Gifts of Fate [Kindred of Arkadia 7] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

and nibbled on her lips. When they broke apart she sighed happily. Aleks didn’t return to the barstool, he

grabbed a chair and sat close to her, taking her hand in his.

Liam and Kent sat back down on either side of Sebastian, looking worried.

“You both let us know if you feel it again, we’ll run get Doc,” Liam said. Kent nodded.

“Hey Liam, why is most of the pride here, except for Rian and Damian? Are y’all fumigating or

something?” Rebecca asked. Liam winced and the pride members all looked away. Her eyes narrowed.

“What?” she demanded.

“Rian is going on somewhat of a rampage,” Kent started.

“The pride house was chosen to be featured in the Council’s holiday newsletter that will come out in

January. Rian wants everything to be perfect for the photo shoot,” Sebastian continued.

“Christmas has always been a tough time for Rian.” Liam sighed and leaned back in his chair. Sebastian

wrapped an arm around him, showing his support. Liam smiled down at his lover.

“The first Christmas after the pride left was a lonely one for us. We didn’t have many new pride

members at that point. Rian called his parents and asked if they would come home to visit. They led him

on, letting him think that they were coming, and then cancelled on Christmas Eve. Rian had gone out of his

way to dig out old decorations and make the place homey. The following year he invited them again. He

really missed his little sister. Again, they made it sound like they were coming back and cancelled last

minute. Rian has been waiting every year for the past fifteen years for his family to come back, and they

never do. He wants this photo shoot to be perfect, because in his mind, if his family sees how amazing the

pride house looks now they will want to come visit.”

“They will never go against my father though.” Liam shook his head.

“So, we’ll sleep on the front lawn if we have to, so the house will be exactly as he wants it for the

newsletter,” Rex added.

“With the bulbs exactly six inches apart on the tree,” Kaden said, smiling.

“And the candles burned down exactly one inch which shows they have been used but not too much.”

Talon grinned.

“I think that you all are amazing men. Rian is very lucky to have you.” Rebecca wanted to kiss all of

them but knew Aleks would get mad.

“We’ll just spend more time at the diner.” Kent laughed. Sebastian scowled. Rebecca looked at her

friend.

“What’s the matter, don’t you like it here?” she asked.

He looked up, surprised.

“You mean you haven’t met Jacinda yet?”

Rebecca shook her head. “Who is that? I thought I knew everyone in town already.”

“She moved in a few weeks ago. Flamingo shifter. And a hussy!” Sebastian spat.

“Sebastian. Language.” Ma called from behind the counter. Sebastian turned to face Ma.

“But, Ma, that is me watching my language, I really wanted to call her a cum-guzzling, mate-stealing

whore,” Sebastian hissed.

Rebecca felt her eyes widen.

“It’s true,” Ashby said quietly. Rebecca turned to her normally sweet best friend, who hated to say a

harsh word about anyone.

“Normally I’d just say we were, you know, being a little bitchy. But this woman is nasty. She only goes

after mated men or gay men. Mated gay men are like a special challenge to her. She said that gay men are

only gay because they haven’t fucked the right woman yet.” Ashby’s blue eyes took on a decidedly cold

look.

“She has flat-out asked Liam and Kent for a threesome. She said she wanted to be in the middle of a

lion sandwich, right in front of me, pregnant belly showing and everything. I wanted to claw that bitch’s

eyes out.” Sebastian growled.

“I think Gabriel frightens her, but she has made no qualms about coming on to me. Baptista had to

physically step between the two of us at Sweet Nothings the other day. She was trying to fish her hand

down my pants!” Ashby turned a brilliant shade of scarlet. Rebecca turned in her chair to face her mate.

“Fair warning. You flirt with this woman and I will shoot you. If I think you may be flirting I will shoot

you. If I think she may be thinking about flirting with you, I will shoot you. If I think you think she may be

flirting with you, I’ll shoot you.” Rebecca stared up into her mate’s eyes.

“Wait. What! Why do I get shot?” Aleks demanded.

