Fated Forgiveness [Kindred of Arkadia 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) (8 page)

watched as Liam tried to hold back a yawn and failed. It proved contagious as Kent found himself fighting

back a yawn.

“Are you guys ready for bed?” Kent asked. Sebastian raised his head and he blinked sleepily. He nodded

and rubbed at his eyes with his fists. Kent felt his heart melting for their littlest mate. He turned and saw that

Liam was also watching Sebastian with love in his eyes. When Sebastian looked up and saw Kent and Liam

looking at him, he smiled and blew them kisses. Kent grinned.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, and if you ever tell anyone I’ll deny it, but I’m not really feeling

like sex tonight.” Liam walked back to stand between Sebastian and Kent.

“Thank goodness! I didn’t want to deny my mates, but I can barely keep my eyes open,” Sebastian

admitted.

“I think we’ve all had a really long day.” Kent felt giddy at the thought of sleeping with his two mates.

“Let’s go to bed then, um, Liam’s room?” Sebastian asked, turning pink. Kent looked to Liam, who

nodded.

“I have the largest bed. Come on, my mates, let’s go get snuggled in.” Liam stepped forward and swung

Sebastian in his arms. Kent chuckled at the tiny yelp their mate gave, and wrapped his arm around Liam’s

waist as the three made their way upstairs to spend their first night together as a mated triad.

Chapter 5

Liam was having the most perfect dream. He and his mates were stranded alone on a deserted island. All

of their clothes had been lost at sea and they were forced to walk around naked. Liam felt himself harden as

he watched his two mates brush against each other, laughing as they attempted to get in a hammock. He

took a step forward and tripped over a large log. But suddenly it wasn’t a log. In horror he ran his hand

along the hard ridges and realized it was an alligator. It opened its large mouth, revealing jagged teeth. He

looked around for his mates and couldn’t find them. In a panicked state, he woke.

Dripping sweat and tangled in sheets, Liam sat up in bed. Breathing hard, he clutched his hand to his

chest. He took a deep breath in and out, trying to slow his frantic heart. Shaking his head, he lay back

down. Instinctively he rolled over on his side and reached to pull Sebastian close when his hand landed on

a hard, rigid surface. He froze as he felt ice water flood his veins. He pulled back the sheet, and lying where

his little mate had been was a fifteen foot alligator.

He opened his mouth and a scream erupted somewhere from the recesses of his soul. He scrambled to

get off the bed and fell, hitting his head on the corner of the nightstand. The door behind him flew open as

Rex and Talon stormed in, hands shifted, and skidded to a halt. Behind them, Damian and Rian stepped into

the room, slowly taking in the entire scene. Liam had scooted so that his back was against the wall as he

faced the bed.

“What in the hell is that?” Rex asked.

“That’s a gator,” Talon replied.

“I can see that it’s an alligator, what in the hell is it doing in their bed?” Rex demanded. Talon just

shrugged. Rian hurried forward, pulled Liam away from the wall, and eyed his bleeding forehead.

“I think that it’s Sebastian,” Talon offered.

“Liam, are you okay?” Rian picked up one of the discarded shirts off the floor and tried to staunch the

bleeding.

“We were getting in the hammock and then there was an alligator,” Liam muttered.

“Whoa! That was freaky,” Rex said, taking a step back. Liam followed Rex’s line of sight and saw that

the alligator was gone, and in its place was a large porcupine. Liam shuddered as he imagined certain body

parts cuddling up to that. His head snapped up.

“Kent! Is Kent okay?” he asked, as Rian helped him to stand. He cursed loudly at the throbbing in his

head and knee from his hard landing.

Rex walked around the bed and nodded.

“Sleeping like a baby. He told me once that he sleeps like the dead. It’s no wonder he missed you

screaming like a girl,” Rex teased. Liam leveled a cold stare at his pride member. Rex swallowed hard.

“Well, everything seems to be okay here, Alpha. You don’t really need me, I’ll just head back to bed.”

Rex quickly bolted past Talon.

“Goodnight, Alpha.” Talon dipped his head and walked out behind his friend.

“Want me to get a guest room ready?” Damian asked.

“Do you think it’s safe to leave Kent in bed with him?” Liam stared down at his two mates. Rian

nodded.

“I think so. Neither one of them look like they have moved around much. They should be fine.” Rian

threw the bloody shirt into the hamper.

“I’m going to stay here anyway, just in case.” Liam sighed and picked up the blanket that they had

kicked off the bed in the night. He looked at his recliner, then looked at the porcupine.

“You’re a good mate, Liam.” Damian said, smiling. Rian patted him on the shoulder as they both walked

out, shutting the door behind them. Liam gave another sigh. It was going to be a long night.

* * * *

The next morning, Kent woke up and stretched his long frame. He reached across the bed only to find it

empty. Liam and Sebastian were already up. He smiled and inhaled the dual scents of his mates before

swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He quickly showered and pulled on the clothes he had brought to

Liam’s room last night. He looked around the messy room and decided that sometime in the near future he

would have a talk with his mate about cleaning up after himself. As he walked out of the room he saw a

blanket in the recliner. He frowned, wondering how it had gotten there.

