Page 5 of Roman (Destined Paranormals #7)

Chapter 5

Roman

I had worked with fae before in the council’s store. There were several here on Treasure Ridge and others down off the mountain. I knew that despite the fact the one behind the counter looked barely legal, he was most likely in his twenties at the minimum. He had to be because otherwise, the council wouldn’t have him working at the bakery. No, he was the one that was going to be running the bakery, I told myself.

The real issue was that my tiger was upset because we were leaving our mate behind without so much as talking to him. My mate. I thought about the beautiful fae who was passing out baked goods. He absolutely wasn’t expected, but I wasn’t going to be upset about finding my mate. I had hoped I would one day find my mate, but I never thought he would be here in Montana. And thanks to Konrad, I knew his name was Beau.

“Are you all right? You’ve gone quiet on us.”

I looked over at Ramsey. “I’m fine. Thinking about some things.”

Ramsey raised an eyebrow at me as he shifted Hazel from his left side to his right. “Thinking about? Maybe that little fae that was behind the counter?”

I sent him a look. I wasn’t sure he had heard me when I asked Konrad about Beau. I glanced around and realized that we had fallen behind the rest of our family. I took a step closer to Ramsey, and after looking around again to make sure nobody else was nearby, I whispered to him because I knew for a fact he had excellent hearing.

“I’m almost positive he’s my mate.”

Ramsey’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously?”

I nodded. “I know it’s not Konrad or Elias. That left Beau. My tiger was definitely scenting our mate, and I walked around the front of the display cabinets to see if it was someone else, but when he reached across the counter to hand Otis his cookie, I picked up on his scent then. Beau is my mate.”

Ramsey smiled. “Well, congratulations. What are you going to do about it though? The council just got someone to reopen the bakery. If he’s your mate, that means he’ll end up quitting, and then the council will be without a bakery again.”

I shook my head. “I would never ask that he stop working at the bakery. I don’t even know if he wants a mate, let alone would want me for a mate.”

Ramsey gave me a look. “Why wouldn’t he? I don’t know about everyone, but most paranormals want their mates, Roman. Why would you think he wouldn’t?”

I shrugged. “I know nothing about him, actually.”

“I can’t help you, sorry. Today was the first day I’d ever seen him. I would think he lives somewhere close, but since he’s fae, he has magic and can get up on the mountain easy enough.”

I nodded. “I asked Konrad about him since I didn’t know who he was. He called out to him, and he mentioned that he and someone named Evan were going to be at the cookout.”

Ramsey smiled. “Well, that gives me a whole lot of information that I can help with.”

I had no idea how, but I wasn’t going to not take any and all help I could get. “How so?”

“Evan is one of the newer fae enforcers. He’s on Frederick’s team. I couldn’t tell you exactly which house is his, but I know that he has a younger brother that came with him.” Ramsey’s scent suddenly changed. “You will have to ask them, but I know that Evan raised his brother for part of his life.”

That surprised me, and I stopped. It took a moment, but Ramsey realized, and he, too, stopped. When he turned, he offered a concerned look.

“Are you sure?”

Ramsey nodded. “Evan has talked about his younger brother a few times, but for the most part, the fae enforcers all stick together, and I don’t know too much about their personal situation. They’re all on different teams, but when it comes to being in other places like the dining hall or the training room, they tend to stick together.”

I nodded at Ramsey. “Thanks for letting me know. If I get the opportunity, I’ll be sure to ask him about it.”

Ramsey shook his head. “When, not if. I don’t believe that your mate would be sent here and then you weren’t given the opportunity to have a life with him. That’s not how things work, and we both know it.”

I shrugged.

“Are you two coming?”

We both looked at Philip, who was standing next to Knox. Otis was still eating his cookie, and Madelyn had stopped fussing once she had been given her own treat. Phineas was gone, and I assumed he was with Raiden and Alexander.

“Where’s Phineas?” I asked Ramsey.

“He and Alexander wandered off to talk about something. Raiden was right behind them, so I’m not worried.”

I nodded. Not only were we on Treasure Ridge, which was completely safe, but we all knew that Raiden would never let anything happen to Phineas, just as Ramsey wouldn’t allow anything to happen to Alexander.

We started walking again, and Ramsey quickly whispered to me, “Are we keeping this to ourselves for now?”

Should I? I didn’t know what was the best thing to do. I raised a shoulder. “Maybe for a few more hours. I hope to at least talk to him at the cookout if at all possible. If he tells me to kick rocks, I’ll let my brothers know that I met my mate, but things aren’t going to progress quickly.”

Ramsey nodded. “All right. Just so you know, your brothers are going to completely flip when they learn that their older brother finally has his own mate.” Ramsey chuckled. “And I’d venture to say that yours is right around the same age as they are.”

