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“Yes. She will.”
20
Arlene’s POV
Awoman near the front folds her arms. “But what about women who keep choosing a man over everyone else? Even when he's hurting them?”
Luna Selena turns toward her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the ones who will excuse anything he does. Cheating, lying, violence. Then another woman gets hurt, and somehow it's always her fault.”
A few women nod.
“That's different from simply loving your mate,” Luna Selena says. “And I want to be clear about that. I'm not criticizing housewives, women who care for their families, or women who choose to stay home with their pups. There's nothing wrong with any of those choices. I'm talking about someone who excuses harm and helps another person hurt women.”
An older shewolf raises her hand. “But what if she's afraid of him?”
“Then she needs help,” Luna Selena answers. “Fear can keep someone in a dangerous relationship. So can money, pups, rank, threats, or having nowhere safe to go. I'm not going to blame a woman for struggling to leave someone who's abusing her.”
“Even if she keeps going back?” the older woman asks.
“Even then. We can be honest about the danger without making her responsible for his abuse.”
A younger woman looks between them. “But what if she starts blaming other women for what he does?”
“Then we can tell her she's wrong,” Luna Selena says. “We can care about her and still refuse to agree with her.”
The woman near the front nods. “That's what I mean. If he cheats, she blames the other woman and acts like he had no choice.”
“Both people can be responsible for their own choices,” Luna Selena says. “But his decision to cheat belongs to him. We don't erase his responsibility because it's easier to be angry with another woman.”
A warrior speaks up. “I've heard women say a wife should have done more to keep her mate interested.”
Several women groan.
Luna Selena looks at her. “And what do you think?”
“I think if he wants something different, he should talk to his mate instead of lying to her.”
“Exactly,” another woman says. “Why is she supposed to read his mind?”
A few women laugh, but the warrior continues. “And if he can't control himself, that's his problem. Not hers.”
Luna Selena nods. “Self control is his responsibility.”
A woman near the back raises her hand. “What about when it's worse than cheating?”
The gathering quiets.
She looks down at her hands. “I've heard women blame a woman for being raped. They ask what she was wearing, why she was there, why she didn't fight harder.”
Luna Selena's expression hardens. “The person who commits rape is responsible for rape. Not the victim.”
An older woman nods slowly. “And sometimes people make excuses because the attacker is their mate, their son, or someone they respect.”
“Then they need to stop making excuses,” Luna Selena says. “Loving someone doesn't require you to defend every terrible thing they do.”
A mother holding a sleeping infant speaks quietly. “I've heard people blame mothers when something happens to a pup while the father is supposed to be watching them. They ask why she wasn't there.”
