Chapter 2: Left Out

Ginger POV

Ginger Garnet was carefully doing her makeup in her room. Since the dinner planned for that night was only going to include their inner circle, she didn’t need to use the hair and makeup team they usually used to make her look gorgeous.

She put down her makeup brush and sighed. She was not looking forward to the dinner. Her brother Rowan’s best friend, Keegan, was back from a month-long visit with his parents in Florida and had some news.

The reason for Ginger’s dread of the dinner was that all the Garnets were betting that the news was about Keegan finding his mate.

Ginger was a wolf-shifter. Her older brother, Rowan, was the Alpha. Keegan was his second in command, his Beta.

It was said that a shifter’s mate was their perfect match. Rowan once told Ginger that Ylana’s smell and heartbeat were like a soothing call he was unable to resist. Ylana, however, wasn’t a shifter, which had made things difficult for a bit. Humans couldn’t understand the pull of a mate. It also didn’t help that Rowan demanded they keep the fact they were shifters from Ylana for months.

However, Ylana and her brother Indigo weren’t ordinary humans. They both had magical abilities – a trait that Ylana passed on to her children, Poppy and Crimson. The twins were almost three, and their magical abilities had made the terrible twos more of a horror. A temper tantrum could shake a whole room and make things fall off walls and shelves – everything expensive in the home had to be moved into storage. The twins could open and unlock things with just a thought. Somehow, they could even transport themselves around the house.

It was all so crazy and stressful, but Ginger still loved her niece and nephew to pieces.

Ginger walked over to her huge walk-in closet, chose a simple, maroon-colored camisole dress, and put it on. She added a light pullover sweater in black and put on black tights and boots to match. She and Ylana were in the middle of planning the Halloween festival the Garnets hosted every year, so she was feeling Fall colors.

Once fully dressed, Ginger walked out of her closet to find her niece Poppy sitting on her bed.

“Gigi!” the little girl cried happily with a bright smile on her face.

Ginger laughed, loving the name Poppy and Crimson called her. “Hey, Pops! Does Mommy know where you are?”

Poppy giggled. Her dark blue eyes – so much like Ylana’s – were shining with mischief.

Ginger walked to the bed covered with a gold duvet and plucked the toddler off it. “Why don’t we go find her?” She carried Poppy downstairs just in time to greet Lily, who was walking through the front door.

After Indigo moved in with the Garnets, he met Lily, a member of the pack. It turned out he was Lily’s mate. Since they were young when that happened, they decided to be just friends. Now that they were both close to twenty, however, it had evolved into a friends-with-benefits type of relationship. Lily had become considered a member of the family quickly.

Another bet the Garnets had going on was when the two were going to become an official couple.

“It’s my favorite little princess!” Lily skipped up to Ginger and took Poppy out of her arms.

Ginger put an exaggerated frown on her face and joked, “I thought you were talking about me.”

Lily laughed as they walked down the hall toward the dining room. “So, everyone thinks Keegan found his mate, huh?”

Ginger couldn’t stop the groan that came out. “Yeah. Our butler Claude says he saw a woman get out of Keegan’s car when he came home.”

As Rowan’s Beta, Keegan wanted to live close by in case he was needed at a moment’s notice. However, he didn’t want to live in the mansion with the rest of them like Carmine had before him. He preferred to have his own space, so they had a house built on the property for Keegan. It was only a short walk from Keegan’s house to the mansion.

After babbling at Poppy, Lily looked at Ginger. “You seem upset.”

“Well, yeah” Ginger scoffed. “I’m the only one without a mate now. It’s pathetic.”

“It’s not pathetic,” Lily said. “Rowan was your age when he met Ylana, remember? And there’s not a time limit or anything. Maybe you should give up on going to mate balls and start looking for a human.”

Ginger threw her head back and sighed dramatically. “But humans are so complicated. I just want it to be easy. Another shifter would get how it works with no problem.” Plus, the mate balls were good for finding hookup buddies.

“Unfortunately, life isn’t easy,” Lily said with a shrug.

“Stop being wise beyond your years,” Ginger complained as they walked into the dining room. Harkin, Ylana, Crimson, and Indigo were already there and seated. Harkin was at the head of the table, and Crimson was in his highchair playing with some blocks – one was even floating above him.

Ginger took a seat while Lily put Poppy in the highchair next to Crimson. The twins had the same beautiful auburn hair as their father, unlike Ginger whose hair was closer to orange.

Lily walked over to Indigo, gave him a kiss, and sat in the chair between him and Ginger on the right side of the table.

Ginger looked directly across the table at Ylana who appeared rather calm. “You didn’t seem worried about where your kid was.”

Ylana chuckled and passed a few toys to Poppy. “She said she wanted you before she disappeared. Besides, the twins have never transported themselves outside of the house.”

“Not yet,” Indigo winked.

Ylana pointed at her brother. “Don’t put that into the universe.”

Rowan hurried into the room, interrupting the bickering that was about to begin. He was almost bouncing with joy. “We were right! Keegan found his mate. He wanted to introduce her to me first and wanted to give me time to warn you all to be nice.”

Indigo put a hand to his heart. “Hey! I’m always nice!”

Both Ylana and Lily snorted at the statement.

Keegan walked in just then. He was a big, hulking blond man. Behind him was a small, adorable blonde woman with wide, green eyes.

“This is Justine,” Keegan introduced, smiling. Ginger heard pure joy ooze out in his words.

Justine gave everyone a tiny smile and a wave as she stayed behind Keegan. “It’s nice to meet you all. I’ve heard so much about everyone.”

Ylana stood, walked up to Justine, and put her hands on Justine’s shoulders. “You look nervous. I know we all can be a lot, but we just want to make you feel comfortable.”

Rowan slapped Keegan on the back and addressed Justine, “And since we were beginning to think Keegan would never find a mate, you’re a welcome addition. You’ll be treated like royalty.”

“Exactly!” Harkin cried happily from his seat. “Sit, sit! We must get to know this lovely young lady.”

Ginger braced herself to once again watch someone else find their happiness.