Fated Forgiveness [Kindred of Arkadia 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) (4 page)

Sebastian could see Liam’s eyes softening as he reached for Landon. Bran smiled knowingly as he

passed the boy over.

“Have you missed your Uncle Liam? I bet you’ve missed Uncle Rian, too,” Liam said, kissing the small

boy on the neck and making him squeal. Sebastian leaned forward and began to purr. Landon broke out

into giggles and began to purr loudly, sounding like an excited kitten.

“We’ll bring them by later in the week. I take it that the two of you…” Kate let the thought trail off as

she pointed between Liam and Sebastian. Liam smiled, showing off his even, white teeth against his golden

tan.

“Yup, I’ve pretty much pulled my head out of my ass and we’re going to make this work,” Liam said.

“Good! Rebecca and I were planning an intervention. If you hadn’t come into the diner we were going

to hunt you down.” Kate’s eyes danced wickedly. Sebastian had to hide a smile as he watched his big, bad

Alpha pale and swallow hard.

“No, we’re good! I swear.” Liam nodded.

“We better let Ashby know he may be getting more people in Sweet Nothings, if the pack can’t come

here for candy,” Caleb said.

Liam groaned and handed Landon back to Bran.

“Let him know I’m cutting the pride off as well,” Liam offered.

Sebastian winced at the thought of poor Ashby and the increased business, especially since the tiny

shifter wanted to spend more time with his prince. His thoughts immediately went to Gabriel’s request.

“Could you…maybe…could you see if some of the wolves could help the vampires integrate more?

Most of the town is still afraid of them.” Sebastian spoke quietly. Liam kissed the top of his head. Sebastian

relished the feel of his mate’s lips on him.

“Thank you for remembering, baby.” Liam turned to Bran, Kate and Caleb.

“Gabriel is worried that people are still afraid of the vampires. Scared people, especially shifters, may

make poor choices on how they react to a perceived threat. Gabriel has invited my lions over for a mixer.

You may want to see if you can do the same for the wolves. The last thing we want is tensions getting any

higher in Arkadia. Rebecca hasn’t said anything, but I know this has to be weighing heavily on her, since

she pushed to have them move here.”

Bran frowned. “We’ll do what we can, but we’re trying to overcome hundreds of years’ worth of fear

and distrust.”

“If people see the leaders actively welcoming the vampires, that will go a long way,” Liam said.

“We can do that.” Caleb nodded. Sebastian knew that Caleb had a soft spot for Ashby, since Ashby and

Nic had watched the twins for him before Ashby mated.

“Great, I think people just need to see that the vampires aren’t just going to run around town ripping

people’s throats out,” Liam said, rubbing a hand up and down Sebastian’s back. It seemed his mate had to

touch him as much as he desired to be touched. Sebastian couldn’t be happier.

“No, but David and Daniel might talk them to death.” Kate laughed. Sebastian had to smile. David and

Daniel were trouble.

“That’s the honest truth,” Bran said, kissing the top of Landon’s head.

“Okay, we’re off to find Ashby, then get to our picnic. See you guys later,” Caleb said, taking Lucas’s

hand and helping him wave bye-bye. Liam and Sebastian waved as they walked away.

“Come on, kitten, let’s go home,” Liam said, and Sebastian loved the sound of that.

Chapter 2

As they walked through the door, they passed Rian and Damian heading out.

“Ri, can you let the pride know that we are no longer buying anything at Bobbles and Things? If you

have to special order something let me know, I’ll help defray the cost.” Liam kept walking with Sebastian as

if he hadn’t given Rian a reason for a total meltdown.

“Why the hell not!” he demanded, sputtering. More than half the pride was standing around them acting

as if they were already starting withdrawal symptoms.

“Because he has strong opinions about Alphas who are cocksucking gays. He also shared that my

parents would be ashamed of their only son,” Liam said bitterly.

Rian’s head snapped up and he opened his mouth as a long hiss escaped.

“That bigoted motherfucker! Come on, Damian,” Rian said, turning towards the door. Damian and,

surprisingly, Talon and Rex started to follow.

“Riiiaaann. Don’t cause any trouble,” Liam warned. Rian turned back to his Alpha, a bright happy smile

on his face.

“Trust me,” he sang, and the four walked out. Liam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“They’ll be fine. At least Rebecca isn’t involved,” Sebastian offered. Liam looked up and gave a half

smile.

“Thank heaven for small favors. Come on, kitten, let me show you the house.” Liam pulled Sebastian

close.

“Through there is the kitchen and…” Liam said walking through the house. Sebastian stopped and

stared at the floor.

“I know,” he whispered. Liam stopped walking and then turned around. When Sebastian looked up, he

could see the muscle in Liam’s jaw working before a tight smile crossed his face.

“I keep forgetting that you’ve been here before.” Liam sighed and dropped his head back. He took a

deep breath, and when his head came back up his smile was gentle but his eyes were sad.

“Come on, kitten, let’s go to the library. From what I can remember of your cat days, you liked that

room the most.” Liam held out his hand. Sebastian jumped forward and grabbed it. He rubbed his cheek

along Liam’s hand similar to the way Liam had done to his at the diner. Liam’s face brightened and his

smiled widened. Wordlessly, they walked through the house until they were in the pride’s library.

The library was Sebastian’s favorite place, because this is where he had made the most friends in his cat

form. The gentlemen that lived here always seemed to be in need of a snuggle here, a purr there, or the

simple contact that a cat provided. They needed human contact more, but like himself, they were too afraid

to reach out.

