Lilaâs POV
âLila?â Brody spoke in a low tone after a few minutes of us sitting in silence. âDid you hear me?â
I felt completely numb. I couldnât have heard him correctly. This couldnât be real. Was Sarah actually
Brodyâs mate?
His goddess-given mate?
âI know itâs a shock. It was a shock for me too. Iâve kind of been keeping to myself because of it,â he
said, shaking his head with dismay written all over his face.
âI donât understandâ¦â I finally found my voice after what felt like an eternity of silence. âI hardly see you
two together. Are you sure sheâs your mate?â
He looked at me like I had a bunch of heads.
âOf course, Iâm sure,â he said, almost insulted by the accusation. âBut she doesnât know yet.â
âWhat do you mean she doesnât know?â I asked.
Sarah had her wolf last year which meant she should have been able to sense Brody as her mate just
as
Brody sensed her.
âIâm not just a wolfâ¦â he said, lowering his gaze and staring at his empty plate. âI have witchesâ blood
too.â
âWitches blood?â I asked, raising my brows.
âOn my momâs side,â he explained. âThere are witches in my family.â
âSo, you have magic?â I asked in disbelief.
He nodded.
How had I not known this about him? Did everybody know this about him?
âI havenât told anybodyâ¦â he answered my unspoken question. âI donât want them to look at me
differently.â
à Categories Searchâ¦
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âLook at you differently?â I repeated, eyeing him carefully. âBrody itâs incredible that you have magic.
This whole time Iâve been feeling like an outcast for being a little different, all while you were different
too.â
He gave me a sheepish grin.
âIâm sorry for not telling you sooner,â he said, running his fingers through his hair. âYou are my friend,
and I shouldnât have kept something like that from you. I donât use my magic often. When I do, I try to
use it for good.â
âI donât doubt that,â I said with a grin. âYouâve always been very kind.â
Soon, the waiter arrived with our meals. Once he was gone, I turned back to Brody with a frown.
âBut wait, that doesnât answer my question. How has Sarah not sense you as her mate?â
âOn my 18(th) birthday, my wolf sensed her right away and I knew she sensed me as well. We were
going toward one another. She was looking everywhere, as was I. Neither of us knew where the other
was. But I found her first. As soon as I saw her, I took off before she spotted me. I think I was in such
shock; I wasnât sure what to do. So, I took a spell from my momâs book and cast it on myself.â
I gasped, staring at him in disbelief. He didnât have to explain what kind of spell he used. I knew from
the look on his face exactly what he did.
âYou made it so she couldnât sense you,â I said in almost a whisper.
He nodded his head once.
âIt weakened my wolf too. I canât shiftâ¦Waylan is furious with me.â
âYour wolf?â
He nodded.
âI know sheâs not good news. I just donât know what to do about it. I donât want her as my mate⦠but I
donât know if I have the heart to reject her. I just needed to buy some time. I figured the one person
who could help me was you⦠but youâve been so busy lately andââ
âIâm so sorry, Brody,â I breathed, reaching my hand out to touch him. âI should have been here for you. I
had no idea you were going through something like this.â
He met my eyes and gave me a small smile.
âDonât be sorry. Itâs okay,â he said softly. âSo⦠what do you think I should do?â
I stared around his face for a moment and sighed.
âIf thereâs one thing, I learned over the course of last year and over the summerâ¦you should listen to
your wolf. He knows what he wants and fulfilling your wolfâs needs is important. Youâve already
deprived
him of his greatest strengths and shifting, donât deprive him of his mate too.â
âI donât trust her though,â he said, shaking his head. âSheâs bad news. I thought our mates were
supposed to be good for us⦠I doubt Sarah is good for me.â
I thought about it for a moment as I ate some of my food and then I peered back over at him.
âMaybe itâs not about her being good for you⦠maybe itâs you being good for her,â I said thoughtfully.
âMaybe with your kindness and your love, you can change her and make her into a better she-wolf.
