"So the fuck what? Why's it matter if Rowan and Silent got mates and you don't? Good for them, but that don't mean shit to you." So he got that a little bit, how in the spur of the moment you might say something stupid.

"And why didn't you say who you really wanted to say? If you got someone you shoulda just..." then he blinked, at least one piece of this shit clicking into place "you can't tell em because the person you were gonna say is a woman, ain't it? Why do you think they're gonna care?" There went another sticking point. Why did it matter so much if Ren's mate was a man?