Because of Fate (Book 1 of Because of Series)

Chapter 5- Margaret

I watched as the young boy walked towards me hesitantly. I could tell that both the sister and other brother were a little less brave than him and waited patiently. "Move you two," I said softly, and Travis and May backed up.

Donovan groaned and placed a paw over his eyes. He whined dramatically, and I rolled my eyes and scowled, even though all I wanted to do was smile because I was amused at my drama king of a dog.

"Stop, you spoiled baby," I said, looking at him, scowling. "You aren't dying of pets."

He whined again and snorted, moving his head back and forth. He stretched out again and let out a pitiful groan. This was his way of saying that he was dying of pets and needed a lot more to keep himself motivated and alive.

"Is he always like this?" the boy asked, walking closer to us. He was near enough to touch my dog but didn't. His gaze was solely on the dog while he asked me the question, and I didn't care because I'd rather pay attention to a dog than a human, too.

Donovan groaned again, hearing that the boy was close, and slowly started to inch himself closer. He kept his paw over his eye, but I knew he was smelling the boy and taking in his scent.

"Yes," I said and nodded. "Especially when leaving the horse farm." I rolled my eyes and made an exhausted face, and the boy looked up at me and smiled when he caught my exhausted look. "Most of the time, he acts like I am killing him."

The boy knelt down and reached his hand out but didn't touch my dog, who didn't move an inch. Quickly, he pulled it away before reaching out again and placing it on my dog's head.

Pure joy filled the young boy's eyes as he patted my dog's head with my dog just laying there and wagging his tail.

"What's your name?" I asked, watching as Peter give him a kiss and a hug.

"Peter," Peter replied after he finished kissing my dog's head. He looked at me and smiled. "My name is Peter." He pointed to the other two, who were slowly walking towards us, holding hands. "They are Jace and Fiona."

"Nice to meet you, Peter," I said, smiling at him. "I am guessing you like dogs?"

"Yes, almost all of them, though," Peter said. "How many dogs do you have?" He started to scratch where my daughter had been scratching, and my dog groaned and stretched out, giving Peter more room to scratch him.

"Five," I replied, and Peter looked at me before he paid attention to my dog again, "and, four horses, two kids, and a cat."

"Why do you have five dogs?" Peter asked and looked at me again. He kept petting my dog, and my dog started to fall asleep, happy to be getting lots and lots of attention from this child.

"My barn is a rescue as well as a show barn," I said and shrugged. "And, I used to train dogs and help them find new homes. Sometimes, their homes are with me, and poof, I have a new dog or a new animal."

"Maybell wanted a pig," Travis said. "But, Maggie said no."

"She wanted Mr. Porkers, who was a huge pig, and she wanted to have him in the house," I said and looked at my brother. "I was not going to have that."

"But, he was amazing," May said, "and so smart." She pouted, and I bit back a sigh of annoyance and rolled my eyes because we had this same conversation many times before. "I miss him." She looked at me and pouted, her eyes filling up with fake tears. "Can we Facetime him?"

"Maybe later," I replied because I had no idea if it was safe enough for me to settle down with my crew just yet, even though I had a feeling that this might be the place we could stay at for the time being, even though I had a Pit. "I don't understand why you want to Facetime a pig."

"Uhhhh, because I miss him?" she asked and raised an eyebrow. "Why else would I want to Facetime a pig?"

I shook my head, not understanding my daughter and her obsession with that pig because there had been many animals she could Facetime and not just some pig.

"It is kind of your fault," Travis said, and I looked at my brother and tried to raise an eyebrow. He smiled innocently, and I rolled my eyes and scowled, upset that I couldn't do it. "I mean, you are also an animal lover. You do do weird stuff with your animals."

I rolled my eyes again and scowled. "I'm a trainer, Travis," I replied coldly. "I train animals to do stuff."

"And people," May chirped, and I had to bite back a snort of amusement. She looked at me and smiled, and I scowled. "You train people to do stuff too."

I shrugged and cleared my throat. "I train them to do stuff with animals, Maybell," I replied. "I guide them on what they should do differently than what they were actually doing." I glanced at my daughter before I looked at Peter, who was enjoying the time he was spending with my dog.

My heart grew warm, and I was pleased that he was brave enough to pet my dog, even though I had a feeling that he was still slightly afraid of him.

The other two made it to where their brother was and stopped. They didn't reach out to touch my dog, and I had a feeling that it would take them a little longer to trust him than their brother.

The girl, Fiona, said something to the other boy, Jace, that I couldn't hear before she released her death grip on his hand. She turned her head to look at her uncle hesitantly, and her uncle hesitated but nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Fiona cleared her throat and reached out to touch the dog just as soon as her brother stopped petting him.