sad wife, unhappy life

The conversation was going in a direction Azure had not anticipated and he was forced to swallow many further anger-infused remarks as his mate seemed to try to compromise. In reality it was not much of one, it was agreeing to a punishment that Azure had yet to deliver. Stripping her of her rank and forcing her to work to earn her place here did nothing to encourage him that she'd not stray again - or to assure him that she hadn't strayed in the first place, of which he was still uncertain. There was at least a small amount of effort however, and Azure returned it with a small amount of his own.

"You used to earn your keep?" He settled on, the words snide and sarcastic but not outwardly cruel. At her mention of her rank being commandeered he did not give a verbal reply; Az was, in fact, set to demote her that night in their den and simply could not bring himself to alienate her further. If it was something she was willing to accept as having already happened, he wasn't about to argue it.

Her compromise still felt like it had come out of left field, leaving Azure feeling the same lack of closure he had when he'd stumbled upon her and her netting. Hana was playing it like she was doing him a favor, when in fact Az was still very angry as well. "Work, then." He relinquished with a sigh. "Maybe with enough time and labour you can prove your loyalty once more. If you need me, I'll be sleeping in the warlords' chambers; I've been promoted." It bothered him that he could not share his thrill of the promotion to (temporary) solo-alpha with his partner, feeling as if he was speaking to a pack member rather then the mate who'd supported him in this dream. Formal and business-like, keeping the boundaries clear so Hana could not be confused about where he currently stood.

"Speech"