Page 6 of Scar Bonds: The Scars That Bind Us

“Just one more thing…” That was the problem with wolf shifters. They never fucking listened. “Keep your name to yourself if you must, butwhatare you, and who the hell made a mess of your face? Why didn’t you heal?”

He reached out as if he wanted to touch Senan’s face and Senan snapped as he leaned back. He was exhausted, his magic had been sending alarm bells for the last twenty minutes. He’d worked a full evening terrified of simply being near the largest known predators and not being able to show it. It was almost a relief when that control shattered. Senan’s glamour fell away, hiswings split his shirt as they unfurled, and his scent suppressor fell to dust.

The wolf shifter took a step back, clearly affected by him, although Senan had no idea why. Barely holding himself together he said, “Look if you must. Look long and hard because this is the last time I will ever be within touching distance of you.” He pointed to the mark that was so much more ragged without his human glamour, and grimaced. “Do you have someone in your life or family that looks almost exactly like you? Another Alpha wolf shifter – the heir of the Luna Pack perhaps?”

The wolf shifter’s nod was sharp and decisive. The man seemed to be wrestling with himself, his hands fisted by his side and his whole body seemed to be humming with tension. “I’m a twin. My older brother, Morgan was the host of this evening’s event. He’s the Alpha of the Luna Pack, though, not the heir anymore.”

Shit, the older Alpha must’ve died.If Senan had known that he would’ve quit his job rather than worked the event, no matter what Gabby said. “If you have any more questions about this then, Mr. Felix the Cat in a wolf suit” – Senan tapped his scar – “you can ask your damn twin. I’m ordered to wear this scar for eternity as penance because of the lies he told. That’s why I’m here, washing dishes, so I can pay my rent just like everyone else. And no, before you ask, I have nothing left to say to him…or you.”

Pulling on the last shreds of his magical reserves, Senon translocated. He was shattered, completely broken. There was no way he could catch an Uber or try to act like a normal human being in the time it would take for him to get home. He didn’t even bother to pick up the clipboard that he dropped as his magic came through. Someone at the convention hall could get the papers back to Jeffrey.

He absolutely could not pretend to be someone else for a minute more. He was done!

Chapter Six

MATE!Every atom of Finlay’s existence demanded that he shift, sniff, and track the pretty man with the beautiful wings. He held himself back through sheer force of will.

One, he was in a public convention center and the moment he shifted, he’d bring undue and likely negative attention to the Luna Pack. Paranormals were expected to control themselves in public, and every paranormal leader in the state would gossip about him for months if Finlay let go of his wolf.

Two, it wasn’t like he could track the man on two feet or four. Finlay wasn’t sure if his mate was elf or fae – he was so swamped by how the man’s scent made him feel. It wasn’t as though he could just scan that scent and match it to the catalog of common scents he held in his brain. His mate disappeared – there one minute and gone the next - and there was no way Finlay could track anyone who did that by conventional means, no matter how much his wolf might want to.

And then there was item three. The reason Finlay’s feet were frozen to the floor. His mate, with the wicked scar, seemed to hold his brother, Morgan, as the one responsible. He specifically said Morgan lied about it.But lied about what?

It must’ve been ten minutes, maybe more, before Finlay could force his feet to move enough so he could leave the small prep room. He was loathe to leave the only trace of his mate’s scent, slight as it was, but hanging onto a scent wasn’t going to help him get answers.

Finlay knew for certain he couldn’t see his brother in that moment. Before everything else, Morgan was playing host to eighty-odd guests, so confronting him wasn’t an option. Evenwith his disjointed thoughts, Finlay knew better than to do anything to cause any damage to Morgan’s reputation.

But as he walked through the convention lobby, stopping to grab a packet of cigarettes from the vending machine and buying a lighter from the small kiosk next to reception, on his way out the door, Finlay realized the cryptic words his brother mentioned about being cruel might actually have some substance after all.What could be crueler than lying about an injury he’d caused?

Lighting a cigarette, Finlay leaned against the hood of the car, staring up at the stars. One of the reasons he was good at what he did was because Finlay had a unique skill that enabled him to pick out pieces of random information and pull them all in together until they formed a cohesive picture.Although I haven’t got a lot of pieces to work with right now.

A magical being…scarred face…lies…cruelty…an injury caused by Morgan?Finlay wasn’t sure about that last part. But he couldn’t deny the scar on the magical man’s face could definitely have been caused by a claw.

A mark of shame perhaps…penance…working and living as human even though he still has magic…

Finlay’s skills were deserting him. He puffed on his cigarette, blowing large plumes of smoke into the night air, before stubbing it out on his boot and putting the butt in his pocket.

It would help if I had the man’s name at least. Then I could search the shifter records and see what the case details were. There has to be one. The man basically said he was being punished.

Then Finlay groaned and tapped his head. He didn’t need his mate’s name to find the case records. He knew his brother’s name as well as his own. Pulling his phone from his suit jacketpocket, Finlay typed in a web address very few people knew, accessing the back end of the Shifter Council database.

Adding his brother’s name to the search, Finlay frowned as he saw three entries. The first two were typical of all shifters. There was a notification of Morgan’s birth and then the formalization of Morgan’s position as Alpha of the Luna Pack after their father’s death. The third entry was a sealed court case that fell on the year before the second entry. It wasn’t a public file and required a security code to open.

And I just happen to have an override code,Finlay thought grimly. Case files were only secured in the most serious of cases, or in situations where the details becoming public could cause an issue to a high-ranking figure. Tapping on the link, Finlay entered his code and lit a second cigarette as he waited for it to load and open.

The details were surprisingly sparse for a locked case. According to the records Morgan, then Alpha-heir of the Luna Pack, had approached a fae later identified by the Fae Court as Prince Senan of Blackstock and asked him if he wanted a friendly drink.

The Prince was apparently so insulted by the offer, he attacked Morgan with magic, causing Morgan to defend himself, resulting in wounds to the fae’s face and chest.

A couple of Shifter Council guards happened to be in the same bar, and slapped anti-magic cuffs on the fae, preventing any further damage.What damage? Morgan’s never suffered any physical damage.Finlay had shifted often enough with the man to know that for a fact. After taking Morgan’s testimony, the guards took the fae into custody. There was only one other notation on the file.

After consultation with the Fae Court and Alpha-heir Morgan it was determined the fae would be banished from the fae realm,and he was to wear his scar as penance for the rest of his existence. Alpha-heir Morgan determined he was satisfied with the verdict, and no further investigation was required.

“No further investigation…? What the fuck? Where’s the information about why the prince felt insulted in the first place?” Finlay scrolled through the rest of the file.

It was clear from a few clicks that there had been no investigation. No one had taken a statement from Prince Senan, there had been no court case or defense offered by the Fae Court. There was no information about why Prince Senan had attacked Morgan because it appeared no one bothered to ask him.

Morgan claimed it was unprovoked, and his word was believed by the guards who took the prince into custody. Beta wolves, Finlay noticed, and yes that was relevant.

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