Quain twitched at the venom in thetone.
“Now, son,” a smooth voicereplied.
“I mean it. You’ve gone too far this time,” the younger voiceshouted.
“He needs to learn to protecthimself.”
“You don’t give a child asword!”
“Fine. Be that way!” A door slammed, then a beautiful blond man stormed past them carrying a long dagger, only to come to a halt when he spotted them. “Children are sounreasonable.”
Quain’s lips quivered, but he held in his laughter at the man’s petulant tone. He didn’t know this stranger, and he smelled of strong magic. Better to proceed with caution and try not tooffend.
“Is Anthony in there?” Peter asked, behaving as if nothing unusual hadoccurred.
Smartman.
“Yes, and his furry mate didn’t defend me either.” Without another word, the blondvanished.
Quain’s jaw dropped open. “Where did hego?”
“Who knows?” Peter’s disinterest told Quain more than anything that people disappearing into thin air wasn’t an unusual occurrence. What had he gotten himself into? He would claim this was the strangest pack he had ever met, but this was his first one. Somehow he doubted the others were likethis.
“Okay, then.” Maybe he should’ve thought over this entire mate thing a bit more before he hunted Peter down. His urge to meet his mate and have his bracelet removed had prevented him from investigating the Moon Pack as well as he shouldhave.
He kept his concerns to himself for now. Instead, he followed Peter to a wooden door and waited for a response to his knock. A moment later, he heard a muffled call to enter. Peter opened the door and beckoned Quain to follow. If his feet dragged a bit, Quain would never admit it toanyone.
What he found inside almost had him running back the other way. The big, intimidating alpha was bad enough, but the powerhouse of glowing magic sitting beside him, had Quain almost fleeing with his tail between his legs. A headache bloomed across the front of his forehead.Shit.Without further warning, a vision kicked in. Before he could warn Peter, his sight tunneled and he collapsed. Perfect timing asusual.
Large hands curled around his waist and broke his fall before he lost consciousness. It was nice having a mate. No one had ever caught himbefore.
His vision started with the standard layer of fog. As usual, he tried to make his way through the obstructing substance and uncover the heart of his purposethere.
“Nice to meet you, Quain,” a voice said from behindhim.
Crap!No one had ever snuck up behind him in his own mind before. Quain spun around and almost wish he hadn’t. If Anthony had been enough to send him into a vision, this guy could put him into acoma.
“Who areyou?”
“Zeus. And you will be my grandson’s new advisor. You are a present to him from the Fates.” The god nodded as if he should consider it a privilege to have his talents put to properuse.
“I’m no one’s gift,” Quain snarled. He refused to be trapped as an advisor to a single person. His family had worked hard to keep their seers independent of other factions. One of the reasons why they usually kept a close eye on their family members with foresight. He didn’t care how much power Zeus had, he would rather be dead than a slave to another. Some of his ancestors had been captured by royals and locked up and kept like pets. This had been one of the reasons Quain’s predecessors had bound their descendant seers from having to share a vision. He wouldn’t tarnish their hard work by rolling over for anyone, not even a god. A lynx had his pride afterall.
“Anthony is a pivotal force in maintaining the balance of this world. He is going to need as much help as possible, and I think you know you were meant for a higher purpose than to tell your family members if they were going to get into a fender bender or break anankle.”
Quain sighed. He could almost remember when his life had been simpler. He hated the idea of being needed by a higher power. “I won’t be kept. I must remainindependent.”
He clenched his fists and slightly bent his knees, bracing for whatever punishment the god decided to meteout.
“You will be Anthony’s seer. I’m only telling you your fate, because Anthony won’t. He’ll try to give you a choice. Some heroic foolishness about free will.” Zeus’s patent disgust of Anthony’s morals had Quain working hard to hide his smile despite his buildingangst.
“And you don’t think people should be allowed to choose their own path?” Could he trust a god to tell the truth? Probably not, but he didn’t dare work againsthim.
“I believe in doing whatever I can to help my grandson to his ultimate destiny. He has a tough future and will need every advantage he can get. Now are you going to help or not?” Zeus scowled, and his hands crackled with white balls of lightning, a foreshadowing of what would happen if Quainrefused.
He swallowed back the lump in his throat. Normally, he would think he’d be safe in a vision, but he wasn’t sure what happened during interactions with gods. The same rules might notapply.
He cleared his throat. “Sure. I mean yes. I would be happy to helpAnthony.”
