Chapter Two
Isaac
I stared at the tattoo on my forearm, trying to force it to give me a clue as to where I would find my fated mate.
At first, I doubted that this thing would actually work.
I had just wanted to give my best friend Charlie a push to go out and find his mate.
When I heard that the tattoo parlor, Fated Ink, offered magically infused sigils to help shifters find their perfect match, I knew I had to convince him to get one, and the only way to do that was to get one myself.
So I let the magic weaver place this symbol on my arm.
I watched my best friend find his one true mate and saw his tattoo glow, indicating that the sigil had indeed led them to one another.
Ever since then, an eager part of my soul had been itching for my own tattoo to emit that beautiful glow. So far it hadn’t.
Give it time, my bear grumbled. I was sleepy and cranky after a long night of coding for our current client, and that affected his mood, too. You need to just allow Fate time to find us. Besides, I feel like we are exactly where we need to be right now.
We grew up in this town. If our mate were here, wouldn’t we have met already? I reminded my beast. We have been to almost every bar, café, and club in the area. They aren’t here.
As if those are the only places where we will find him. You are such an idiot sometimes. My bear scoffed.
You do realize you are calling yourself that as well, right? Afterall, we are two parts of the same being. I rolled my eyes.
Whatever. I’m going to sleep. Wake me if our mate shows up or if we need to shift for the kids.
My bear yawned and settled down. I felt his energy lower and knew my human self was fully in control now.
We were having a family dinner tonight, and between my sister’s brood and my brother’s little girl, I would need all the rest I could get before playing with my nieces and nephews.
“Isaac.” My brother-in-law and my other best friend, Spencer, walked into the kitchen and straight to the coffee machine. “You’re up early.”
“Actually, I haven’t slept yet.” I stood from the table and stretched my back, arms reaching high.
The tension from hours spent seated seeped away with the simple move.
I sat back down and took a sip of my black coffee.
“But I finally finished the program for the Wolfram Group. I can send it over and collect the fee now. Maybe get a place of my own here in town.”
“No rush to move out.” Spencer poured his morning brew and joined me at the table. “You know your brother and I love having you here.”
“You love that I can watch the kiddo while you guys go out on date nights.” I laughed at Spencer as he bowed his head, knowing I was right.
“And I know Nicola loves when I stay over with them, as well. But I can’t keep living with my brother or sister for the rest of my life.
What if I find my omega soon and want privacy?
How can I get that with all my nieces and nephews around? ”
“True.” Spencer nodded and reached for one of the muffins I had out on the table. “But the house will feel empty without you around.”
“It’s not like I won’t be coming over all the time to gossip or to babysit Cookie.” I pushed down the urge to make fun of my niece’s name. The sweet little ray of sunshine did not look like her name, Fortuna. My nickname fit her better.
“Why do you have everyone calling my daughter that now? I gave her a perfectly good name, you know.” Spencer rubbed his growing belly and sighed. “Should I even bother giving a name to this one if you are just going to change it?”
“She still has her legal name,” I pointed out to my best friend, who had been getting even more sensitive as his second pregnancy progressed.
“It’s just that her sweetness deserved to be given a great nickname, and that’s the job of a loving uncle.
I was only doing my job. As for the little nugget in your belly now, we will have to wait and see what personality the little guy has first before I bestow a nickname onto him, so make sure to give him a proper one to use while we wait. ”
“You are so funny.” Spencer rolled his shoulders and groaned. “Why does everything feel so much heavier with this one? I don’t remember being as emotional and achy last time.”
“You were pretty much the same.” I thought back to when I first moved back from the city after my best friend found his fated mate in my twin brother and got knocked up right away.
“There were a couple of days I was afraid to even ask you where the sugar was kept in case you burst into tears. I think omegas forget about those things after the babies are born and remember only the good parts so that wanting another baby later seems like a good idea.”
“Perhaps.” Spencer shrugged. “Liam mentioned a similar theory when I brought up trying to conceive this one. But in the end, I convinced him he was misremembering and that I was always a delight to be around.”
“You have him wrapped around your pinkie, that’s for sure.” I stood and rinsed out my mug, placing it directly into the dishwasher. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to say the same about my mate and me one day. If I ever manage to find him, that is.”
“Still no glow from that tattoo, huh?” Spencer looked at the intricate dragon on my arm and tilted his head to the left.
“I bet it will happen in the next week or two. I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling that the tattoo already led you to where you should be, and now you just need to wait for the moment to come. ”
“Maybe.” I looked down at the sigil and remembered how it stopped tingling when I was in the city visiting friends, and how the sensation returned once I came back to town.
So far, there was no glow emitting from the design.
That would happen only after I’d encountered my fated mate.
Until then, it would just continue to let me know if I was close.
“Do you really think it’s so quiet because I am already in the right place and just waiting for the right time? ”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“Alright, I guess we’ll see if you’re right.” I looked at the time on my phone and walked toward the door. “I need to go meet Charlie down on Main Street. The latest book in that zombie series was released this week, and we wanted to see if Once Upon A Page got it in yet.”
“If you find the newest Omega Beach release, pick it up for me, okay?” Spencer was obsessed with the romance series written by an old college friend. “I haven’t had a chance to get it yet, but I heard it’s the best one yet.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for it while I’m there.”
I waved to my bestie and left the kitchen. Maybe he was right. Perhaps I just needed to wait, and soon my tattoo would lead me to my destiny. Until then, I had some books to read.