Page 133 of My Broken Mate

At 10 a.m., I find myself at the parking lot in front of the packhouse, already expected by Joel, Evander and Gabriel. The latter two look anxious, while Joel is back to his usual self, wearing sunglasses and a sun hat that would look ridiculous on anyone but him.

“Ready to leave?”

“Yes!” Gabriel exclaims. “Finally!”

“You hinted that it’s going to be a long drive?” Joel asks while taking his place in the passenger seat, skillfully ignoring Gabriel’s glare, as he wanted to sit there.

“Yes, definitely a couple of hours. Remus and Katalina took the train. Sky told me as much when I called him last night.”

“What type of place is it?” Gabriel asks. “You can finally tell us. No one’s going to run off and head there before the set time.”

“So, that’s why you didn’t tell us?” Joel asks with a grin. “Sly. And good that you didn’t. Eve was so annoying with his constant nagging and worrying.”

“She is our sister,” Evander emphasizes.

“Yeah, and she isn’t a baby. She is an adult,” Joel says. “Hopefully, she will have some adult fun on this trip.”

“Goddess,” Gabriel groans.

I can barely contain my amusement at Gabriel’s shocked and Evander’s annoyed expressions. At least this trip won’t be boring.

“So?” Gabriel urges once we are on the highway. “Would you tell us, Sean?”

“There is not much to tell. I already said it’s a place in the mountains. The place itself is a rehabilitation center for people suffering from depression and burnout.”

“And Remus’ mom was sent there?” Joel asks.

“No, from what I know, she ran there,” I say quietly. “She hid for a couple of weeks with Remus.”

“But Dad found her, right?” Gabriel assumes correctly.

I feel a well-known twinge in my chest. “There was never any escaping him.”

“How did she die?” Joel asks softly.

“She was weakened tremendously already from the strain of being with our father,” I explain. Keeping it in a matter-of-fact tone makes it easier to talk about it. “They later detected wolfsbane in her blood, so I assume she took it before she hung herself.”

“And Remus?” Evander asks.

“There were signs indicating that she smothered him or, rather, tried to.”

Silence shrouds us.

“Fuck!” Gabriel says, rubbing his face. “Fuck. You should have told me!”

“What for? To add more trauma to an already traumatic situation? You knew that she committed suicide. As for our brother… his mother was his everything, and despite what she did in the end, he stuck to this sentiment that he was her everything, too. I didn’t want to tarnish it.”

“Did you ever consider that in her mind, as broken as she might have been, she might have felt she had reasons to kill him?” Joel mutters. “She sounds like a loving mom from all that you told me, but she must have been broken at the end. Either she had a psychosis, or maybe she thought Remus would be safer when he was dead.”

His words shock me. I haven’t thought about that yet. I always believed she probably had a psychotic break, but didn’t manage to go through with it and kill her son.

“Maybe that’s why Remus is doing this trip,” I say. “It’s a possibility.”

“Kata is with him,” Joel says quietly. “Believe me, she will get him through this.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know what I expected,” Joel says, stretching his limbs as he gets out of the car. “But not this! It’s idyllic.”