“You guys obviously care about each other,” Stella said. “How much more power over you would he really have if you sealed a bond? You could keep your finances separate if you were worried about that aspect of him controlling you. You could keep your apartment. I can’t see him ever working as a chef, so you’re not going to have the problem where you’re mated to someone who’s in charge of you that way again.”
“That’s true,” I admitted. “Maybe the power thing isn’t an issue.”
“Has Ethan ever acted like he was going to hurt you, or really lost his temper?” Abby asked.
“No. He’s pretty good at diffusing anger and tension with humor, and he’s never made me feel small, weak, or threatened.” I didn’t bother arguing against that. The way Ethan dealt with problems was nothing like the way Aidan had, and he was careful with me.
Logically, I didn’t think there was any way he’d become an abuser.
Emotionally was a whole different ballgame.
“Ideally, you’d have a year or two to stay with him and make sure he wasn’t going to try to hurt you,” Stella said. “But this isn’t the ideal world. You’re probably going to have to go with your gut on that and hope for the best.”
“If it’s any comfort, this pack isn’t like Aidan’s. If anyone had even an inkling of an idea that someone was being abused, the abuser would die. No one here would ever turn a blind eye,” Abby put in.
My chest swelled.
Honestly?
I believed her. I’d interacted enough with my friends’ mates to be pretty sure she was right. And even if she wasn’t, I knew my friends wouldn’t leave me in that situation either.
“There’s no way around the permanence of it,” Stella added, “But look at it this way. You’re either going to be mated to Ethan for the rest of your life, or you’re not going to have him in your life at all.”
My stomach clenched.
I couldn’t even imagine not spending every night with him and waking up with him every morning.
Abby said, “If you really want to know what to do, think about how you’d feel if you took off the sunglasses and looked into his eyes, and your wolves didn’t pick each other as mates.”
My eyes widened in horror.
I couldn’t even fucking imagine.
“Their wolves wouldn’t let them fuck if they weren’t going to be mates,” Stella pointed out.
Relief hit me so hard, I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed through the panic.
That was true. Ethan and I had talked about that months ago. There was no question—our wolves were going to choose each other.
“I know. I just think it puts it in perspective,” Abby said.
I leaned back against the couch heavily. “Yeah. I guess it does.”
They didn’t ask what perspective it had put things in. Or what I was feeling.
Which was good, because I wasn’t entirely sure. Just overwhelmed.
“You really do need to do something about Dr. Ben,” Stella said. “Otherwise, I can see Ethan and the guys doing something that could get them arrested.”
“It’s likely,” Abby agreed. “Any ideas?” She looked at me.
“I’m going to quit.”
Both women blinked.
“I’ve been thinking about attempting to get a job at a restaurant again. Talking about everything with Ethan made me a little more confident that I might be able to handle it. If it gives me too many flashbacks to Aidan, I’ll have to try another restaurant, but I figure I can crash at Ethan’s place for a few weeks if I have to.Worst case scenario, I end up switching jobs a handful of times before working at Taco Bowl forever.”
“Taco Bowl is awesome,” Abby said with a shrug.
