And then there was the little matter of the scars on Senan’s face that would’ve horrified his ex-friends and family because they were ugly.
Senan knew that for a fact. He was just a regular fae, despite his prince title – something he’d gained purely from the circumstances of his birth.
But he’d never been one of the truly beautiful ones – the type of fae others looked up to.
And maybe that was why it was so easy for the Fae Court to throw him away.
That had hurt so badly back all those years ago. It had stung him hard that nobody - not his parents, nor his sister, nor anybody he’d known on the fae realm, had bothered to ask the Shifter Council to move the case to the Paranormal Court where his side of the story could be heard.
There was no legal advice offered. No one had tried to sue the Shifter Court for keeping him in anti-magic cuffs that completely cut off his ability to heal from the wounds.
No one was there in Senan’s circle insisting that somebody question the Alpha who had physically hurt him, about what actually happened before Senan was attacked.
I didn’t do anything but get him to move his hand .
And that was the thing that hit Senan harder than anything else.
Being punished the way he had been, it was easy for him to believe that he didn’t have the right to his personal space, that he didn’t have the right to sit in a chair in a public space and be left alone.
He thought he’d had those rights, but clearly, the Shifter Council thought differently, and so did the Fae Court.
Senan had always been the quiet one, even when he lived on the fae realm. It meant a lot to him to be able to observe all types of persons interact with each other without ever feeling he needed to be part of the action himself.
Friday night, after table service was done and before he got accosted by a wolf shifter, was an example of that. Senan was friends with the people he worked with, but he never dominated the conversation. He loved listening to them chatter among themselves in his vicinity.
And now I can’t even do that . Senan knew there was no point in even trying to go back to work until his magic stabilized. But with the overwhelming fatigue that was dragging on his limbs making him feel so weak, he wondered if that would ever happen again.
It wasn’t that he was hurting for money.
While he might have told the wolf shifter he’d met on Friday that he was working to pay the rent - and that was true to a point because his wages were paid into the same account the rent came out of - he wasn’t without means.
He could not work. But Senan had always believed he should do something with his days, and non-paras worked for social and financial benefits.
It’s what people did, and the fae did not.
Maybe I was washing dishes as another form of penance , he thought. Maybe I’m punishing myself for a crime I didn’t even commit. Perhaps I need to rethink my whole life here on Earth , although it wasn’t like Senan had any other option, like living on a different realm anymore.
He could have moved away from the state, the scene of where the incident happened.
The Shifter Council didn’t tell him he couldn’t move, or restrict where he lived in any way.
But there was a spark of tenacity in Senan as well.
In his head he felt that it was enough that the wolf shifter had taken away his looks, his right to be on the fae realm, his position on the Fae Court and his chance of ever being viewed as “normal” again, so why should he lose his house as well?
So Senan had stayed, and eventually, he’d found himself a job.
That had taken two years for him to get the hang of being interviewed and having a resume.
But once he had the job, he’d enjoyed the work.
He’d even made a few friends. Living as a human in a lot of ways was so much easier than trying to keep up the superficial pretense of “life is always wonderful” which the fae seemed to insist on.
When he was working with non-paras he learned about their daily struggles, about Aisha’s studying and her string of boyfriends – none of whom lasted very long.
Brennan was a ladies man who would be happy on Fridays and usually despondent by Monday morning because he’d done something silly, and the lady had left him.
There was Wyatt’s discomfort and anxieties that his friends would gently tease him about, but they were so supportive of him as a group as well.
Senan adored Gabby, who just took him in and declared him a friend from day one, never caring who Senan might have been aside from the way he presented himself on the job.
She was genuinely a good person who just liked him, and for Senan, that was a true gift.
She would never back down or run away from a wolf shifter, he thought with a grin.
So caught up in the endless loop of his mind, it took a moment for Senan to realize somebody was banging really loudly on his front door. His heart jumped to his throat – what if it was one of the wolf shifters? It didn’t matter which one. Senan wasn’t ready to face either of them.
His shoulders sagged in relief as he heard Gabby yelling through the door. “You’d better open this door, Senan. Jeffrey told me you’re sick and you’re never sick. Let me in, or I’m going to call the police to do a welfare check on you.”
Groaning, Senan rolled off the couch, trying to muster enough magic to at least put his wings away. But nothing was working. As the pounding got louder, Senan resigned himself to the fact he was going to lose his friend as well. One look at me and she’ll know I’ve lied to her from day one.
Stumbling over to the door, he unlocked it and opened it, letting Gabby push her way inside as he staggered his way back to the couch, plonking his butt down and burying his face in his hands.
“Oh, my gods, Senan, what happened to you?” Gabby sounded genuinely worried.
Looking up Senan could see that concern on her face.
She was wearing one of her most colorful outfits - a bright blue Hawaiian shirt of some kind that fell over her ample frame and knee-length bright yellow bike shorts.
On her feet, she had her favorite rainbow crocs, festooned with dozens of little dangles that people seemed to enjoy decorating their footwear with.
In other words, she looked like typical after-work Gabby.
“What do you mean what happened? Can’t you see? Don’t you see?” Senan flicked his wings for emphasis. “I haven’t got the magic left to hide me anymore.”
To his shock and horror, he burst into tears, and he buried his face in his hands again, half expecting to hear the slam of his front door as Gabby left him to his misery and shame. Seconds later, he found his face cupped in gentle hands that weren’t his own.
“How the hell am I meant to hug you with those wings in the way?” Gabby said.
“Are they like... like how far down your back do they go? I’ve never hugged a person with actual wings before, and I want to hug you, you silly fool, because you clearly look like you need one.
But those wings keep flapping at me, and I don’t want to hurt you. ”
“Oh, Gabby.” Senan leaned forward resting his head on her shoulder, his tears falling even faster in the face of her kindness. “I don’t think I can do this anymore. I can’t hide who I am anymore, and I’m scared.”