Page 9

Finn

It was date time, and I was nervous as fuck.

I'd debated over where I could take Levi.

I'd wanted it to be somewhere he'd like, and the first thing that came to mind was the park.

He would've liked a nice picnic, and he'd been excited by the idea of meeting Alden, the unicorn who lived there.

I could've made that happen, but after talking with Amelia for a while yesterday, I'd changed my mind.

We could go to the park some other time. A second date, maybe, if this one went well.

My basilisk side seemed to be growing fond of Levi now that he was around a bit more, and he seemed to be impatiently pushing me to go to Levi faster since I was picking Levi up at his place for our date.

I'd picked a daytime activity followed by lunch, mostly because I didn't want to wait until the evening, and I arrived at his place with five minutes to spare. He was already sitting on the porch waiting for me, Greta perched on his knee.

He smiled when he saw me, and got to his feet, Greta trailing after him. I was sure she'd have fun too, and that might've played a tiny role in the activity I picked for us.

I'd taken far too long to get dressed in the dark green Henley and blue jeans I wore, but the way Levi's eyes roamed over me as he got into the car was well worth the effort.

He wore dark jeans that clung to his muscular legs, and another of his pun t-shirts—he'd clearly figured out I liked them—this one with a pickle in a jar of liquid with the words "I'm in a pickle" in a speech bubble above it.

He'd donned a denim jacket over it to finish off his outfit, and he looked handsome.

"I hope that's not a comment on your date," I teased as I eyed the pickle again, and he glanced down at his t-shirt, then laughed.

"Not at all."

"Good," I said with a smile as I started the car, then glanced back at Greta, who'd settled herself on the middle seat.

"Is it okay I brought her?"

"Of course. She's your familiar. She goes where you go," I said with a shrug, and he hummed.

"I keep forgetting you live with a familiar and know what it's like."

I chuckled. "Yeah. Neya is never too far from Dad, even when he's at home. "

"That's nice. Um, I should mention I met him. Your dad."

"What?" I snapped my head to look at him, then jerked it back forward before I crashed the car.

"Yeah, he said he was visiting someone at the packland. We only talked for a minute, but he welcomed me to the town and invited me over for dinner."

Oh my God. Why would he do something like that?

"I'm sorry."

"Why? It was sweet," Levi said with a chuckle. "Don't worry—I'm not planning to take him up on that invite, not until it's you inviting me."

"Thanks," I mumbled as my cheeks heated up. I'd known my parents were meddlesome, but I still hadn't been expecting that.

I wondered what Dad thought of Levi. He must've liked him, or he would've said something to me. Right?

"We're here," I said, and Levi peered out the window at the squat building in front of us. A wooden sign hung over the door, newly painted with just a hint of magic protecting it from damage.

"The Happy Place," Levi read under his breath, and I nodded, then got out of the car as he did the same.

I'd asked Rebba if I could hang out for a while with a friend, and she'd said yes. The residents were always looking for new people to hang out with, so she didn't mind .

Levi joined me at the bottom of the stairs with Greta on his shoulder, and I debated for a long moment before brushing the back of my hand against his.

He glanced down at our hands, smiled, and then slid his fingers between mine, clasping my hand.

I barely stopped myself from sucking in a breath or tightening my grip around his hand. Instead, I swallowed hard and led him into the shelter.

"Oh wow," Levi murmured as soon as he realized what the place was.

"I thought we could play with the animals for a while. Silly?"

"Are you kidding? It's perfect!" Levi exclaimed, and I smiled. I'd figured he might enjoy it considering he was an earth mage—Amelia spent most of her free time here when she was home—but it felt good to hear it.

"Hey, Finn. You must be Levi," Rebba said as she came out of the back room, and I smiled.

"Thanks for letting us hang out, Rebba. Levi, this is Rebba, the owner of this place, and the alpha of the Mistvale shifter pack."

"It's nice to meet you, Rebba," Levi said with a dip of his head, and she smiled.

Rebba was a tall, broad-shouldered woman with tan skin and long, black hair in braids. She was one of the kindest women I'd ever met.

"You guys can stay as long as you want and play with any of the animals in the back room. Just make sure to read their charts so you know who shouldn't be around whom, okay? I don't want to clean up a bloodbath."

"She's joking," I assured Levi, and Rebba made a "Hmph!" sound, making me wince. Was she trying to scare him off?

"It's okay. We'll be careful."

"I like you," Rebba said, making Levi smile wider, and I sighed. I'd surely be reading about this in the chat group later.

Once Rebba left us alone, we visited the animals one by one. They were mostly dogs and cats, but there were also a few cages with birds inside, and one with rabbits. One even had a raccoon, whose chart told us he'd been found with a broken leg near the road that led out of town.

After carefully selecting a few dogs who seemed to get along with each other, we took them back to the playroom and spent the next thirty minutes playing with them while Greta held most of their attention as she raced around the room trying to avoid them.