“Because I technically can’t shoot her without provocation, but I can shoot you all day long. I know,

because I checked with the council about that,” Rebecca said smugly. Aleks nodded and then stopped.

“Why would you ask the council about that?” he asked, his eyes taking on a dangerous glint.

“Just sayin’.” Rebecca shrugged.

“No, seriously, Becca. Why did you ask about shooting me?” Aleks asked. Rebecca ignored him and

turned to the table.

“So we’re all in agreement. Jacinda is bad news and we’re on mate watch. If you see her sidling up to

one of our mates, we cock block that bitch!” Rebecca shouted, throwing her small fist in the air.

“Can we get in on that protection?” Kaden asked.

“Yeah, I don’t want that woman coming anywhere near me.” Talon shuddered.

“Absolutely! Gotta protect my peeps!” Rebecca nodded.

“Did you guys get a tree yet?” Sebastian asked, changing the subject. Rebecca shook her head then

brightened.

“No, but I think I’ll surprise Aleks tomorrow and go out and cut one down. He can drag it in later. I’ve

been dying to use my new chainsaw.” She bounced happily in her chair. Aleks wasn’t the only one who

turned a shade paler.

“No,” Aleks said simply.

“But.”

“No.”

“But I wanna.”

Aleks took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and rubbed his nose against hers.

“No, Becca. Tomorrow we’ll go out together and you can pick any tree you want and I’ll chop it down,”

he said firmly. She sighed.

“Okay, but I wanna use my chainsaw soon.” She turned to Ma.

“Ma, does Arkadia do a town tree? Like in the square?” she asked. Ma stopped what she was doing and

looked over thoughtfully.

“A long time ago we did. But not since before the boys were born,” she admitted. Rebecca smiled, an

idea forming in her mind.

“Uh oh,” Sebastian said.

“Oh dear,” Ashby sighed.

“What?” Liam and Aleks demanded at the same time.

“She has an idea.” Sebastian grinned.

“She’s smirking, which means it’s probably a good idea,” Ashby added.

“You know me so well, my fellow cohorts. I’ll text you details later. But I think you manly men should

get a tree for the square for our town Christmas party on Christmas Eve. Maybe we can get Peyton to leave

the bar for the party.” She hummed along to Elvis’s “Blue Christmas.”

“We can do that. I bet a tree would be an incentive to leave the bar. I know Mojo has been working with

him a lot lately. Poor kid is still terrified to leave the bar. Liam, Kent, are you guys available later to help with the town tree?” Aleks asked. Both men nodded. Aleks leaned in close to his mate.

“You know I don’t like that texting,” Aleks grumbled in her ear.

“That’s because your nosy self is used to being able to eavesdrop on all my conversations. Not

anymore.
Muwahahahaha
.” Rebecca held her phone as if she were holding a light saber. “The force is with

me.” She grinned.

“Better watch it or…” Sebastian gasped and his hands went to his belly. Rebecca dropped her phone on

the table and clutched her stomach.

“Okay, I didn’t like that.” She frowned.

“When was the last one?” Aleks demanded.

“Three minutes and forty-one seconds ago,” Kent said, looking at his watch.

“I feel funny.” Sebastian rubbed his lower back.

“I’m calling Doc,” Liam said. He was reaching for his phone when Rebecca’s phone started to go off.

Rebecca answered it.

“Hey, Kate. Did you feel that?” she asked. Kate laughed.

“More than you did. I’m in labor,” she said, sounding calm.

“Kate, did you want to wear your gown?” Caleb asked in the background.

“Yes, dear,” was Kate’s response.

“Forget the gown, where in the fuck is Doc! We called him like an hour ago. Riley! Riley, go see if Doc

is outside.” They heard Bran’s voice in the background grow louder then get softer as if he were pacing

close to the phone and then away.

“Bran, calm down. We called him about fifteen minutes ago. He should be getting here any minute.”

Kate chuckled and then gasped.

“Just breathe.” They heard Nic say.

Rebecca felt the same fluttering around her midsection. She turned to Sebastian, who nodded.

