Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Felix
Felix watched as Avery had spent the last couple of days hibernating from the world, waiting for the grief in her chest to settle from a roaring river to a lake. He knew it well.
Unfortunately for him, though, she threw herself into swimming and dragged Felix along with her.
He had not taken kindly to being splashed with water; in fact, he had never quite been so murderous.
During the quiet nights, they sat by the fireplace as they tried to decipher the riddle on the key.
And when she had been sleeping, he had snuck out to scour the grounds for any sign of missing shifters, for which so far, there had been a grand total of fuck all.
This irritated him to no end because he was a hunter, yet he couldn’t catch a scent of a damn thing.
Even worse, when he came back from hunting, he always fell asleep on the bed as a cat, but in the mornings, he would wake up wrapped around Avery, tail and all.
His body had betrayed him. Secretly, he had started to look forward to it.
He should stop. Pull back. Sleep on the fucking couch. He never did.
Tonight, though, was another more serious matter. Avery was going on a date. She had canceled on Callum for the last few nights, and tonight, he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and he bribed her with chocolate ice cream. The bastard knew her weakness.
Felix pretended to watch hockey, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the reflection of Avery as she shimmied into a tight black dress.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck. He groaned inwardly. It was a slip of a thing, and the neckline showed off her perfect tits.
Tonight was going to be a struggle not to remove Callum’s eyes from his goddamn head.
Finally, Felix turned his head; he needed her in full line of sight. “That’s what you’re wearing on your date?”
A blush crept along her features. “Yes…What’s wrong with it?”
“You’re wasting it on a witch,” he said, doing nothing to hide his grumpy tone.
“I am a witch, Felix.”
Before she could register what was happening, he was up and across the room, towering above her. Even in her heels, she had to tilt her head up to look at him. She tried to look mad, but it only made her look more adorable.
His eyes raked her body, dragging slowly up and down, taking in every beautiful inch of her.
Every part of him screamed to lock the doors and occupy her in other ways.
And with the way Avery’s scent changed, he was so fucking close.
The bond thrummed between them, feeding off each other’s arousal until it was painful.
“Cancel your date. We have better things to do,” Felix said, gritting his teeth.
“Like what?”
“Like solving the riddle.”
“Let’s give it a rest for one night.” She went to check her phone.
“So you can give fuckface a chance?” he bit out.
“Creative.”
“I try.” A hint of something flashed across his face before he could stop it.
“Oh my goddess,” Avery said, scoffing. “You’re jealous.”
Fuck. He said nothing. He only crossed his arms over his chest, then seamlessly shifted into a cat.
Avery rolled her eyes, muttering to herself, “Men will do anything but talk about their feelings.”
Padding toward her, he wound his way around her ankles and rubbed himself up and down her legs with his face. For someone who hated touch, he was sure touching her as much as he possibly could. What the hell was wrong with him?
“What are you doing?” Avery asked.
He didn’t answer, only continued to rub his face against her leg.
“You’re going to get cat hair on my dress.”
He sent a dark laugh down the bond. “If you insist on going out, your fucking scent will be unrecognizable. I’m going to make sure every last inch of you smells like me.”
Felix watched as Avery sipped on her fourth glass of red wine that night, a blush climbing over her features, like the ivy that crawled along the wooden beams. They sat at a corner table at the back of the pub, the short stone walls decorated by chandeliers of candles and chains, and a gentle folk tune played in the background.
Felix perched in the middle of the table next to the bread basket while Callum’s fox lay on the floor like a good little bitch.
Well, technically a vixen rather than a bitch, but he digressed.
Felix returned to staring at Callum, making sure that every time he so much as leaned forward, his glare was the only thing the witch was thinking about.
It kept working, so instead of saying something smooth, Callum would bumblefuck his way through a pickup line.
Honestly, it was the most fun he had all week.
That was a lie, actually. Surprisingly, being around the witch had been far more fun than he imagined.
They had debated for hours whether pickles were necessary for a good burger.
Then it had spiraled into what shade of red was superior.
Felix said bright red, like the fresh blood of a witch, to which Avery responded, that is barbaric and not nearly as sophisticated as maroon.
He had made such a compelling argument that Avery had ended up trying to smother him with a pillow. A valiant effort on her part.
