I knew that Faustina was talking to me from the bathroom, yet my mind did not assimilate any of her words.

Neither my sister's voice nor the sound of rainwater had any force over my thoughts that did not stop debating whether I should be worried or angry about Almec.

Anger had the upper hand at the moment, mixed with the frustration of falling into arguments over and over again that seemed to come out of nowhere.

I was so happy the night before, having found a task that I really enjoyed and after my fight with Almec, I couldn't think about the children without getting bitter.

Was my reaction too exaggerated? Should I have stayed with Almec? Guilt didn't leave me alone either. The part of me that grew up thinking that relationships with our mates would be perfect was disappointed in me for not being more patient with Almec. The other side of me still felt hurt by the screams I received from the man I loved.

"Are you listening to me?" Faustina yelled at me when she came out of the bathroom.

She stood in front of me, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, I'm thinking about something else." I stood up from the bed. "What did you want to tell me?"

"I was telling you what Octavia told me but it doesn't matter anymore. I don't feel like telling the whole story again."

I hid my smile looking at the ground to avoid angering Faustina. I was happy to hear her talk about her friends and it comforted me to know that she was finding her place in the pack.

"I'm really sorry," I said after containing my smile and looking up. "I'm a little tired today from taking care of the kids yesterday."

Faustina looked me up and down and frowned. "Are you sure you're not tired because you didn't sleep in your bed last night? It's hard for me to sleep when I use a bed that's not mine. Why didn't you stay with Almec?"

I sighed. It was impossible to escape Faustina's questions, sometimes I wished she weren't so perceptive.

"But this bed is not new to me, I used to sleep here before I changed rooms." I smiled at her hoping that would make her drop the matter.

"Why did you come to sleep with me? Is it because Almec is angry?"

"Is he angry?" I played dumb.

"I'm not sure." Faustina shrugged her shoulders. "Today when I got up early to go to the bathroom I heard him shouting something at Demian, but I didn't understand what he was saying. Besides, he hasn't played with me in a long time and he hasn't had dinner with us every night either."

"And you're worried," I said, squatting down to look her in the eyes.

She nodded. "I don't like it when Almec is unhappy, Khalia told me it's because he has a lot of work as an alpha. Can we help him with his work so he can rest?"

"I'm afraid not, there are things only the alpha can do."

I didn't want to tell my sister that Almec didn't accept help, that he always put all the weight on his shoulders instead of asking for a hand. It was better for her to think that only someone of his rank could do his tasks.

"Then we can prepare something he likes to cheer him up." Faustina gave little jumps, happy with her idea. "Like when he gives me gifts so I won't be sad."

"What would you give him?" I stood up, already tired of being crouched for so long.

"If he doesn't have free time then we can't prepare an outing, so it has to be something he can take to work. I got it! What if we gave him one of those necklaces that have photos inside?"

"And what photo can we put?" I asked her, smiling at her enthusiasm.

"The photo the three of us took together at the wedding!" Faustina exclaimed. "Although it's going to take some time until we get the gift and I want to cheer up Almec today, don't you know why he's angry?"

"Why would I know?"

"Because he is your mate, and last night when you came to sleep with me you were also angry."

I gulped. So she noticed my anger. I should have gone to sleep in one of the empty rooms.

"Did someone bother you two?" Faustina insisted.

"No, no one bothered us." I lowered my gaze.

"So what happened?" She tilted her head at her.

"Almec and I had a misunderstanding and that made us angry."

"So you guys got into a fight? It's like when I want to do something and you don't let me and we get into a fight?"

Exactly like that, I thought.

"Something like that." I patted her head, ruffling her hair. "But don't worry, it's nothing serious, we'll figure it out."

"Then you have to go talk to Almec now so he won't be angry anymore." Faustina grabbed my hand and dragged me to the bathroom. "Get ready quick so we can go."

"We? It's an argument between Almec and me, it's better if you don't come with me."

"Then I'll accompany you to where Almec is so you don't run away."

My sister had cornered me without the opportunity to back down. Honestly, I was grateful to her for giving me the push I needed, otherwise I would have spent the entire morning before going to the daycare thinking about my fight with Almec but doing nothing about it.

Faustina was a force impossible to defeat. No matter how many excuses I tried to make on the way to my room she wouldn't budge.

By the time we stopped in front of the door, I regretted using my time to try to convince my sister instead of thinking about what I was going to say to Almec.

"Good luck," Faustina told me, knocking on the door before running away.

If Almec doesn't answer I'm not going to knock again, I reassured myself, convinced that he was going to ignore the door.

My escape plan collapsed when I heard his footsteps approaching and his scent grew stronger. My heart began to beat a mile an hour because of my nerves. I was worried about what he would do but I was also happy to know that I would see Almec.

"You need something?" He asked me, without opening the door.

"Aren't you going to ask who I am?"

"I can recognize your scent, I don't need to ask." Almec opened the door just a little, peering into the small space. "I have a lot of things to do today, are you going to tell me why you came or can I get ready to leave?"

I tried to push the door but it didn't give an inch. Despite the nerves growing in my stomach, I preferred to watch Almec while I spoke to him. With the door between us it seemed like I was talking to a stranger instead of my mate.

