He was trembling, Jo noticed with terror. This was, as usual, the opposite of what she had intended - but when wasn't that the case with Sam? It was a gamble, Jo knew that very well. Until she understood perfectly what had been done to him and how it had left him - which she never would short of experiencing it herself under the same exact conditions - this was never going to be right all the time. Still, it made her feel terrible when this kind of thing did happen. "Sam, no..." She whined, her voice barely above a whisper.
It happened every time she tried to reassure him of things that seemed logical and even expected for anyone else in the pack. that he could speak his mind, make his own choices, touch people, ask things of them. Simply put, it happened every time Jo nudged him outside of an Omega's mindframe. Was she right in trying to at all? Times like these, she wondered. Eyes wide in shock, she turned on her knees to watch him slide down the bench, make himself the smallest he could - all this to not be above her? His head bowed he spouted out apologies like a scared pup before a big bad wolf. This was not a position Jo took gladly if she took it at all. "Sam, God, it's okay!" She urged, panic invading her voice a mere fraction of how it had invaded his. She whimpered again watching him cover his head with his arms, curl up into a submissive ball of acceptance. She could punish him now, she could take him by the neck with her teeth and rattle and he would think it the right way to do things.
Letting out a breath as if to let out the immeasurable sadness (and the rage) she was now feeling, Jo lowered her head onto the bench, looking at Sam sideways. He could stop breaking her heart any time now. Any time. "Stop." She asked. It was an order, but it was soft. She had wondered if that would work for now, until he could more readily accept that he didn't have to take orders from anyone quite like that. "Look at me, Sam. I'm not going to punish you because you've done nothing wrong. Here," Shifting to sit only slightly closer to him, she leaned against the bench as they went back to being on an even plain. Both on the ground, knees to their chests. "This is how I want us. Equals. That's how I see you. Now, okay, that's hard for you, I get it. Take your time. But I'm not going to be the dominant monster you expect or even need me to be. I can't."