“You bet I am. He might be a cat, but he’s still only got the one life.” Steven’s eyes flared wolf gold for a minute before returning to their normalblue.
After Steven left, Peter spent another half hour puttering around the garage. He originally had considered becoming part of the full-time security team for the pack but, after talking to Anthony and Silver, had chosen to open a garage instead. He kept all the pack vehicles running and in good condition, and they paid his lease and got a discount on labor. Being his own boss gave Peter a sense of independence sorely lacking in the past few years. He still pitched in to help when they needed muscle like at the wizard manor, but he kept most of his focus on car maintenance. With all the pack vehicles, he had been able to hire a couple more mechanics to help himout.
A hubcap clanged against the concrete garage floor. Peter spun around, trying to figure out what had knocked it over. He took in a deep breath, but the smell of motor oil masked any otherscent.
“Hello?”
Feeling like one of those idiots in a horror movie who were picked off early, he walked over to the hubcap. Away from the cars, he took another sniff, inhaling deeper until he found the strange scent of feralfeline.
His inner wolf gave a happyyelp.
What thehell!
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” A slim man with a bruised face and messy dark hair stepped out of the shadows. His arms were black and blue, and the lower half of his right arm had a raw look as if he had rubbed the bracelet wrapped around it a few times toomany.
“Quain!” Peter froze at Quain’s appearance. The manor’s poor lighting had prevented him from seeing all of Quain’s injuries. His dominant side growled at the poor condition of hismate.
“You recognize me.” Quain ran his fingers through his hair. “I wondered if you would, now that I’m not ashazy.”
“Of course I do. More importantly my wolf does. Are you all right? I saw you escape, but I couldn’t find you afterward.” He couldn’t stop staring at Quain. The gods and fates had been kind to him when they chose his other half. Quain’s slim form and height were the perfect size for cuddling. Peter might not admit it out loud, but he enjoyed snuggling up to his dates. The wolf in him appreciated the body-to-bodycontact.
“I will be. Wolf?” A flash of confusion went across Quain’s face before clearing. “Oh right, you did say you were a member of the Moon Pack. With everything going on, I had forgotten aboutthat.”
“What are you?” Peter asked, trying not to sound judgmental, but many shifters didn’t like to mate outside of their species. He had heard of foolish idiots who tossed aside their fated mates because they didn’t match up to their expectations. Peter had no plans to behave thesame.
“Alynx.”
“Nice.” Peter scanned his memory, trying to remember anything about lynx shifters, but came up empty. “Are there a lot ofyou?”
Quain shrugged. “Less thanwolves.”
Peter didn’t pursue the subject. He didn’t blame Quain for not spilling all his secrets at their first meeting. “And you’re a seer also?” He knew he had understood that part of theirconversation.
“Yes.”
“Huh.” Peter didn’t know what to say about that. This wasn’t how he had expected their first face-to-face to go. Although the pull between them nudged him to walk closer, he didn’t wish to freak out his mate. Coming on too strong could spell disaster for their future relationship, and Peter wouldn’t do anything to jeopardizethat.
Quain cleared his throat. “I was hoping you could helpme.”
“I will always help you.” Peter bit his lip at Quain’s hopefulexpression.
“Willyou?”
“Of course. How injured are you? I’m sure Anthony can heal you. We don’t have an official pack healer, but a few of the pack are good at fixing people up and we use Anthony when the injury is more than superficial. I should ask Silver about that.” It hadn’t occurred to him before that the Moon Pack should have a doctor. There must be someone out there who was experienced in healing and either was a shifter or knew aboutthem.
Relief crossed Quain’s features. “Thankyou.”
“Always,” he vowed before even registering the words. Damn, he had to keep a lid on his need to do anything for his mate. He had just met Quain and had no idea of what kind of person he was binding himself to. Peter pushed back his inner wolf’s attempts to leap out and pounce on Quain. The obvious injuries were enough to stop him from pulling his mate into a hug. Unseen wounds might lay beneath his clothing, and Peter refused to harm his mate even if it meant holding back his instinctiveaffection.
Quain lifted his arm and shook it. “The wizards put a suppression bracelet on me to stop me from shifting. I was hoping you would be able to help me remove it. Once it’s gone, I will be able to turn into my lynx and heal most of thedamage.”
Peter walked closer to get a better look. With each step, Quain’s scent filled his nose.Delicious.His wolf rumbled inagreement.
Quain remained in place while Peter approached. Only the stillness of his body told of hisnervousness.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Peter soothed. For some reason, Quain’s wariness hurt him deep inside. How much damage had the wizards done physically and emotionally. Hate burned in his heart for those who had harmed what was his. He pushed down his anger. He didn’t want Quain to think it was directed athim.
“I-I know. My lynx can sense we are mates,” Quain replied, his eyes revealing his nerves as Peter moved closer. “I’m not used to being this close to someone who isn’t a relative or trying to tortureme.”