"I wanted to talk about what happened last night."

"What's there to talk about that?" Almec asked as if he didn't care, yet I could hear the soft tremor of his voice. "We had a little argument, that's all."

"And you prefer to act as if nothing had happened?" I gave a weak punch on the door. "Can you at least let me in? This is my room too."

"You didn't seem to care about your room last night. You certainly didn't sleep here."

"I'm sorry, okay," I said, lowering my head, although I wasn't sure Almec could see me. "Last night I acted on impulse, but I don't want to miss the opportunity to clarify what happened. Please let me in, I'm tired of fighting and pretending that everything is okay."

Some part of my plea must have touched Almec's heart because he finally opened the door.

After I took the first step inside I understood why he didn't want to let me pass.

The room had nothing out of the ordinary, perhaps the sheets were more undone than usual but the rest was the same as when I left. Almec, on the other hand, looked as if he hadn't slept a wink all night.

He walked away as soon as I closed the door, hiding next to the bathroom wall where the sunlight coming in from the window could not reach. Even so, I could see the knots in his disheveled hair and the big circles under his eyes.

"Just come here," I told him, opening my arms.

I would have run towards him if it weren't for the fact that I was afraid to scare him if I acted suddenly.

"I think it's better if I stay here and you stay there." Almec took a step back, pressing himself against the wall. "What did you want to say?"

I had two options, I could continue arguing and demand that he explain why he didn't want to be close to me, or I could listen to him and speak from my place. In the end, I preferred the peaceful path.

"Yesterday I was wrong to run away instead of staying to talk," I said, picking at my nails. "At that moment I was afraid of saying something that would make you more angry if I didn't walk away. I thought that cooling my temper was the best option but I was wrong."

"I should have said something too." Almec lowered his gaze to the ground. "Besides, the fight was my fault, you wanted to tell me about your day and I reacted badly."

"I shouldn't have pressured you when I already know you don't like talking about kids." I took a step forward to see his reaction. It broke my heart to see him in such a vulnerable state hiding in the corner and not being able to reach him. "It must be a sensitive topic for you and I promise I won't ask you about it until you're ready."

"Thank you," he said, looking up. "Why are you getting closer?"

"Why don't you want me to come closer?" I countered with another question. "I just want to make sure we're okay, I'm not going to touch you if you don't want to, just let me come closer."

"Stay where you are!" Almec yelled at me, making me jump in surprise.

I looked at him without saying anything but I was sure that my sadness was visible on my face, especially since I could already feel my tears threatening to come down.

"It's better for both of us to keep our distance," Almec said.

"What's happening with you?" I burst out, confused by Almec's attitude.

It frustrated me that after so much effort he decided to walk away from me. My wolf wouldn't stop crying, asking for her mate and all I wanted to do was scream at Almec until he gave me an answer that made sense.

"Nothing is wrong with me, I just want peace of mind and to be able to finish this and go to work."

"I tried, I swear I tried, but I can't fix our relationship alone." I could no longer hold back the tears. "I'll leave you alone as you want, but don't even think about coming looking for me until you're ready to be honest with me."

I turned around and started walking towards the door. I was about to leave the room when Almec grabbed my wrist.

"Please don't leave me, not again."

"If you don't want me to leave, why don't you let me come closer?" I asked him, still with one hand on the door handle. "I can't understand you. You want me by your side but you isolate yourself. Every time I try to get closer you have something to do or you're too tired. At first I thought it was normal because of everything that's happening in the pack but I'm starting to think you're ignoring me on purpose."

I felt as if a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Being able to say what I had thought for a long time but was afraid to express was an advance for me.

"Because it's better for me to stay away," Almec insisted even though he was squeezing my wrist as if terrified of me walking through the door.

"Then let me go." I tried to free my wrist from his hand.

"I can't."

"Make up your fucking mind!" I yelled at him, tired of his comings and goings. "If you want me to stay, at least give me an explanation."

"He's back," Almec said. "If you're too close to me I could hurt you."

I didn't need him to elaborate to know that he was talking about his lycan side.

"I thought we already talked about this," I said, turning around. I caressed his cheek with my free hand. "I am not afraid and you cannot hurt me, after all, the Moon Goddess blessed me with a power capable of calming your lycan side."

"Your power may fail." Almec let go of my wrist and moved his face away from my hand. "A single minute is enough for me to do irreparable damage."

"And staying away from me is a better option? Are you going to isolate yourself from everyone again?" I grabbed his hands, stroking the back with my thumbs. "We're mates, I'm your wife, we're supposed to be together. I even bet that keeping us apart can make your wolf worse."

"Can we leave this talk for another time?" Almec asked me. "Just for today. Stay with me while I prepare to leave for my meeting and I promise that tomorrow I will listen to everything you have to say."

"Do you really promise?"

Almec nodded, looking at me with so much pain in his eyes that I couldn't refuse.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow," I said before kissing his lips.

I kept my part of the promise and stayed in the room until Almec was ready to leave. I could only wait for him to fulfill his part.