Page 114 of My Broken Mate

Kata blushes, her eyes widen when she looks at me. “She said ‘we’,” she says, her voice an octave higher.

I bend forward to bite her ear softly. “She obviously meant you,” I whisper.

Goosebumps appear on her shoulders and arms. Kata leans forward, resting her hand on my upper leg, dangerously close to my groin. I don’t know what I would have done had we truly been alone, but the creak of the door leading to the restrooms successfully reminds me that we are in a public place. I settle with kissing Kata before drawing apart. There is a time and place to get intimate, and sitting in a coffee shop with a friend isn’t it. I would never want my friends to feel uncomfortable or like they are the fifth wheel. It’s something I constantly feared when I believed I would never have a mate, and I would rather die than subject someone dear to me to that feeling.

Kiki appears a minute later.

“You heard the door, too, didn’t you?” Kata asks me.

I blink, taking a moment to understand what she is talking about, before it strikes me. She is right, I caught the door to the restroom opening. Touching my ear sends me into another spiral of thoughts. My senses are getting stronger!

After our coffee date with Kiki, we get some more studying done for our second round of exams and then head out to dinner with our families.

“Now for the second attempt,” Kata chuckles. “The first one was…”

“Special?” I offer.

“That’s one way to put it,” Kata grins. “It’s not just been us, though! Eve was so stressed and so tense. I have never seen him that way. He is super chill normally.”

“Joel means a lot to him,” I explain. “He probably wanted to make sure not to ruin anything for him.” I pause. “We were pretty tense, too. I wasn’t even aware how much we relied on you and your brothers to ease the tension. All three of you are incredibly aware of your surroundings and are social butterflies.”

“Even Eve?”

“Yes, in his own way.” I think back on how he chatted with Gabriel, and how relaxed Gabriel was when talking to him.

“The most sociable of us is Joel,” she says.

“Joel is an enigma.” When she eyes me curiously, I just shrug. “He is hilarious, doesn’t care for rank or hierarchy, and yet it doesn't clash with his rank as an alpha. He can pull off both, but is also very aware.”

“Do you think his silliness is a front?”

“What do you think? He is your brother.”

“I think it's real,” she says. “I was just curious about how you see him. You are quite perceptive.”

Am I? I have never thought I was. “Not perceptive enough to see what’s wrong with my family.”

“It’s always different when you are the one caught in the middle of a dire situation,” she says. “But to outsiders, you are perceptive. You instantly noticed that I have issues with my self-worth and saying no. You instantly trusted Ayden, although you normally don’t trust people.” She pauses. “So, do you think Joel is putting on a mask?”

“No,” I say. “I think he is very much himself, but he does use it to his advantage and might push it sometimes. I guess there is a second side to him that he doesn’t show a lot.”

Kata nods, smiling. “I am glad you see him the way I see him.”

Before we enter the restaurant, I stop her and tug at her arm. She stumbles into my arms with a squeal, before she gazes up into my eyes. Her hand is at the nape of my neck all of a sudden, playing with my hair there, and her other hand on my arm. I clasp her chin and pull her into a kiss, ravishing her beautiful lips. Sometimes I don’t know what possesses me, but there is this urge in me that wants to claim her. Every part of her body. Over and over again. She presses her body against mine, allowing me to dominate the kiss, my pants get tighter at feeling her so close, tasting and smelling her.

A cough behind me makes me finally let her go. I turn around to see who is disturbing us.

“Don’t look at me so darkly,” Gabriel hurries to say. “You were just blocking the entrance!” He pauses. “I didn’t know you could look that scary.”

Kata peeks around me to smile at Gabriel, to my joy, not even a little bit embarrassed. “Hi. I am sorry, we were about to go in.”

“Right,” Gabriel snorts. “That’s how it looked.”

Putting my arm around her waist, I nudge her forward. “Come,” I mutter. “Gabriel is right. We should probably go inside.”

This dinner date is so much better than the last. Sean is his usual slightly distanced and calm self, but he doesn’t look as scary as the last time. Gabriel is much more relaxed, and so is Evander. As for Kata and me, we thoroughly enjoy each other’s presence.

The menu is pre-set, as it’s more of a fancy restaurant, and they have prepared the dishes for us specifically. The main dish is pasta with seafood. Knowing Kata isn’t too hot on seafood, I eat that part of my dish first, until only the noodles remain.