Page 125 of My Broken Mate
“Or Sean,” Joel continues and winks at me. “Though, isn’t there an Alpha Ben?”
“It’s his second name; his first is Connor.” I tilt my head. “But Sky, not so much.”
Sky looks at us, and for a split second, there is a look of surprise in his eyes. He is a man who looks angry and broody most of the time, but I assume it’s just a front; we all carry our own masks. “You wanted my help. How is this going to help?”
Joel looks at me, letting me take over. He knows I am better at playing mental chess than he is. It was drilled into me.
“I need to trust you first,” I say. “And your secret isn’t helping.”
“Is this why you have been prolonging the negotiations of a contract between our packs?”
I shrug. “Yes.”
“How?” he asks. “How did you know?”
“I just know,” I say shortly. “Does Alpha Rhodes know?”
“Yes.”
“And he doesn’t mind?”
“Not at all.” Sky leans back, looking at me thoughtfully. Momentarily, his mask falls off, and he just looks tired. “Rhodes and I are friends. He supported me in times of need, and I am doing the same now. The alpha rank doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.” He looks at me. “Is that enough?”
“It’s good enough for now,” I say, noticing the relief on his face. “I have no intention of not accepting the deal with Alpha Rhodes.”
Sky goes back to looking broody, but he looks much less angry and cold than before. I assume part of his façade is also a sort of self-protection. It must be exhausting. I know that firsthand. “How can I help?”
I might be the one with the better poker face, but Joel is definitely the smoother, faster talker, so I gesture for him to continue, which he does, filling Sky in on everything we know.
Sky frowns. “Are we sure they didn’t just run off?”
“No, we aren’t. It’s still a possibility,” Gabriel says. “But it’s weird. Katalina’s reaction of panic, particularly.”
“I don’t think I can do anything sitting here,” Sky says. “I need to go to the places they were last seen.”
“I will come with you,” Evander offers.
“Meanwhile, it would be good if someone would go through their private stuff. Maybe we’ll find some hints there,” Sky says.
I frown. I haven’t checked Remy’s room yet. Sky is right, it’s time to do that, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me feel to poke through his private possessions. “Gabriel and I will briefly meet with our beta and then head home to do so.”
Joel gets up. “I will pick up Ayden and go through Kata’s room. I will come to your pack, Sean, once I am done.”
I nod. “See you there.”
Chapter thirty-nine
The Monster Under My Skin
*KAT*
It pains me a little that I can’t tell my family and friends what we are up to—we switched our phones off, so as not to be tracked—but I am slowly beginning to understand that Remy needs to do this on his own terms. My mind goes in all directions, wondering what it is he is trying to face, and nothing I come up with is particularly soothing. “Shouldn’t we tell someone?” I ask quietly. “They will be worried sick.”
“I left a note,” Remy says. “On my desk. I am sure by now either Gabriel or Sean will have found it.”
My head perks up.
“Sorry,” he says softly. “I should have told you earlier. You must have been worrying so much about them.”
