Page 17 of My Broken Mate

“What does this mean?” I ask, showing Lyle the message. Gabriel has invited him over, pretending it to be a coincidence. He is the worst liar ever. However, for once, I didn’t mind him tricking me. “I mean this sequence of symbols…”

“Dude, are you for real?” Lyle chuckles. “It’s a smiling face.”

“And the slash next to it?”

“She throws her hands up in a hurrah gesture,” he explains.

“Why?” I blink.

Lyle gives me his signature look of disbelief. He looks funny that way, because normally he goes for a cool look. Only Kiki and I know him as silly. “She is probably trying to tell you that she is happy to meet you.”

“But we don’t know each other,” I say. “How can she be happy to meet me?”

“Beats me,” Lyle rolls his eyes. “You are acting like a grandpa right now.”

I toss a pillow at him, which he dodges. It knocks over a glass, though, spilling soda all over my blanket. “Sorry,” he says.

“It’s just liquid,” I say, before making sure to clean it. Our suite is full of expensive carpets, and Gabriel almost had a heart attack last time something got spilled. I’ve just cleaned everything when there is a knock at the door, and Gabriel peeks inside.

“Is everything alright?” he asks. He sounds worried, probably about the carpet.

“Just an accident,” Lyle jumps in instantly. He smiles politely, back to his perfect boy-next-door stance. Kiki always says he has the smile to win every grandma over. “It was my fault.”

“Don’t mention it,” Gabriel says. “Just be careful not to get hurt.”

What? Does he think I will bleed to death just because I might cut myself on a piece of glass? Lyle stops me from replying, though, by nodding graciously with his grandma-winning smile. “Of course.”

“Did you guys eat something?” Gabriel asks. “If not, I could prepare something for you.”

At his words, even Lyle’s smile falters. Gabriel is the worst cook in the universe. It’s almost cute how bad he actually is. At the very beginning, Lyle thought I was exaggerating until he got a taste of Gabriel’s creations. “Thank you,” I say, “but Lyle came with leftovers.”

For once, it’s not a lie, because he indeed brought some along.

“Something else,” Gabriel continues. “We have a huge gala coming up. It’s the biennial pack leader gala.”

Oh shoot. That’s a big event. I was only required to join once, shortly before I turned eighteen. But now that I’m nineteen, this is probably something I need to do regularly, especially since my oldest brother is the alpha.

“It’s that time again?” Lyle muses.

“The alpha families and the ranked members have to attend, or it will look bad,” Gabriel says. “Sean expects us both to come, obviously. Please, let’s not argue about it.”

“I wasn’t about to,” I say. Why does he think I would?

“I was just saying,” Gabriel defends himself.

“So,” Lyle says before I can answer. “Does the invitation also extend to the gamma family?”

“Yes, your father and brother will attend,” Gabriel says. “Sean said you can take along one or two friends, Remy. Lyle would probably be really suitable.”

I turn to look at my friend. “I won’t force you to come.”

“Are you kidding? As if I will leave you alone there,” he says. “Kiki can be your date so that the girls won’t throw themselves at you… as usual.”

I don’t know what it is… probably Sean’s rank or the family name, but Lyle isn’t wrong; wherever I go, I have someone hitting on me.

“Oh, you are popular?” Gabriel asks.

“I wouldn’t say that,” I mutter.