Page 41 of My Broken Mate
Traces Of A Monster
*REMY*
The project went surprisingly smoothly. Kiki is in the group, and is one of Kata’s friends, one of the girls she hangs out with. At least that’s what Kiki tells me during our lunch break. We leave college grounds for our lunch and head to a small seafood restaurant Kiki has talked about nonstop for weeks. I made a reservation there to surprise her.
My presentation went well, too, with my professor telling me it was the best of my class. I feel relieved at that. At least Gabriel will be somewhat content, although I know that whatever I do, he will always be able to do better. I can’t remember him ever telling me that I just did well, without any suggestions for improvement.
“I am done for today,” I tell Kiki. “I am heading to Katalina’s pack now.”
“I still have one class,” she says. “And then will hang out with some of the girls. See you later? Maybe we can take Lyle and hang out at my place. There are some new movies online I would love to watch.”
“Sure,” I tell her. “Just write me a message when you want to meet.”
Once in the car, my driver takes me directly to Kata’s pack. I take the forty minutes of a car ride to rewind and to calm my nerves. Almost a whole day of socializing is incredibly draining. I used to do better, but recently everything seems to grate my nerves. I am getting really thin-skinned, it seems, and I am not sure why.
Kata’s pack, or rather her brother’s, is smaller than ours, but not significantly so. It’s less modern and fancy, but has a quiet charm to it. There is more nature surrounding it, and it feels peaceful overall. It’s obvious that the pack members feel content both with the pack and with their leader. I have heard the previous alpha was pretty bad, apparently a very similar situation to the one in my own pack.
Sean works incredibly hard, but it takes a long time to make a whole pack forget their previous trauma.
The guards are already expecting me here, and one of them politely greets me once I get out of my car. My driver is allowed to wait here and stroll around, much to my relief. I would hate for him to be confined to his car.
The packhouse is lively, fortunately, which means no one really pays me much attention. The busier it is, the less people are inclined to notice a new face. I make it up to the Alpha Suite, where Kata is living with her brothers without any incidents.
“Come in!” Kata answers my knocking by ripping the door open. Much to my surprise, she is only clad in sweatpants anda tank top. Her hair is wet. “I am sorry,” she exclaims. “I swear I didn’t confuse the time or anything. I just had my training before, and guess what, on my way back to the Alpha Suite,” —she ushers me inside like the whirlwind she is, not even taking a breath in between her torrent of words. But somehow it doesn’t annoy me like it normally would—“I fell face first into a puddle of mud and ruined my whole hair. I had to jump into the shower again! Phew!” She grabs a plate with an assortment of cookies, muffins and other biscuits and pulls me into her room.
My heart sinks when I see the food. I can’t eat any of it. I just hope she didn’t make it herself.
Once she is sure I am comfortable, she rushes out of the room again. I can hear her running into something and cursing, and then some more rummaging. Meanwhile, I check her room again. The last time I was here, it struck me how cozy it was. It’s a bit cluttered, but not too much. There is an awfully weird painting on the wall, signed EV. I believe that’s the way her brother signs his work. There are flowers, which she is apparently drying, to make little artworks with them. There is a shelf with romance and crime novels. She has decorated everything with flowers, some are real, dried ones, some are fake. The walls of her room are white, aside from one that is painted in a gentle blue with clouds covering it like the sky. Her bed is queen-sized and all white. It’s an antique piece that’s been restored and painted anew. The sheets are in a simple blue, like the wall.
This room has so much personality, so much warmth. It makes me realize how much my own room lacks, although I spend so much time there.
“Sorry for making you wait,” Kata blurts out while rushing into the room again. She is dressed in jeans and a cropped top now and has her hair tied back. Lyle said he finds her cute, and he isn’t wrong. Though, cute isn’t the right word. Some people justhave a lot of charisma, and it makes you ignore the smaller outer flaws they might have. Kata just eludes personality, kindness, and charisma. She is special.
I shake my head at my own thoughts. What am I even thinking? I have never had a crush in my life, and I am certainly not starting now!
“No problem,” I say, realizing she is waiting for an answer.
She looks around, probably noticing that I was checking out her room. “Sorry, it’s a mess, isn’t it?”
“Not at all. It’s a very beautiful room.”
Surprisingly, Kata blushes slightly at my words, looking happy at that simple statement. “When we moved to the suite last year, Joel told me to do whatever I want with my room,” she explains. “First time I could do that.”
“The former alpha was your uncle, wasn’t he?”
“Yes, but he hated us, especially my father. Well, it’s in the past now,” she beams. “Everything is in the past. Joel is such a great alpha, and Eve helped me with painting my room and restoring the furniture I like.”
“Eve?”
“My second brother,” she says.
“You call him Eve? Isn’t that a girl’s name?”
“It is, but it kind of stuck around, and he likes it. Says it gives him a mysterious air.”
He probably really does, as he also signs his drawings as EV, which can be read as Evander, too. It’s so weird how light-hearted and easy-going these siblings seem to be. Completely different from how I am with my brothers. I feel a twinge in my chest when I realize the vast difference between her family and mine.
I am not sure how to react to her words. Usually, I can easily hold a conversation even if I don’t want to. It’s what I was taught early on. I am good at pretending to be interested oreven being aloof when someone tries to take a dig at me. It’s important to know how to carry myself, especially with Sean’s position now and the world we interact in. Some wealthy alphas can be really nasty. They appreciated my father for the money he brought to the table, and now Sean, Gabriel and I need to make sure to stand up to them. We can’t allow ourselves to make any mistakes.