No. He wasn’t that young, was he? I reached out and touched Ramsey’s arm, stopping him again. He turned and looked at me, but we had reached the others at this point.

“What’s wrong?” Philip asked.

It took a moment of me and Ramsey staring at each other before Philip stepped between the two of us. He pushed against my chest, and I looked down at my brother.

“Don’t. I have no idea what is going on, but you and Ramsey need to get over your dislike for each other,” Philip told me. I scrunched my brow, wondering what he was talking about.

“That’s not…no,” I said. “Ramsey and I were talking about something, and he said something that surprised me.” I sighed and looked around for the others. “Let’s find Phineas, and then we can talk. There’s something that I need to tell you all.”

Philip’s shoulders dropped. “It’s about time. We’ve been waiting for you to share with us what’s going on.”

Philip stepped out from between us, and I started to say something until Ramsey shook his head at me.

“No?” I mouthed without making a sound. He subtly shook his head. Philip walked off again, rejoining Knox. They started walking, and I gave Ramsey a covert look, but it was no good—he wasn’t looking my way.

It didn’t take long for us to find Phineas, Alexander, and Raiden. They were sitting on an oversized blanket under a tree. We joined them, and then Philip cleared his throat and looked at me expectantly.

“What?”

“You said you were going to tell us what’s been wrong with you.”

I shook my head.

“That’s not what he said, Philip,” Ramsey told him. “He said he had something to discuss.” Ramsey looked at me and nodded encouragingly.

I sighed. “Nothing has really been going on with me,” I started. “At least nothing beyond what I mentioned at the family dinner.”

“Which you missed this week’s,” Philip said, his eyebrows scrunched.

“Sorry,” I told him. “But I did let you know that I was going to be busy because of the end of the semester.”

Philip narrowed his eyes. “You’ll be at the next one though, right?”

I glanced at Ramsey for help. He chuckled and gestured for Phineas to come sit next to him. When my brother tried though, Ramsey pulled him onto his lap. I smiled.

“Seriously?” Philip asked. I looked up at my brother, confused. “You’re going to just go back to ignoring us?”

I shook my head. “No. If you would let me talk, I would tell you what I wanted to discuss.” It was my turn to glare, and when I did, I not only glared at Philip but sent Knox a bit of a look as well. He couldn’t control his mate, but I was hopeful that he could at least assist a little.

Philip looked as if he were going to say something again, but when Knox touched his shoulder, my brother finally closed his mouth and waited.

“I’ve been struggling with the decision as to whether or not I would continue teaching,” I said. “I had thought my decision was made, but then I met my mate,” I continued.

There were exactly two seconds of silence before the expected chaos started.

“What?”

“When?”

“Where are they?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “It’s very new, as in today new,” I told my brothers. I understood their excitement for me, but I needed them to let me talk.

“Today?” Phineas said. “And you’re here? Why?”

“Because I just met my mate, and I’ve not really had much of a chance to discuss things. I don’t even know if he wants to talk to me.”

“He?” Philip asked. “So your mate is a he?”

I nodded.

“Huh,” Phineas said. “Did you not want to bring him?”

I sighed. “I just met him, like I said. The plan was to look for him later and see how things go.”

“He’s here?” Phineas asked.

“He is on Treasure Ridge, yes.”

Philip’s eyes widened. “Is he another alpha? Are you going to be mated to an enforcer?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “No and no, and that’s all I’m going to say for the time being. I haven’t even had an opportunity to talk to him much.” Not at all, really. They didn’t need to know that yet. All that I knew was he was supposed to be here later, and I had every intention of at least introducing myself and seeing if he wanted to go out on a date.

Suddenly, there was a new fear. Did I remember how to date? I’d not been on one in…twenty-four years. I’d finally ended my very long, dry spell after Philip mated with Knox and neither of the twins were living with me any longer. But then I’d suddenly found myself living with rescued omegas, and my opportunity to get away at night was no longer there. After I moved off Treasure Ridge, I’d simply not had the time or really the desire to search for someone.

“When do we get to meet him?” Philip asked.

I chuckled. “I’m not sure. Can I get to know him even a little before I bring him around?”

“You should—” Knox cut Philip off with a hand over his mouth. I looked at my brother’s mate and raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t want to know,” Knox said. “We wish you luck, and please let us know if you need anything at any point.”

“Thanks,” I told him.

“If he’s not an enforcer, but he was here…” Phineas said. He looked up at Ramsey, who was doing his best to not only distract his mate but entertain Hazel. “Do you know who his mate is? The two of you were quite talkative on the way here, it seemed.”

“And how would you know?” Ramsey said. “You were busy with Alexander.” Ramsey leaned in close. “Did you two figure out why you’re out of energy all of the time?” Ramsey looked up and stared at his brother-in-law. “He’s all right, isn’t he?”

