Page 59 of My Broken Mate (Healing Bonds #1)

Chapter forty-five

Forward

*REMUS*

I thought Sean and Gabriel, or at least one of them, would put up more of a fight voicing their opinion of my wish to move out. But when I told them, neither of them acted in a negative way. Instead, they were both really supportive.

It amazes me how much our relationship has changed. A couple of months ago, that wouldn’t have been possible.

Or maybe it would have been, but I never trusted them or anyone around me to voice my own needs and wants, and I never believed they would accept my boundaries and help me achieve my goals.

But now, not even a week after my trip to the mountains, I am moving out.

“I love this cottage,” Kiki says, while she and Cora hang some curtains.

“Me, too,” I admit. “I originally wanted something smaller, but Sean wanted me to have one of the better ones, and they are all slightly bigger.”

“ Sean was just selfish,” Sean admits, carrying a box into the house. “This is one of the places closest to the packhouse. Most of the smaller cottages are quite secluded.”

“I prefer it to be close, too,” I admit. Just because I want my own space, away from the bad memories of the Alpha Suite, doesn’t mean I want to live somewhere in the middle of the forest. Now, that’s a scary thought.

Remy? Lyle links me. Oh, wait, I mean, Remus.

You can still call me Remy, I appease him. Not everyone needs to call me by my full name.

But Kat and your brothers do.

That’s different, I admit. For us, it marks a change we all needed.

I still want to try. A pause. You and Kat, and Cora and I need to go on a double date sometime.

We should really do that! How are things going with her?

Very well. We are going away for the weekend, and the plan is to mark each other then, he admits.

Awesome!

He grins . Yes!

While we are still working, moving all my things and assembling new furniture, Gabriel arrives with a folder in his hands. “I put together the most important info for you,” he tells me. “In case you have problems with the electricity, water or just in general, if you have any problems here.”

Sean and I exchange a look. Now that I can link everyone in my pack, I don’t see how I would need a list of numbers and names, and frankly, I also have my phone to swiftly look up anything I need.

He really can’t get out of his skin sometimes, Sean links me.

For real. He is still patronizing at times, but I don’t mind it much anymore. He means well but doesn’t know how to voice his worries.

“Thank you,” I say. “Could you put it on the shelf in the kitchen?”

“Good idea,” Gabriel says.

We continue to work in silence. Kiki and Cora have started to put together some shelves in the living room.

Kata will be here any minute to help. She had a class at Uni, and later scheduled a talk with a counselor there.

She is going to switch some of her classes to something that interests her more.

She originally chose management and business for her brother’s sake.

Like with most of the decisions she made, she thought of others first, but I think she is slowly learning to be a bit selfish now, which I highly support.

She doesn’t know yet what she truly wants to study, but that’s where the counselor at our university comes into play. He will discuss her career options with her and then decide on something with her.

Sean, I link my brother when he and Levi arrive with another couple of boxes. Are we training today?

Depends, he says. We still have an awful lot of work to do here, and I also need to go to a meeting in between. He pauses. Do you want to train?

Lately, we are training together almost daily. Now that my wolf is here, I have a lot of catching up to do, but it’s different than before when I felt inadequate and lacking. Sometimes I still feel that way, but I can handle it better now. What do you suggest?

Not to overstrain you or your mind, he says. I know you want to catch up, but you can’t do that in a week or even two.

More patience, huh? My strong point.

He chuckles. That’s where all three of us are lacking.

Did you talk to the specialists?

Yes, one of them can see you tonight or tomorrow, he says.

Let’s make it tomorrow, I say. We are meeting Kata and her brothers for lunch, and we could visit the specialist before that.

Sean nods. Fine with me. For what it’s worth, I believe everything is right with you and Atlas.

I know he is right, but after all this time, I truly want to be sure that there is nothing blocking us anymore.

Kata is going to stay the night, and it’s all the strength I need for tomorrow.

The guy will certainly ask questions to learn what stunted me and my wolf, and while I am still not sure how much to tell him and Sean, I need to say something.

My nose picks up Kata’s scent, the pull of the mate bond tugging at me the closer she gets. Everything is so easy when she is here, like she clears the fog in my mind.

I immediately stop fretting about that meeting tomorrow.

One step after another.

SEAN

I have no doubt that my brother’s wolf spirit has fully awakened.

