“What do you know about reversing a fated pairing?”
The hesitation on the line isn’t encouraging.
“Did something happen? Did you mate with somebody you hate?”
“No. I mean, yes, I mated with a raven shifter. I don’t hate him, but I don’t know the dude.”
“If you don’t hate him, why would you want out of it? I promise, as you get to know each other, you’ll see. It’s the most awesome feeling, ever. Can’t you feel the bond growing between the two of you?”
I rubbed my chest. “All I feel is annoyed.”
“Dude—”
“Does every fated mate pairing fall in love with each other?” I ask, cutting him off. Dammit, I should’ve paid closer attention in biology class. “This feels like a conspiracy.”
“I mean, yeah. Pretty much.” He chuckles. “By the way, a group of ravens is called a conspiracy.”
I huff out an annoyed bark and Jolly goes quiet.
“Sorry, Jol. I’m just…”
“It’s okay, friend.” He hesitates. “To your original question, there are extremely rare cases of incompatibility, but that usually has to do with an underlying shifter health issue. Once any issues are resolved, the mating usually continues without a hitch.”
I resume my pacing. “Damn. I was hoping you’d have something for me.”
“Sorry, man. But hey, the universe, Goddess, Fate, or whatever works on the attraction that’s already there. Falling in love happens naturally as a byproduct of the hormone overload.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to fall in love with this guy.”
“What’s the deal? Are you not attracted to him physically?”
“It’s not that. He’s gorgeous and has the kind of shiny black hair that all raven shifters have. His eyes are a crazy clear turquoise, he’s got an interesting nose, and his lips are kinda pretty, I guess. He’s also sort of short and skinny, and you know how I like that.”
There’s another pause on the line, this one even more uncomfortable than the first two.
“Jolly?”
“Did you hear yourself at all, buddy? You practically wrote a sonnet about his features.”
I let out a frustrated grunt. “Shut up.”
“Oh.”
When he doesn’t elaborate, I curl my upper lip. “Oh,what, Jolly?”
After another judgmental pause, he says, “Are youseriouslytelling me all this angst is because you can’t get that fucking crow out of your mind? Are you still in love with her?”
Talk about going in for the kill.
I stare at my phone, mouth agape. “Oh my Goddess, Jol.No. For fuck’s sake, I moved from Seattle to get away from her bullshit.”
“Are you sure you didn’t move away because you still had feelings for her?”
“Absolutely not. I moved because she wasn’t taking the hint and I was losing too much property, not to mention sanity.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
I stare at my phone as though it’ll tell me why he’s being deliberately obtuse about this. “I only got here, Jolly, like, thirty seconds ago. Why would I want to get immediately trapped into some fated mate situation?”
