“By the time the mate bond clicked, I’d already been in love with you for years. I was eighteen when it snapped into place—and you were sixteen and nothing happened to you yet. You were my best friend, and I didn’t want to mar that relationship so that it felt like a betrothal you had no say in, you know? So I waited. I didn't have family—I didn't have anything—but I always had you. You were my family. You were my everything.”
