Page 132 of A Broody Mate for the Human

“And you’d like to fight?” Liam inquires.

Again, she nods. “It’s always been my dream.”

Liam turns to Ella’s sugar daddy and Aryanna, his other beta, the lady with the crazy yellow mohawk. “Dante, Ari, I’ll leave it up to you to see if she has the potential to fight. If not, we’ll need to seek an alternative.”

Dante and Ari nod. “Of course, Alpha,” they say promptly. When Ari looks at Esme, I can see her showing her a smile and a little wink.

My heart begins to feel lighter. He has already allowed Stella to pass, and now agrees to have Esme and Hayden stay. I know by now that part of what he is doing is to keep his image. There’s no way he would send me away now… Liam loves Annie more than anything else, and he’d never send her best friend to his death.

Liam stares at me and Raffy now, obviously battling with himself. “And what can you do? How could you contribute to the pack?”

I elbow Raffy. “The man’s obviously talking to you, not me. He knows I can’t offer anything.”

“Oh.” Raffy nods, shifting around nervously. “Can do anything.”

“Honey, we talked about this. Full sentences, remember? Subject and verb?”

Ari rubs over her nose and coughs slightly.

“He was originally trained to become a beta,” I explain to Liam.

Liam looks him up and down before he steps closer to grasp Raffy’s shoulder. “Is that true?” he inquires.

Raffy nods. “Esme… Like my sister said, we’re from an alpha and beta lineage. I almost tested alpha back then.”

I don’t understand much of this stuff, but apparently he said something good because Liam nods approvingly. “That’s rare. You certainly look strong.”

“I’ve been a rogue for over a year, though, so my wolf… he isn’t really back yet,” Raffy explains, shifting nervously.

“Can you shift?” Liam wants to know.

“I can, but I don’t do it. I’m scared I won’t be able to return if I do.”

Liam nods, tilting his head. “We could probably strengthen your wolf, but I’ll be honest, I doubt you’ll be able to take on a rank here.”

“I don’t need a rank,” Raffy says promptly. “All I want is to keep my mate and sister safe. I could do the work of a lumberjack or anything else you need a strong man for, Alpha Liam.”

Liam’s gaze softens while Annie leans into his embrace.

“And that?” Liam frowns when he looks at Sugar. “It looks like a dog, but there is a difficult aura around it.”

I clear my throat. “Let’s say the last guys to attack me… got eaten.”

Liam rubs the bridge of his nose. “Let me summarize: a BDSM club owner, a witch, a human, a beta she-wolf without any experience in anything, a rogue who can’t shift, an omega, and a demon-dog. Did I get this right?”

Annie chuckles. “I just would like to point out that the omega wolf brings the most to the table here.”

He lets out a deep sigh. “I will regret this.”

“You won’t.” Annie beams before spreading her arms. “Welcome to the pack, everyone.”

“I’m sorry we’ll bring a fight to you,” Esme mutters when Annie approaches her and Hayden.

“Are you kidding?” Liam’s gaze darkens tremendously. There are veins popping up on his neck. “I’ve been waiting to kick Troi’s pathetic ass. I hope he comes here to look for a fight so I can rip his insufferable head off his shoulders.”

Why the questioning, though?I ask Raffy.If Troi or your old alpha are no danger to him? I thought that’s what all of this was about… Liam not wanting to endanger his pack.

To make sure we’re loyal,Raffy explains.He tested us in his own way. Alpha Liam is rumored to be able to detect lies. It’s the reason he made sure to touch us when we talked about our intentions.