Page 116 of A Broody Mate for the Human

Behind me, Sugar makes himself known by grumbling slightly and poking me with his nose. I turn my body to pat his head. As far as I remember, he defended us too. I’m surprised by the peculiar gaze Stella tosses me.

“Where are we heading to?” I want to know.

“To my place,” Stella explains. “It’s safe there for now, and I owe you for the troubles I gave you with that spell.”

“Is the spell how you found us?”

Stella nods. “Portia told me you were coming to see me, so I was on the watch and had my birds watch out for you. I knew you were in trouble, though at first I thought it would just be your body giving in. I didn’t expect you to get attacked.”

“Did you finish these wolves?” I inquire.

“I wouldn’t say that,” she mutters. “It’s a bit hard to explain. Let’s keep this talk for when we’re at my home.”

“Look who’s suddenly so talkative,” Dave tosses in with a smirk. “Maybe we should have more of these dramatic incidents?” When I grumble at his teasing, he just giggles. “Stella, you should have seen him on our trip. Whenever someone talked to him, he went all shy and broody.”

Stella chuckles while I frown at my impossibly mischievous mate. “Remember the list,” I point out.

“Oh.” His lips tug into a smirk. “What makes you think I want to forget about that?”

Something about the way he says it goes right to my nether regions. Fuck, the last thing I need is getting an erection right now. I try to distract myself by counting to 100 and thinking about taxes… nothing is more of a lust killer than thinking about a sheet of paper with numbers on it.

Fortunately, we soon see a building coming closer. It’s a two-story house, sophisticated, yet with lots of natural elements to it. It fits the nature around it and truly looks like a witch is housing here. “Where is your coven?” Dave asks curiously.

“In the closest town,” Stella explains. “We are all forest witches, though, so we like to stay close to nature.”

“There are people awaiting us,” Dave points out, surprised, making me stretch my neck to get a better angle. He’s right… I can see a young man whose appearance rings a bell, but I can’t quite put a finger on it. Then there is… wait a moment… “Is that Lady Portia?”

“Yes,” Stella says.

“Why’s she here?”

“Didn’t she tell you?” Stella asks, surprised.

Dave tilts his head, his expression one of confusion, like my own. “Tell us what?” Dave wants to know.

“She is my fate,” Stella explains. “Which is the equivalent to what mates are to werewolves. It just works a bit differently. Hecate, our goddess, doesn’t choose them for us. We choose for ourselves.”

“Lady Portia must have forgotten to tell us,” I grumble.

“Indeed,” Dave agrees, sounding equally sullen.

Before I can ask anything further, my eyes catch the frame of a young woman. She is rather tall and keeps waving at our car. Seeing her is like opening the blinds of a window. “Esme,” I mutter.

“Yes, I’ve kept her and her mate here with me to keep them safe, just like you asked me to,” Stella explains.

Dave tosses me a worried gaze. Oh, how I wish I would have marked him already so that we could mind link, but it was me who put forward the condition to reveal my whole past before he agrees to me as his mate.

Dave skillfully parks the car in front of the house, waiting for Stella to get out before he turns to me, squeezing my leg. His touch calms me down instantly. “It will be alright,” he whispers. “Please, Raffy, don’t worry too much. She won’t be waving and smiling the way she does if she hates you.”

“She might have forgiven me,” I mutter. “But it doesn’t mean I have.”

“Yes, that’s the problem,” Dave agrees. “You’re seeking forgiveness from yourself, and that’s hard to achieve.”

I sigh. “There’s no avoiding it anymore.” I take a deep breath. At least now Stella will be able to lift the spell on me, and I will face the truth. Dave gives me one last reassuring nod before we both climb out of the car.

“Raphael!” Esme calls out, and her eyes light up.

Dave and I can only stare at her, dumbfounded. Raphael!? The name feels oddly familiar, like it was part of me once. How high was the chance for Dave to coincidentally pick out the right name for me!? It’s close to a miracle.