Page 13 of Finn's Solace

"Fuck my life!" I covered my face with my hands, then pulled my blanket over myself as Penny laughed like the villain shewas. I curled up into a ball as if that would save me from the inquisition. My basilisk seemed amused at my predicament, but that was becauseherarely had to deal with my parents.

The worst part about having good, loving parents was that they were always interested in your life and wanted to know everything, even the stuff you'd rather not tell them just yet.

"Finn?"

I sighed, then came out of my hiding place to face Dad, and Papa, who were standing in the doorway, probably so I wouldn't feel cornered.

"Hmm?" I asked, trying to act nonchalant.

"Tell me about Levi," Dad said as he came in and perched on the edge of my bed, and I eyed him, then Papa, then my phone, where Penny shot me a wink then ended the call.

With a sigh, I gave my dads a summarized explanation of my not-date with Levi so they could see how it very clearlywasn't a date. I even told them about his skunk familiar and how she'd bitten me.

"She bit you?" Dad asked, then turned to share a look with Papa. I did not like that look.

"Um, yeah. It didn't hurt much or anything, and it healed up almost instantly," I assured them, because my dads could get a tad overprotective sometimes.

"It's not that," Papa said, then came into the room, stopping beside Dad. He placed a hand on Dad's shoulder as he smiled at me, and explained, "The first time I met Neya, she bit me."

"And told me Jai is my mate," Dad added, and I stared at them, far too stunned to say anything.

They waited patiently as I struggled to find my voice. "Are you saying Levi is my mate?"

Dad shrugged, then took my hand in his, correctly reading the panicked look on my face. "It's a possibility, but it's just as likely she was just being playful. April bites everyone."

That was true. April was an eagle owl, and the familiar of the twins' Dad, and like Dad said, she bit everyone she liked.

Still, I couldn't get the idea that Levi could be my mate out of my head, especially because he'd been a little weird after Greta bit me. If I was his mate, why hadn't he told me? We were both supes, so it wasn't like he needed to keep it a secret.

And if we were mates, why hadn't I recognized it too?

Once the dads were sure I was okay, they left me alone, and I decided I needed to talk to Neel again. One of the best things about living in Mistvale was how close everyone was.

A short walk later, I was at Neel and Pax's place. They were stepbrothers, and they'd gotten a place together after college that they were in the middle of turning into a bed and breakfast. Technically, Raiden owned the place, but he'd said they could buy it from him once they had the money. I was pretty sure Raiden would've signed the house over for free, but their dads told him not to.

"Finn! Did we have plans? Come on in," Neel said, stepping aside as he held the door open.

"No plans, I just wanted to talk to you. I should've called ahead. Are you busy?"

"Nah, it's fine. Is everything okay?"

I followed him to the couch, then fell in beside him with a sigh. While Neel was human, he'd grown up in the supe community since his dads—Memphis and Orion—were an incubus and a griffin.

"What would you do if you found out that someone you know is your mate, and they knew but didn't tell you?"

A clatter drew our gazes to where Paxton stood in the doorway, his eyes on the phone he'd dropped.

"You okay?" Neel asked, his lips pursed as he eyed his brother.

Paxton nodded quickly, picked up his phone, and disappeared deeper into the house.

I raised a brow at Neel, but he merely shook his head. "He's been acting weird for a while now. I'm hoping he'll talk to me when he's ready. Anyway, are you telling me you know who your mate is?"

I made a face. "Well, not exactly."

I explained the situation to him, and realized that even if we didn't come up with a theory that would make sense, sharing this with him already made me feel a little better.

While I loved my family, sometimes it was easier to talk about things like this with a friend.

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