Page 23 of Finn's Solace

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 backwhen 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.

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