"Daddy, I'm bored," Zoey complained, tugging on my arm.
"All right, sweetie." I turned to Forest. "Thanks for your help today. Maybe since we’re working together now, I'll meet this rich mystery man you told me about."
Forest's eyes flickered behind me. They smiled. "That might happen sooner than you think. He just walked in the door."
2
Roshan
Sprawledagainst my velvet lounge chair, I sighed dramatically and waited for my friend to pick up the phone. It took a few rings before I heard his familiar, dramatic voice.
"Yes?"
"Ulysses," I said, "your idea isnotworking."
"You'll have to be more specific, Roshan, I am a man of many excellent ideas."
"This one was the opposite of excellent. It straight up sucks."
"I beg your pardon," he mumbled offendedly. "Remind me again what you're talking about?"
I pouted. Saying it out loud made me seem pathetic, especially since Ulysses had already accomplished what I'd failed to do.
"Finding my fated mate," I grumbled.
"Ah, yes," he said with more sympathy. "I take it the search isn't going well?"
"It's not going at all," I complained. "Do you know how much time I spent scouring the city streets, combing through countless omegas to find my one true love? It's easier to find a needle in a billion haystacks."
"Yes, it does take a lot of time and effort. But I assure you, the end reward is worth it."
That was easy for him to say. He'd already found his fated mate, an omega named Ryan. On top of that, Ulysses adopted his son Andrew, and they'd had another child together, a daughter named Elizabeth.
Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic for him. But watching that pompous old unicorn get everything I wanted while I pathetically stuffed my face with cupcakes alone was beyond irritating.
Of course a shifter as magical and special as a unicorn would get his fairytale ending. But what about me, dammit? I was a magical special shifter, too.
"Do you think it's because I'm a manticore?" I asked, sinking deeper into the velvet cushion. "It's because I'm a manticore, isn't it."
Ulysses sighed. I could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "I doubt it, Roshan. Your species has nothing to do with the fact that you haven't met your fated mate yet."
I scoffed. "Easy for you to say. You're a pretty white horse. I'm a demonic-looking lion with a scorpion tail and devil wings."
"Call me a horse one more time and I'll turn you into a manticore rug."
I grinned. Despite our clashing personalities, we were good friends and I had missed annoying him.
"Did you try the advertisement idea?" Ulysses asked.
"I did, but it's not working well. Every time I meet the parent or guardian interested in hiring me, I can tell instantly that they're not the one." Feeling sorry for myself, I grabbed a vanilla cupcake off the silver platter and took a bite of it. "And who thought of the termmannyanyway? Male nanny… What a bunch of crap.”
Ulysses chuckled, no doubt remembering the first time he suggested I become a manny, only for me to wrongly assume he was making fun of the wordmanticore.
"You know how humans are with their gendered terms," Ulysses said.
“True. Anyway, do you think my ad’s off-putting or something? How can I attract more people with it?"
"Show it to me."
