She opened his heart and was now getting dangerously close to his mind. If she won over both, he would be lost. He would be lost forever in a sea of emotions he was avoiding to experience.

When I looked at him after my words, I knew he was hesitating, thinking. The look in his eyes was still cold, but he seemed lost after what I'd said. As his eyes caught mine, I knew he truly heard my words. For the first time since I met him, I saw him vulnerable. He looked at me like a young boy. A young boy who had had to experience too much way too early.
I must admit, I didn't know a lot about my alpha. I realised that now. I used to think that I loved my pack so much I knew everything there was to know about its leaders, but I was wrong. I only knew his name and where he lived. I didn't know a thing about his past, his hopes and dreams, his future.
I took another sip of water before softening my voice. "I want to get to know you, Aericon. I don't want to know my alpha, I want to know you, as my soulmate." I put my hand on his, and surprisingly he didn't shake it off, so I just enjoyed the tingles as I gathered all the courage I could find.
"How old are you exactly?" My cheeks lit up in shame, embarrassed that I didn't know that before.
He took a while before he answered. "I am twenty-four," he said, his voice low. Just the sound of it caused a shiver to go down my spine, and my cheeks reddened even more.
"I'm eighteen," I said when he didn't make a move to ask me for my age.
"I know, I did my homework when I found you."
For some reason this made butterflies go up in my stomach. Even though he hadn't wanted me, he still wanted to know something about be. He did catch my curiosity with his words though.
"What else do you know about me?"
Again he thought for a while before he started talking, his hand still underneath mine. "Not much. I know you used to live in the Amor quarters, with your parents and your brother, who now is a Peccatum. I know you befriended a guy named Francis during the ceremony. I knew more about the things you thought you 'loved', but I assume that has changed now." He looked at me questioningly.
I nodded.
"You were right all along, really. The Amor way of thinking about love is odd and even wrong in some ways, but that doesn't mean their way of life is bad," I said softly.
He sighed in annoyance, and I knew he was irritated by the fact I brought it up – again. Still, he listened to me, which made me smile unintentionally.
"Sure, they love everything," I started ranting. "And sure, that makes them love nothing, and just not know the actual feeling. However, as they think they love everything and everyone, they don't really dislike anything in life. I think it makes them a very happy people. You can't think that is very bad, now can you?"
"Still-"
I interrupted him. "Having said that, I know that me being a true Amor according to your Seer, can be disturbing. So I will try to change myself into someone who could live in all pack quarters. Someone who experiences all emotions."
Aericon immediately grew cold and snatched his hand away from mine. I sighed and lay back down in bed, my eyes closed. "If we ever want to be mates, I'm not the only one who has to change, Aericon. You do too."
He kept quiet, and I sneakily opened my eyes to see if he was still there. He was, fortunately. I would have felt bad if he had just left without saying anything. The silence around us was comfortable, and although I missed the tingles from the contact between our hands, I did enjoy his company. Just sitting beside him was enough for now, it soothed my aches, it kept the beast in me quiet and it sated the mate-loss syndrome for a while. Ever since our fight, it had been getting worse, but this was the first time in days that I felt it getting better. We were making progress. Maybe I would get my happily ever after one day.
"What is your favourite food?" He asked out of the blue. I looked up in surprise, finding him looking at me intently, waiting for an answer.
"Well," I hesitated. "If you are talking about a meal, then I don't know. I think I used to like duck a lot when I was younger, but I haven't had it in a long time, so maybe it was just a good memory. Besides that, I adore everything that even remotely tastes sweet. My dad always makes us syrup waffles on our birthdays, and it really is one of my favourite sugary foods." I felt my mouth water at the idea alone. Before I had the chance to return the question about him, he asked me another one. "What are syrup waffles?"
I gasped in surprise. "You never had them?" As he shook his head, I pitied him right then right there. The syrup waffles were one of the only things I was absolutely sure of that I used to love, and still did.
"It's a kind of cookie. It's lovely, really. It is a soft, thin waffle of about half a centimetre thick, with hot caramel syrup inside." While explaining, I think I started drooling. "I can make you some one day, if you want to?"
He chuckled softly, and went serious right away again. "You could," he said, his voice emotionless again. "You should get some rest now, though. I'll come visit you tomorrow, alright?"
I nodded, my face breaking into a smile as he walked out of the room. We actually were making progress. He was a bit awkward, but at least he tried. We both did. I felt him struggle against the feelings the mating bond was giving him, but his shell was cracking. He would be fine eventually. I just had to be patient.