Page 43 of A Broody Mate for the Human

“Yes, they are back. I need to question him now.”

“Can you keep your anger in check?” she asks me.

I contemplate her words for a moment, then I reach out my hand. “Would you come with me?”

She nods. “Of course.”

The interrogation rooms are in an extra building. Not everyone we question is actually a culprit of something or even a suspect. Which is why we wanted to keep the place more neutral instead of having the rooms right in the dungeons.

Janice and I walk next to each other in silence, both of us lingering on our own thoughts. When we reach the room, two warriors are guarding it, bowing their heads towards us. “Alpha, Luna.”

Janice smiles at them warmly before I open the door for her and let her enter. My eyes fall upon Matthew. He is sitting at the table, and Deacon is right. Someone definitely punched him, yet he wasn’t beaten senselessly. Considering that he went against one of Luna Annalise’s best friends, he is lucky he didn’t end up in the infirmary first.

The part that surprises me most is that he looks miserable. Not angry or nervous or panicked, just plain miserable.

I take a deep breath, nodding towards Deacon. He catches the cue immediately. “Matthew, we heard what went down between you and your mate. We would like to know—”

“Yes,” Matthew mutters. “It’s true. What Luna Annalise said is true. I have no excuse.”

I stare at him, furrowing my brows. I was hoping he would have something to say, maybe even present us with a reason or an excuse or anything. Janice touches my arm softly, and I will my anger and impatience down.

“You cheated on your mate. You betrayed the mate bond?” I start. “And you attacked him earlier tonight?”

Matthew doesn’t look at me; he doesn’t look at anyone. He just nods.

“Is it because he is human?” I ask sharply.

Matthew shakes his head.

“Matthew, you are like family to us,” I tell him, crossing my arms in front of my body. “Your father is my gamma, and you and my sons grew up together, but I won’t just let this pass!”

“Yes.” Matthew nods dejectedly, like he isn’t even hearing what I say like it doesn’t reach him. I’m not sure if I know the kid in front of me anymore… the Matthew I knew for many years was such a kind and respectful boy.

“Weren’t you excited to meet your mate?” Janice asks. “I heard you talk a few weeks ago, and you said you couldn’t wait to meet your mate.”

“No,” he says quietly. “I was never looking forward to meeting my mate. I knew it wouldn’t end well.”

“Spit it out already,” I hiss, slamming my palms on the table in front of him. His way of dismissing all our questions and answering like he doesn’t care grates on my nerves. “This David seems like a nice young man. If you didn’t want a mate, you should have rejected him. But you betrayed the mate bond!”

Something flashes in Matthew’s eyes, and I don’t know what triggered this emotion. However, I’ll work with whatever I get. “You didn’t want to be mated to a worthless human,” I huff.

“No!” Matthew blurts out. “That’s not it!”

“You hated to dump your girlfriend for him,” I inquire.

“I didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“Someone threatened you and your mate,” Deacon asks, keeping his tone rather dismissive and dejected as well. It seems to work best right now.

“No…”

I pinch the bridge of my nose again. Oh, my headache. “You liked the guy but didn’t know how to—”

“No,” he yells all of a sudden, like he will go feral any minute. “No! I’m not gay! It’s sick, it can’t be! A man can’t be my mate. I can’t…” A shiver goes through him before he hammers with his fists against his head. “I’m sick, sick. Dirty.”

For a moment we all stand there, completely stunned, unable to react or do anything before realization settles in that Matthew is about to hurt himself seriously.

“Deacon,” I bellow.