“You’re not angry at me?” The tears had been shed, and the entire story from wolf one to wolf two had been told in halting sentences.
Gabby made it so easy for Senan to spill it all, listening the way she did.
Now, wrung out emotionally, and cradling the mug of tea Gabby had made for them both, Senan needed the reassurance that Gabby’s friendship hadn’t changed.
Leaning back against the couch, Gabby shook her head, and then she pointed at his wings, which were still flapping about the way they did.
“I’ve got nothing to be angry about. I can see why hiding your wings at work makes perfect sense.
If you think about some of the table layouts where we’re expected to serve, I mean, half the time I can’t get my generous booty into those spaces, so I can see those wings would be a real hassle.
And the shirts – wearing those drab shirts Jeffrey insists on.
Has he got an option for those with wings? I don’t think so.”
“I never asked. Jeffrey doesn’t know about this.” Senan flicked a hand at his fae state. “I’m still the same person inside. What I look like might change for work, but I’m still me.”
“Sort of like a rather elaborate Halloween costume.” Gabby laughed. “No wonder you never wanted to dress up for the company parties.”
“You tried to make me wear a wolf shifter costume,” Senan reminded his friend, although he felt so much better knowing Gabby didn’t hate him even after learning his secret.
“Yes, that business with the shifters is a concern. I understand why you never wanted to work a para event now.” Frowning, Gabby tapped her nails on the mug she was holding.
“This is me, coming from a non-para perspective, and you can shoot me down or tell me it’s none of my business, but is there any chance either one of these shifters is your mate?
Paras seem to think they’re a big deal, for some reason and I’ve heard that meeting a mate can make them act out of character. ”
“Meeting a fated mate is a big deal.” Senan thought about how to explain one of the central goals of a paranormal’s life.
“Paranormals have such long life spans. The Fates, those people we believe weave the fabric of life, pair a paranormal with another person to help combat the loneliness that a long life span can cause.”
“You mean you’re going to have to watch me die one day,” Gabby said bluntly.
“Not for decades, I’m sure,” Senan said quickly.
He had no idea how old Gabby was, but he imagined she was in her late twenties.
“But yes, eventually, unless you end up with a paranormal mate, in which case when you’re claimed, you’d live as long as they would.
But otherwise, yes, when you’re old and gray and sitting in your rocking chair complaining about the youth of the day, I won’t look any different than I do now. ”
“Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that side of things before.” Gabby wrinkled her nose. “That would suck.”
“It does.” Senan didn’t even want to think about it.
That was a situation any paranormal with non-para friends had to deal with at some point in their lives.
“But with regards to mates, the Fates match us with someone that is supposedly perfect for us in every way. Not someone the same as us, but a person who complements us. I think the reason why it’s a big deal for the paranormal community, is that the bond between a mated pair is so intense. ”
“Heaps of hot sex every day?” Gabby wiggled her eyebrows up and down as she grinned. “That would be fun.”
“You would be thinking that.” Senan chuckled at her expression.
Gabby had a wonderful appetite for all aspects of life.
“But yes, seeing as you said it, really intense and amazing sex, so I’ve heard .
But that mate would also be protective, always put your needs first, and will always be on your side.
They never cheat, they can’t lie to you about anything, and you become the most important person in your mate’s world. And vice-versa of course.”
“Hmm. That saves a lot of messing around I suppose.” Gabby sipped from her mug. “But what if you don’t like that person these Fates of yours think is perfect for you? What do you do then?”
“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 when they” - 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.”
“What about your wolf shifter?” Gabby gave him the side-eye. “Do you think you’re younger or older than him?”
“I know I’m older,” Senan admitted. “Magic has some uses. But it will probably only be about forty or fifty years or so. That’s what I mean.
Paranormals don’t worry about age. Once someone becomes an adult, and that age is different for all species, but once they have reached adulthood then age doesn’t matter.
I’ve known some mated couples who have an age gap measured in hundreds of years.
But you wouldn’t know to look at them, and they don’t care. ”
“Whereas I get messages on that dating app I’m on telling me I’m too old and I’m not even thirty.
” Gabby flung herself back and blew a raspberry at the ceiling, before sitting back up again.
“Okay, let’s cue up the movie because the food will be here soon.
If we get bored drooling over Maximus’s abs, we can come up with a plan to find that wolf shifter of yours.
Wouldn’t it be exciting if he is your mate? ”
If he is, then he’ll find me himself, Senan thought but smiling at his friend, he picked up the television remote and handed it over. “You pick something.”