Page 159 of A Broody Mate for the Human

Dante just briefly talks to the nurse, also inquiring about Cameron and Matthew, before bidding us goodbye, not wanting to invade our privacy. Raffy and I stay with Esme and Hayden until it’s time for us to meet Liam.

I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve only ever known him as Annie’s mate. Sure, he was always stoic and a bit more reserved, but he was always sweet and kind to her and polite to her friends. Today was the first time I saw him in full-on alpha mode. Not that it wasn’t cool. It’s just that I don’t want to cross his path when he is an upset wolfie.

To my relief, Liam looks calm and composed when we enter his office. It’s just him and his two betas, Dante and Aryanna.

“Please have a seat,” he tells us, and we both obediently sit down.

“Dave,” Liam starts. “Annalise told me that you screamed for help and alerted everyone, which I’d like to commend you for. Humans lack our usual wolf instincts, but you prove to have others. Without you, who knows what would have happened?”

“It was just a coincidence,” I tell him. “I just stepped outside to call Raffy, Alpha.”

“Coincidence or not, it was good that you were there.” He pauses, gesturing towards Dante, who takes over.

“Would you tell us what happened?” Dante asks softly.

Almost a bit too soft.

I blink as I realize what they’re doing. Annie told me that a beta is there to smooth out his alpha’s harshness when needed because they have better social skills. Alright, time to tackle that topic. “I’m not traumatized,” I tell them. “Not at all. The last time we got attacked, it was much worse.” I grimace. “And Sugar even ate someone. That was seriously gross. He chewed and chewed forever and looked really happy while doing so.”

Ari grins. “I told them you’d say that.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” I tell them once more. “Esme is the one who got hurt. As for me, I’m just majorly pissed I didn’t join the fight and kick some ass.”

“What?” Raffy exclaims. “Thank Goddess you didn’t do that! You shouldn’t join a fight with werewolves…ever.”

“Technically, they were all on wolfsbane,” I point out. “So, it would be human against human… albeit very trained human against untrained human, which is why I completely approve of these self-defense classes everyone keeps suggesting, so next time I can kick some ass!”

“No!” Raffy huffs. “Please, don’t endanger yourself.”

“It’s not like I joined a fight today or plan on tossing myself in the next-best drunk bar fight. I just want to be able to defend myself in case of an emergency,” I tell him calmly. “Don’t get your panties twisted.”

Raffy just groans while Liam’s lips tug slightly, and I could swear I saw him smirk for a moment. “Bottom line is you can ask me directly, Liam… I mean Alpha—”

“You can call me Liam in private,” Liam assures me. “I like your fighting spirit. As a mated wolf, I can understand why your own mate doesn’t want you to fight, so I’d like to emphasize you’re not to fight until you’ve trained enough. And even then, always keep in mind that if you’re up against a wolf, you’re at a disadvantage.”

“I understand,” I say earnestly. “But today I understood that I need to learn how to defend myself and, in case of an emergency, how to defend someone else.”

Liam nods his approval. “We’ll get you there. Ella will train with you.”

“El?” I blink. “You’re setting me up against the devil?”

A smirk crosses Dante’s face, and for a second he looks proud. Man, these wolf mates are weird. They get off on the strangest compliments!

“She is a very good fighter and turned into an equally good trainer,” Liam reassures me.

“I understand.” I nod. “Well, I don’t mind me some El, anyway.”

Liam turns to Ari, telling her to catch Ella and set up a training plan with her. Ari winks at me shortly and smiles before leaving the room.

Raffy has been eerily quiet, his eyebrows are furrowed, and he has his signature broody look, just this time it’s not because he is shy, but rather because he is pissed. I reach out my hand to rest it on his knee.

Liam fortunately shifts the topic back to the incident today, and I tell him everything that happened. The pro side to not being involved in the fight clearly was that I saw everything. I try to skip over the parts where the asshole tried to assault Annie, but Liam’s eyes still darken in anger. He keeps his control this time, though, just clenching his fist until his knuckles turn white.

Something flashes in Liam’s eyes once I finished. “I want to see heads rolling,” he growls. He turns to Raffy. “I assume you know most of your former pack members, especially as you were supposed to take a ranked position.”

Raffy nods. “I’d know if they were from my old pack.”

“What about Troi’s pack? Do you know a lot of Troi’s men?” Liam inquires.