Page 60 of Destined Paranormals: Volume One

“Hailey, stop being a bitch,” Joseph said as he entered the kitchen. As expected, Hailey gasped.

“Oscar! Are you going to do something?”

I looked up from my cup of coffee and stared at my sister. “What do you want me to do? Wasn’t it you who just thirty seconds ago said that you didn’t have to listen to me? Now you want me to do something because it benefits you in some way?” I stood up and glared down at Hailey. “I’ll do something.” I nodded at her. “I’ll give you one last warning before I ship you off to live with someone else in the pack.” Hailey gasped again. Joseph snorted.

“You wouldn’t dare. You can’t just ship me off.”

“There’s not a whole lot of shipping to do, Hailey.” I set my now empty mug in the sink and turned to lean against it. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared at my sister. “I’m not our father, you are correct about that. Our father is dead, which is exactly what he deserves for what he allowed to happen to us.” I stood up, ready to be finished with this conversation again. I’d had it monthly since we’d been brought back here to Montana. “If you want to go to the solstice festival, fine. Go. But if you get into trouble, that’s it, Hailey. You will be living with someone else because I’m tired of the disrespect you throw at me for going through the hell I did to rescue you.”

I knew she was upset. I understood it. She’d not been put through the same amount of hell that I had, but that didn’t give her an excuse to constantly berate and abuse me. I was doing the best I could with what I had available. I worked a full-time as well as a part-time job just to provide for her. All it got me was exhaustion and disdain from her. Thankfully, Joseph understood, and I’d not had a single issue with him. He had actually picked up a part-time job at the diner here in Timber Valley, working in the kitchen. I didn’t mind as long as his grades didn’t slip too much. I wanted so much more for my younger siblings than what I’d been given. I was trying to provide that, and at least one of them was able to see that.

I heard Joseph and Hailey arguing, and I knew I should put an end to it, but it wasn’t even seven in the morning yet, and I just didn’t have it in me to stop them. I hadn’t gotten in until after two, and I was tired. That didn’t matter, though, because I had to be at my full-time job in less than an hour, and it was going to be an incredibly long day.

I grabbed my coat, pulled it on, and picked out my keys from the small basket at the end of the counter where we kept our loose things. “I have to go to work,” I called out, not expecting anyone to answer because I could still hear them fighting.

I was at a loss as to what to do with Hailey. She was upset because we were in Montana. All right. I could change that just as soon as I saved up enough money to move us. But that was going to take time, and she loved to spend money, which meant it would take even longer.

I opened the door and almost walked directly into a very solid chest. I managed to stop, but just barely. Immediately, I recognized the wolf standing in front of me, but I couldn’t understand why he would be here. He didn’t live in the area any longer. Canyon had found his mate in a fate and he was now the fourth fate and lived with Thomas in the fate realm. What was he doing here?

“Is something wrong?” I asked as I pulled the door shut behind me.

“Not exactly, no. My brother mentioned how you were having some issues with your sister.”

I sighed. I wasn’t upset with Alpha Forest. He was actually one of the nicest alphas I’d ever met. He was fair, and he wanted nothing but the best for his pack, and it showed.

“She’s fourteen. She’s being difficult, which I’m told is normal for fourteen-year-old girls. She doesn’t want to listen, and I have to work two jobs now to support her spending habit so she can fit in with her friends.” I didn’t care for most of her friends. They weren’t all bad, but there were a few that were absolutely trouble. She just couldn’t see it, and if I couldn’t get her away from them, she was going to end up in more trouble than I could fix.

“What can we do to help?”

I chuckled. “I’m not sure.” I glanced at the old SUV that I drove. It wasn’t the greatest, but it ran fairly well, and it got me and my siblings from point A to B without too much fuss. “I have to get to work. Did you need to see one of them for something?”

Canyon shook his head. “I’m actually here to see you, Oscar.”

“Me?” I was now shaking my head. When he nodded, I shook mine more. “No. I’m not mate material. I don’t get a mate, remember? You and your mate need to match someone else. I don’t have time for a bossy alpha who is going to want a bunch of babies. I already have Hailey. She’s more than enough for five babies. Seriously.”

“Oscar, you know that’s not how it works.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Listen, Connor, I don’t have time for a mate.” I started toward the SUV.

“Canyon.”

I stopped. “What?”

“Canyon. My name is Canyon. And it’s already done. You and your mate both need each other right now. He can help you with your siblings, and you can help him with his.”

I was incredibly confused. “What are you even talking about?” I shook my head again. “No. No mate. I don’t need more teenagers throwing fits around here. No. I have to get to work,” I said again.

Canyon touched my shoulder, and suddenly, we were no longer standing outside the house that I lived in with my siblings. We were now standing inside Alpha Forest’s house. We weren’t alone, and there were definitely unfamiliar scents in the house. I glared up at the wolf shifter-now-fate when I picked up on one in particular.

“That is so very wrong of you. Dirty and wrong. You know what scenting him will do to me.”

“It’s time, Oscar. You need your mate, and he needs you. You’ll find that your situations, although not quite the same, are somewhat similar. You both have two siblings you are responsible for. Trust me when I say that it might not seem like it at first, but you two truly are a perfect match for one another.”

I wasn’t sure how, but I’d accept that if he said so. He was a fate, and they were supposed to know these things. They worked out perfectly for Chase and Eli. Their mates adored them. But they didn’t have nearly the baggage I did. I had a teenage boy who was about to go off to college next fall, but honestly, Joseph wasn’t an issue at all. That was all Hailey. She had decided that she needed to be queen bee, and I was really tired of it.

“Fine.” There was no getting around it now that I’d scented him in the house. Technically, I probably could, but it would eventually throw me into heat, and I really didn’t want to go through one without a mate if I didn’t have to. Mine had always been irregular anyway, but when they hit, they hit hard, and that wasn’t something I wanted to deal with alone.

“Good. Come meet Monroe. His little brother is Mason, and the baby is Maelie.”