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“Then explain that to me. She’s not angry, we’re happy about that, why is this a problem?” Ben demands.
“We broke her trust,” I say softly. “She doesn’t have a wolf, Ben. She doesn’t understand how we think, how the relationship between us and our wolves actually works. She can’t grasp how we function. And so she’s at a disadvantage already in our relationship.
“But she put all that to the side and placed her trust in us anyway. She trusted us to be in her life, to protect her, to protect Phoebe. She’s put effort in, whilst we lied about knowing who Phoebe’s biological father was. We not only knew him, but we are his family.
“She’s been thrust into a tricky family situation where her child is at risk, and the only people she knows in this world are us, the police officers who blew her world up, our parents, and a creepy doctor who hopefully doesn’t manage to repair his tongue.
“She’s terrified, and in doing her best to do what Phoebe needs, she’s willing to forgive us. She’s moving past the damage we’ve done to our relationship because Phoebe needs it. Not because she forgives us, not because she believes we did the right thing… but because she’s putting Phoebe first.
“But it’s not good because what Maia is missing is that we don’t just want Phoebe. We want her, too. Maia’s our mate, our partner, our equal, and we want her to trust us wholly and unequivocally. Because, otherwise, our lives just aren’t worth living.”
Ben’s eyes widen, and he makes a comically large head nudge as he gestures to my lap. My eyes fly shut for a brief moment, and I take in the scent change in the dark-haired beauty.
She’s awake. Groggy still, but awake. Her heart has sped up, and there’s a hint of longing attached to her.
“Fool. But at least you were whispering the good things. That’ll make her happy,” Max says dryly.
“That was surprisingly sweet,” Maia whispers, and my eyes dart down to where she’s laid. She hasn’t moved from where I was running my hands over her curls, but she’s looking up at me now with a dazed smile on her face. “Things would be easier between us if you opened up more.”
“What do you want me to say? I can open up,” Ben asks far too eagerly.
“Kiss mate,” Max demands, pushing on the edge of my brain. “Fuck mate. Give her our seed. She won’t think we’re sweet when she sees?—”
“Stop!” I’m forceful in my push, and Max falls silent. “Do you want a quick fuck or do you want a lifetime with our mate?”
“Both.”
“You can’t have both. We can have her trust, her love, her entire soul… or we can have her body.”
“Human is sad,” Max says, and I can almost feel the confusion coming off him.
“Because we made the decision that we’d talk to her tonight, properly, and we waited too long and nearly lost her.” I run my hands through my own hair as Maia sits herself up. The lack of sparks flying between us causes my body to lose all warmth it had. It’s very symbolic of my life without her—cold, empty, not worth living. “We fucked up, Max, and nearly lost our mate in the process.”
“If we mark her, she won’t leave us. She’ll have her wolf then, and she’ll understand how it feels.”
“Maybe.” But I don’t dare even hope that we’ll get to that day.
“I don’t want you to say anything but the truth,” Maia says softly, and Ben grunts. She looks up at me, her hand reaching for mine. “Your words were very sweet.”
“And I meant them all,” I say firmly.
She smiles, giving me a knowing look. “I know. But to reassure you all—there are two reasons I’ve moved past my anger and hurt. The first is that you were open and honest with your reasons, and I truly can’t deny that I’d have left that first day if you told me the truth.
“I might have come back, but I can’t say for certain. You might’ve been forced into taking another choice away, for Phoebe’s safety, and it would’ve damaged things between us, maybe beyond repair.”
A shudder runs through me, and she squeezes my hand ever so gently.
“And the second is that we now have plans in place to move forward together. I’m still in a fragile mental state, and you gave me some more stability. There’s boundaries and rules, and I know what they are. You’ve levelled the playing field, so I can at least watch the game, even if I can’t yet play.”
“What game?” Ben asks, and Maia just giggles.
“It’s a metaphor,” I tell Ben across our shared quadruplet mind link. He nods and just shrugs.
“So you’re not mad?” Ben asks, and Maia shakes her head. “Thank fuck.”
“Thank you for sharing that with us. It’s very… eye-opening,” Topher says, and I can smell the confusion in his scent. He’s genuinely baffled that our mate is that forgiving.
I don’t blame him. I feel the exact same way.
