Page 99 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

Which was an understatement. For a moment, the image of my father’s face discovering my mate was human haunted me. Wolves mating with humans was rare enough that most packs considered it an aberration. My parents would have disowned me—would have disowned any of their pack—for the crime of a human mate.

“So… are we bonded now? Like Rory and Theo?” Felix’s face scrunched in concentration. “Can you feel my emotions like you can with Rory?”

I shook my head. “No. Those two have a complete mate bond.”

Felix pulled a face. “So it’s like… we have the hardware compatibility, but the software isn’t fully installed yet?”

I stared at him. “Did you just compare our relationship to a computer programme? So romantic.”

“I’m just trying to understand,” Felix said, flushing deeply.

“It’s a great analogy,” I quickly told him. “We haven’t… fully finished installing yet.”

“Okay,” he said, something like relief on his face. “So, how would we fully install it?”

My heart thudded painfully. This felt like a fever dream—Felix sitting close enough that I was drowning in his scent, my leg touching his, him asking me about permanently bonding our souls together like we were discussing weekend plans.

“Well,” I said carefully, voice almost a whisper. “First you need to decide if that’s something you want. Because there is no uninstall button. Ever.”

“Oh,” Felix said, blinking rapidly behind those bloody glasses.

The weight of that truth settled between us. I thought about Rory’s determination that he’d “accidentally” bonded himself to Theo without permission, the guilt he came back from Scotland with. But I suspected it hadn’t quite happened like that at all—that Theo had chosen Rory, even if Rory didn’t quite know it at the time.

“Would I feel something then?” Felix asked, leaning forward slightly. “I mean, would I feel something after we’re bonded?”

“I think so.” My throat felt dry. I hope so.

We stared into each other’s eyes, the air between us charged with possibility and terror in equal measure.

“I bought you those glasses,” I suddenly blurted out. “Not Seb or Priya.”

“Oh!” Felix’s hand flew to the frames, fingertips brushing the thick black plastic.

“I was going to give them to you myself, then the whole thing with Emma talking about Wren and me stabbing the dinner table happened. So I just left them on your desk with no name.”

“Well, thank you. I love them.”

“No you don’t,” I said, unable to stop myself smiling. “You think the blue light stuff is all made up. You said so.”

“Yes, well,” Felix’s lips curved upward. “Priya seems to think—”

“Priya is a meddling witch.” My chest loosened at his growing smile, warmth spreading through me like molten gold. “But I can’t deny seeing you in them does things to me,” I admitted.

“Exciting things?” Felix asked, and there was something deliberately teasing in his voice that made my pulse spike.

“Very exciting.”

It was true. The glasses transformed him completely. He’d always been beautiful—sharp cheekbones and that mouth I constantly wanted to kiss—but the frames added something that made my brain fizzle and crack. They gave him an air of studious innocence that was absolutely devastating when paired with the memory of last night, him on top of me, my name on his lips as he came. The contrast was enough to drive me completely mad.

Fuck. I was probably drooling. And I was being far too flirty, too sexual for a lunch date in the Killigrew Street basement. We were supposed to be keeping this secret, and here I was, practically devouring him with my eyes.

A shiver racked through Felix’s entire body, violent enough that his shoulders jerked.

“You’re cold,” I said.

“I’m fine.” But his voice came out tight, another tremor running through him despite his denial.

“Your lair is warmer.”