And did Leah get a say in this mating crap? I mean, is this dub-con like Dragon Riders of Pern series or non-con as in, what Leah wants doesn't matter because the Wolves Made Them Do It. Can she even say no? And how does forcing a woman to marry you, have sex with you, raise your adoptive kid (and maybe your real one?) somehow equate to 'respecting her'?
1. Yeah, it was her decision. Keep in mind that Bran probably tried in the beginning to love her. This didn't end up like this right away. The wolves were like "mate" and Leah was probably like "um, alright" and Bran would court her a little. I'm not sure, they don't really go into it. But Bran does say (when his sons or Mercy point out how horrible his relationship with Leah is) that he tried everything he could to give her what she wants. 2. He didn't force her to marry him, or have sex with him. Stop assuming Leah is all in this innocently. In werewolf-terms, Bran as the Marrock gives Leah as his mate pretty much the Queen Bitch in Charge powers over all other werewolves. The wolf-aspect of them is still very much animalistic and used to fighting for dominance, so that was a huge bonus for her, even before she knew about the fact he wouldn't ever love her. On top of that, Bran is ancient. (It comes out in later books he's Grendel, yeah, that Grendel.) He has a lot of money, so in that way so does she. Leah is not the innocent woman in this. 3. Samuel and Charles were full-grown adults when Leah came into the picture. There was no raising of kids (or having real ones). 4. He respects her, in that he respects her way of running things in the pack. He doesn't question what she does with the females, and definitely doesn't allow his sons to talk negatively about her (there's an almost-fight in one of the books about this).
And if Leah DID give some form of consent to the 'marriage' did she know going in that Bran subscribed to the One True Love model of relationships? Did he tell her up front that his dick needs a hole and his kids need a maternal figure and that's all she'll ever be to him?
Um, no? Because werewolf mates have nothing to do with sex. It's a soul-companionship. If Bran just wanted sex, he could've just slept with a hooker or something. There was probably decades, if not a good century, between the death of his Salish mate and the wolf focusing on Leah as the new mate. So Bran didn't really "subscribe" to that either. His kids didn't need a maternal figure, either. Now, I'm not saying that sex has nothing to do with it. Part of the bonding process involves sex, but it wasn't at all that he needed a hole for his dick.
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1. Yeah, it was her decision. Keep in mind that Bran probably tried in the beginning to love her. This didn't end up like this right away. The wolves were like "mate" and Leah was probably like "um, alright" and Bran would court her a little. I'm not sure, they don't really go into it. But Bran does say (when his sons or Mercy point out how horrible his relationship with Leah is) that he tried everything he could to give her what she wants.
2. He didn't force her to marry him, or have sex with him. Stop assuming Leah is all in this innocently. In werewolf-terms, Bran as the Marrock gives Leah as his mate pretty much the Queen Bitch in Charge powers over all other werewolves. The wolf-aspect of them is still very much animalistic and used to fighting for dominance, so that was a huge bonus for her, even before she knew about the fact he wouldn't ever love her. On top of that, Bran is ancient. (It comes out in later books he's Grendel, yeah, that Grendel.) He has a lot of money, so in that way so does she. Leah is not the innocent woman in this.
3. Samuel and Charles were full-grown adults when Leah came into the picture. There was no raising of kids (or having real ones).
4. He respects her, in that he respects her way of running things in the pack. He doesn't question what she does with the females, and definitely doesn't allow his sons to talk negatively about her (there's an almost-fight in one of the books about this).
And if Leah DID give some form of consent to the 'marriage' did she know going in that Bran subscribed to the One True Love model of relationships? Did he tell her up front that his dick needs a hole and his kids need a maternal figure and that's all she'll ever be to him?
Um, no? Because werewolf mates have nothing to do with sex. It's a soul-companionship. If Bran just wanted sex, he could've just slept with a hooker or something. There was probably decades, if not a good century, between the death of his Salish mate and the wolf focusing on Leah as the new mate. So Bran didn't really "subscribe" to that either. His kids didn't need a maternal figure, either. Now, I'm not saying that sex has nothing to do with it. Part of the bonding process involves sex, but it wasn't at all that he needed a hole for his dick.