“He’s fine,” Alexander said. “Let us know if you need us to keep Hazel for you soon. She and Rowan can have a long sleepover.”

Phineas immediately looked down at his hands, which were in his lap. Hazel had crawled off and was sitting in the middle of the blanket with her cousins. It took a moment for Ramsey to pick up on whatever it was that was happening.

“You’re not pregnant,” Ramsey said quietly. “You’ve not had a heat—” Ramsey’s eyes flew up to meet Alexander’s. “He’s going to have a heat?”

“Most likely. It makes sense since Hazel is eighteen months,” Alexander said.

I saw the look on Ramsey’s face and felt for Phineas. Raiden and Alexander would only ever have Rowan because Alexander had had such a difficult delivery. Ramsey had been terrified that Phineas would become pregnant with a gargoyle baby, and he would possibly lose his baby and mate at the same time. I understood. I, of course, didn’t want to think about the possibility of losing one of the twins.

“We can watch Hazel if the two of you want to go and talk about things,” I told the pair. Ramsey and I might not care much for each other, but we both loved Phineas and Hazel, and neither of us wanted anything to happen to either.

“Would you mind?” Ramsey asked.

“Of course not,” I told him. “She’s busy playing with her cousins.” Ramsey didn’t wait for anyone to say anything else. He simply stood up, taking Phineas with him. They walked off, and I could tell that Ramsey was not comfortable at all. I looked to his twin, wondering if he had any suggestions.

“I get it,” Philip said before I could. “But is Ramsey just going to force Phineas to not have any other children? Ever?” Philip reached out. “I understand why. What happened with you, Alexander, was terrible.”

It was Alexander who spoke up, not Raiden. “It was also not the norm. Ramsey is understandably cautious. But Phineas said neither of them were really tracking his heats and when they should be expected. I think that perhaps it’s simply that he was caught off guard and he needs some time alone with his mate to discuss things.”

Philip seemed to digest those words before he nodded. We sat there for a little while longer, and when the noise around us seemed to increase, I realized what time it was.

“Are you all good with watching the little ones?” I asked as I stood up. I needed to go searching to see if I could find Beau anywhere. It was after six, and that meant he should be here somewhere. Didn’t it?

“If we weren’t, does that mean you would stay?” Philip asked.

I shook my head before I took a few steps away. Once I was on the mission to find my mate, my tiger finally started to relax, but I knew that would be short-lived if I wasn’t able to at least see Beau again. I had no idea if he would even recognize what we were to one another, but I was going to at least try to talk to him.

Not knowing exactly who Evan was, what he looked like, or any of the other fae enforcers, it took a while to locate them. Normally, my tiger would have been able to track Beau through scent, except that I’d not gotten close enough to him earlier. But there was no doubt that the group that was joking around and having a good time was who I was searching for. I didn’t see Beau there with them though, and that had me scanning the surrounding area. I spotted him walking with a slightly taller version of him and had to assume that was his brother, Evan.

They hadn’t seen me, but I wasn’t going to let that keep me from my mate. With purpose, I closed the distance between us and intersected them before they could reach the rest of the fae enforcers.

I slowed my pace once I was a few feet from them, making sure not to come across as too aggressive. But I was an alpha tiger shifter who was on a mission to intercept his omega mate. Despite the fact that we were now in the twenty-first century, I couldn’t change who I was nor who he was to me.

Evan noticed me about two seconds before Beau did, and when my eyes locked with those warm brown ones, I smiled. I was almost sixty-nine years old and didn’t expect to feel like a teenage shifter with his first crush. But that’s exactly how I felt. My smile faded when Evan stepped in front of Beau and then pulled him behind him. I couldn’t stop the glare I sent the enforcer, even if I wanted to. He’d effectively put himself between me and my mate, even if he didn’t understand what we were to one another yet.

“Excuse us,” Evan said as he tried to walk around me.

“I wished to speak to Beau,” I said, reaching out slightly. At the sound of his name, that adorable head popped out from behind his brother.

“No,” Evan said. He turned slightly, and after grabbing Beau’s upper arm, he started to walk off.

“Hey, wait, Ev,” Beau said as he tugged back.

“No, Beau. We’re not going to do these games. You are not a plaything for the locals.” Evan sent me a glare, which only pissed off my tiger. I was about to growl at the enforcer when unexpected help arrived in the form of my brother-in-law.

“Evan, you might want to let him talk to his mate,” Ramsey said from behind me. Had he and Phineas finished their talk? Where was my brother?

Just as I turned to look at Ramsey, I heard a squeak from Evan and Beau’s direction, and I knew for a fact that sound hadn’t come from the enforcer. The question was—was it a good squeak or one of distress?