Page 185 of A Broody Mate for the Human

“I don’t think so,” he says. “We will keep an eye on them and support them, but whoever helped Troi is in it for something else. They won’t just bust their cover and come out and undo their hard work.”

“Troi is probably not the only alpha they supported,” Annalise says.

“It might be worth it to check on the other attendees of his meeting,” I say.

“We won’t solve this today,” Dad says. “In fact, I think we won’t solve it within the next weeks or months. It’s going to be a longer process. Let’s make sure to cover our bases and focus on what we can do now.”

I nod, gazing at the cell where Troi disappeared into. We have helped Esme and Raphael to get justice, so at least it’s a small success. As for Troi’s scheme and who supported him, it’s something we’ll still need to deal with eventually. But my father is right; unfortunately, it’s nothing we can solve immediately.

Chapter sixty

A New Path

*DAVE*

Wehavesetupand decorated our place completely by now. The lease of my old apartment has officially ended, and I didn’t renew it, and both my belongings and Raffy’s are now here in the pack. He and Esme also finally got access to their inheritance money. Most of the things Raffy brought along were memorabilia, clothes, some valuables, and private personal possessions. He left most of the furniture behind. Everything Raffy brought home is tasteful, aside from—

“No,” I exclaim when I eye the head of a bear—stuffed and turned into a piece to hang onto the wall. “Oh my God, you can’t be serious. Raffy! That’s a monstrosity!”

“That’s a hunting trophy,” Raffy grumbles while his cheeks have a hint of red on them.

“Raffy, I’m not hanging a… wait, it’s real!? Like actually real-real?” I feel like throwing up.

“It’s the only memorabilia I brought home from my father,” he admits, checking on the atrocity.

I’m not sure if I heard correctly. I’m sure his dad would have had smaller things too… like a watch or something. “Does it mean something to you?” I ask.

He shrugs. “It was one of the few good memories… He went on a hunt, and it’s rare to hunt a bear successfully. When he returned, he was so proud and in a good mood.” He pauses. “He wasn’t in a good mood a lot…” Another pause. “Talking about it now makes this sound pathetic. I don’t want to be reminded of him constantly. “

I take a deep breath. It’s a fucking stuffed bear head, one of the creepiest things to have in my home, but if it means even a little bit to Raffy, then I will need to suck it up. “You don’t need to get rid of it,” I say softly.

He scrunches his nose. “It’s hideous though.” While he stares at it, his eyes light up. “I can hang it in the garage.”

“Would that really be okay for you?” I ask, secretly hoping it will be. The garage is the perfect place… it means we can put it somewhere but not see it every day.

He nods with a smile. “I actually feel it fits perfectly there.”

We organize and plan a few more things before Raffy has to leave for his training. We’ll soon celebrate winter solstice, and the pack is expecting a lot of visitors from other packs. Now that our lives are finally more peaceful, Raffy and I have so many plans. I also want him to meet my other friends soon.

I work through our joint schedule a bit, trying to get a feel for our new routines now that Raffy is working for the pack, and I’m back at work, too, before sitting down on the terrace with Sugar and opening my notebook.

It’s been a while that I worked on my doctoral thesis, and I finally feel mentally refreshed enough to return to it. I don’t know how long I work on it, but when my stomach starts grumbling, I decide to take a break. It’s then that Liam mind links me and asks me to come to his office.

I grab a sandwich to eat on my way before I hurry to the pack house, curious as to what he wants to talk to me about. Sometimes I feel a bit ignorant for not minding that he is the alpha. Everyone else who needs to see him in his office always gets slightly nervous, but I don’t mind.

I make sure to eat my sandwich on the way so that my stomach won’t embarrass me by grumbling throughout the whole meeting. Hurrying up the staircase to the first floor, I reach his office and knock.

“Come on in.”

“Hello.” I peek inside, smiling slightly.

Liam nods at me and points at the chair across his desk. “Take a seat,” he offers.

I nod, sitting down and looking at him curiously.

Liam comes to the point immediately. “There is something I wanted to talk to you about. Raphael told me about what he offered to do, about the spell that could bind your fates,” Liam tells me bluntly. “You’re wary about it?”

I stare at him, shocked, as this was the last I expected him to ask. I wonder how I should voice my feelings. “He talked to you about it?” I ask, not able to hide the hurt in my voice. Why would he consult others before we have discussed it properly?