Page 168 of A Broody Mate for the Human

My eyes widen in horror. “What does that mean?” I exclaim. “What happened!?”

“Where did you say Raffy went to?” Ella wants to know.

“He is training with Dante,” I mutter, worry filling me.

Ella’s eyes gloss over as she links her mate. She is back with me soon, though. “Dante said Raphael shifted.” She gets up abruptly, but before she can say anything or I can ask further questions, Dante’s mind link comes through. His usually so calm and composed voice has a tone of worry to it.

Dave, I need you to come to the training grounds, fast!

I jump up, ready to storm there. “The training grounds,” I blurt out, and Ella grabs my hand and tugs me along.

What happened?I ask Dante through the link.

He can’t shift back,Dante tells me.The alpha is on his way to help.

He cuts me off immediately afterwards, and Ella and I run to where the warriors usually train. Red Claw has more than one training place. Fortunately, Ella knows where Dante and Raphael went. “When they try to connect with their wolves and try to restore their broken bonds,” she explains while running. “Then they go to one of the smaller training places. It’s a bit more secluded and gives us privacy.”

I try to keep up with her pace as much as possible, but fuck, that woman has stamina. Well, she isn’t in her rank for nothing.

“Are you alright?” she calls out towards me.

“Yes, just keep running!” I pant, ignoring the stitch in my side. Another wave of desperation hits me, and I pick up my pace.

Raffy needs me.

Chapter fifty-five

Nero

*DAVE*

EllaandIarriveat the same time as Liam, all three of us just barging into the training area. A huge black wolf is pacing around the ground, growling at the guards who try to stop him from leaving. Dante is in his human form, carefully circling the wolf.

“Nero,” I mutter.

All eyes turn to me, but I barely register them. All I can see is Nero. I’ve only briefly met him in Raffy’s mind, but I know it’s him. Although he keeps growling at everyone, I can tell he is rather scared than aggressive.

Liam furrows his brows. “He can’t shift back?” he asks Dante.

“He tried, and it almost worked, but then something triggered him, and he retaliated,” Dante explains.

Liam nods, stepping a bit closer. He swiftly starts taking his clothes off. “I’m his alpha,” he tells me shortly. “He will recognize me as he has pledged loyalty to the pack.” He turns to look at me. “The last resort is to command him to shift back, but I would like to avoid that.”

“Why would that be bad?”

“A command would force him, but it would harm his bond with his wolf. We’ll try a few other things first.” Liam looks at me. “I will need you for it, as you are his mate. Are you ready to step in front of his wolf?”

“Yes,” I say without further ado. “His name is Nero,” I tell Liam.

He nods. “We’ll try it with your help first. If it doesn’t work, I’ll try to connect to his wolf instead. It’s going to drain him more but might work.”

Liam tosses me an encouraging gaze before shifting into his magnificent beast. Dante seems to receive an order from him because he turns to the other men. “Leave,” he commands. “I will make sure he won’t run.”

Everyone hastily scatters to all sides, leaving us alone. Ella and Dante take their place at the edge of the training area in case Nero tries to run past us. Meanwhile, Liam… or rather Fenris… walks closer to Nero. Nero keeps growling, but his ears are flat. He seems to be unsure how to react.

Human,a voice enters my mind; it’s raw and a bit rough. It almost sounds like Liam, but not quite. Has to be his lycan.Reach out to your mate.

Reach out to my mate. Sure, I’ll reach out to him. Mind link. I can do that. I open the link, focusing on Nero and Raffy, but nothing… I’m only greeted by silence. A deafening, scary silence.It’s not working,I link Fenris.