“We pay Peter for his mechanic work. Why wouldn’t we pay you? I understand you won’t be able to guarantee any visions, but you should get something for your time. How would pack members buy anything for themselves if they weren’t paid? We are a support system if they fall on hard times, but we don’t take advantage. Doesn’t your family give you asalary?”
“They provide a fund I can pull from for my expenses, and sometimes, I add to the account for future seers. It’s more of a communal pot than anything individual,” Quainexplained.
Silver stepped in as if Anthony didn’t know what to say about that. “Well, we prefer to know how much is leaving our bank account every month. If you don’t have any strenuous objections, we’ll keep to our usualsystem.”
“No, that’s fine.” Quain still appeared to be shaken from his meeting withZeus.
Peter rubbed Quain’s back, then pulled him into a half hug. “Pack takes care of its people, or at least a good packdoes.”
“My people take care of me, just not in the same way,” Quainargued.
Anthony nodded. “So it seems. We just wanted to make sure.” He had heard some pack horror stories and was glad Quain didn’t appear to have family issues. Henry, Tim, and Jager all had terrible histories with their childhood packs. They were still healing from the abuse, though Jager’s mistreatment was more from his pack breaking his trust than physicalharm.
“Are you mated yet?” Anthony asked, curious about the pair. They hadn’t had much interaction with Peter since he joined the pack. Steven vouched for him, which was good enough forAnthony.
“No. We’ve just met,” Petersaid.
Anthony grinned at Peter’s shocked tone. He kind of wanted to tell him about his bonding with Silver, just to see hisexpression.
“You wouldn’t be the first shifter who mated first and asked questions later,” Silver interjected and flashed Anthony a knowinglook.
Anthony smiled. “You would certainly not be thefirst.”
“Why don’t you sit down,” Silver suggested. He waved a hand to indicate the couch across fromthem.
The gentle way Peter helped Quain to a seat on the couch told Anthony that the ex-mutant had already accepted the idea of mating with Quain. Good. The more pack members who found their mates, the stronger and happier the pack. Right then, the Moon Pack had a good run of finding mates. He didn’t know of any other pack that had as many mated members asthem.
“I’m sure Peter has told you we have a few tiger shifters, but you’ll be our first lynx. Are lynx family-people? I have to admit I don’t know much about your kind.” Anthony knew more of the magic portion of the Ilves family, not the shifterpart.
“No, we’re pretty solitary. I don’t know if I’ll be joining you for pack runs or not yet,” Quain answered in a hesitant voice. “I haven’t given it too much thought. I was in a hurry to find Peterfirst.”
“He saw me at the mansion,” Petermuttered.
Anthony frowned. “I don’t remember you there. Where wereyou?”
Quain rubbed his cheek. “I was a prisoner. I escaped while you were talking to thewizards.”
“Why didn’t you let us know? We would’ve helped you,” Silverinquired.
“I didn’t know you.” Quain shrugged off thequestion.
“Speaking of that. The wizards put this bracelet on Quain that blocks his lynx abilities. It also prevents him from healing as fast as he should.” Peter lifted Quain’s arm to show off thebracelet.
Anthony stood to get a better look. Magic poured off the metal links. “The wizards didthis?”
Quainnodded.
“Hmm. We’ll have to visit them again, I see.” If they were creating objects to stop shifters from transforming, what else were they doing? Did they have other beings for their experimentation? Had they been in business with Korl? If they were, they could prove to be a bigger problem than the mutants. Other than Oliver, he didn’t like those wizards. He would have to talk to their pack wizard about what was going on with that group and if they needed to be eliminated. In these troubled times, no threat could goignored.
“They tortured Quain,” Peter growled, his eyes narrowed andvengeful.
Anger flashed through Anthony like a quick bolt of lightning before he turned away. “We’ll talk to them about that too.” He tried to keep his temper while he imagined razing their manor to the ground. “They are too sure of their power if they don’t worry about kidnapping and hurting a shifter. Were there others withyou?”
“Not that I ever saw.” Quain dipped his head, avoiding Anthony’seyes.
“Hey, this wasn’t your fault. I’m glad you were able to get away.” Anthony kept his voice level, shoving his anger deep inside. Quain needed Anthony’s magic calm to destroy the abomination around hiswrist.
Since having become Silver’s mate, Anthony had a soft spot for shifters. He considered them under his protection, at least the ones in this city—Quain included. He took it personally that asshole wizards thought they could do what they wanted without reprisal. They would be surprised when Anthony showed them what he thought of theiractions.
