Page 19 of Finn's Solace

I blinked, then chuckled sheepishly. "How did you guess?"

"Well, I haven't seen you before, and Caleb said someone new was joining the crew today."

"You know Caleb?"

"I better. He's my mate," they said, pushing their curls back and giving me a glimpse of their pointed ear. Elf or fae? Elf, if I had to guess. "I'm Noel, by the way. Why don't you come on in and have some tea and cookies with us? No point going back now. You're new in town, right?"

I nodded, then hedged. "I don't want to be a bother."

Noel made a "Psh!" sound and waved me off. "You won't. Come on."

Noel disappeared behind the wall, and I shook my head, then made my way to the gate. It wasn't locked, so I just went in, following the path to a clearing with two cabins in it.

"Over here!" Noel called, and I found the trail leading deeper into the packland toward their voice. Heading down, I found the path lined with more cabins, one of which belonged to Noel and Caleb, who'd stuck his head out, probably curious who his mate was talking to. His brows furrowed when he spotted me, and I swallowed hard. What was the etiquette about accepting an invite by the boss's mate? Had I gotten myself in trouble?

"Levi, right?" Noel asked as they practically skipped over to me and stuck a hand out. I shook it carefully, aware ofCaleb watching my every move. Wolf shifters were particularly territorial, and I had no intention of triggering his wolf side into action.

"Yeah. Um, I can go back. It's no trouble."

"Nah." Noel waved a hand again, then turned to Caleb. "He messed up the time because he was nervous. Isn't that cute?"

Caleb grunted something that could be yes or no, and Noel chuckled.

"Come on in, Levi. Tell me all about you. Have you had a chance to make any friends? You've only been here for a few weeks, right?"

I could feel Caleb's eyes on me with every step I took, but I couldn't decline Noel's invite any more, so I followed them into their cabin, which was warm and cozy beyond belief.

I settled on the couch, then remembered Noel had asked me something. "Oh, actually, I used to know some people who live here now. I wasn't expecting to find them, but I ran into Finn the other week and he told me they were all here."

Noel blinked, then smiled widely. "You know Finn?"

I nodded. Then I realized they were waiting for me to say more, and tried to find the right way to phrase it. I didn't know how much they knew, and I didn't want to say anything Finn didn't want people to know. "I met him and the others when we were younger."

"Ah," Noel murmured, and I got the feeling they understood. "Well, that more or less makes you a part of the clan, then. Welcome to Mistvale!"

I exhaled in relief, glad they weren't going to ask me more about the past, then smiled. "Thank you. I really like it here."

"What's not to like?"

Noel was right about that. Mistvale really was a wonderful place, but I was discovering the people were just as amazing as the land they lived on.

Noel disappeared into the kitchen to make some tea, and my eyes slid to Caleb, who sat on an armchair and had been quietly watching—judging?—me.

"I'm sorry about the jumble. I thought it was nine."

"It's fine. Early is better than late anyway. Good thing Noel spotted you."

"It is?"

Caleb shrugged. "Like he said, there's no point in you going back when you'd have to return in an hour anyway."

"That's true," I agreed, relaxing a little now that it seemed like Caleb wasn't annoyed or planning to fire me.

My first day at work clearly wasn't going to be anything like I'd imagined, but I had a feeling it would be one hell of a day.

Finn

I growled at my screen and wondered again why I liked my job. Cleaning up all this data was going to use up the rest of my morning, and maybe some of my afternoon too. What was it with people randomly capitalizing their names? First letters, I got, but the whole names? Why?

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