Moonlit Vice Books / Relationships at the Start

My Plus Size Best Friend Is My Mate: Relationships at the Start

An Old Protector Fails to Hear Ashina

Meet them in the first five chapters See the ebook edition

This opening note focuses on the first paragraphs of chapter 1. The free reading sample contains five complete chapters.

Relationships in the opening

An Old Protector Fails to Hear Ashina

Ashina's trust in Nathan grows from years of friendship and his earlier protection when she was bullied. That history makes his casual response to her distress especially painful, as affectionate gestures accompany an explanation that overlooks why she married him. Her forced smile and unspoken declaration of love keep the relationship asymmetrical: he supplies reassurance on his own terms while the need she most wants him to understand remains unsaid.

How do Nathan's familiar gestures of affection coexist with his failure to recognize Ashina's feelings?

Read the scene in chapter 1