Page 2 of My Broken Mate (Healing Bonds #1)

“Hey, Sandwich,” Joel says. “Where should I put the empty takeaway cartons? Trash is full.”

“Just get more trash bags from the kitchen and stop calling me Sandwich, you dunce!”

“Sure, Eve.” Not waiting for Eve’s retort, he shuffles away, only to come back with a truly haunted look. “I just found a thong. And it’s not mine.”

“Can I take a look at it?” I say.

With serving tongs from the kitchen, he holds out a red thong, making me shake my head while Eve glares. “Did you just seriously use my kitchen stuff to dangle around with a thong?”

“So, is it yours, Kata?”

“No, must be from someone from the party,” I say.

“You are doing things that will lead you to undress?” Eve asks, appalled.

“I didn’t,” I reassure him. “Though, honestly, that ship sailed quite a while ago already.”

“What?!” he squeals.

Joel rolls his eyes. “Don’t act so surprised. As if you are a super-virgin yourself!”

“Do we really need to talk about that now?” Eve groans. “There are boundaries, you know, Joel. People have boundaries.”

He blinks. “Do they?” Joel is the best, biggest brother anyone could have. He is kind and funny, and he is a great alpha, despite his silly attitude. He is strong and capable and can put his foot down if needed. The pack respects him for being strong, but they love him too for being who he is.

But boy, is he clueless sometimes.

Eve and I exchange a gaze. Are you going to tell him, or should I? I ask.

Let’s keep him in his belief , Eve mutters. He is heart-warmingly oblivious. Like a little child.

I grin. Let’s keep his innocence.

“What are the two of you scheming?” Joel asks with a frown.

“Nothing,” I say, reaching out my trash bag towards him. “Just toss it in there.”

He does as I say, rolling his eyes when Eve grabs the pliers and tosses them away, too. “My kitchen, my rules,” Eve mutters. It’s not like he is wrong, as he does most of the cooking.

The three of us get back to the task ahead, and have the place cleaned up in an hour.

That is the fastest we’ve ever done it. My head is throbbing slightly from my hangover – thank goddess for wolf healing, though – but working with my brothers is a task I enjoy.

Much more than partying or going clubbing.

I’m not even sure why I’m doing it. It’s only fun when Ayden is with me, otherwise, I just go because someone asks me to, and I don’t want to decline.

Seems like I really suck at saying no.

Goddess, I’m such a people pleaser, sometimes I’m annoyed at myself. I keep telling myself to be more truthful to myself and to be who I am, but the thought of people not liking the real me is truly upsetting.

Besides, I have no idea who I truly am, so I might as well hang out with the other kids while I find out.

“Done,” Joel says. “All done.”

“How about some coffee and snacks now?” Eve asks. “Before I prepare your pizza for dinner.”

“That’s a great idea,” Joel beams, almost a bit too enthusiastically. The two of them exchange a gaze that they believe I won’t notice.

Oh shoot, it means we are going to have a talk.

I decide to at least go down with a few heavenly snacks. “How about pancakes with everything?” I ask.

Joel’s face lights up at my words, and he turns to look at Eve, nodding vigorously. “You two are impossible,” Eve mutters. “Okay, go and get settled, and for goddess’s sake, don’t step into the kitchen. It’s always drama when you are around.”

“I know I’m clumsy,” I say. “But not that bad!”

“And I’m not clumsy at all,” Joel says.

“Yeah, but you tend to constantly taste everything I cook, until there is nothing left,” Eve grins. “I’d rather take Kata’s clumsiness.”

“Hah!” I say.

Joel pouts, but then grabs my arm and tugs me to the living room. “Let’s play a round of Mario Kart,” he says. “I barely have time for that anymore.”

He is right. Since he became alpha, his workload is so huge that he doesn’t have much free time.

The little time he has, he tries to divide between us and his friends.

When we settle down on the sofa, both of us with a controller in our hands, I notice a few canvases covered with a sheet.

“Are these new paintings here?” I yell towards the kitchen.

“Yes,” Eve yells back. With a bowl and a whisk in his hands, he peeks into the living room. “They are from my newest project. It’s about the destruction of society. Maybe you want to hang it in your office, Joel?”

“Me?” Joel says, sounding terrified. Eve has a very unique sense of art, very…

dark and destructive. “In my office… for other pack members to see?” He gets up, takes the sheet away and lifts one painting in his hand, looking at it.

“Destruction of society. I just see a ton of dead bodies and some giant worm crawling out of it.”

“Exactly, that’s about how our greed, prejudice and hatred eat our hearts and bodies like a parasite.”

“You want me to hang a picture, with a giant worm gnawing on human flesh, in my office?” Joel deadpans.

“I find it cool,” I say.

“No way you do!” Joel says.

“I do,” I say. Eve’s art isn’t for everyone, but I love it.

Eve beams. “Then you take it and hang it in your room or study.”

“It’s perfect for the study,” I say.

“Sure, just that you won’t see it much there,” Eve mutters.

“Eve,” Joel says, a hint of warning in his voice.

I pretend like I don’t hear their exchange and instead keep gazing at the painting. I know I’m not smart, which is why I struggle so much with my studies. I tried first, but then kind of gave up. It’s like there is no use even trying anymore.

I just hate to let my brothers down.

I place the painting in my study, deciding to put it up later, before returning to the living room and playing a few rounds of Mario Kart with Joel. Eventually, Eve has finished his pancakes and brings them to the couch table. They smell heavenly, and Joel and I instantly start to dig in.

