I furrow my brow. If it’s about Dave, I won’t allow any negativity. “So what?” I ask defensively.
“Just wondered… While we can’t avoid that they know about our existence sometimes, it’s different to befriend one. Do you think a human is the right companion for you?”
“At least I have friends,” I snap at him. Wow, Annalise, shut the fuck up! Are you stupid?
Again, Finn surprises me. “You are interesting,” he states after a while. His stance softens, and he takes a step back. “I apologize for testing you like that.”
“You were just toying with me?” I ask, dumbfounded.
He shrugs.
“Why?” I demand.
“You are interesting, that’s why,” he points out. “Do you know how often it happens that someone is immune to my Alpha power?”
“How often?” I ask, not able to hide my curiosity.
“Aside from my parents and my siblings… Never! Today was the first time.” He pauses. “Oh, and I agree, good friends are important to have.”
His words make me blush. “Sorry,” I blurt out, “I didn’t mean to imply… well…”
A smirk appears on his face. His grumpy expression is suddenly gone, and he looks way more relaxed. I instantly feel sorry for him. “Come, Alpha Finn,” I say, deciding to make up for my attitude. I point at the door. “Please follow me.”
He looks at me with open curiosity. “What are you planning on doing?”
“I thought you were looking for a way to return to your room without anyone noticing?” I point out. I am far below Finn. Goddess, even if I were my sister, I would be far below him, but still, I find myself looking him directly in the eye, talking to him like I am his equal.
To my surprise, he only reacts with bewilderment instead of anger.
“You know your way around here well,” he observes while he follows me through an empty corridor towards the small maintenance entrance.
“Ella checked out all the secret routes on her first day,” I explain. “She says it’s always important to know your way in and out in case of an emergency.”
“Ella?” he asks before he gives me a short nod. “And I agree with her.”
“My best friend,” I explain. “And I don’t necessarily disagree either.”
“Your best friend? I thought that human kid was your best friend?”
“You can have more than one friend, you know?” I huff, biting down on my tongue immediately afterwards. Shit, where the heck is my brain-mouth filter?
But again, he only grins. “You are a shit ton of work, you know that?” he smirks.
“Pitying my future mate already?” I dare to ask.
“No,” he says promptly.
I am surprised by his immediate answer but don’t inquire further. Instead, I lead him upstairs until we reach a dead end. I open the door to a storage room and approach one of the windows. “You just need to climb out of this window and walk over the balcony past these storage rooms until you reach the other side. From there on, it should be easy.”
He nods thankfully, looking at me for a long while. Directly into my eyes. He is handsome, I think, he has dark brown eyes, his features are almost soft… pretty! Maybe that’s why he goes for a punk style because he wants to appear more manly. He looks good, though. No point in denying that.
I can’t help but blush when he doesn’t stop staring. “Is there something wrong?”
“Just checking that you are really not my mate,” he grumbles in annoyance. “Thought maybe I got lucky, and the only sane woman in this place might be my mate. But nope. At least it’s none of the nutcases either. Like what’s her name… that blonde-haired crazy chick.”
I can’t help but chuckle slightly. “Lauren?”
“She and her cult-following are unbearable,” he grumbles, shaking his head.