks and leaving him wishing she had not said them at all. It was a foreign feeling, this need for her to acknowledge him, to acknowledge them though no “them” currently existed. He wondered if this neediness was a side effect of the burgeoning mate bond or something else entirely. Either way, he found the feeling disconcerting and attempted to hide evidence of its existence by lowering his gaze and staring hard at the floor.<br/><br/>“What are we to do, then?” Valko asked, sighing. “I apologize for disappointing, but you have come all this way to rectify a situation that needed no rectifying. I can offer you nothing other than refreshments and the promise that Ylva will come to no harm while with me. I’m sure your pack will appreciate the good news.”