Page 131 of A Broody Mate for the Human

You also forgot to mention that your best friend is the luna,Raffy asks, flabbergasted.

I didn’t know it was important,I point out.

He rolls his eyes a bit.I swear, this goes on the fucking list!

When are you actually going to act on that list?I ask innocently.

“You can mind link?” Annie whispers to me. She scans me over for a moment until her eyes rest on my mark. “Well.” She smirks. “You’re one of us now.” She lets go of me and walks back to Liam, who immediately wraps a protective arm around her.

“Oh, hi, Liam.” I wave at him.

Liam shows me a short smile. “Nice to see you, Dave.”

The other five of my travel gang look at me like I’ve completely lost my mind. Hayden has Esme closer to him now, and Raffy looks like he contemplates grabbing me and just running.

“Oh.” I blink. “We forgot Sugar.”

“Hecate forbid, we would have forgotten that monster,” Lady Portia mutters under her breath.

I shuffle around the car to let Sugar out, meeting Ella there, who is currently pretending to be busy. She has tears of amusement in her eyes, and she’s grinning so much I think she might hurt a muscle. She squeezes my hand, helping me with opening Sugar’s crate.

When I return with Sugar, Liam looks at us with furrowed brows. Yeah… he can trick the others, but not me. I’ve seen him with Annie. He always looks at her like the fucking sun shines out of her ass, even on a summer day when her hair is sticky, she’s sweating and is annoyed. Annie is a hot bitch, but even she has to succumb to nature occasionally.

I can’t ignore that it has become dangerously quiet all around us.

“Stella Bragan,” Liam says into the suffocating silence. “You’re a witch. What kind of witch?”

Stella nods, her hands shaking slightly, but she tries to keep her cool. “I’m a nature witch. My element is fire,” she explains. “My powers are of a defensive nature, just like most witches who get their powers from the elements and nature.”

“Like Jade,” Annie muses. “Jade Carmine, do you know her?”

“Master Jade, she’s an ancient witch.” Stella’s eyes widen. “Of course I know her. I had the honor of meeting her once.”

Liam and Annie exchange a gaze. “Are you aware that you might have endangered your coven by taking in these refugees?” Liam asks.

“I cut my ties to my old coven,” Stella says. “They are good people, and I didn’t want them to get caught in my mess. I might be old-fashioned, Alpha Liam, but I believe in karma, and I believe in repaying a debt. I’m very indebted to Elisa Hayes, a debt I couldn’t pay her back while she was still alive. It’s not even a question for me to protect her children now to make that up to her.”

Something shifts in Liam’s eyes, but it’s hard to tell what he thinks. “You’ll need to go through the usual screening and background check,” he tells her, and I can notice Stella’s eyes widen in surprise. “If you pass, I wouldn’t mind inviting you and your fated to stay with us, as long as you offer me your services as a witch and pledge loyalty to me. Red Claw already has one young witch living here, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to add a second one.”

Stella’s eyes widen further, before she bows her head politely. “I would like to accept your offer,” she says. “Thank you, Alpha Liam, Luna Annalise.”

Liam turns his attention to the rest of us, his gaze wandering from me and Raffy to Esme and Hayden. “What about you?” Liam asks Esme and Hayden. He reaches out his hand. “Tell me something about yourself.”

I can see Esme shifting around, and to my surprise, Hayden takes the initiative. He keeps his gaze lowered and bares his neck towards Liam when he steps forward. Liam grabs him by his arm. I wonder if this is some sort of werewolf thing—the super-manly arm groping. “I’m an omega,” he mutters. “My old pack didn’t treat us kindly, though they didn’t downright abuse us. Once I found my mate, it was never a question that I would protect her from the political games that she was supposed to be a part of. Although… I’m not really strong.”

“What can you contribute to the pack?” Liam wants to know.

“I’m good at cooking and patisserie, but I learned some handiwork too.”

“Marilou just put together a whole plan for the upcoming months,” Annie muses. I have no idea who this girl is she’s talking about, but Annie not-so-subtly throwing in suggestions already is a good sign in my opinion. “She’s still in school but can’t quite let go of controlling the kitchen. She could need help.”

“And you?” Liam asks Esme. He lets go of Hayden and takes Esme by her arm. His whole expression and demeanor are still stoic, but I can see his eyes softening a bit.

“I can’t do much,” Esme admits. “I was neither allowed to study nor to fight.”

“But you ranked beta?”

She nods. “I have alpha blood in me. Mo… my mother came from an alpha bloodline.”