Page 7

Finn

I tapped my foot against the floor as I waited for Levi to show up. He'd said there was something he needed to tell me. He had to be talking about the mate thing, right?

Had Dad been right? Was Levi my mate?

Wait. What if he'd assumed I already knew because I was a supe too? And he thought I hadn't told him because I had some issue with it? That would be bad.

My basilisk side had had no reaction to Levi, and I had no idea why that was. Could it be because he hadn't seen Levi with 'his' eyes? My glasses kept me from using my powers on anyone, but did they also stop my basilisk from recognizing Levi?

Fuck, I needed to stop worrying myself into an anxiety attack. It'd been a while since I had one of those, and I'd prefer to keep it that way, especially when Levi was going to be here at any moment .

"Finn."

My head jerked up, and I smiled automatically as Levi grinned at me, his blue eyes sparkling in the overhead lights. He was wearing another of his pun t-shirts—did he even own any other shirts?—this one with a picture of a tea bag with the words 'tea shirt' written on it.

"Nice t-shirt," I teased as I stood up, and he glanced down at it, his grin notching up a few degrees.

"You like it? It felt apt."

Laughing, I waved him toward the counter. "Come on—let's order first."

Brittany was at the counter, and I smiled at her, then waved to Levi. "Levi, this is Brittany, the best tea-brewer in Mistvale. Brittany, this is Levi. He's an old friend."

"Nice to meet you, Brittany," Levi said with a tilt of his head, and Brittany smiled.

"Nice to meet you too. I like you."

Levi chuckled, then eyed the menu on the screen behind her. "Hmm so many choices. What would you recommend, Finn?"

"You want me to pick for you?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, please."

Iris stuck her head out of the back, and smiled when she spotted me.

"Hey, Finn. Want your usual?"

"Hey, Iris! That would be great, thanks. For both of us, please. "

Her eyes slid to Levi, then returned to me. "Introduce me later."

"Yep." I led Levi to a table before Iris could say anything else. She was a witch I'd known for a few years now, and she was almost as bad as Penny.

"Do you know everyone in town?" Levi asked, and I chuckled.

"Not at all. Iris and Brittany are in our clan. Iris is a witch, and Brittany's her mate."

"Oh, I didn't realize you're part of a clan."

I shrugged, smiling fondly as I thought about the Mistvale clan. "Yeah, it's an eclectic mix, really. We have all kinds of supes."

"I'm guessing it's headed by the same dragon who watches over this town?"

"Raiden, yeah," I said, then shook my head. Get back on track, Finn. "You said you wanted to tell me something."

"Ah, yes." Levi hesitated, his fingers tapping out a rhythm on the table. Just when he opened his mouth to speak, Brittany appeared at our table.

"Here you go, gentlemen. Two of my special ginger honey teas, and two slices of Iris's delicious lemon cake. Give a shout if you need anything else."

Grateful that she didn't linger, I took a grateful sip of my tea as I waited for Levi to gather his thoughts.

"You know the other day when Greta bit you? "

My hand shook as I replaced the cup in the saucer, and a hoarse "Mm-hmm" left my lips as I adjusted my glasses.

"Well, she told me something," Levi said, a cautious look in his eyes as he searched my face.

"What did she say?" I prompted, pushing down the hope bubbling in my chest.

"She told me...you're my mate," Levi said, his voice hushed as if he was confessing a big secret. Which he was.

It was true. We really were mates.

"Oh," I murmured, then took another sip of tea as I tried to decide what to say. Even though I'd expected it, I still didn't know.

"You don't look surprised. I thought you might know already since you're a supe as well. Is there a reason you didn't tell me?"

My eyes shot to Levi's, and I shook my head quickly. "Oh no, I didn't. I mean, I suspected but I wasn't sure. I can't sense our bond. I don't know why."

Levi's brows furrowed as he reached across the table to brush his hand over mine. The touch was warm, almost electric. "Then how did you know?"

"I told my dads about meeting up with you, and apparently, Dad's familiar also bit Papa the first time she met him, and told Dad they were mates. He's a mage too."

"Oh! I didn't know this was a mage thing.

That makes sense," Levi said, a thoughtful look on his face.

Then he shook his head, and his complete focus turned to me.

"So, what do you think? If you're not ready to date, or if you're not interested in dating at all, I'll understand.

I'd be just as happy being your friend."

"We've only just reconnected. We spent years apart, and we've both lived different lives in that time. We're not the people we were when we first met," I said, trying to be reasonable.

"That's true," Levi agreed, then stuck a big piece of cake into his mouth, though he couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes. Did he think I was about to reject him?

"But before, I used to have a teeny, tiny crush on you," I said, and he almost choked on his cake before waving me on to continue. "I think I'd like to go out, and see where it leads us."

Levi swallowed hard, then took a sip of his tea.

