Page 12

Finn

After our date ended, Levi drove me home, and then walked me to the door, partly because he was a gentleman, and partly because he had to get Greta.

I could feel eyes on me and knew my dads were watching from somewhere , but when Levi's eyes slid to my lips, I couldn't help myself from closing the distance between us and kissing him.

I kept it soft, practically chaste, and he didn't push for more. Smiling against his lips, I pulled back, and he returned my smile as Greta clambered up onto his shoulder.

Giving her head a few rubs, I stepped back into the house. "I had fun tonight."

"Me too. I'll text you?"

I nodded quickly, and he smiled, then turned around and walked back to his car. I watched until he started the car and drove away before closing the door .

Taking a deep breath to brace myself, I turned around, then blinked in surprise when I found the room empty, save for an excited Padfoot.

He raced over to me, tail wagging rapidly, and I was forced to sit down right there on the floor so I could give him the attention he was clearly starved for.

Padfoot's whole body wriggled as I petted him, and he went off on one of his long-winded complaints. I assumed this one was about him not being allowed to make friends with Greta, and nodded along in sympathy.

By the time he calmed down enough to let me up—and I had a new ruined sweater for his bed—my dads were still nowhere to be found. Had they actually decided to give me some space? Or maybe they'd caught some super-strength bug that could affect supes. Yeah, that seemed more likely.

Not wanting to look the gift horse in the mouth, I escaped to my room with Pads at my heels.

As I changed, he jumped around on my bed, then decided to explore my little nook in the closet.

It was set up at the bottom, with some old pillows covered in the blankets I'd made with Noel—an elf in our clan—and topped with more fluffy pillows.

It was warm and soft, and nothing like the closet I'd once slept in with Levi and the others.

My hiding spot was both a source of comfort and embarrassment for me, which was why I rarely opened my closet around people. Padfoot had already spent some time cuddling with me in there, so he was familiar with the space .

"Come on out, Pads. Time for bed," I said, and he gave a woof before jumping onto my bed again. Shaking my head, I shut the closet door and turned off the lights before joining Padfoot in my bed, where he'd of course claimed most of the space for himself.

My phone buzzed before I'd fully settled in, and I picked it up, smiling when I saw it was a text from Levi.

The first was a photo of Greta curled up on a pillow, with the top half of Levi's head in the frame. The second was a text.

Levi : Sweet dreams, Finn.

I decided to send a picture as well, but since I'd already turned off the lights and was too lazy to get back up, I used the flash on my phone, which meant Pads and I were both squinty-eyed in the photo. I sent it anyway, and wished him a good night.

Levi : Oh, I am definitely going to have some very good dreams now :P

I snorted, then put the phone away without replying. We both had work tomorrow, and I'd prefer it if Levi didn't walk into an active construction site half-awake and unfocused.

That night, I had the best sleep I'd had in ages, and my dreams were full of stars and kisses and the random wet-nosed puppy kisses.

The week after, though? That was another story. Levi and I tried to squeeze in as much time as we could to talk, but there was only so much we could do around work and other responsibilities .

Then it was Thursday, and Penny arrived like a whirlwind like usual. Rhiannon—a clan member who was a warlock—had made her a portal so she could come straight from the campus to the packland. Then she'd gotten a lift home from Rebba—Rhiannon's mate.

Hugs were exchanged, and then Penny spent a few minutes petting Padfoot and Neya and apologizing for being gone so long while Dad puttered around the kitchen making her some snacks.

"How's it going with Mr. Not-Dead?" Penny asked as Padfoot tried his best to push his head under her jacket and cuddle as close to her as physically possible.

I rolled my eyes at the nickname, then joined her on the floor since it didn't look like she planned to move anytime soon.

"Good. It's been good," I said, and she eyed me for a long moment before smiling widely.

Looking at us, no one could doubt we were siblings.

We had the same pale skin and green eyes, though her hair was longer than mine and a much purer shade of red.

Her hair was a different style every time she came home.

This time, it was in tight curls that framed her face and reminded me of the princess in Brave .

"Yeah? I'm glad to hear that. You know I'm gonna want to meet him while I'm here, right?"

I sighed, but nodded, because I knew she would track him down even if I said no. Better to introduce them myself so I'd be there to keep her under control .

"Can we invite Levi over for lunch tomorrow?" Dad asked as he came into the room with a tray laden with far too much food for a midday snack. It was a good thing we supes had fast metabolisms.

"Uh..." Meeting my sister was one thing, but meeting my parents too? Would that be too much for Levi?

Then again, living in a town this small, he was bound to run into them at some point, so wouldn't it be better to do it this way? At least here he could escape if it got to be too much.

"I'll have to check if he's free tomorrow," I hedged, and Dad shrugged. Even my basilisk side had started getting antsy after not seeing Levi for so long , but I wasn't sure if inviting him to lunch with my family would be a good idea.

