You want a mate who is there when you want comfort but invisible when you need to project strength."
"That's not fair."
"Neither is choosing Sera over me," I counter. "Neither is using the mate bond to seduce me when I'm trying to have a legitimate conversation about how you treated me."
Aaron is quiet for a long moment, his chest still rising and falling rapidly, the evidence of what we just did written all over both of us.
"I don't know how to do this," he says finally, his voice rough. "I don't know how to be an Alpha and your mate. I have no Idea how to balance what my pack needs with what you need. I'm trying, Penelope, but I'm figuring it out as I go." The raw honesty in his voice breaks me, but not enough to back off.
He needs to do better and until then, he can sort out his pa
