Page 12 of Rejected Broken Mate

Michael. The name was nice, but it sent a chill down my spine. I was suddenly interested in learning everything about him.

“And before you ask, his father is someone I was seeing from my old job that I got straight out of college. He’s going to be six this year in May.

I scowled, realizing I was going to ask that question next. It was rational thinking, considering we had been together, but if his birthday wasn’t until May, he was too young to be mine. There was no connection. We hadn’t seen each other in over seven years.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t think it but…we used to be together.”

She shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“Is he okay?”

She nodded. "He's fine, just tired. He's at school. Hopefully, tonight, he can sleep a little better."

She looked back at the clipboard, and I realized that if I wanted to work with Laura, I would also need to get to know her child.

I grabbed my hose, suddenly nervous. "You should bring him by sometimes. I'm sure he'd love it here."

She stiffened for a second before she shook her head. "No."

I frowned, not expecting that. Everyone loves the idea of bringing kids in. Kids take field trips out here. They love the trucks. I didn’t know a single kid who didn’t love the idea of visiting the fire station.

"Is he not well-behaved?"

She snorted. "That kid has more manners than a grown-ass adult."

"Then he would be fine here."

"No," she said, a little colder this time. "And since you're of little help with this," she placed her hands on the clipboard. "I'm going to go ask Ayden about them."

She turned in her heels and started back up towards the garage. I watched her, feeling that instead of taking a step forward, I’d taken a giant leap back.

I thought I knew Laura, but it was clear I didn't. She was an entirely different person. I guess I wasn't the only person that changed.

Chapter 5 - Laura

"Poppy, do not jump off that," Wendy yelled, shaking her head. "This kid is going to be the death of me."

I couldn't help but chuckle. I looked at Michael, seeing he was sitting next to Poppy with a big grin. I was glad to see that after being here for a month, we were adjusting to life rather well.

I pulled my gaze from the kids back towards the table. Wendy was sitting beside me, working on a smoothie, while Ashley sat across from us with her daughter on her lap. She was eating some fries, smirking.

"Has she flown yet?" Ashley asked, popping another fry into her mouth. She was trying to pull Ivy, her daughter's hair, back into a pony.

Wendy frowned. "No, and it's not something you do until you're a little older, but she keeps telling me she's going to do it. Have I told you the nursing staff at the ER knows us all by name now?"

Ashley started to chuckle, finishing Ivy's pony. "They knew you guys by name before because of Ayden."

Wendy shrugged. "That's not the point. They shouldn't just know it's because Poppy is trying to fly." Wendy looked over her shoulder back at the kids. "I'm going to need to put her on a damn leash if this keeps up."

"Kids are resilient," I said. "Michael broke his arm once, healed up pretty quickly."

"That's because of his shifter side," Ashley said as she sipped her water. "Crazy how different they are from normal children."

My stomach sank. For the longest time, I thought I was doing everything right for Michael, but maybe I wasn't. Knowing he was a shifter had turned my world upside down, and I didn't know what to do about it.

I'd gone to the group a couple of times, learning what I could. I still found myself confused at times. I'd had lunch a couple of times with the girls, but we didn't know each other well enough for me to pour my entire life out to them. That and I didn't want the truth to get out. I had no idea how Miles would feel if he found out Michael's was really his.

"How did you guys know that Wendy was a witch?" I asked, kitting my fingers together nervously.

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