"If he's not, we can do Saturday instead."

"Or Sunday," Penny added with a wink, and I scowled at her. She'd been home for what, ten minutes? And already she was a pain in my ass. Why had I been excited to see her again anyway?

"Aww, look at you. You look like an angry hamster," Penny teased as she threw her arms around my chest and dragged me to the floor as she hugged me. Damn, it was good to have her home.

Levi

Finn : Penny's home for the weekend, and she wants to meet you. Would you like to come to mine for lunch tomorrow ?

I'd been staring at Finn's message in my notification window for the past five minutes and silently freaking out. I hadn't opened it yet because then he would know I'd seen the message and then he would start freaking out the longer I waited to reply.

It wasn't like I didn't want to see Penny. That wasn't the problem. She'd been what, nine, the last time I saw her? She'd be twenty-three now, a whole new person, and I wanted to get to know her, especially because I knew how much his siblings meant to Finn.

After meeting up with Amelia for lunch on Monday, I wanted to see all of the others, but especially Finn's siblings.

I was certain the only reason Finn had survived everything he'd been put through was because of his siblings. They were his world, which meant that if I was going to be a good mate to him, his siblings needed to be a big part of my world too.

No, the problem was the 'lunch at his home' part, because it implied Penny wouldn't be the only one there. Finn's dads would be too.

The good thing was they knew we were mates and that Finn had known me once before. I wasn't a complete stranger, not to Finn and Penny, at least. I'd even talked to Raphael a few times. The only true wild card would be Finn's Papa, Jai.

Greta jumped up on my lap and gave me one of her beady-eyed looks, and smacked her palm against my phone, opening Finn's text window and marking the message as read. I sighed .

"Okay, okay, I'll reply," I grumbled to the bossy little shit, and started typing.

Me : Sounds good. Is there anything I can bring?

Finn : Just you and Greta. Neya has promised to share her favorite nuts with her.

I chuckled, then glanced at Greta, who'd resumed her spot on the couch's arm. "You're invited too."

She made a chirp, flicked her tail, then turned her head away, which I translated to, "Okay, I'll be there. Now let me sleep."

Me : We'll be there. Should I be scared?

Finn : You can't be more scared than I am. If one of us decides to end it tomorrow, it's not gonna be me. -_-

Me : Nothing in this world could make me want to end it.

Finn : We'll see.

Shaking my head at his ominous words, I put my phone away and quickly finished up my dinner. One good thing about doing the lunch tomorrow was that I'd still have to go back to work after, so I had an excuse to get out of there afterward if I needed it.

It'd been almost two weeks since I started my new job, and I was surprised to realize I was loving it. Usually with construction, the earth was extremely uncooperative. It was understandable because why would the nourishing earth want a steel-and-cement monstrosity growing out of her?

But here, it was different. The earth was content to let us build on it, maybe because the town as a whole was more natural than manmade.

The park was owned and raised by a forest spirit who kept all its flora and fauna happy and healthy.

The river that ran through nourished the earth with fresh water, and the various supes who lived here enriched the land with their magic.

Add to that the storm dragon who provided enough rain and shelter to keep the land fed, and the earth was only too happy to help us build stronger homes for people.

Since I was an earth mage, I'd been tasked with making sure the foundation was deep enough, and in the right spot.

Not only had I been able to do that, I'd also convinced the earth to let us go a little deeper so it would be more sound.

She'd agreed without protest, and even helped fill up the dig site once the foundations were set.

What would've taken humans a couple of weeks at least, we'd accomplished in less than a week.

Of course, my magic wouldn't be quite as useful for every stage of the construction. I would have to do some things the human way, just like the others. But that was fun in its own way, and I was looking forward to it.

As soon as my mind drifted off the topic of work, it latched onto Finn, which it had a tendency to do whenever I wasn't actively thinking about something. Or doing a mundane task like washing the dishes.

Was this how it was for all newly mated pairs?

I'd never met a fated pair until I got to Mistvale, and they seemed to be everywhere here.

There was something more to this town, something more than the variety of supes and the lush flora and fauna.

Within weeks of arriving, I'd found my familiar and my mate.

That couldn't possibly be a coincidence .

Was this town somehow blessed by Fate or some higher power?

I didn't believe in a God of any kind. I hadn't been raised that way, and nothing I'd seen before had made me suddenly believe in the existence of one.

But if there was a God, or a Creator of this world, I would assume Mistvale was a personal favorite of theirs.

Greta hopped onto the counter, and started batting at the foam in the sink. I was almost done with the dishes, so I forced myself to focus on the task and stop getting distracted.

I blew on the foam, making some of it float toward Greta, who leapt back, then jumped off the counter and raced out of the kitchen. I watched her go with a laugh, then returned my attention to the dishes at hand and tried very hard not to think about my impending lunch with Finn's family tomorrow.