"I do know that Mikhail said when the male of his race meets his true lifemate, he can say ritual words to her and bind them together as they were meant to be. If she is not the one, neither is affected in any way, but if she is, one can't be without the other." Raven put a defensive hand to her throat. "What words? Did he tell you the actual words?" She remembered the words he'd whispered in his native language and then repeated to her in her language. She'd felt different, and he'd told her they were married in the eyes of his people, but that hadn't seemed real. A dream, perhaps, hadn't it been? Father Hummer shook his head regretfully. "Only that once said to the right woman, she is bound to him and can't escape. The words are like our marriage vows. Carpathians have a different standard of values, of right and wrong. There is no such thing as divorce to them, it isn't in their vocabulary. The two people are virtually two halves of the same whole." "What if one was unhappy?" Her fingers were twisting together in agitation. She remembered hearing Mikhail say something unusual. The memory was hazy, but he'd referred to her as his lifemate more than once. She should have known he was being literal. "A Carpathian male will do anything necessary to ensure the happiness of his lifemate. I don't know or understand how it works, but Mikhail told me the bond is so strong, a male can't do anything else but make his woman happy." "I don't understand how taking away choices would ever make anyone happy." "I believe, in this instance," Father Hummer pointed out with a small smile, "Mikhail has no real choice either, not if you're his true lifemate. He accepts what is because he is a true Carpathian." "But I'm not," Raven said. "I don't like secrets and I abhor lies, yet I find myself saying things that aren't true because it seems in Mikhail's best interest." "He didn't ask it of you, did he? That was your choice," he argued gently. "How much has he told you of himself?" "Not much." Wary now, she felt she was treading on treacherous ground. At all costs, she had to protect Mikhail--even if it meant lying to a priest. She hated that she would, but she knew she would never betray Mikhail. Raven touched her neck, her palm lingering over her pulse. "Whatever he did must work, Father, because I'm not the type to throw myself off a balcony because I've been away from a man a couple of hours." "I guess we should both be hoping Mikhail is getting a taste of his own medicine," Father Hummer said with a small smile."