And here we have a classic case of words said vs. actions taken. **General spoiler warning**
What does Konnor tell Ethan at the end of the story? That he knows what's best for Ethan. Lol. Let's rewind.
Ethan communicates that he is too frightened to ride the giant bird things. Konner forces him to. Ethan is scared and miserable while riding the bird thing. Does Konnor notice or check on him? No.
Rewind further! Ethan is terrified of being sold to auction and sees Konner as some form of safety-net. He begs Konnor to let him be his slave. Does Konnor clear up the misunderstanding? Haha, no. He throws a big tantrum and decides to fake out Ethan and make him miserable and treat him like a slave until Ethan breaks down and begs to be treated better. (Like a "mate" says Konnor, but I'm not seeing the difference.)
And yes, keep rewinding:
Ethan learns that he is an omega--something shameful in his society. He bolts because he does not want to be a slave. He gets sold to a brothel and put through humiliation (and possibly whipped?). Konner retrieves him, scares him, AND in this brothel while Ethan is still traumatized and frightened, mates with him and marks him. Then he calls him damaged goods.
Ok, so. Why--in these books, does it always seem like the sub is the more logical one and the Dom is some hysterical, violent psychopath? WHY should the sub relinquish control to such a person? Is it so hard to write a domineering alpha type male who actually deserves his mate's submission? An alpha that doesn't leave the reader wondering if he's somehow going to get his sub killed? Doms are supposed to be in tune with their subs needs--not blindly and callously forcing them to do shit they're too scared to do.