Bro and the Beast 4 (The Wolf's Mate, #4)

by L.C. Davis

You imprinted on me! We're destined!" I shake my head, refusing to back down. "I don't care what destiny says. I choose Brad." My gaze finds his, and the warmth in his eyes chases away the chill trying to settle in my bones. "I'll choose Brad in this universe, and every other."

I'm going to have a damn hard time convincing him otherwise. But this is his den, and these strange fools are his pack. A pack he's clearly the alpha of, so I'm not going to challenge him openly in front of the others.

"Do me a favor and show her to one of the guest rooms, alright?" "Sure," Steve says, looking down at Catalina. "You like foosball?" She blinks at him, nonplussed. "Do I like what?"

"You should know us better than that. We're bros, man, and bros accept each other no matter what. Even if they're getting boned by a gay werewolf." "Especially then," Steve says in a matter-of-fact tone.

"This is Raul. He's my, uh..." "Mate," Raul offers proudly. I gulp. "Yeah. Mate." Coming out as gay is one thing, but all the werewolf shit is another. Of course, they've literally seen him in his beastly wolf form, so there's no putting that seven-hundred-pound cat back into the bag.

"Dude, where did you find this guy?" Kevin asks, even though they're already pushing Raul out the door. "Let's just say we met through a mutual love of books," I say dryly,

And I know from that protective glint in his eyes that I need to defuse the situation fast. I know he wouldn't hurt an omega, but I'm pretty sure he's not above locking her in a closet if she gets out of hand,

Raul insists on shadowing me to class, of course, and so far, no one's noticed he's out of place. Or at least, no one's had the balls to call him on it, considering he looks like he could bench the admin building.

"Hey, man, can you teach us how to get your gains? You're fucking huge." Raul blinks at them. "I'm a werewolf." "Can you bite me, bro?" Adam counters, clearly excited by the prospect.

"Alright, frosh, beat it," I grunt, snapping my sweaty towel at the three of them. "The grownups need to talk." "It's not fair. If your boyfriend's gonna be shacking up here for free, he should at least be training us," Lee grumbles, slinking off with the others.

"What if Luna can't get us back? What if I end up having this baby here? Dude, I don't even know what hole this thing is gonna come out of!"

"I still think you're cheating," Adam mutters, but there's no real heat behind the accusation. "Cheating is dishonorable," I inform him. "An alpha would never stoop so low." "Dude, you're like the Knight's Temples or something," Dave muses from across the table. "It's Templar, dumbass," Adam snaps.

She's a great lay, psychotic or not." "One day she's gonna cut your dick off," Brad warns. "Promises, promises," Steve says with a leer.

"I'm really not enthused by the idea that our fate might rest in the hands of a man your pack calls 'Smelly Steve,'" Raul says flatly. "You and me both, buddy," I snort. "And it's not a pack, it's a frat." "Same difference," says Raul.

In a flash, he's got me pinned against the wall, his hard body pressed against mine. "Gotcha," he growls, nuzzling my neck. "Get off, you overgrown hellhound!"

"You could always come with us," Raul offers. "I have a jet in my world." Reese glances dubiously at him in the rearview mirror. "So does that make Brad, like, a trophy wife or something?"

"What did it look like?" "It's a big red binder with the frat letters on front," Reese answers. I gulp. "Oh, yeah. We're using that to prop up that one leg of the beer pong table that's unsteady." Luna groans, dropping her head back against the rest. "Unbelievable." "Hey, you wing ancient powerful magic, I wing frat policy," I argue. "Don't ask me which one is worse."

Raul takes my arm to help me up, and if my leg wasn't asleep, I'd remind him I'm not eight months pregnant.

"Stop moving," Constantine orders, golden eyes locked on me. He's not wearing his white jacket anymore, and I realize I'm laying on it. So he's a chivalrous psychopath.

Lenore, Curtis, Devon, Hannah, Reese, Luna, and even Trent all surround us, their eyes flicking between Raul and me as he finishes recounting everything that happened while we were gone. Well, most of it. "… And that's how we got here," Raul concludes, his voice steady but tired. Luna groans and rubs her temples. "That's the kind of transitional, expository scene I would have glossed over with a lazy time skip if I was still writing the book."

"So do you guys have an air fryer?" "A what now?" Hannah replies, her voice trailing off as they disappear into the other room. Did I mention to Reese that this place is set in the '80s? Probably should have done that... Oh, well. He'll figure it out.

"Do you like writing about murder?" she asks on the way to the stairs, her eyes wide with curiosity. Luna hesitates for a moment before replying, "Well... sometimes." "Great!" Mina exclaims, rubbing her hands together. "I have lots of ideas!" With that, she grabs Luna's hand and marches her up the stairs, leaving the three of us alone in the living room. "Wonderful. A bad influence is just what she needs," Raul mutters. "Are you talking about Mina or Luna?" I ask. He pauses like he's considering it. "Both."

"This is still really weird," he says, shaking his head. "Which part?" I ask, smirking. "Me and Raul being a couple or me being pregnant?" "Both," Devon replies, looking slightly exasperated. "I mean, you're my straight brother, and now you're mated to a guy, and you're pregnant with his baby, and you're ready to pop."

It's hard not to stare at the curve of his belly, a living testament to our bond. I wonder if he knows just how beautiful he looks like this, even though I know he's uncomfortable and scared. Brad catches me staring and arches an eyebrow. "Are you seriously checking me out right now? I look like I swallowed the rest of the football team."

I know my brother, and I can tell when something's bothering him. Not that that's ever stopped him from putting up a front. It was always, "Brad, you can't stuff that guy into a locker because he talked shit about me," and "there are laws, Brad." Fucking goodie two shoes.