A small glimmer of hope lit up inside of him at Venus’s hesitation. Though he remained unmated, that didn’t mean August didn’t understand the gravity that came with the act. In many ways it was true that Trent had already decided to settle down – that, or he had made a split decision in the heat of the moment. He honestly didn’t know which he found more believable. Out of the two of them, August was the one who devoted himself more so to the pack and wolf-kind in general. It would be easy for him to dismiss all of Trent’s actions as selfish indulgences, but he knew better.
His jaw tightened and he nodded his head solemnly at Venus’s response. Marriage had never been anything that he had given much consideration to when he was younger. Seeing as he had always imagined finding and falling in love with another wolf, mating was all the commitment that he needed; a wedding was just a ceremony to further celebrate the commitment that had been made. But Venus wasn’t a wolf. Her version of mating was different, and it involved a white dress. It didn’t matter if Trent had tied himself to her, but for Venus to tie herself to him? That was a different matter completely. “I get that, I do…” His voice trailed off as if there was a ‘but’ to follow; there was, however it wasn’t one he could say. Something told him that she wouldn’t react well to ‘but it’s me you should marry, not Trent.’ “Not to play favorites, but my brother would be an absolute idiot to go back on his word.” August offered Venus a smile to lighten the mood, even though it was one of the last things he felt like doing. “Not to mention, I’m pretty sure he would wind up on the bad end of a spell or two.”