Page 110 of A Broody Mate for the Human

But after my initial breakdown, it also feels liberating.

Before we leave, I tell the maid that we won’t be staying and that she should inform my aunt the next morning. The woman, fortunately, doesn’t care much either and just waves us off.

True to his word, Raffy finds a little motel once we are out of town. It’s small and a bit worn down, but it’s tidy, and it’s just the both of us without my history with my family weighing us down. Raffy makes sure to organize a bag of ice from the nice motel manager and wraps it around my wrist. The one I sprained earlier. “Cool it,” he tells me. “I’ll go buy us something to eat. I saw a shop down the road, and it’s open 24/7.”

I contemplate offering to come with him, but Raffy, sensing what I’m about to say, just narrows his eyes. God, he is hot when he is like that. I sit down on our bed, wrapping the bag of ice around my wrist, and nod. “Alright,” I agree.

Before he leaves, he bends down to kiss me softly.

Okay, this is the second time he kissed me today. The first to be when we outsmarted those pack warriors. I thought he did it out of the heat of the moment, but this kiss now, there was no heat in the moment or anything. He just kissed me goodbye because he went grocery shopping.

It has to mean something.

I keep pondering about this kiss for I don’t know how long, but long enough for Raffy to return with a bag of snacks in his hand. “They had sandwiches,” he explains excitedly. “I got you some with cheese and tofu, oh, and I know you have a sweet tooth, so…” He proudly presents me with an assortment of chocolate bars. “And…” He grins, pulling out two small bottles of booze.

I laugh. “I feel like I’m sixteen again.”

He sits down and hands me one of the cheese sandwiches before grabbing one with ham for himself. “I think I never really partied,” he admits.

“Not at all?” I want to know.

He shrugs. “My memory is still not back, but I can remember my childhood better now, and I know going out would have ticked my dad off. So, I never did anything fun.”

I frown. Good thing his father isn’t around anymore because I certainly would have given him a piece of my opinion. “Do you know how your parents passed on?”

He tilts his head. “I have this vague memory of my father dying during an attack, but as for my mom… I’m not sure.” He sighs. “I realized the most traumatic and sad memories are the ones I have trouble remembering the most. I figure my mom is just another sad one.”

I have no idea what I’m supposed to tell him. What to say to a man who went through so many sad and traumatic experiences. “I… from now on, let’s make sure to add lots of happy memories to your past ones,” I offer.

“Will you be a part of them?” Raffy asks.

My breath almost gets stuck. “Do you want me to be a part of them?” I whisper.

“I don’t want to imagine a life without you,” he says.

“If that’s true…” I take a deep breath. “Then I’ll be staying at your side.”

Raffy stares at me, eyes wide. A smile curls his lips, and suddenly he looks a bit flustered. “Say, Dave…”

“Hm?”

“How did you find out about werewolves? I’ve been wondering ever since we met.”

I chuckle. “My two best friends, Ella and Annie, we’ve known each other since school. I always knew they kept something from me, but I thought it was because they’re girls and bond differently. But one day when we were in high school, we went hiking. Later I found out it wasn’t pack grounds or anything. A bunch of huge wolves attacked us. Ella is a bit older than us, and she already had her wolf spirit, so she shifted and defended us, and my sweet Annie started to defend me, too, in her human form.” I pause. “That’s how I found out. We got hurt, and a neighboring pack, an ally of Annie’s pack, came to help us. Annie’s father is a high-ranking wolf, so he talked to their alpha, and he allowed me to keep my memory, although they monitored me from then on.” I smile. “And so… I got involved with the wolves.”

“And did you get involved on a deeper level too?” Raffy asks.

I sigh. “When Annie became luna… a young wolf in her pack, and I… we hit it off. He is a very nice guy. He stood up for me plenty of times, and I couldn’t help but fall for him.”

“But you weren’t mates?”

I shake my head.

“Is he the one that hurt you?”

“I can’t deny that it hurt me when we broke things off,” I admit. “I… I saw what the mate bond did to my friends and how it hurts to fight it. I decided I didn’t want to be that person, the one standing between mates. So, we broke up. It was better that way.”

Raffy stays silent. “And the bruises you had when I met you?”