Page 67 of Destined Paranormals: Volume One

Monroe gave me a confused look.

“If we claim each other, it’s possible I’ll get pregnant.” I shook my head. “I can’t be pregnant around humans. They don’t know about us, and it would be very bad.”

Monroe chuckled. “How did you end up working for two human-run places?”

“I needed money. My sister goes through it like crazy.”

Monroe leaned closer with a serious expression on his face. “I’m not going to be terrible, but it’s time for her to learn about limits and how not everything we want, we get.”

I sighed. He wasn’t wrong. I knew I was overcompensating because I felt terrible that I’d not gotten back to Mississippi in time to get her and Joseph out before the beta got to them.

“I know you’re right. I also think I created a monster, and it’s going to get really ugly when she’s suddenly moved somewhere else away from her friends and suddenly doesn’t get everything she wants.”

Monroe shrugged. “We’ll deal with it together. I have a lot of experience with younger siblings. I’m thirty and am number six of those fifteen.”

“You’re thirty, huh?” Would he be upset I was a few years older than him?

“I am. Is that too old? Too young?”

I snorted. “I’m only thirty-four, Monroe. I’m not ancient or anything like my therapist. He’s a gargoyle, and I’m pretty sure he’s like eight hundred or something. I never asked though.”

Monroe started laughing, and I took that opportunity to give him a playful shove. He fell back onto the bed but then surprised me by pulling me down with him. I lay there, staring at my mate and wondering what the fates were thinking pairing us together, but it was supposed to work. I didn’t know how, but I was going to give it a go because my wolf definitely recognized Monroe as our mate.

“You’re not too old, that’s for sure. Your age doesn’t bother me, and I hope mine isn’t an issue for you.”

“Naw. I honestly expected a much older mate if I ever found mine. But I’m not going to complain.” I sighed. I started to reach out for Monroe but instead pulled my hand back. If my mate wanted to touch me, he would. Instead, I toed off my shoes, letting them drop to the floor with a thud, and moved farther onto the bed. “So, tell me about fae. I have never met one, and I honestly don’t know much about them, I’m sorry.”

Monroe gave me a beaming smile, and when he sat up, I thought he was going to leave, but instead, he removed his own shoes before he moved onto the bed and lay beside me. I was on my side staring at him while he was on his back looking at the ceiling.

“I’m not even sure where to begin,” Monroe said.

“Wherever you’re comfortable. You said you have magic. What else about fae should I know?”

Monroe glanced at me before he looked back up at the ceiling. “Let’s see. Well, we have magical powers that we come into when we hit puberty. Sometimes they can go wonky when an omega is pregnant, but not always. Fae get bored easily and can cause mischief, but that’s usually more of an omega thing than a sire thing.”

“Really?”

“I can think of dozens of instances where it’s been seen in omegas, but not one from a sire, unless it was at a festival and we were all acting out in such a manner.”

“Huh. I mean, I guess I’ve heard about warlocks having issues with their magic while they were learning how to use them all, but I’ve never really been around someone regularly who had magical powers.”

“Everyone learns theirs at different speeds, but for the most part, we’ve mastered our powers by our mid-twenties or early thirties. I’m told that it can take warlocks longer, but I also believe they are more powerful than we are really.”

“I know only a few warlocks and only because of the council. One of the other omegas that I was held captive with ended up with a warlock as a mate. They have twins now.”

“Yeah? That’s amazing. Out of all of my siblings, none are twins.”

I suddenly realized something, and I sat up, a bit freaked out for a moment. Monroe sat up as well and reached for me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I was held with two others. A fox shifter, the one I mentioned who had twins with his warlock mate.”

“Yes, and the other?”

I looked to Monroe with wide eyes. “Chase is a wolf shifter like me. His mate is a dragon, and they have twins.” I took several deep breaths. “What if they did something to us, Monroe? What if there was something in the food they fed us or something, and now we’re going to all have twins?” I absolutely did not want twins. It was already difficult enough with Hailey, and if you added in Monroe’s two young siblings, that was a lot. One baby would be busy enough, but two more? At once?

“Hey, hey, calm down.” Monroe reached out and rubbed up and down my arm. “If we have twins, we’ll have twins. We won’t be alone. We’ll have help.”