"I'd like that too. Very much."

"I don't want to rush anything, though," I warned him, and he nodded quickly.

"Neither do I. I'd like to take things slow, get to know you better. Maybe see the others again too. I'm starting a new job next week, but other than that, my time is yours."

Excitement fizzled through me at Levi's declaration, and the last of the anxiety I'd been harboring since he texted yesterday finally evaporated into nothing.

"Of course! Penny and Dean aren't home at the moment, but Amelia will be back from her trip in a couple of days, and everyone else is here too. "

Levi placed his hand over mine on the table and gave it a light squeeze.

"I was so happy when Greta told me you're my mate. I'm a lucky man."

Heat raced up my cheeks, and I ducked my head, knowing I had a very obvious, very bright blush.

Levi

I hadn't thought Finn could look any more stunning, but then he blushed.

His skin was pale as ever, which meant his blush was easily visible. I wanted to reach out and brush my fingers over the heated skin, but I held back.

"I'm glad you're mine too," he murmured, his eyes completely focused on his cake, which I realized he hadn't even started eating until now.

We moved to lighter topics, and I found out the apartment complex I'd been hired to build—with two ten-floor apartment buildings at the edge of town—was owned by a vampire who'd been planning to build it on the park near the docks.

He'd been thwarted by the forest spirit who owned the park land, and his unicorn mate. Unicorn!

Like most supes, I'd believed unicorns were extinct, but apparently, Alden was the last of his kind. He was also a part of Finn's clan, and since I was his mate—and would one day become a part of that clan—there was a chance I'd get to meet him one day.

"Everyone gets that exact look on their face when they find out about Alden," Finn said with a laugh as he ate the last bite of his cake.

"Can you blame me? He's a unicorn! Which reminds me—can I ask what kind of supe you are? I can't tell."

Finn's hand jerked, and he almost spilled his tea all over the table, grabbing the cup with his other hand just in time. Clearly, I'd hit a nerve somehow. Shit.

"Uh, can we talk about that later?"

"Of course," I agreed, mentally admonishing myself for bringing it up at all. I'd known something was wrong because of his glasses and his inability to sense we're mates. I shouldn't have pushed.

Had getting his blood drained all that time affected him somehow? Damaged his supe side? Was that even possible?

Deciding to put it away for now, I turned the conversation to Amelia, and Finn told me about her passion for wildlife photography.

He showed me some of the photos she'd taken, and they were stunning.

When I saw her, I'd ask her if I could purchase some of them.

They'd look wonderful hanging on my walls, a peek into the nature even when I was surrounded by drywall.

We kept talking until it was past dinner time, and ended up at a small restaurant in TOSS. Finn declared it wouldn't be counted as a first date since it was just a continuation of our earlier hang out, and I had to agree.

We chatted as we ate, and decided Finn would pick an activity for our first date since he knew the town and what we could do around here the best.

After dinner, we walked to the parking lot since we'd both driven here. The place was pretty close to my house, but I hadn't known if I could bring Greta, so I'd taken the car since it was the only way to make sure she didn't sneakily follow me.

"I'll text you later. You start work on Monday, so how about Saturday for our first date? It'll give you some time to decompress."

Smiling at his thoughtfulness, I agreed, then took a step back so I wouldn't step forward and kiss him instead.

He still had a faint hint of a blush on his cheeks, and I desperately wanted to touch him.

But we were going to take things slow. We had to, because this was too important to mess up by being impatient.

"Sounds good. Text me the details."

"I will," he agreed, his green eyes gazing into mine, the glasses almost disappearing for a moment as our gazes latched together.

I wasn't sure how long we lingered, but then a car horn made Finn jump, and I shook my head.

"It's late. We should call it a night."

Finn nodded quickly, then gave me a quick finger wave—adorable!—before walking off to his car.

I made my way to mine, and drove home with a grin on my face.

Greta took one look at me when I got home and made a chuffing sound as she sent a wave of amusement through our bond.

"Laugh at me all you want. Nothing's going to down my high right now."

Greta blinked at me, then turned around and stalked away.

Shaking my head, I swapped the water in her bowl, then checked the feeder. It was something I'd invested in once I got the job, since I wasn't sure if I'd be able to take her with me. What if someone assumed she was a wild skunk and tried to hurt her?

Maybe I could get Finn to watch over her while I was at work? Or was that too much?

I knew he worked from home—something about data analysis that I was far too uneducated to make sense of, but he seemed to find it interesting—but we'd just agreed to date. Asking him to watch over my family hardly seemed like taking it slow.

The feeder would have to do for now.

As I climbed into bed, my thoughts returned to Finn—like they'd ever gone anywhere else—and a smile spread across my lips.

How had I gone from moving into a new town with zero connections to finding my familiar, a job, and my mate all within a few weeks?

There really was something truly magical about Mistvale.