Elena's POV:
After Kane got the tattoo, we decided to go out for dinner, determined to set aside all our issues, if only for a night. It was nice to just be—to laugh, eat, and pretend our lives weren't this chaotic mess of drama. For those few hours, it was just us, a couple enjoying an evening without the weight of the world pressing down on our shoulders.
But the thought of the mate mark lingered in the back of my mind. I know it was selfish of me to not let Kane mark me, but I wasn't ready to take that monumental step when our relationship was still so delicate, so precarious. It's not that I'm half-hearted about us—it's just…