Page 66 of A Broody Mate for the Human

“And he isn’t answering any messages or calls because he knows you would find out,” Luca muses to my surprise. “Dave can’t lie, he told me.” When we look at him, surprised, he seems to recoil instantly, like he just realized he talked more than usual.

I put my arm around his middle to make sure he relaxes. “You have a point,” I reassure him.

“You absolutely have a point,” Ella emphasizes.

“I agree.” Luna Annalise nods earnestly. “Any chance to get a hold of Dave? It’s bad enough that we can’t reach Finn, but I don’t want Dave to go missing too.”

I tilt my head a bit. “I could try asking my friends for help…” I muse. “Luca and I wanted to meet them tomorrow for breakfast. We could have an unsuspecting one of them call him…”

Ella raises her brows. “A sly trick. Oh, Jun, I can see how finding your mate has brought you out of your shell.”

Now it’s Luca who eyes me curiously.

“Do it.” Luna Annalise nods. “Make sure to tell him that none of us are going to stand in his way and that we don’t want to patronize him. We just want to receive occasional updates on how he is doing.”

“You won’t want to stop him?” I ask.

“No.” She smiles sadly. “I think he needs this break, and he needs to be able to help someone. So let’s just allow him to do that, but ask him to please text us here and there.”

I nod thoughtfully. “I will try to get through to him.”

Chapter twenty-three

Memories II

*RAFFY*

Lightgreeneyeslookat me, the expression in them sad and desperate. “But he isn’t my mate,” she says, pleading with me. “He isn’t my mate!”

I can see my reflection in her eyes, and it’s hard and stony. “It’s all set,” I tell her. “You have no choice!”

There are tears in her eyes. “But he is… his reputation… He is old. Why doesn’t he have a mate yet? Why does it need to be me?”

“Because you come from a good family,” I tell her coldly. “You have strong blood in you. It’s a sacrifice you need to make. Don’t disappoint me!”

I wake up with a gasp. This girl, it’s this girl again. The one I dreamed of very early when I began my journey as a rogue. In my other dream I yelled at her… and here… I don’t know. She didn’t look happy; she looked sad, like she lost all hope.

I recall my reflection, the way I looked so hard and cold… I didn’t like it one bit.

Who is she? She seems to be important, like my mind pushes me to remember her, but I can’t. There seems to be something blocking my memory. I rub over my eyes, closing them again and trying to force myself to sleep a bit more. It’s still dark outside, and when I shift a bit from my position on the floor, I can see Dave still curled up in the bed, deep asleep.

I don’t know how much time passes, but eventually sleep lulls me in again. I dream of all kinds of crazy stuff… a fire, people yelling… someone seems to be chasing me. I run through the forest, making sure to lure my pursuers away from something or someone.

Then everything turns black again.

“I’m Stella,” the red-haired woman tells me. “I’ll handle everything.” She turns to look at the girl, the one I always dream of. She is crying now.

“Don’t leave,” she begs.

There is a red Cadillac next to Stella, and—

I almost jump up. “The license plate!”

“Huh?” Dave yawns, shifting under the blanket and moving to the edge of the bed to look at me.

“The license plate, I remember it,” I blurt out. “Well, not all of it, but a few numbers. Stella.”

Dave blinks, tilting his head a bit. He looks cute with his hair all tousled up and his eyes being droopy. Then he seems to catch on. “You had a dream about Stella again?” he concludes. “And this time, you saw more?”