Page 36 of Mating at Midnight: Book 1

Chapter 19

Nyah

I know I heard Kenia wrong. She couldn’t have said what I think she said. Inserting my fingers in my ears, I wiggle them around while wagging my head from side to side, trying to free up any wax build up that could be blocking my hearing.

“What are you doing?” Kenia asks, watching my crazy display.

“Trying to clear my ears because I think I heard you wrong.”

“No, you didn’t,” Kenia says, getting up, then coming over to me to take my hands away from my ears. “You heard me perfectly.”

Damn, out of all the males in our Pack, I would have never guessed Corey as being my sister’s destined mate. This shit is crazy and only puts more questions in my head.

Kenia leads me back to the bed. “Sit. I can damn near see the Spanish Inquisition about to fire off in your head.”

As we sit, I ask, “When did you find out Corey was your destined mate and why did you deny him?”

Kenia sighs. “It was around the time I turned seventeen. We’ve been around Corey for years and I never had any type of attraction to him. I always saw him as our Beta’s son, so when the bond manifested, I was totally floored. I used to dream that Joaquin, the bear shifter from the Lord Bruin Pack would be my destined mate.” She giggles.

It wasn’t uncommon for different shifters to mate. If they had a child, the parents wouldn’t know which shifter gene the child inherited until their first shift.

Scrolling through my mental Rolodex, it stops on the six foot-four man who was built like a gladiator that attended our Tri-State cookout a few years ago. Joaquin. His father is theAlpha of his Pack. Most would think wolves and bears were enemies, but we’ve had a long-standing truce with them for as long as I can remember.

Suddenly, something Corey said popped in my head. “Kenia, that first time Corey and Braxton exchanged words, he told me afterwards that he denied his mate for me. Is that true?”

Kenia smacks her lips, rolling her eyes. “Hell, no. I denied him at first. Bond or not, I couldn’t see myself with him. Corey is too immature and has nothing to offer. What he does have is because of his father.”

“Did daddy and Horace know about this?” I ask.

“Only after I turned Corey down. He went running to Horace like a little bitch and the next thing I know, daddy was calling for me to come to the backyard. The three of them were standing out there when I came out of the house. Corey never looked me in the face, but Horace looked pissed.”

“Where was I when all of this was going on?” I questioned.

“Out hunting,” she replied. “Anyway, Horace demanded daddy make me go through with the bonding, but you know daddy. He told Horace that if I denied Corey, then that was my decision and my decision alone. He wasn’t going to force me to do something I didn’t want to do. After that, the two of them stormed off and that was that.”

I’m on my feet again, pacing. “Now it’s all starting to make sense.”

“What?” Kenia asks.

Before I can answer, there’s a knock at the door. It opens with Braxton peeking in.

“Is everything okay?” he inquires.

“Yes,” I replied. “But there are some things the four of us need to discuss.”

“Nyah, no,” Kenia protests.

“Yes, Kenia. They need to know and if the theory I have in my head is true, then they definitely need to know,” I insist.

“Fine,” Kenia concedes, getting up.

Braxton stares at me, puzzled. “What do we need to know?”

“I’ll tell you once we’re all in the living room,” I reply, walking over to him, then lacing his fingers with mine.

Kenia follows behind us as we make our way to the living room. Levi’s face brightens up when he sees Kenia. I can’t see hers behind me, but the way Levi is smiling from ear to ear, she must have been doing the same. I stop him as he begins to stand. “I’m going to need you to stay sitting.” Looking at Braxton, I release his hand, telling him, “You need to sit too.”

As he studied me, I jerked my head in the direction of the couch.

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