“Hungry wolves,” Eve chuckles, heading back to the kitchen and returning with one pot containing hot chocolate and one filled with coffee.

For a moment, we eat in silence before Joel clears his throat. “Okay,” Joel takes a sip from his coffee. “Kata, we need to talk.”

I hold my breath. “Yes?”

“You know we love you,” he says. “I mean… you are our cute little sister, and absolutely precious. And you are so kind, sometimes too kind for your own good.”

“You suffer from helper syndrome for real,” Eve points out. “But it’s not bad.”

“Right, it’s not bad,” Joel reassures me.

“Why does it sound like it’s bad?” I ask, starting to get a little bit defensive. Is it so terrible to want to help other people?

Joel grows surprisingly earnest. “Sometimes I feel like you forget yourself,” he says. “Like everyone else matters, but you.”

“He is right, Kata,” Eve says quietly. “I don’t know, I feel like we aren’t doing enough to support you.”

“But I like my life,” I reassure them. “It’s great,” I add, not feeling too convinced myself, though.

Sometimes there is this feeling in my chest, like a little void that gets bigger, and I don’t know what to do when I feel it.

Whenever it’s there, I try to make sure to shut it up again, by going out, by meeting friends… by helping others.

“Kata, we know you struggle in college,” Joel says.

“Yeah, because I’m just not smart enough.”

Eve and Joel exchange a glance, and briefly, they both look sad. “I don’t know why you think that,” Eve says. “You have said it so often, and I don’t know what we can tell you for you to believe that you aren’t stupid.”

“But I fail so many of my classes,” I say.

“This doesn’t mean you are stupid,” Joel says. “You just haven’t found the right way for you to study. When you were in school, the mess around our parents was major. You had no choice but to try surviving school without the help and care of a settled homelife.”

“Unfortunately, neither Joel nor I can help you in person,” Eve says.

“Neither of us had the chance to go to college.” He pauses.

“Kata, if you don’t want to study and you truly think that it isn’t for you, that’s one thing,” he says.

“We will respect that. But at least try it first before you quit, thinking you can’t do it. I assure you, you can!”

I take a deep breath. “How?” I ask.

“We will hire you a tutor,” Eve says. “One of my best friends, Gabriel, is from the Dark Forest pack.”

“Our neighboring pack?”

“Yes, his brother is the alpha there, and they happen to have a younger brother your age. He attends your college, too.”

“Right,” Joel grins. “The big brother, Alpha Sean… Sean Silver. Two hot names for a hot dude. Did you know his last name is Temple? Sean Silver Temple. Oh… his body for sure is a temple, too. I mean… that ass! I swear, that’s a forbidden fruit I’d like to take a bite of.”

Eve groans. “Please keep that to yourself. Alpha Sean is said to be a very strict and serious person, with a bit of a temper. He is said not to be blessed with a lot of humor.”

“Oh,” Joel wiggles his brows. “But he is blessed with a hot body. Maybe I can suck the humor out of him.”

“Yuck,” I groan. “Eve is right. Too much information.”

“Let’s forget about Joel’s horny detour for a moment,” Eve says. “What do you say, Kata, are you willing to give this a shot?”

I’m feeling torn. Part of me just wants to give up and live a calm, casual life.

I’m the alpha’s little sister, so I know I need to keep a certain image.

I could still do that and lay low, I could work as a warrior – I’m quite good at fighting.

It’s the story of my life that I don’t excel at anything, but I could certainly join the top warriors if I train hard.

“Give yourself a chance,” Joel says quietly. “If you don’t believe in yourself, how will you ever expect someone else to do it?”

Something about his words acts like a trigger on me. “Okay,” I hear myself say. “I'll give this one shot, just one.”

Joel and Eve look shocked, as if they had expected me to put up more of a fight.

“What is it now?” I ask, annoyed.

“You are not just saying yes because you don’t want to shoot us down, are you?” Eve asks.

I narrow my eyes to a glare. “No. Why are you even complaining now? You were the one who just went all Buddha on me. Would you feel better if I said no?”

“No,” Eve hurries to reassure me. “I just didn’t expect you to be so…”

“Reasonable?” I ask.

Joel groans. “Come on, Kata, don’t make his life so difficult. You know, Eve, he just can’t help himself sometimes.”

Eve glares at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Next time, it’s better you just draw a picture instead of using your words,” Joel continues mercilessly.

Despite myself, I have to laugh. I grab one of the couch pillows and smack Joel with it. “Okay, stop it, you two idiots. I said I’m going to give college a proper try with the tutor Eve chose for me.”

Joel grins, grabbing the pillow from me and hitting back. Soon, the three of us get into a silly pillow fight, until I stumble, hit my elbow against the table and knock over the coffee can. Joel just grabs me before I can fall, and Eve grins. “I will clean up and make a fresh one.”

“Make some more pancakes, too, if you are already on it,” Joel says.

Eve tosses him a glance of disbelief. “Are you for real? Does your stomach have a hole?”

“If this makes you make more pancakes, yes, my stomach is an endless pit. Everything goes just through there,” Joel says, poking his own belly and pretending to be miserable.

Eve rolls his eyes but jogs into the kitchen to make us more food.

“What’s his name?” I yell towards the kitchen. “Alpha Sean’s youngest brother, I mean. The one you want to tutor me.”

“Remy,” Eve calls back.

Remy? I frown. What did Joel say… their last name is Temple?

I have heard that name somewhere before.

Maybe Ayden knows more – he is pretty much up to date with everything going on.

He is my personal walking, talking gossip magazine.

If Remy is going to the same college, then he has, for certain, heard about him.