Mrs Pettyfer

Direct quotes from SJM herself and the books.

You can be mated to someone that is not actually your true love.

So there's like true, true mates, and then there's kind of like, nature made a mistake.

Rhys's parents did not love each other. Like, it was not a great relationship.

There's a biological thing where they're like, we want to be together, but then it's like we're fucking miserable with each other, especially his [Rhys's] mom.

What if the forces that be put you with the wrong person?

And sometimes--yes, the bond picks poorly.

You said your mother and father were wrong for each other; Tamlin said his own parents were wrong for each other. So it can’t be a perfect system of matching.

Many mated pairs will try to make it work, believing the Cauldron selected them for a reason. Only years later will they realize that perhaps the pairing was not ideal in spirit.

Sometimes, the bond is nothing more than some...preordained guesswork at who will provide the strongest offspring. At its basest level, it’s perhaps only that. Some natural function, not an indication of true, paired souls.

Some believe they are entitled to the female. Even after the bond is rejected, they see her as belonging to them.

Sometimes they return to challenge the male she chooses for herself. Sometimes it ends in death. It is savage, and it is ugly.