Page 25 of Daddy's Mail Order Mate

“It’s not. He was looking for a mate—not the one he already rejected.”

My gaze lifts and I stare stonily over to Paige’s increasingly unnerved expression.

“What?”

“Your brother rejected me. It wasn’t just a simple teenaged breakup. We had a true mate bond and he destroyed it. Right in front of your parents, actually.”

The color drains from her face. I might have felt bad for popping her bubble, but I was holding my grief in my hands like a knife at this point. Hearing her cheerily chatter on about my deepest wound wasn’t something I could tolerate silently any longer.

Her mouth wavers briefly, eyes darting between me and her brother.

“Um… Well, maybe,” she attempts to rally with a hopeful curl in her voice, “Maybe that’s an even bigger sign. It’s called a fated bond for a reason—”

Liam loudly clears his throat and reaches over to give his wife an affectionate squeeze on the arm.

“Sunshine, it might be best to leave it there. We came all this way to see them, and that’s not exactly the happy dinner conversation you were so excited about on the drive here. Right?”

She practically squirms in worry, but a little nod seems to settle it between them.

Of course the Alpha wouldn’t care to hear it talked about. It was soshameful, after all. Wolves were so superstitious; if it was supposed to be fate, there must be somethingvery wrongwith you if your mate didn’t want you.

He probably pities Thorn for having to deal with his trash wandering back in when he’d been hoping for a new morsel off the meat market.

Paige and her husband try their best to salvage the mood, but the rest of the dinner is stilted and agonizingly awkward. I cut myself some mercy by insisting on doing the dishes afterward. And mercifully, Thorn seems inclined himself to getting them situated off to their room for the night.

“Well,” I mumble under my breath as I get the faucet running, “This is off to a wonderful start.”

Chapter 6 - Thorn

“Want some help, Thorn?”

I look to the nursery doorway to see my sister’s expectant face staring back at me. From the weariness around her eyes,

“I’m fine.”

I pluck out a wet wipe and continue changing Rowan.

“You really don’t seem like you’re fine.”

She gets a short grunt and brief glowering glance from me. But that just makes her roll her eyes and saunter in towards me, crossing her arms.

“I can change a diaper, Paige.”

“I know you can change a diaper,” she states as she leans on the wall next to me. “But do you want some help with Gwen?”

Rowan babbles softly and flashes me a drowsy smile when I finish putting on his fresh diaper. But while that warms my heart as it always does, it doesn’t dispel the knot of tension spooled up in my chest.

“What are you trying to get at now?”

“Well, since she’s still here… You twoaresticking with the trial, right? Because it seemed pretty tense between you two last night. ”

My throat clenches and I force a dry swallow down; the words don’t come readily.

“She needs somewhere to stay.”

“You’re being more crabby than usual, and that’s saying something.”

I close up Rowan’s clothes and haul him up into my arms with the utmost tenderness.

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