Page 12 of Scar Bonds: The Scars That Bind Us

“I’ve never heard of that happening.” Senan frowned, but he couldn’t think of a single case where a mating hadn’t worked. It wasn’t always easy, but the Fates seemed to be a good judge of character.

“The whole point of fated mates is that even if… like, say I met someone and I didn’t like the way they talked to me, or maybe that person doesn’t tip the waiting staff at a restaurant. I doubt a person like that could be my mate, because my mate will fit in with the values I already have. They might live a different type of life, but the values would have to be at least similar for a bond to work.”

“But what if that person was ugly? Oh, oh” – Gabby pointed her finger at him – “What if they have hairy feet, or worse, a huge hairy wart on the side of their face?”

Senan couldn’t stop chuckling at the horror on her face. “Like Paul you mean?” One of Gabby’s more disastrous dates. “Mating is far more than what a person looks like – it’s about who that person is.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.” Gabby snorted. “I’m not lifting my skirts and dropping my panties for anyone who doesn’t give me the shivers inside. But anyway, we’ve gone off track. Could one of those wolves be your mate?”

“The first wolf definitely not.” Senan shivered and not in a good way. “His touch disgusted me, and that’s not how it’s meant to be between mates. The second wolf didn’t touch me…” he trailed off.

“Ah, but did you want him to?”

Senan’s first instinct was to say no, but that wouldn’t be fair to his friend. “I don’t know. My magic wants me to go and find him. That’s why these darn wings won’t fold away the way they’re meant to.”

Gabby hooked one of her legs underneath herself and leaned forward. “So he could be your mate?”

Running his hand through his hair, Senan said cautiously, “Isn’t that a bit of a leap? My magic might just want us to find him so I can tear strips off his brother – really attack him with magic this time.”

Snorting, Gabby shook her head as she laughed. “There’s no way your wings would be looking all glittery and pretty if you wanted to wage war on someone. You’d be wearing some kind of armor I’ve seen in a fantasy novel and carrying a spear.

“Besides, you’re not the type. You’re a definite pacifist. Nope, your wings remind me of… oh, I can’t remember what type of bird it is, but when they find someone they want to mate with, they flutter their wings just like you’re doing, and do a little dance.”

“I am not dancing for a freaking wolf shifter,” Senan protested.Dance with him, maybe…“Besides, fae don’t prance about whenthey” - he slumped his shoulders - “actually they do. You’ve never seen a more prancy person than a fae who wants to get laid. They look like freaking peacocks.

“It would’ve helped if my mating mark had come in, but a fae has to be a hundred and fifty years old before that happens. If I had my mark, and the wolf was my mate, then that mark would be a paw print and that would give me a clue.”

“A hundred and fifty?” Gabby almost fell off the couch. “But that’s ages for you to wait. You can’t be more than twenty, twenty-five years old now.”

Senan pressed his lips together as he shook his head quickly at his friend.

“Thirty? Aw, come on Senan. Honestly, you can’t be older than that. I won’t believe it.”

“Okay.” Senan forced a grin. “Did you have plans this evening? Or shall I order in some food, and we can watch movies?”

“You can order some food in when you’ve told me how old you are.”

“Thirty and a bit. Did you want chicken, pizza, or sushi?”

“Pizza with everything on it. How much of a bit? Senan tell me.”

“Gabby, if I tell you, then you’ll start treating me differently.” Senan got up from the couch and plucked his phone off the coffee table, opening the food delivery app. “Paras and non-paras have very different ideas about age and aging. What’s the saying I’ve heard you use before? Something like I’m as old as my hair and a bit older than my teeth?” Senan quickly clicked on one of his saved orders on the app, and within ten seconds, the order was placed. “The pizza will be here in half an hour.”

“Forty years old? Fifty? Sixty-four?”

Closing his eyes, Senan shook his head as he sighed.She’s not going to give up on this.“Double the last number and add four more years.” Opening his eyes again, he put his phone back on the coffee table and sat back on the couch.

“You’re a hundred and thirty-two?” Gabby’s voice could really hit the high notes.

Senan nodded. “I’ll be a hundred and thirty-three next month. Do you feel better now?” Then he grinned for real this time. “You do realize your crush, Maximus Khan is older than I am, don’t you? He’s closer to a hundred and fifty.”

“You’re shitting me.” Gabby thumped the cushion beside her. “He’s not, is he?”

“Yep, he is. But if it’s any consolation shifters have amazing sexual stamina until they’re well over five hundred years old.” Senan couldn’t stop chuckling. “His hair won’t even start to go gray until he’s at least that.”

“You think you know a person and then you find out they’ve been holding back all the important information like how old Maximus Khan is,” Gabby grumbled.

“Just imagine how experienced he would be.” Reaching over Senan patted Gabby’s knee. “We’ll watch another one of his movies tonight, and I promise, your dashing Maximus will still look as young and handsome as he always has.”

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