Page 50 of Dreamscape Therapies

"I already know what you're going to say."

"Do you?"

"You're my therapist. I'm your patient. This is complicated. There are boundaries that we should not cross."

"Okay, you've clearly thought about this."

"Trust me, I've thought about little else in the past twenty-four hours." He sighs. "I'm not asking you to do anything with this information right now. I just needed to tell you. I didn't want to keep it from you."

"Why?"

"Because it would feel too much like lying." He looks down at his hands. "I figured out something huge about us, and if I came in here every day pretending everything was normal… I couldn’t do that."

Something about the way he says it hurts. This huge, intimidating alpha who seems completely fearless most of the time is sitting in front of me looking terrified that I'm going to reject him.

"You said your alpha agrees? He wants me too?”

"Yeah." A tiny smile appears on his face. "He really fucking agrees."

I can't help it. I smile. Just a little. It’s a relief to know that this feeling I’ve had that’s been pulling me toward him for weeks has a reason. Fated mates. "This is insane."

"Yeah."

I have to look away from his yearning blue eyes, because if I don’t, I’m going to say or do something I really shouldn’t. "I don't know what to do with this information," I admit.

"We don't have to do anything." He shrugs. "We can take it one day at a time."

"You'd be okay with that?"

“I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.”

My heart does something stupid. That's really fucking sweet. I sink back into my chair and pull my legs up, sitting cross-legged. "Today is turning out to be more complicated than I expected."

Vincent gives a small laugh. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize." I wave a hand. Then I pause. "Actually, maybe apologize a little."

He laughs a real laugh, breaking the tension that’s been hanging over the room.

I clap my hands together once. "Okay."

Vincent jumps slightly at the sound.

I grin. "I don't know enough about alpha-beta fated mate bonds to have this conversation properly. I need to research and think about how I actually feel outside of biological reactions. And, unfortunately, the professional side of things makes it even trickier."

"Yeah."

"I need to figure out what our options are." Hope flickers across his face. “Because you're still my patient and that has to come first."

"I know." He nods.

"You came to me for help, and we still have work to do."

"Yeah." He gives me a small smile. "I know."

He seems relieved for some reason. Maybe because I didn’t outright reject him? That thought makes my chest ache.

"I appreciate you telling me."