Shifting Boundaries

Chapter Four

Everett

Meleri and Magnus arrived together in the afternoon and found me on the phone with Gareth, who had been my best friend since I was eight.

Gareth had called to check on me. We had standing plans every Saturday to play video games together with a spread of delicious, unhealthy foods in front of us. I had texted him last night after I knew he would be asleep letting him know I wasn't going to be able to make it and had missed his call this morning because I was helping Paula tend Felix.

Now Gareth was demanding to know why I canceled our plans. I didn't lie as a rule and had no idea what I could say to divert his curiosity without giving him the whole truth. I also didn't know how to explain Felix to him.

"Come on, man. What's going on? I talked to Zara and she said you missed your meetings yesterday afternoon without any warning. Something is up and I want to know what it is."

That was when Meleri and Magnus arrived, which made explaining Felix feel even more impossible. No way did I want to get into this with his siblings listening in. "I swear I'm not blowing you off," I said, "but I need to go. Can I call you later? I'll explain then."

"Lame," Gareth replied. "But whatever. You're okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Later." I hung up the phone before Gareth could press me further. At least I had some time to come up with a version of events I was comfortable sharing, I thought.

Meleri and Magnus sat down in the same chairs they had used last night. Meleri, who was annoyingly perky, said, "You didn't have to hang up."

I shrugged. "It wasn't pressing."

Magnus said, "How is he? Paula was busy when we came in and Stacy, who works the desk, said she didn't have any updates for us."

"His ribs aren't wrapped anymore," I told them.

"That's awesome!" Meleri said.

"His neck is a mess," I added in a stern voice. Her cheer rubbed me the wrong way. It was like she was dismissing everything that was still wrong with my mate's body.

"Oh, you saw that?" Magnus asked, his expression all sympathy. "I threw up the first time I saw it."

I smiled at that. At least I wasn't the only one nauseated by Felix's wounds.

Meleri laughed at her brother and said, "I can't believe you threw up. I hope you know you're never living it down."

Magnus shoved her playfully and said, "At least I looked. You were too scared to."

Meleri stuck her tongue out at him. "And you're so brave? You hide your face during horror movies."

"Horror movie," Magnus corrected. "Singular. And what kind of messed up person puts on 'The Conjuring' without warning anyone?"'

I sat back, content to watch the siblings bicker. I had always begged my mom for a brother or sister when I was a kid. My dad died when I was three and I didn't understand when I was young that Mom couldn't have another baby alone. Then, when I was older, I didn't understand why she refused to date anyone. She always insisted she didn't want a relationship if it wasn't with my dad, her mate. To this day, she was still alone.

I swept my gaze over Felix. The pull I felt toward him was growing stronger as I spent more time with him. His scent had been in my nose for over a day now without relief and I was almost used to the feeling of his skin against mine. When I was close to him like this, I was constantly aware of where I was in relation to him. When we touched, I couldn't focus on anything for long because my thoughts kept circling back to the exquisite tingles that spread from the point of contact. The more time I spent with him, the harder it was to keep contact limited to my hand on his.