Page 66 of Destined Paranormals: Volume One

“We’ll get gates for the top and bottom. I’m not worried about Mason, but Maelie will need to be watched for another year or so before she can safely go up and down the stairs,” Oscar said as we climbed them.

“Gates?”

“Yep. I’ll show you later.”

“All right.” We made it to the top of the stairs and found a long hallway with doors everywhere. “Just how many bedrooms are there?”

Oscar grinned up at me. “I’m not sure, but it’ll be fun to find out,” he said. He grabbed my hand again and pulled me along the hallway, passing several rooms and heading for the door directly in front of us.

Chapter 4

Oscar

Monroe was definitely hot. He had these eyes that reminded me of chocolate. I loved chocolate. He’d been so sweet and a perfect gentleman. I had to admit I was a bit surprised he’d not kissed me in the living room. I understood that we didn’t really know each other yet though. I could wait, and we would do things on his timeline.

The main bedroom was huge. Larger than any I’d ever seen. I was certain that there were others on the mountain that had an equally large main bedroom. The bed was most likely a king-sized bed. There were matching nightstands, two dressers, and a chair in the corner by the windows. The windows had dark shades that were partially closed, and off to the right were two doors.

“Is this real?” Monroe asked.

“Yep. You said you’ve been here for two days. Where have you been staying?”

“With Alpha Forest. I kept the kids in the same room with me though. I didn’t want to take up space when I know he has so many kids of his own.”

“They’re great though. All of their kids are amazing,” I said absently as I walked toward one of the doors. I pushed it open and found myself inside a massive walk-in closet. There was a mirror on the wall in front of me, and on either side was a long bar for hanging clothes. Above it were shelves and cubbies, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. There was absolutely no way I had enough clothes to fill even a quarter of the space on one side.

“Whoa.”

I looked up at Monroe, who had come in behind me. “I hope you have a lot of clothing. What I own will fill about this much space,” I said, holding up my hands on one of the bars.

“Do you really not have much?”

I shook my head. “I have clothes. Most of my stuff goes in a dresser. I don’t know, maybe ten shirts that I hang up. I work in a restaurant and a bar. I don’t have lots of clothing beyond that.”

Monroe narrowed his eyes. “I’m not going to be one of those mates. But you need to quit one of your jobs. There are two of us now, and I can help provide for you and your siblings. Our situations are similar, and it was suggested that we would be a good fit, as we’re mates.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Was suggested?”

Monroe took my hand and led me out of the closet and over to the bed. He sat down on the side, pulling me down beside him.

“Yes. Things are quite different in my realm. I’ve been getting a lot of information for the past two days about how things work here. Much is the same, but there’s enough of a difference that it needed to be gone over with me before I was just dropped in the store and somehow was supposed to meet you as well.”

“I’m not sure I can just up and quit my job, Monroe. I have responsibilities, and I’ve been doing it for a while now. I don’t think you realize just how much teenagers cost.”

“I’m sure quite a bit when compared to little kids. But I know I’ll be making more than enough to support all six of us comfortably.”

“What do you consider comfortable?”

“I’m told I’ll be making just at six figures and with provided housing it’s enough for a growing family. The childcare center is no cost. The store up here is very reduced cost because the council is subsidizing it for the council and all of its personnel.”

I was torn. That amount was certainly more than enough to support us, and I would love to be able to not have to work my nighttime job at the bar. It wasn’t that it was a terrible environment, but it was a human bar, and there were very few paranormals that came into the place. And now that I thought about it, if—no, when we claimed each other, I was certain that Monroe wouldn’t want me to be around humans that spent all night flirting and trying to take me home with them.

“You seem thoughtful.”

I nodded. “I’ll gladly quit my bartending job today. I don’t care much for it, but the tips were good. I don’t know about my job in the restaurant. I…” I groaned when I thought about it more.

“What’s wrong?”

I looked at Monroe. “The restaurant I work in isn’t a pack restaurant or anything.”