Gifts of Fate [Kindred of Arkadia 7] (Siren Publishing Classic) (4 page)

No dancing snowmen or flashing candy canes. Felix had mentioned once and only once that maybe they

should get some decorations for the house and that idea had been shot down.

We’ll just have to take it down again in a few weeks, it’s a waste of effort.

Maybe his mate did hate Christmas.

“All I want is to lie down for fourteen hours.” Claybourne parked the car and got out, slamming the car

door shut. Frowning, Felix watched as his mate, seemingly forgetting he existed, unlocked the front door,

opened it, walked in and closed it behind him.

He crossed his arms and waited, tapping his foot. After ten minutes he came to the realization his mate

had truly forgotten him and was probably asleep in bed. He got out of the car and walked to the front door.

He turned the knob to discover it had been locked. Staring at the knob in shock he reached for his wallet

and pulled out a single key. He unlocked the front door and marched right into the master bedroom. Sure

enough, there was his mate in his lounge pants, face down, out like a light.

Motherfucker!

He debated waking his mate up but rejected the idea. His mate had worked hard last night bringing two

new souls into the world, and he deserved a rest before he got his ass chewed out, and not in the good way

either. Suddenly feeling like a stranger in his own bedroom Felix grabbed the pajamas he had left draped

over the chair and walked out.

He headed to the den and sat down on the sofa. He couldn’t get the soul-searing love he had seen

between Kate and her mates out of his mind. Had his own mating fizzled already? Would having a child

bring back that fire? That need to be with your mate more than you needed your next breath?

He sat cross-legged on their sofa and hugged the pillow to his chest. What could he do to bring back

their passion? Maybe Claybourne was simply tolerating him. He couldn’t lose his mate. Not now. He looked

around the house and realized that there was nothing of him in any of the rooms. If he packed up all his

clothes and left, no one would ever know he had lived here. Disgusted, he threw his pajamas on the sofa

beside him and stood up.

Claybourne was his mate and this was his home, dammit! If he wanted to celebrate Christmas, hang

mistletoe and dance naked to “Good King Wenceslas” then he was going to. Grabbing the car keys, he

headed out the door.

* * * *

“Thanks for the help, Rian, Sebastian,” Felix said, putting the last box of decorations in the car.

“Thanks for taking this stuff off my hands, it doesn’t really go with the feel I’m trying to portray.” Rian

waved his hand at the princely way the pride house was decorated. It looked like something out of
Better

Homes and Gardens
.

“I can’t believe you guys didn’t have any decorations.” Sebastian frowned.

“Hey guys, I gotta go check on my baked gingerbread ornaments. If you need any advice just text me a

picture,” Rian offered, and ducked back inside.

“That man is a genius when it comes to decorating. Hey, quick question, did Rebecca make you pose for

pictures?” Felix asked. Good thing Rian had over-ordered, as that meant more free, high-quality decorations

for him. Lucky!

“Yeah, she got most of the pride in the diner this morning, she has been all over town like a tiny camera

Nazi,” Sebastian shook, eyeing Felix.

“Is everything okay?” Sebastian asked. Felix looked at his extremely pregnant best friend and decided

now would not be the best time to share that he thought his mating was going down the toilet.

“Yup, I’m going to surprise Claybourne with a festive house when he wakes up. Maybe even bake some

pie or something,” Felix said. Sebastian’s frown deepened.

“You? You want to bake? Okay, what is going on?” Sebastian demanded, crossing his arms.

“Nothing, just getting into the Christmas spirit,” Felix said cheerfully.

Sebastian smiled, nodded, then jumped up and put Felix in a headlock, raking his knuckles over his

friend’s scalp. Not wanting to hurt the baby, Felix didn’t fight back.

“Ow fucker! No fair, you’re totally playing the pregnant card to avoid getting your scrawny ass kicked,”

Felix yelled.

“Damn right, bitch. Now spill!” Sebastian said, tightening his grip.

