Page 12 of Finn's Solace

My eyes flashed to Greta, who was watching me carefully. "Greta, why would you do that?" I asked, keeping my tone level because I knew she'd understand me.

She kept staring at me, then sent me a thought through our bond. She didn't use words often, preferring to use pictures to explain what she wanted to say. But right then, she sent a word loud and clear through our bond:mate.

I shook my head, then shifted my chair closer to Finn's before taking his hand in mine. "Let me see that."

I leaned over, examining the bite, and realized it wasn't too deep. Actually, it was quite similar to the bite she'd given me when she claimed me as her mage. Huh.

"It's okay. It's probably healed already," Finn murmured, and I grabbed a napkin to wipe his finger, realizing he was right. So whatever kind of supe he was, it was one with extremely fast healing.

"Looks like it. I'm sorry about that," I murmured, unsure if I was quite yet ready to deal with the bomb Greta had dropped on me.

Mate. Finn was my mate.

But if so, why hadn't he said anything? He was a supe, so he should already know, right?

Could it be that he didn't want to be my mate? Or was it possible that he didn't know? I knew some supes onlyrecognized their mates when they were in their supe forms, or through certain senses.

Either way, I didn't think it would be the best idea to tell him now. We'd just reconnected, and I wanted to get to know him better before throwing romance into the mix. I wanted to see Amelia and the others too, and maybe once I was sure I had a place in his life, I'd tell Finn about our bond.

I just hoped he wouldn't figure it out on his own first.

Six

Finn

"Do you remember Levi?" I asked Penny, and she pursed her lips as she thought about it. After meeting up, I'd come back home, gone straight to my room, and called my other best friend, Penny. Yesterday, I'd needed an outsider opinion, but today I wanted to talk to someone who'd actually met Levi.

Amelia had been my first choice—simply because she wouldn't go running to tell my dads I met a boy—but she was off on one of her trips where she decided keeping her phone charged wasn't a priority. If she wasn't an earth mage running alone through jungles, I'd be worried. But she had all the protection she needed when she was surrounded by nature.

"The kid I beat up for messing with Dean?" she asked after a moment, and I blinked, then shook my head.

"Nope, not that guy."

Penny hummed, then frowned. "Wait, wait, wait. Are you talking about the guy we met in that hellhole? The one whodied?" Penny never minced her words, but the surprise was clear on her face.

While I'd always encouraged my siblings to talk about what happened when we were kids, I rarely brought up the topic myself, so I could understand why.

"Yep. Fun fact: he's not dead. Not that it's a surprise, but they lied to us. Levi escaped."

Penny's eyes went wide. "No fucking way. Really?"

I nodded, then told her about stumbling into him at the grocery store and my conversation with him earlier today.

"Wait. You went on a date with him?" Her face lit up with delight instantly, and I shook my head, rushing to correct her.

"It wasn't a date," I said, throwing in an eye-roll for good measure, but it just made her grin widen.

"Uh-huh, sure, sure," she said as she started messing with her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Penny," I warned, not liking the grin on her face. That grin usually preceded something I would want to kick her ass for, but she was too far away for me to do that, which just made her braver.

"So...I have class in a few minutes, but I think you should talk to the dads about this. They're eager to help."

Oh no. Oh no no no no!

---