Under Levi’s and my guidance, Remus has started to train both in human and wolf form, so I would have been surprised if there were still blockades up.

At the same time, it doesn’t hurt talking to a specialist to verify it.

Looking back at it now, I guess Gabriel and I didn’t go about this the right way.

We didn’t want to bother Remus too much, which is why we never talked about the fact that his wolf wasn’t with him.

Better communication might have helped us understand everything further.

I can’t even imagine how traumatic it would be not to have my wolf spirit with me. It might have helped Remus with feeling less of a burden. We should have involved him in these decisions and not decided for him.

“He is waiting for us in my office,” I say.

Remus nods. “It’s good that he was able to come to the company. I don’t think I would have liked doing it on pack grounds.”

“Why not?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I think it is better here.”

“And you really didn’t want to have Kata along?”

He lets out a sigh. “Actually, I really want her here, but at the same time, I can’t.”

“And why?”

“Because I think I need to do this with you,” he says.

I look at him, surprised. “There is something you aren’t telling me.”

“True,” he admits, before he raises his head. “There, look, Joel is here?”

I follow his gaze, noticing Joel, who is carrying two folders in his hands. He pauses when he sees us and waves.

“Did we have a meeting set?” I ask him.

“No, I just dropped by to pick up the layout document for the alliance with Alpha Rhodes from your secretary. Gabe had it prepared.”

“Oh, right!” I smile. “So, you are going through with it.”

“Yes, our three packs will be tightly-knit now.” He grins at Remus. “Not that it was necessary to knit us even tighter together.”

Remus returns his smile and nods.

I glance at my watch. “It’s still pretty early.”

“Yeah, I was thinking there would be more traffic.” He shrugs. “I’ll walk around until lunch.”

“There is a small cafeteria here. It’s on the third floor.” Remus tells him. “Why don’t you wait there? We can pick you up once we are done.”

Joel beams and gives us the thumbs up. “Sounds juicy,” he says, before waving at us once more and hurrying to the elevator.

“Juicy?” Remus asks.

“Don’t ask me,” I sigh. “Half of the time, I don’t understand what he is saying.”

“I actually think you do,” he chuckles. “It’s so weird that you get along so well.”

“I guess I really needed this friendship.” There is no weakness in admitting to it. It doesn’t mean I need to tell anyone that Joel and I aren’t just friends, but friends with some additional benefits.

The specialist I hired for Remus has been one of the doctors working with him for years now.

He is waiting for us already and doesn’t waste any time with too much small talk.

I can see that he is eager and curious to make sure that his patient’s wolf has indeed returned.

Half an hour later, we have the reassurance.

The man hasn’t said much yet, but his eyes are telling me all I need to know.

Remus’ wolf is here, and he is at his full strength.

“What’s your verdict?” Remus finally asks the man.

The latter smiles. “There is nothing blocking your wolf anymore. He is here with full strength. No need to worry, though I’ll run a few more tests just to be sure.”

Remus lets out a deep sigh. “I am so relieved. Is it true what Atlas told me about my mother’s bloodline?”

“You have a very strong wolf spirit,” the specialist says. “I have no doubt it’s true.”

Remus smiles contentedly. “It means I will be able to help you, Sean.”

“With or without a wolf spirit, I never had doubts you would,” I tell him what I have told him several times already. It pains me that he doesn’t genuinely believe in himself. But we’ll eventually get there. “And I did some digging.”

“Oh?”

“I was able to trace your lineage back a few generations. From the record, it seems that most of your family members were smart, cunning and had amazing strategic abilities.”

Remus looks at me for a while. It seems to think my words through before nodding. “Maybe that’s why… Atlas was strong enough to protect me.”

Again. He said something similar a couple of days ago when we trained together in our wolf forms for the first time.

“What do you think happened?” I ask the specialist. “That my brother’s wolf surfaced now.”

“Well, I guess Remus marking his mate might have pushed his wolf to come forward. However,” he pauses. “We previously excluded any physical reasons for his wolf being buried. It must have been his mind.”

“I was ready to challenge it,” Remus says quietly.

“What do you mean by it? ”

“The things on my mind that I didn’t realize were there,” he admits. “Atlas was just trying to protect me.”

I look at him, an anxious feeling gnawing in my chest. “What type of things?”