“So we’ve been picking up on you. Aleks and Liam were about to call Doc thinking we were the ones

in labor. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it’s time. How are you doing?” Rebecca asked.

“I’m fine. It’s been kinda off and on all day. It’s just getting stronger now. Nic has been an angel. Our

bond seems to be as strong as the ones you share with Sebastian and Ashby. He came over this morning

when I first started to get the small cramps. This is second time around for Caleb so he seems to be doing

okay. He’s not freaking out like Bran, but he has been staring at the dresser for the past couple minutes

trying to remember which drawer I keep my nightgowns in.” Rebecca could hear the smile in her voice.

“Hey.” Bran and Caleb protested at the same time.

“Did you pick out names yet? I know you were on the fence about one of them,” Rebecca asked.

“I think I’ll know for sure when I see them. I can’t wait to hold them.” Kate stopped and took a deep

breath. Rebecca looked over to Kent who met her eyes. He looked down at his watch.

“She’s under two minutes apart.”

“Fuck! Fuck! Where is Doc?” Bran yelled.

“I think I hear his car,” Caleb said.

“I better let you go. They really aren’t handling this well,” Kate said.

“Did you want us to come over?” Rebecca asked.

“No, it’s okay. I have my mates and Nic and the pack. Besides, there’s no telling how long this will

actually take. We’ll swing by the diner in a couple days to show them off. Oh! Okay that one hurt. Better

run!”

“We love you, Katie Bell,” Ashby yelled.

“Bye guys!” Kate ended the call.

“Wow, I can’t believe it’s time already.” Rebecca shook her head.

“You know what Doc said. That one of you could set off the other two with false labor pains,” Liam

said, eyeing his mate.

“I feel fine. I’m just picking up on Kate, that’s all.” Sebastian kissed Liam’s hand.

“Becca? How do you feel?” Aleks asked.

“I feel like I have butterflies flying around my abdomen. But that’s it. Will it be okay for Kate to bring

the babies out in a few days?” She rubbed her belly.

“Shifter babies are a lot stronger than human newborns. In fact the fresh air will help them, their

animals will get the scent of home. It’s very common for shifter newborns to be out and about the next

day,” Ma explained.

“Does that mean I won’t be stuck in the house after the baby is born?” she asked excitedly. Everyone

looked at Aleks. Ma shook her head.

“Maybe not you.” She smiled. Rebecca sighed.

“Come on, baby, let’s head home,” Aleks said, standing.

“Us too, kitten. I want to get you to bed,” Liam said, taking Sebastian’s hand.

“Good luck, guys,” Rex called out.

“Goodnight,” Rebecca said as Aleks helped her put her coat on.

Walking hand in hand, they left the diner and stepped out into the snow. They waved as Liam, Kent and

Sebastian walked in the opposite direction toward their car. Rebecca turned her face up and opened her

mouth. She loved to catch snowflakes. She looked over to see that Aleks was watching her with a look of

love in his eyes that seemed to touch her soul.

“I love you,” she said simply, and watched his eyes darken.

“I love you too. You are my entire world, Becca.” He took her in his arms and rubbed his cheek on her

head.

“Aloisius loves you too.” Aleks stepped back and eyed her suspiciously.

“You’re really not going to name him Aloisius are you?”

“
Hi-mi-tsu
,” she said, drawing out each syllable.

“I told you that you could watch anime as long as you didn’t speak Japanese to me. What did that

mean?” Aleks grumbled.

“Secret.”

“Why can’t you tell me?” he asked.

“No. It means, secret.”

She smiled and took his hand, heading toward their truck.

“Becca. Baby? Aloisius? Really?” Aleks asked.

Smiling, she kept walking, enjoying the sound her boots made in the snow.

Christmas really was her favorite time of the year.

Chapter 2

Kate

Dec 20th
into Dec 21st

Kate cuddled Landon and Lucas close and breathed through another contraction.

“That one was the worst one yet,” Nic panted. Through their bond he was getting echoes of her

contractions.

“I’m so sorry about this, Nic,” Kate said, feeling horrible. She never dreamed that he would be