Page 111 of A Broody Mate for the Human

“They were from my ex-mate.” I lower my gaze. “You know, Jun and I remained friends, and one day I met my mate. I thought it would be all sunshine, sparkles, and rainbows…”

“But it wasn’t?”

“It was a nightmare.”

“He hurt you?”

I shrug.

“And he never accepted the bond?”

I shake my head. “He fought it. He slept with random girls—”

Raffy growls, much to my surprise. “Sorry,” he mutters. “Continue.”

“He got angry whenever I said something”—I swallow down the lump in my throat—“gay. When I was too much… myself. And suddenly I found myself dressing differently, avoiding certain topics, certain foods. It happened so fast…”

“And he is still alive?” Raffy huffs.

“He is only eighteen,” I explain. “One day, something I said triggered him, and he attacked me. He wasn’t himself that day. I knew something bad had to have happened to him, but I also knew I couldn’t be the person to heal him anymore. We found out that his story isn’t so different from yours.” I look at Raffy. “His father brainwashed and abused him until he believed he was sick and wrong.”

“Still no excuse,” Raffy grumbles.

“No, but a reason to give him a second chance in life. From what I heard, he lost his rank and is a normal warrior now. I rejected him, and he accepted it. He even apologized.” I pause. “I don’t hold a grudge against him anymore.” I smile at Raffy. “He was just a detour on my way.”

“Your way to what?” Raffy asks curiously.

To you, I want to say. “To something better,” I say.

Raffy seems to understand me, nevertheless. He reaches out his hand to touch my cheek. It isn’t all sparks and tingles like with Matthew, but it’s still warm. Something pulls me to this man, and I am eager to give in to the pull now.

Chapter thirty-six

Conditions

*DAVE*

Weweresotiredlast night we just fell asleep without talking anymore. I want to ask him if he is really certain that he wants to spend his life with me, even though he might have a mate out there. I don’t know what I am to him. Sometimes I feel a pull like I did with Matthew. His touch feels warm, and I feel a longing for him that again reminds me of the pull I felt towards Matthew, just more intense.

But if we were mates, Raffy would have said something, wouldn’t he?

Yet, he doesn’t seem like the kind of person who just says things on a whim. I decide to trust him. If he says he wants to have me in his life, then I’ll believe him.

I wake up a few hours later, so close to the edge of the bed that I am scared I might drop out of it. Raffy has scooted so close to me that I was almost pushed out. I turn around, feeling his heavy arm on my waist. He’s still asleep, and his features are relaxed… it doesn’t seem like a nightmare haunts him. Carefully, I reach out my hand and trace the lines on his face. I don’t even know his real name or his age, yet I’ve fallen head over heels for him.

“You’re awake,” Raffy mutters.

“Raffy…” I swallow down the knot in my throat, finally daring to ask the one question that has been lingering in my mind for a while. “Are we mates?”

Raffy is silent, and my heart almost sinks. I know how these wolves are with their mates. I’ve seen it with Jun.

“Yes.”

I can hardly believe it. “We are?”

Raffy opens his eyes now, looking at me sadly. “My wolf is dormant, though, Dave. That’s why we don’t feel it as intense, but in the short moments that Nero was with me, he did verify it. We were rogues for a while, so the bond is not the same as it was for you and Matthew. I’m sorry I can’t give you that strong of a bond and—”

“I don’t mind.”