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Nadia sipped her coffee in silence.
I knew I was playing with fire, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just forget what my dad had done. I couldn’t get over the fact that he’d used all the money Mom had left me, or how he’d put me on display and offered me up to his friends…
I flashed on the dark, musty smell in the attic where I’d hidden behind the old boxes, fear beating in my throat while Dad’s friends tried to find me.
“It’s going to be fine,” I said, forcing myself to return to the present. “I’m going to be fine.”
Nadia tilted her head, setting her cup down.
“As long as you look after yourself, I’m glad you’re not defeated.”
“Never,” I said.
Nadia smiled at me. It was so good to have my best friend at my side again, and to be back in the city where I grew up. My mom was everywhere here, hidden in the shadows before the sun rose, or whispering in the breeze that came from the ocean. I’d missed it here so much. I’d missedherso much. I would never see her again, but being here helped.
“So, what about you?” I asked Nadia, changing the topic to lighter things. “What have you been up to?”
“I got a job in an office working as a graphic designer, so there’s that,” Nadia said. “And I’m dating.”
“Really? You didn’t tell me! Who?”
“Do you remember Danny, who used to take art with us when all the other guys laughed at him?”
“Yeah?”
Nadia drew circles on the table with her finger. “He’s grown up a lot. You won’t recognize him. He’s still sweet and sensitive, but he’ssogood in bed now.” She glanced up at me with a mischievous grin.
I giggled. “How?”
“Well, I showed him a few things.”
“I didn’t mean to ask how he’sgood in bed,” I laughed. “I meant, how is it possible that you ended up withhim.”
“I don’t know, things work out the way they should, you know? I just had to kiss a couple of frogs first.” Nadia shrugged nonchalantly, but she offered me a starry-eyed smile that broke through her pseudo-uncaring mask.
“Is he your mate?” I asked.
Nadia blushed. “I don’t know about that. I mean, I want to settle down with him, but we’ll see how it goes.”
“No, no,” I said, waving my hand. “I meant yourfatedmate.”
“Oh… that’s not a real thing.”
“What are you talking about? Of course it is.”
“Maybe once upon a time it was, but these days, it’s just a fairytale. I don’t think holding out for a fated mate makes sense. I think there are a lot of people who fit together perfectly without it having to be all magical andfated, and that’s just fine. I mean, we work, and that’s all I want.”
I’d always believed in fated mates. Maybe Nadia was right—maybe it wasn’t really a thing anymore, but I liked to think that Prince Charming existed somewhere, waiting to carry me off into the sunset.
I was a fox shifter. We didn’t always hit it big the way some other shifters did. On the shifter playground, we were the nobodies, the ones who didn’t fit in, like the shifters who had all the power and took over all the control. But that didn’t mean that there wasn’t someone out there for us.
I had to believe in true love and destiny and fated mates. It was the only way I could get out of the hell that had been my life until now; it was a fantasy for me to hold onto when everything felt so dark, I could barely breathe.
“I’m so happy for you,” I said with a smile. Nadia was happy, even if it wasn’t fated, and that made me happy for her. “What does Danny do?”
“He also works at the office. It’s how I got the job, actually. His brother works for Jameson, did you know that?”
“No, I didn’t,” I said. “Who is his brother, that Jake guy?”
