Oblivious to Morgan’s retort, Brian pushed past him, replying, “Guid mornin’ to ye, too.”
Grabbing Brian’s arm and swiveling his friend back to face him, Morgan, staring in disbelief, asked, “You’ve been claimed by a mate? By that shifter?”
Gritting his teeth, Brian cursed his decision to come here, having forgotten the kiss changed his scent to match his mate’s, marking him as taken—a serpent’s version of wolf shifters’ claiming bites. Gazing back at his friend, Brian could play it one of two ways, but not one for deceit, he admitted, “Ay, at least I think it was he.”
“Wait. Youthinkit was he? Don’t you know who you kissed?” asked Morgan.
Looking over his shoulder, Brian saw no one but was uncomfortable about discussing his mate where they could be overheard. Lowering his voice, he said, “Can we go to your office?”
Nodding, Morgan shut the back door and waved Brian ahead, following him down the hall to his office. Then, seated across from him and feeling more solicitous, Morgan asked, kindly, “What happened?”
Still embarrassed to talk about what happened, Brian reminded himself it was now a matter of life or death—his life to be exact. After explaining about the kiss, Brian said, “I was hoping ye might know the shifter’s name.”
“Are you planning to claim him?” asked Morgan.
“Ay.”
Morgan’s eyes dropped down to the phone in Brian’s hands, then flicked up, locking onto Brian’s eyes. For a split second, the emotions he saw swirling in them made him wonder how long his friend would live. Given that Brian’s mate had ghosted him once already, Morgan wouldn’t lay odds on the mate staying around for serpent claiming, part two. Needing an answer to the question that hung in the air, Morgan asked, “What will you do if he doesn’t let you claim him?”
Brian knew the answer, but did his friend want to hear it—he didn’t think so. It wasn’t something he wanted to face either but he didn’t have a choice. And that’s what pissed him off—which is why he was baring his soul to Morgan. If he could find his mate, he could take back control of his life. Unwilling to talk about the death sentence he was facing, Brian said, “I came by this morning to see if you knew my mate’s name. I’ll be meeting with the Shaman next and it would help if I had a name to give him.”
Searching Brian’s face, Morgan found the answer to his question, the one his friend was avoiding. Inwardly sighing, he replied, “Give me a second to look through the receipts for that day. I should have done that last night but it was late and I just didn’t think of it.”
Grateful his friend wasn’t pushing him, Brian nodded as Morgan started flipping through credit card slips. Gazing at his mate’s photo on his phone, he realized the hope theShaman gave him last night about claiming his mate was razor thin, yet he was desperately clinging to it by his fingernails.Three days…threefucking days. Three fucking days to save my life. How fucked up is that?
“Here it is,” Morgan said, handing a receipt to Brian. “His name is Reif Markos. Sounds Greek.”
“Yeah, it does,” Brian replied, looking at the broad scrawl before handing it back to Morgan. “Can ye make a copy of this for me?”
“Sure. Do you think it’ll help you find him?” Morgan asked.
“Me? Naw, but the Shaman has the resources I dinna have.”
“You mean the Blackwood Pack, don’t you? Someone else told me it’s a very special pack but other than their Alpha having enormous power, I don’t know anything else,” Morgan said, passing over the copy of the receipt.
“Ay? Powerful Alpha? Well, that’s guid to know for David is in guid hands then.” Taking the copy, Brian stood, “Thank ye for this. I’ll be on my way—the Shaman is waiting for me.”
“C’mon, I’ll walk you out,” said Morgan. “You’ll let me know what happens, right?”
“Ay, I will.”
~/~/~/~/~
“Macushla, Brian’s here,” Kieran said, hustling out of their bedroom.
“I know, Groose is bringing him up,” Logan said, his eyes traveling over his mate, thankful his new outfit was just a tad more sedate, even with the hot pink t-shirt. Butwhen he saw what was written on it, Logan erupted in laughter, shaking his head at his mate’s audacity.
“What?” Kieran asked, seeing Logan’s reaction. Looking down at his hot pink sneakers that perfectly matched his t-shirt, he found nothing amiss.
Pointing to the words on the t-shirt, Logan asked, “Taken, but not blind?”
“What’s wrong with it? It’s the truth,” Kieran said sassily.
Chuckling, Logan pulled his mate onto his lap, and said, “It is at that. I love it, babe. Be sure to wear that when we go to the Meat Locker on Friday.”
Clapping, Kieran exclaimed, “Macushla,thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t wait to tell everyone.”
“Tell us what, Ki?” asked Theo, leading everyone as they entered the living room.
