Page 30 of My Broken Mate (Healing Bonds #1)

Chapter twenty

It’s Getting Hot In Here

*SEAN*

I stare at the flyer in my hand before looking at Gabriel again. “Care to repeat that?”

“I want you to tell Remy to join Katalina and her friends for that evening and go to the concert.”

“Then I did understand you correctly,” I say. “I am not going to do that. If you want him to go, you have to tell him.”

“I can’t,” Gabriel exclaims. “Sean, we need to get him out of the house somehow. His last migraine lasted for days! Things are getting worse, not better.”

“And you think I don’t know that,” I snarl.

As usual, when my tone gets too harsh or loud, Gabriel takes a step back. I rub my temples, trying not to feel annoyed or hurt by his reaction. Gabriel clears his throat. “I can’t ask him,” he says quietly. “You know I don’t find the right words with him. Every time we talk, it seems to get worse.”

“And you think this will truly benefit Remy?” I ask whilst checking the flyer, again.

“No,” Gabriel says. “Yes. I don’t know. I just want him to have fun. He never smiles!”

“That’s true,” I admit.

“He likes you more,” Gabriel presses. “You are better with him.”

“I don’t know,” I say. “I think he might just fear me more than he fears you.”

“Awesome,” Gabriel chuckles without real humor in his voice. “So, he has one brother he hates, and one brother he fears.”

Levi clears his throat. He has been so quiet, I almost forgot he is around.

He is the only person I trust enough to know everything about our family and the health problems Remy is facing.

He backed me up when I was trying to free my family from our father, and he took a major risk by doing so. “What do you have to say?” I ask him.

“I don’t think he hates any of you, and I don’t think he fears you either,” he says.

“And what do you think about this?” I ask him, showing him the flyer again.

“Katalina is a kind person, and I think she took a liking to Remy. I saw them talking during the gala.”

“If she genuinely wants him to come, why doesn’t she ask him directly?” I want to know.

“Why don’t you?” Levi retorts bluntly. “No one ever asks Remy anything, directly.”

I am stunned at his words. He is right! I am expecting Kata to do something I can’t do. “Fine,” I say. “I will do it one time. If it doesn’t work out, I will never force something like that on him again. Next time, you can ask him, Gabriel.”

“Thank you,” Gabriel says. “One try is all I want.”

Before I can get up to look for Remy, I look at Gabriel again. Something he said earlier still doesn’t sit right with me. “You are not the only one who wants to help him,” I say.

“I know,” Gabriel says. “I know that, Sean.”

“Well then,” I mutter, before leaving Levi and Gabriel behind and looking for my youngest brother. He is in his room, studying like he always is. Gabriel is right, we need to get him out of here. And if our suggestions and offers haven’t helped so far, maybe it’s time to be sly.

Remy is surprised to see me, and a tad apprehensive. “Sean, did something happen? Or did I do something wrong?”

“Why do you think that?” I ask.

Again, Gabriel’s words come to my mind. He has a point with what he said. Maybe Remy is scared of me and is just good at hiding it.

No matter the reason, it’s obvious that his mind always goes to something negative first.

“It’s just… usually you don’t look for me at this time of the day,” Remy explains.

Do I never talk to him spontaneously? One awesome brother I am! “Nothing happened,” I reassure him. “I just have a favor to ask of you.”

Remy looks surprised. “How can I help?”

I hand him the flyer. “You know I am currently working on a good relationship with Alpha Joel and his family. Kata is the youngest, and I don’t know much about her, but I do want her to be comfortable with our family.”

“You want me to invite her to this concert for that reason?” Remy asks.

“No, you don’t need to invite her. She is going with her friends, Ayden and Fiona.”

“Fiona is a girl from our pack,” he says.

I am surprised he knows that. “Yes.” I pause. “I know this might sound like an unusual request, but would you maybe join them?”

Again, Remy looks surprised. “Wouldn’t that be weird?”

“From what I know, they wanted to ask you anyway.”

“They did?”

“Yes.”

Remy looks torn for a moment. I can’t blame him for that.

He probably knows I am manipulating him.

He is too smart not to realize, but Gabriel is right; he usually doesn’t dare to shoot me down.

To my surprise, though, Remy doesn’t look upset, and instead, he seems to be anxious, as expected, but also… intrigued.

“Okay,” he says.

“Are you sure?” I ask. I didn’t expect him to agree so fast. “If you hate it, I won’t force you.”

