Stellan had already begun to eat his sandwich as Sig spoke, using the paper wrapping to catch any loose crumbs. He listened quietly, wiping at a rebellious dot of mayonnaise at the corner of his mouth, eyes flicking to the hand on his thigh. The sound of Sig's gentle voice was only cut by the rumbling of Stellan's belly, more demanding now that he had taken a single bit and tempted it with more, but this was too important to ignore for a mouthful of bread and roast beef.<br/><br/>"Sig," Stellan began, sighing. His shoulders were tense and his brows furrowed tightly, but he took the hand on his thigh and held it, rough fingers caressing the skin of Sig's palm. "I don't regret us for a second," he declared firmly. "I'm not happy with the way things went down. I made my claim on you 'cause I thought it'd protect you, and Lofgren only used it against me to prove I was loyal to 'im. I feel a bit like a fool, if I'm gonna be honest." Tinged with an undeniably hefty cloud of bitterness, Stellan's voice was low and gravelly. "I shoulda thought ahead. I've been with Lofgren too long, I shoulda known he'd twist it up on me."<br/><br/>Stellan cleared his throat, not wanting to linger on the anger he felt at his alpha for the way he had disrespected their mating. It should have been left for him and Sig to decide. Not Lofgren. He picked up his unwrapped sandwich and set it aside, pulling Sig in between his outspread legs and hugging him close to his chest. It felt natural to have him there, his compact body tucked up against him. Whiskered lips pressed against Sig's forehead before he continued speaking. "I've wanted you from the moment I saw you there on the side of the road, like some kind of damsel in distress. Then I had you and since then I've kept wantin' you. I never woulda wanted to mate you like I did, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have wanted it. Truth be told, I had been thinkin' about it for a bit. Just never seemed the right time to ask. Felt too soon, especially since we aren't traditional like Eivind and Blue."<br/><br/>The brawny wolf took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of his lover. Covered in his own earthy aroma, stinking of belonging to another, but beneath Stellan's olfactory mark there was Sig, as perfect and fresh as ever. It brought him immense pleasure to take in the smell, like a switch was flipped inside his brain and flooded him with more dopamine than he knew what to do with. Being with Sig had always brought Stellan joy, but it was something deeper now, something primal and instinctual, and he wondered how it could ever be possible for mated pairs to separate, then hoped he never had to find out.<br/><br/>"One of these days, I wouldn't mind the opportunity to do it right. The mating. We could do it the way we woulda wanted had we the choice. Would you be interested in somethin' like that?"