Callum reached across the table for the breadbasket before flinching back as Felix faked him out with a swipe, only to lick his paw instead. Callum was right to flinch, though; he wouldn’t hesitate to bite a finger again.
The enforcer cleared his throat, still side-eying Felix. “You look beautiful tonight.”
Avery hiccupped, pressing the napkin to her face to hide the obvious blush that deepened.
Felix internally rolled his eyes. “Avery, please have some standards for a man’s compliment, that is the bare minimum.”
“Shut up,” she said, her speech ever so slightly slurred.
“Oh, sorry.”
She shook her head. “No, I meant like shut uppp, you too.”
“Terrible save,” Felix said into her mind.
An awkward laugh escaped Callum as he ran a hand through his hair. Felix supposed he wasn’t terrible-looking; he had broad shoulders and a chiseled jawline. Felix decided his was better, obviously.
Avery slumped her head on her hand, her blue eyes twinkling in the low light. Through his cat sight, he saw her perfectly. Perhaps a little too perfectly. He was attuned to her every movement, even something as small as her pupils dilating when she looked at him wouldn’t be missed.
“How are you and your familiar getting along?” Callum said, trying to change the subject.
Avery grimaced a little before putting on a pasted smile. “Great! Nothing unusual at all.”
Dear god, kill me now.
Callum’s eyes softened as he looked over her. Another rumble of jealousy coursed through Felix’s chest, his tail lashing and threatening to land in the pasta sauce. Then Callum did the unthinkable. Covered her hand with his.
“So…I’ve been thinking.”
Could have fooled me.
“I really like you, Avery.”
Avery’s eyes went wide before hiccupping. Even with the jealousy, the second-hand embarrassment started creeping in instead. Felix cringed internally, his mouth pulling so that his fangs showed. What he would give to chew on an exposed wire right now.
Avery’s brows furrowed, her mouth slightly opening. “You…like me?”
“Well, yeah, you’re stunning, and you remind me of my mother,” Callum said, picking at his pasta like crows did roadkill.
Oh, brother. Had the man never heard of Oedipus?
“My parents had an arranged marriage, and they both ended up sitting on the council. Not that I’m saying we should be married straightaway, but I think if you gave me a chance, we could be like them?”
Avery’s jaw opened wider and wider. “Callum, I—”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to answer now,” he said, putting on a subtle pout that surely Avery saw right through? Right?
Callum looked back at Avery, whose eyes softened at his obvious manipulation.
Nope, absolutely not.
He had to put a stop to this. Using his paw, Felix knocked over the glass of wine sitting on the table and spilled it onto Callum’s crisp white shirt, the red spreading over his abdomen as if he had just been stabbed. And honestly, Felix wished he had thrown a knife at him instead.
Callum cursed as he jumped back, the wine dripping onto his pant legs. A smug smile tugged at Felix’s lips, his fangs completely showing as the enforcer tsked at his white shirt while Avery tried to hide her tipsy giggling behind a napkin.
Callum sighed. “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Absolutely,” Avery said, swaying slightly as she stood.
Wait, no! That’s not what Felix wanted. Why didn’t he want to go home to change? Did the man have no dignity?
The night air bit at Felix’s nose as they stepped outside. Wind whipped through the trees, tumbling orange leaves around their feet and paws. Callum, ever the chivalrous man, draped his jacket over Avery’s shoulders. Perhaps next time, he would sneak into Callum’s room and piss on it.
“I want to show you something.” He held out his hand, and Avery took it with a wobble. Now she was just doing this to spite him. There was no way Avery would actually have an interest in this belligerent oaf.
Callum led her down a cobblestone path still damp from an earlier rain.
The pine trees became denser while fog rolled around the ground.
It almost made Felix and the fox look like they were swimming.
The fox tried to play, taking strikes at Felix before he finally tackled it and put it in its place.
Another degrading memory that was going to keep him up at night.
“My father always said that the strongest unions are chosen.” Callum’s voice carried to where Felix was lagging a few paces behind.
Avery stumbled slightly on the uneven stones. The wine was clearly affecting her coordination, though it had never really been great, from what he had seen.
“That sounds depressing,” she said.