Page 80 of A Broody Mate for the Human

Lucalooksnervousashell when we meet Ye-Joon for tea. In typical classical Ye-Joon-ness my friend has invited us over for the perfect tea and self-made cookies. Calling them cookies is an insult, though. They are more like perfectly crafted sweets.

Ye-Joon smiles at Luca while he hands him a cup of tea. “It’s lovely to meet you, Luca. I couldn’t wait to meet the man who stole Jun’s heart.”

His words seem to make Luca relax. He has been on the edge recently because we haven’t heard from Lord Finn and his mission yet. After all, Marcel is in Finn’s group too, and it’s truly unsettling for Luca not to know if he is alright.

“Thank you,” Luca says. “I’m so happy to meet you too.”

“You two don’t look happy though,” Ye-Joon says, unusually blunt today. “Did something happen? Is this the reason Dave isn’t here?”

“Dave is trying to find some of our pack members,” I explain. “They are on a secret mission.”

“I hope nothing happened to them,” Luca mutters.

“Dave is trying to track Finn and his group down,” I try to reassure him. I’m worried, too, but if something truly tragic happened, we would know it. Lycans have a tight bond to their families, and if Finn was hurt to an extent it would threaten his life, his father for sure would have felt it. I try to believe that if Finn is well, the other participants of the mission are too.

“Oh,” Ye-Joon raises his brows. “Dave’s going all out?” He snorts. “I’m not sure what exactly happened, but when Dave is out there and contacting his hacker friends, then rest assured… you will get results fast.”

“Really?” Luca asks curiously.

“Dave has surprisingly shady contacts,” Ye-Joon explains casually.

I frown a bit. He is right, and it’s one of the things Dave and I argued about non-stop when we were dating. As a friend I still don’t like him getting himself into danger.

“I hope nothing happens to Dave,” Luca says nervously. “It sounds like he could get into danger too.”

“From what Elif and Ozan told us, he isn’t on his own, though,” Ye-Joon muses.

“Is that supposed to make us feel reassured?” I ask him sharply. Ye-Joon gives me one of his looks, and I sigh. “Sorry, I didn’t want to jump into your face.”

“Dave knows what he is doing,” Ye-Joon says calmly. “You always underestimate him. I get you are worried, but his friend Annalise lets him handle this on his own… and she is a luna. She trusts him.”

Luca’s hand finds its way towards mine. “He is right,” he says shyly.

Feeling his touch and noticing how he looks at me so nervously makes my resistance melt. “I feel responsible,” I finally admit.

Ye-Joon nods with a sigh. “I know.”

“You told me back then that I shouldn’t do it.” I rub through my hair. “You were right.”

Again, Ye-Joon sighs.

“But why?” Luca asks. “Why do you feel guilty?”

“Because I hurt him,” I hear myself say. “And furthermore, it means I’m hurting you too.”

Ye-Joon gets up. “I’m preparing more tea for us,” he says, gracefully making his way to his kitchen and closing the door behind him.

“I’m not hurt,” Luca says, wrapping his arms around my middle and leaning his body against mine. Every day I am amazed by how gentle he is and how kind.

“When Red Claw was freed from my previous alpha and Alpha Liam took over, I finally felt free,” I explain to him. “I felt like all the restrictions were gone. I was made gamma and helped to rebuild the pack. And through my luna, I met Dave.”

“I know this,” Luca says earnestly.

“Dave wasn’t my mate, and yet I had an affair with him,” I say. “I knew we wouldn’t end up together. There was never a reality for me where I would give up on my fated mate… unless said mate would have rejected me or, worse, died. But deep down, I knew there was a person out there waiting for me. I knew it, Dave knew it too… but for him as a human it’s different.” I pause. “In a way, I led him on.”

“You didn’t,” Luca says. “Dave is not an idiot. He knew you weren’t mates.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “You were waiting for your mate while I was messing around with another man. And said man is one of my best friends on top of that. That’s pretty shitty, no matter how you look at it.”