“Fine! I think Claybourne is sick of me and doesn’t care if I’m there or not,” Felix yelled.

Sebastian released Felix and stepped back. “That’s not true. That man loves you to pieces,” Sebastian

protested.

“He forgot me. Today he forgot I was even in the car with him. He went into the house, locked the door,

changed into his pajamas and went to sleep,” Felix mumbled.

“I am so going to kick his ass,” Sebastian growled.

“Kitten, are you okay?” Liam asked, opening the front door concernedly.

“I’m fine, hun. Be right in.” Sebastian smiled up at his mate. Liam looked at Sebastian a second longer

and then dubiously shut the door.

“Seriously though, do I need to beat some sense into him?” Sebastian asked. Felix wiped at his eyes. He

should have known his best friend would be on his side.

“No, I need to do this for myself. Thanks for the offer though, Shamu,” Felix joked.

“Har har. Just wait until it’s your turn. This shit is not fun. I don’t know how normal human women do

this. Rebecca is a damn goddess in my opinion.” Sebastian grunted.

“Let’s get my mate remembering I exist before we plan babies, okay?” Felix rubbed Sebastian’s belly.

“I am not a Buddha statue, stop it.” Sebastian batted Felix’s hand away.

“Okay hun, I gotta go blow his mind with Christmas decorations, then blow him, before I allow him to

blow me.” Felix wagged his eyebrows.

“Onward, horny soldier!” Sebastian gave a salute.

“Love ya.” Felix called, getting into the car.

“Love ya back. Oh and Felix,” Sebastian yelled. Felix stood back up next to the car.

“Yeah?”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too.” Felix got in the car and waved as he drove off.

* * * *

Felix was just putting the finishing touches on the tree when he heard his mate behind him.

“What in the hell is all of this?” Claybourne demanded.

“It’s Christmas decorations. I couldn’t sleep and realized we didn’t even have a tree, so I went out to get

one. Of course the stores are picked clean, it’s a good thing that Rian had too much in his effort to

overthrow Martha Stewart.” Felix put the empty ornament box on the coffee table.

He had put up a pre-lit Christmas tree, a garland on the fireplace, and all kinds of Christmas knick-

knacks around the room. He had even found two stockings at the grocery store that were perfect for them.

One had a stethoscope around it, the other a thermometer.

He decided that pie was beyond him, but he got a tube of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and they made the

house smell heavenly. There was even eggnog waiting for him later in the fridge.

“Take it down. Take it all down.” Claybourne’s fists shook beside his body.

“What?” Felix whispered.

“Take it down! It’s gaudy and tacky and, and messy!” Claybourne exploded.

“No! Do you know how hard I have worked to make this special for us? It’s our first Christmas

together, we should celebrate,” Felix protested, feeling a ball of ice form in his stomach.

“Did you ever stop to think about what I would want? The tree and the garland are littering needles all

over the place. The little snowman is just clutter that I’ll have to move to clean since you don’t feel like you

have to. You just created more work for me!” Claybourne ground out from between his clenched teeth.

“What? What!” Felix couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He couldn’t stop the wave of nausea that

crept up the back of his throat. Pushing past his mate, he ran to the guest bathroom and locked the door. He

had just enough time to raise the lid and his stomach emptied all of the candy he had been snacking on all

morning in fits of nervousness.

“Felix! Felix open the door! Are you all right? Let me in!” Felix could hear Claybourne’s frantic yells.

“You forgot me,” he whispered. The pounding on the door stopped.

“What?” Claybourne asked.

“This morning you forgot me. You locked the door behind you and went to bed. When I came in I

looked around and realized that there was nothing of me in the house. That if you got rid of my clothes I

would disappear from your life.” Felix panted and fought back another wave of nausea.

“That’s not true,” Claybourne whispered.

“It’s my first Christmas out of that cage. For years I didn’t get to have Christmas. I wanted this to be

special. I wanted to be special to you. I can’t do this anymore.” Felix wept and threw up again.