“No,” he says with an unusual amount of confidence in his voice. “I want to join Kata… and her friends.”

Now I am the one who is intrigued. He called her Kata instead of using her full name, like he usually does. “How does your head feel?”

“Much better,” he says.

He really does look lighter, so maybe that’s the reason he is willing to go.

Maybe he is truly looking for some new connections outside his friends.

With Lyle having found his mate, things will inevitably change for the trio.

Maybe it’s the push Remy needed to try to broaden his circle of friends?

Whatever it is, I am just relieved he seems to be on board with it.

*KAT*

Joel bids me goodbye with a thumbs up and the words, “You look scandalous,” which is exactly what I was going for. Ayden really looks the part, too. I wasn’t aware he could pull it off, but apparently, he owned a pair of ripped jeans.

The craziest part, however, is that we are supposed to pick up Remy.

Ayden set it up that way, promising Fi that we would pick her up, and it was only logical to offer the same to Remy.

With my heart beating like crazy, I wrote him a message, offering him a lift, just to receive a reply a minute later in which he thanked me… and agreed.

“We are way too early,” I tell Ayden.

“Exactly, that’s the plan.”

Joel sends one of our elite warriors, Colbin, to drive and also keep an eye on us in case of an emergency. I guess this is my new reality since he has become alpha.

“Your plan is to be too early?”

“Yes, that way we will have to knock at Remy’s door and hang out at his place.”

I stare at him. “I have never been to his place…”

“Perfect, huh? Now you can finally check out how he lives, get to know the man and his family. You may thank me later.”

“You really are brilliant,” I mutter.

The drive to Remy’s pack isn’t long. However, I wasn’t aware of how big the pack truly is.

After reaching the borders, we go through security first, making me realize once more how prestigious this pack truly is.

It’s also the first time it sinks in that Joel struck a major deal by befriending Alpha Sean.

This is big.

“The pack is huge,” Ayden voices my own thoughts out loud.

“I was just thinking the same.”

“We are passing the training grounds now for the elite warriors,” Colbin says, driving slower so that we can see everything.

He is right, from this point we can see a clearing through the forest where the warriors are currently training.

“Their training is top-notch,” Colbin adds. “With the deal Alpha Joel made, some of us might be allowed to train with them."

"That would be amazing,” I exclaim. “We could learn something from them. Also concerning pack security.”

“Yes, they know what they are doing.”

Ayden and I keep watching while Colbin steers the car towards the center of the pack, where the houses and cottages are.

I knew in advance that Dark Forest pack was a wealthy pack, and that Remy’s family comes from old money, but seeing it firsthand hits differently.

My own pack is quite well off, but it’s nothing in comparison.

Every single building reflects a higher standard.

The packhouse itself looks like a mansion.

Colbin parks in front of the packhouse. The moment we get out, one of the men walks towards us. He has broad shoulders and is quite tall. The pack members who pass, greet him politely. “He is the beta,” I whisper to Ayden.

“How could you tell?”

“An instinct. I have a feeling for it now.”

“Beta Levi,” Colbin greets him immediately, verifying my suspicion. “We apologize for being early.”

Beta Levi smiles at us. “That’s no problem. We were expecting you anyway. Alpha Sean told me to make sure you are well attended, too. If you want, you can go into the cafeteria and grab something to drink.”

“Definitely do that, Colbin,” I encourage him.

“We still have an hour before we have to leave.” I turn to Levi, gathering all my courage.

This is my job now – Ayden can’t do it for me.

I am the alpha’s sister, and I am the one who holds a certain rank.

“Since Remy is expecting us, I was hoping we could go straight to him. That is, if he is already home.”

Oddly, Beta Levi seems to be almost happy about my suggestion. “Of course, Miss Katalina. Allow me to show Colbin the way to the cafeteria, then I will accompany you to the Alpha Suite.”

It worked! He didn’t question me at all, and he also didn’t tell me to go and wait at Fi’s!

He is letting me go to Remy’s place directly.

Ayden briefly squeezes my arm and nods at me.

A couple of minutes later, Beta Levi is back and leads us straight into the packhouse.

The house itself is an older building, but renovated to current standards.

It’s so big it’s almost intimidating. Broad staircases lead us upstairs until we reach a floor with no other rooms or doors, but one.

“This door leads to the Alpha Suite,” Beta Levi tells us.

“This floor and the one above are private and belong to the alpha family only.”