Maybe she can make you into a stronger wolf. Donât ignore Waylan because you are afraid of what
could happen. Whatâs waiting around the corner could be amazing.â
He blinked a couple of times at me before leaning back in his seat.
âYou are wise about this. I knew I came to the right person,â he said, grinning.
I chuckled at his compliment.
âIt seems like you also speak from experience,â he said, eyeing my face carefully. âIs there anything
youâd like to tell me in return?â
Staring at his face, I knew exactly where he was getting at.
âYou did hear my conversation earlierâ¦â
âI didnât if you didnât want me to,â he said, but I knew from his face that he did.
I sighed.
âHow much of it did you hear?â I asked, staring down at my plate.
âEnough to know that you found your mate.â
I glanced up at him and nodded.
âYes. I didâ¦â I confessed. âI found him last yearâ¦â
âI donât see why you are hiding it. Was it to spare my feelings? Did you not think Iâd be happy for you?â
He asked, narrowing his eyes at me. But then he frowned. âWait⦠you also mentioned hiding a mark.
He
marked you and you are hiding it?â
I sighed and nodded slowly.
âYes and no Iâm not just hiding it from you. Iâm hiding it from everyone. Nobody knows I found my mate
and they canât know. At least not yetâ¦â
He rose his brows.
âNot even your roommates?â He asked.
I shook my head.
âWhat about your parents?â
âIâm going to tell them over the weekend,â I answered.
âWhy the secrecy though?â
âItâs complicated,â I said a little too quickly.
âCanât be more complicated than my situation with Sarah,â he chuckled.
This was it. I had to tell Brody the truth. He felt comfortable enough to tell me the truth; I needed to
repay the favor.
âItâs Alpha Enzoâ¦â
The clatter of his fork falling to his plate startled me and I met his alarmed eyes.
âProfessor Enzo?!â He gasped. âLike⦠your former combat and shifting professor? Alpha of the
Calypso
pack? The son of the wolf who divided our entire nation and tried to kill your familyââ
âYes, Brody,â I said in a sharp whisper. âKeep it downâ¦â
âSorry⦠Iâm just in shock.â
âI know⦠I was tooâ¦â I said, feeling my face warming. âBut yes. Heâs my mate⦠and heâs also nothing
like his father. Heâs actually trying to undo everything his father did to this nation. There are a lot of
people who donât know about Enzo. I was guilty of misjudging him as well and I wonât make that
mistake again.â
âSo, this entire time⦠all last yearââ
âNothing happened until this summer. He went with me as my bodyguard to Monstro and we
bondedâ¦â I told him. âHe was going to reject me after graduation once my wolf was stronger. But
things changed and he ended up marking meâ¦â
âWowâ¦â Brody breathed. âSo, I guess you really do know complicated.â
I stared at him for a moment and then we both burst out laughing.
âWhy us?â he laughed, shaking his head.
âThe moon goddess has a funny sense of humor,â I laughed in return. But then I got serious for a
moment. âNobody can know about this, Brody.â
He reached his hand out and touched mine.
âI promise, nobody will.â
â¦
The next evening, I packed a weekend bag and drove to the Calypso pack. I didnât have classes
tomorrow, so I was planning on spending the next few days with Enzo. Except for when I have to do the
bake sale with Dee in the afternoon.
Once I got to the packhouse, I greeted Ethan who was passing by.
âEnzo isnât back yet, but heâll be here soon. You can put your things in his room and meet Dee in the
kitchen. Sheâs been waiting for you.â
I thanked him before heading upstairs and towards Enzoâs bedroom. I put my things beside his bed and
was about to leave the room when something caught my eye.
I paused for a moment, staring at the light purple handkerchief that occupied his nightstand. Narrowing
my eyes at it, I went closer toward it. It almost looked like something was wrapped in it by the way it
was tied together.
I lifted it and decided that something was definitely inside of it.
I managed to get it untied and what fell out and into the palm of my hand was the most gorgeous ring
I had ever seen in my entire life. I gasped at the pure beauty that lay in my hands.
âMy goddess, Lila,â Val spoke after being quiet for most of the day. âItâs a wedding ring!â