Page 10 of Delivered to My Fury (Mail-Order Matings #19)

Shay

When we were in the brewing room, we left our phones in the office. There were too many moving parts, and accidents could happen. I’d had a dream one night about dropping my phone into some precious ale and when I told the others, we agreed on the no-phone rule.

It hadn’t been an issue until the Mail-Order Matings app. Now, it was a real problem.

“Did you see anyone last night?” I asked my fury mates. Even though I’d been fighting against talking about it all morning, it was pointless.

“I saw some, but my wolf wasn’t calling out for any of them.” Eero relied heavily on his wolf. More than I did my bear. Probably not a good thing, but sometimes I thought my bear was silly. If he had his way, we’d do nothing but hunt for a mate. That didn’t really pay the bills. It was a catch-22. If we stopped everything and hunted for a mate, we wouldn’t be able to provide for her, but if all we did was work, then we were missing out on a whole facet of life that included love and the bond our animals longed for.

“Zyon?” I asked, since he hadn’t looked up from the glass after tasting a batch.

“It needs something, but I can’t put my finger on it. It’s driving me to madness.”

I snorted. Zyon pretended like he was all business, but he craved a mate just like the rest of us. Maybe more. Orcs at his age were already mated and had orclings on the way and toddling around their homes.

Sometimes, I feared being in our fury was holding him back. He said not, but I suspected.

Still, he chose us. We chose each other.

“I meant on the app.”

“Oh. Yes and no.”

“Explain.” Eero moved around the room, shaking his head at our friend. Sometimes getting information out of him when he was in a work zone was like pulling teeth.

Zyon stopped and looked at us. His lip was a bit curled between his tusks. “I see lots of beautiful, smart, kind women, but no one is speaking to me. I don’t mean with words. I would feel something if she was my mate, our mate, but now I’m questioning if that happens over the internet? With just a picture to go on? Then I get frustrated and put my phone down.”

Laughing, I ticked my chin at Eero. “You asked him to explain. And I’m wondering the same thing too, Zy. But so many others have found their mates on the app.”

“That’s true. Maybe we haven’t found the right person yet.”

Eero looked at me, his eyes darkened. “And maybe our fated mate isn’t on the app at all.”

A knock on the door startled us, which was hard to do. Mabel stuck her head in. “I can’t concentrate with all your phones blowing up. I know you’re on the app, but I can’t think straight. Do something about it, please.”

We chuckled and went to get our phones. They were, in fact, blowing up with notifications. Some were texts, others emails, but a lot of them were from the app.

“We have a ton of matches,” Eero said, wide-eyed.

“Why are you so shocked?” I laughed. “We are strong, fierce shifters who own our own successful business.”

He nailed me with a stare. “Yeah, the females are knocking down the doors. Hey…look at this one.”

We gathered around him and his phone to see a woman. She was a match and her name, Opal, sounded like a song in my heart.

“She’s stunning,” Zyon said. Never heard that word come out of my friend.

“She is,” I agreed. “She sent us a message. Hello. Saw we were a match and wanted to reach out. I’m human. Hope that’s okay. I look forward to speaking with you. ”

Eero stepped back, cheeks pale. “Is it a joke?” he whispered.

“A joke?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re not exactly your run-of-the-mill pack, Shay. I…is it just me, or does this seem too easy?”

“Yes.” Zyon put the phone down. “And no. When Fate decides things, it’s easy—smooth even. Sure, there are some bumps, but no one else has contacted us. Doesn’t your heart flutter, looking at her?”

Eero nodded. “It does. Should we message her back? I never even considered the steps after being matched with someone. My wolf likes her too.”

“As does my bear.”

I picked up my phone and went through her profile before we decided what to do next. We found out Opal was a researcher, a chemist. She had pictures of herself with a lab coat on as well as other photos. Long blonde hair and gorgeous golden eyes… My bear and I were captivated in the best way possible.

“She’s smart, obviously,” I said.

“Beautiful, obviously.” Eero had gotten back on his phone, and his coloring had returned.

“Stunning,” Zyon agreed.

“You said that already, Zy. I…should we look at other matches?”

Eero stepped forward. “No. My wolf wants her. There’s no reason for me to look anywhere else. When you know, you know, right?”

“Even if she’s human.” I wouldn’t be a friend if I didn’t try to play devil’s advocate. This was our life and our hearts we were talking about.

“I don’t care if she’s a donkey shifter. Let’s message her.”

“What do we say?” Zyon asked.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts. “We tell her it’s nice to meet her. We’d love to get to know her better.”

As soon as we sent the message, peace covered my heart.