Sebastian knew a lot of people thought that the lions were a lazy bunch who weren’t very bright or

accomplished. But when he stayed here as a cat, he watched certain pride members slip into the library to

sneak a book or five. There was one lion who had quickly become one of Sebastian’s favorites. Kyle had

been kicked out of his familial pride when he was twelve years old. He had been found kissing the Alpha’s

son. He worked hard every night in the library trying to earn his GED. Since he suffered from anxiety

attacks in public settings, it made the local high school impossible to attend.

“Come here, kitten,” Liam said, bringing Sebastian back to the present. He patted the leather sofa beside

him. Sebastian walked over and sat down, fidgeting under his mate’s gaze.

“Sebastian, do you think I would ever hurt you?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I know that you would never hurt me. In my head I know we are mates. But

sometimes it’s harder to make my fear understand,” Sebastian murmured as he pulled at the threads on the

pillow.

“Do you know why I was so upset?” Liam reached forward and lightly began to run his hand up and

down Sebastian’s arm. Sebastian shook his head, visibly relaxing at the gentle touch.

“I was upset that you didn’t trust me. That you were hurting and I wasn’t there for you. From the little I

was told of what you endured, it was horrific, and it tears me up inside to imagine you in a cage.” Liam’s

voice became harsh. When Sebastian looked at his mate he could see that Liam was barely holding back his

tears. Without another thought he climbed into Liam’s lap and wrapped his arms around his mate, holding

him close as his legs straddled the man’s thighs.

“I’ve been waiting for my mate ever since I heard about what they were,” Liam said into Sebastian’s

shoulder.

“How old were you?” Sebastian asked.

“Five,” Liam mumbled.

Sebastian felt a grin form. “Five? What did your parents tell you?”

“Parents? My parents didn’t do parental things like explaining mates, or going to track meets or

graduations or anything like that. I asked Ma about it one day after school because Aleks said that he

wanted a mate for Christmas, because he wanted to be mated like his Ma and Pa one day.” Sebastian could

hear the love in his voice for the Arkadions, but surprisingly nothing but scorn for his own parents.

“Where are your parents?” Sebastian asked. Liam sat up and looked his small mate in the eye.

“After we graduated from college, Rian and Damian came out of the closet. They figured they were

grown and felt they shouldn’t have to hide. My father motioned to kick them out of the pride. I was still

trying to figure my own sexuality out, so his reaction pissed me off. The thought of losing my two best

friends was too much. They made living in this place bearable. So I challenged my father for dominance of

the pride and won. Refusing to admit he was defeated, my father and my mother rallied their generation

together. They all left, including Rian and Damian’s parents and siblings. They took pretty much the entire

pride with them. My father moved everyone to Florida. Only me, Damian and Rian were left. My father

thought that with only three single men left here in Arkadia that my grandfather would let him retain the

title as Alpha of the Lewenhart pride.” Liam chuckled.

“But the old man refused to move the Lewenhart pride out of Arkadia. My father was furious for having

lost the title of Alpha to one of the most prestigious prides in the world. I can remember the old man

coming to Arkadia after a heated discussion with my father, where my father threatened to go before the

council accusing me of dereliction of duty when it came to running the pride. Grandfather found me, Rian

and Damian drunker than hell out in the pool. I swear we may have accidently drowned ourselves if he

hadn’t pulled us out of the water. He waited until morning then held reveille on our asses.” Liam tightened

his hold around Sebastian’s waist.

“He pulled me around by the hair and threw my ass into my father’s chair in the office. Rian and

Damian were yelling and waving their arms behind us. He asked me what I was doing with the pride. I

remember laughing that there wasn’t a pride. He just asked what I planned on doing about that.” Liam

shook his head.

“Flippantly, I told him I was going to open the pride to any gay lion that had been kicked out of their

home, so they had a place to go. The old man just stood there and then for the first time in my life he

smiled at me. I’ll never forget what he said next.” Liam subconsciously was rubbing up and down

Sebastian’s sides. Sebastian leaned forward, eyes wide.

“What happened then?” he asked eagerly. Liam looked surprised for a moment and then continued.

“He said ‘If anyone was ever destined to be the Alpha of a pride of gay lions, Liam, it’s you. Give our

lost sons a home.’ Then he left. Rian and Damian got really excited. Well, you’ve seen them. They are like

little terriers with a bone when they latch onto a project. We got the word out that we were accepting gay

lions and Arkadia was a safe place to go. We slowly started filling the pride house.” Liam smirked and then

laughed out loud.

“At one point, Rian had ‘Gay? Head our Way’ T-shirts all over the damn place. I told Rian I would

choke him with one if he didn’t get rid of them.” Sebastian started giggling and his entire face lit up. Liam’s

breath caught at the unguarded moment with his mate. He leaned deep into the cushions.

“What about your parents?” Liam asked softly. And just like that, Sebastian’s laughter died and his face

shut down. He looked down and shrugged. Liam was beginning to hate that shrug, because he recognized it

as the defensive measure it was.

“What happened, baby?” Liam coaxed.

“Last year, after I graduated from college, I got a job out of state. My family was extremely well off so

they didn’t have to work. So when I decided to move, they wanted to move with me. They let me pick out a

condo then bought a home nearby. We petitioned the local wolf pack for membership. They agreed. In the

spirit of full disclosure, my parents advised of what they were and what I was. They had no problems with

it. I started my job and things were great. The second full moon, the Alpha summoned my parents before

the pack and accused them of conspiring to murder him to take control of the pack. Death by challenge is

completely acceptable, but as you know, murder is an unforgivable offense.”

Liam nodded.

“I joined the meeting late and arrived just in time to see him shoot my parents in the head at point-blank

range. I lost control and shifted to my tiger. But he was ready, they shot me full of a drug that forced me to

shift to human. Once human, the Alpha said I had a choice. Shift to a small animal and get in the cage or

die with my parents. So I shifted and got in the cage.” Sebastian sat back on Liam’s lap and wrapped his