Levi assured me she was just having fun and not actually afraid, and we played with the dogs that seemed a little less interested in chasing the skunk and more interested in getting belly rubs.

It was easy, relaxed, and exactly the kind of date I'd hoped for.

Lev i

After the dogs came the cats, who were more interested in cuddling us and chasing each other than the toys.

Watching Finn with the cats made my chest go all fuzzy. He had a big smile on his face the whole time he petted the long-haired calico that had claimed his lap, and I sneakily took a picture of him because I just couldn't resist. He looked so sweet and happy.

Once the cats were all played out, we returned them to their kennels so they could have some food and water.

While Finn took his time situating the calico, my eyes were drawn to...was that a duck?

It was alone in a large cage, with a kiddie pool and a bowl of food, and it was watching me. I moved around, and its eyes followed me with eerie precision.

"What are you doing?"

"That duck keeps staring at me," I said, and Finn followed my gaze to the brown-and-white duck.

I approached its cage, and it let out a warning squawk and flapped its wings.

The chart told me it was a male duck, but it gave no reason for why it was here. It also said, in all caps, "Not for adoption," and, "Doesn't get along with anyone!"

"Why is he here anyway? Doesn't look like he's hurt," I said, and Finn knelt beside me so he could look at the duck as well.

"I have no idea. Should we ask Rebba? "

"Wait," I said as I realized I could sense something. I pressed my palm against the cage and sent my magic out, searching. "Holy fuck."

"What? What is it?"

"He's a shifter."

"What?" Finn's eyes snapped to mine, the bright green gleaming in the light reflected by the pool.

"Yeah. He's a shifter. I'm sure of it."

"Can you communicate with him?"

I glanced back at Rebba, who'd come into the room while we'd been too preoccupied to notice.

"No, sorry. Can't you?"

Rebba shook her head. "I heard about him from a shifter friend and got him from the shelter they'd seen him at. I've been trying to convince him to shift back, but I think he's been a duck for far too long."

"That's awful," I murmured, feeling sad for the poor guy. What would make someone so resistant to shifting into their human form?

"I've been asking every supe I know to come visit him in the hopes he'll connect with someone. I've only ever seen this once before, but that time, the shifter was unable to shift because of a spelled collar. But this guy has either forgotten how to shift back, or doesn't want to."

"I hope someone manages to connect with him, then," Finn said as he reached his fingers through the cage, only to jerk back when the duck tried to bite him. "It's clearly not going to be us."

"Looks like it."

To cheer ourselves up, we hung out with the bunnies next, who were great at cuddling but did not want to return to their pens, which they made clear by making us chase them all over the room. Who knew rabbits could be so slippery? Even Greta got tired of chasing after them, and she loved running.

By the time Rebba told us we should get going, we realized it was way past lunchtime. The time had flown without either of us noticing, and I'd enjoyed every moment of it.

Over lunch at a nearby restaurant, we talked about our week, and Finn told me more about the members of the Mistvale clan.

With blushing cheeks, he also admitted that we were the latest topic of clan gossip and everyone was trying to figure out if we were dating or not.

"I've only told Ames we're mates. Not that I don't plan to tell the others, but once they know, it becomes a whole thing and everyone gets involved, and I just—"

"Hey, it's okay. Finn. It's okay. You don't have to tell anyone until you're ready to. There's no rush, remember?"

Finn smiled, then placed his hand over mine on the table and squeezed. "Yeah. Thank you."

After we finished our meal, Finn drove me back home. I would've happily spent the rest of the day with him, but I didn't want to be overbearing .

When he came to a stop in front of my place, we sat in silence for a few moments, both of us trying to extend our time together without actually saying it.

Then Greta chirped and knocked against the window, breaking us out of our stupor.

"Sorry, Greta," Finn said as he opened the window, and she gave another chirp before hopping out.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," I said with a smile.

"Yeah," Finn agreed, but even I could hear the halfhearted tone of his voice.

"Would you like to—"

"Do you wanna—"

We laughed, and I took his hand in mine, then kissed his knuckles, smiling as his cheeks went pink.

"You go first," Finn said, and I gave his hand another kiss before speaking.

"Do you wanna go out again tomorrow? Make the most of the weekend?"

Finn mulled over it for a moment while I tried to keep breathing, then nodded. "That sounds good. This time you pick what we do."

"Okay. See you tomorrow, then?"

Finn nodded, and I resisted the urge to lean forward and kiss him. Instead, I pressed another kiss on his knuckles, then let go of his hand and stepped out of the car.

He waited until I was at my door before driving off, and I watched until his car disappeared from sight before heading into the house, where Greta made a beeline for her food and water.

While she replenished herself, I changed into something comfy, then camped out in front of the TV for the rest of the afternoon, my attention split between the show and Finn.

I had no idea where I would take Finn for our date tomorrow, but there was no way I'd be able to do better than him. Maybe I could stick to the tried-and-tested dinner date? Would that be too boring?

Fuck, I needed some help, but I doubted Greta would have any ideas. If only there was someone else I could ask!