“Felix, just open the door, baby, let me check on you please.” Claybourne pounded on the door.

Exhausted, Felix realized he was losing track of time, he was only catching bits and pieces of what

Claybourne was saying.

When the pounding on the door turned into a full-out attack Felix shifted into a two-thousand-pound

walrus and lay against the door.

Bah fucking humbug!

* * * *

“Felix, come on buddy, shift back and open the door.” Felix opened his eyes and looked down. He

remembered what had led to him shifting and he felt his heart break.

“Felix, you’re scaring me to death. Open the door.” Felix realized that it was Sebastian calling out to

him, not Claybourne. Shifting back, he struggled to get up. He grabbed a towel from under the cabinet and

knotted it around his waist. His clothes lay in tatters around him. He opened the door and peeked out.

Sebastian pushed the door open, cracking him in the forehead and squeezing inside before closing the door

again.

“What happened? Claybourne called me losing his damn mind. He said that you were sick and wouldn’t

open the bathroom door. I’ve never seen that man lose his composure the way he did when he couldn’t get

to you, not even when y’all were racing to find a cure to the virus. He is absolutely frantic. Kent and Liam

had to get him to shift and go for a run.” Sebastian sat down on the toilet seat.

“He’s probably just concerned because he’s a doctor and it would look bad if I died in his bathroom or

something,” Felix said, hopping up on the counter.

“Die! Who said anything about dying? What in the hell is going on?” Sebastian said, panic edging into

his voice.

“Calm down, Papa Smurf, I’m fine. He got me so upset I tossed my candy-laden cookies into the toilet.

I probably passed out due to stress and due to the fact that I’d been up for over twenty-four hours when he

decided to get all pissy.” Felix relaxed against the mirror.

“You’re fine though, right? You’re not pregnant?” Sebastian asked. Felix shook his head.

“Things have been so rocky lately I haven’t even brought it up.”

“What do you mean he got pissy? Because according to him, he was a complete and utter insensitive ass

and you were leaving him.”

“Leaving him?” Felix sat straight up, struggling to remember what he had said.

I can’t do this anymore.

“Oh fuck, I may have said something like that. But I didn’t mean it that way. All I wanted was to enjoy

Christmas with my mate. How did things go so wrong?”

“How was he an insensitive ass?”

“He told me to take down all of the Christmas decorations, that they were gaudy and tacky.” Felix wiped

away his tears.

“Tacky! There’s no way Rian would buy anything that was tacky!”

“I know right!”

“What else?”

“That was pretty much it. Oh, and I created more work for him since I don’t clean around here and all

the Christmas stuff would make it harder for him to keep the house picked up.”

“He’s right.”

“What?”

“He was an insensitive ass.”

“I just wish he would have just talked to me about it, like an adult. He just ordered me around and

belittled me like a child,” Felix complained.

“No, like my father,” Claybourne said slowly, opening the door.

“Come on, Sebastian, let’s give them some space,” Liam said from the hallway where he waited with

Kent.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Doc. I love you, because to me Felix is my brother and you are his mate.

But if you hurt my brother again I will bring down a world of hurt on you. I’ve kept my mouth shut up

until this point hoping you’d pull your head out of your ass and see how shitty you’ve been treating him.

This is your first and last warning. You better start treating my brother right or you will see what kind of

scary shit I can shift into, because I have tricks that even Felix doesn’t know about.” Sebastian stood up

and stretched, rubbing his back.

“Now make up and give me a niece or nephew to spoil.” He grinned evilly at Claybourne, who

swallowed hard.

“Oh and Doc, I’ll see you tomorrow for my appointment at nine a.m.” Sebastian waddled past Felix and

Claybourne to Liam.

“Good luck, Doc,” Liam said, and all three walked down the hallway.

“Felix I’m…” Claybourne started.

“I’m stealing your cinnamon rolls!” Felix heard Sebastian yell from the kitchen.