I Love You, Flaws and All

Manea’s reaction was all the confirmation Alastor needed to know that the issue was still unresolved between them. He didn’t blame her. He had wronged her in a way that was deeply profound to her beliefs. She’d only ever asked one thing of him: don’t put litters in other women, and that had been exactly what his instinct-addled brain had tried to do at that moment. In honesty, it upset Alastor to know that even after all this time, he had such little control over himself when his instincts took over. No matter how good or stable his life got, he was still just hanging on by a thread, and that thread could snap at any moment.

“Understood,” was all Alastor said in reply while he took a seat across from Manea in the empty clearing, empty eyes unable to look at her while he gazed around the quiet grove, looking anywhere but at his wife. If she wasn’t bringing him out here to scold him, then what did she need to talk to him about? Manea answered his unasked question by explaining that she’d been thinking about making the band into a pack. Hmm, well that was a change for her. "You didn’t simply want to make a pack. You wanted to seize one by force," he reminded his violet galaxy when she pondered why she didn’t just make them a pack sooner. Manea had this notion of needing to make an example out of their family’s inception. She had wanted the pomp and ceremony of taking power.

Then Manea asserted that she needed Alastor to help support her and build Elysium with her back on Alias Island, the home they were always meant to have. Though their relationship had been strained and trust had been fractured, Alastor had never stopped supporting Manea. In fact, the insinuation that he’d ever stopped being in her corner or supporting her stung. His expression twitched a little while he hid the flinch of unexpected hurt that hit him with. "You know I support you in everything. You don’t need ask me if I still do." Although now it had Alastor wondering if perhaps Manea was doubting his commitment to her—or doubting if she could rely on him.

"Alastor Mendacium"