He followed his nose downstairs and found Rian at the stove cooking for the pride. The smell of

pancakes and bacon filled the Tuscan-style kitchen. Kent looked at Liam, who was scowling into his coffee,

and immediately looked for Sebastian. Their small mate sat at the table across from Liam looking

completely dejected.

“Sebastian, baby, what’s wrong?” Kent asked, hurrying over to the table. Sebastian looked up and tears

spilled from his eyes. Kent scooped him up and sat down with him on his lap in the chair next to Liam.

Liam sighed.

“Sebastian, kitten, I’m not mad. It was just a little…shocking, that’s all,” Liam said, leaning back in his

chair.

“What? What did I miss?” Kent asked, looking from Sebastian to Liam. Sebastian buried his face in

Kent’s chest. Kent looked over to Liam for an explanation.

“From what Sebastian has told us this morning, hybrids need to shift regularly to sort of stretch their

legs. Sebastian was forced to stay in one small shape when he was captured before becoming Rebecca’s cat.

Now that he is in a place where he is relaxed and feels safe, his body is shifting at night when he goes to

sleep,” Liam explained, putting down his coffee mug. Kent remembered the blanket.

“You slept in the recliner, didn’t you?” Kent asked. Liam nodded.

“I’m so sorry!” Sebastian wailed.

“It’s fine, I’m sure the more he shifts the less he’ll need to at night,” Liam yawned. Sebastian looked up,

sniffling.

“You’re really not mad?” he asked. Liam shook his head and Kent could see sadness there. That was

when he realized that Sebastian had turned to him for comfort and not Liam. He knew that only time could

help resolve this issue, but until then he would do his best to help smooth things over.

“Good, I couldn’t stand walking in here with you looking like you’re about to murder someone every

morning.” Kent reached to the center of the table and poured more coffee into Liam’s mug. When he

glanced up Liam was staring at him, looking surprised.

“I looked like that?” he asked, eyeing Sebastian. Kent laughed. Sebastian giggled and took his face out

of Kent’s chest, wiping his eyes. He nodded.

“You looked really angry.”

“I’m sorry, kitten, I think it was the alligator that threw me.” Liam shuddered. In the background Kent

heard someone cough. His head turned around and he saw Rex turning bright red. Talon started patting him

on the back. Talon waved off Kent’s concern with his other hand.

“He’s fine.”

“He won’t be,” Liam grumbled. When Kent looked down at Sebastian, his eyes were wide.

“I was an alligator?” he asked, sounding excited.

“Yes, then a porcupine, then a vulture, then it was a lamb for a while, which I thought was adorable. I

almost got back in bed at that point, but then you shifted into a badger so I stayed in the recliner.” Liam

sipped more coffee.

“That is so cool!” Sebastian sounded excited. Kent shuddered, imagining sleeping next to all of those

animals throughout the night.

“Porcupine?” Kent asked. Liam raised his head and paled.

“Yes, complete with quills.”

“Okay, who’s ready for pancakes?” Rian asked. He carefully slid pancake after pancake onto the platter.

Sebastian snorted when he saw the shapes. They were small alligators.

“Not funny, Rian.” Liam’s eyes narrowed at Rian. Rian chuckled and tossed a pancake on Liam’s plate.

“So what are y’all’s plans for today?” Rian asked, giving Kent a meaningful look. Kent cleared his

throat.

“I was thinking about just relaxing today. How about we drive out to the ranch and visit Rebecca? I

know you two have been worried about her,” Kent said. Liam stared at him so long he thought maybe they

were on to his plan.

“Let me get this straight. You want to relax and visit Rebecca?” Liam asked. Kent nodded. Everyone in

the kitchen started laughing. Kent shook his head, chuckling.

“Okay, let me rephrase that. Let’s visit Rebecca to make sure she is okay. Then we can come home and

relax.” Kent picked up a pancake with his fingers and took a bite.

Softly Sebastian said, “Rebecca has serious moments when she’s alone. She worries about everyone in

town. She takes her role as Alpha mother seriously. I think she feels like she has to do more since she’s

human. Even on mornings when she had been sick, she was constantly making plans and trying to think of

new ways to keep us safe.” Everyone quieted down.

“She needs to take better care of herself! We’re shifters, predators. She’s tiny and human and pregnant,

for goodness’ sake!” Rian slammed the frying pan down on the stove. He stood with his back to the room,

both hands on either side of the burners, hunched over, breathing hard. Damian walked over and wrapped

an arm around his friend. Rian tensed for a second before visibly relaxing into Damian’s taller frame.

“I’m worried about her. To her, we are her family, she loves everyone. It’s up to us to watch out for her

tweaky little self.” Sebastian leaned against Kent. Seeing his opening, Kent kissed the back of Sebastian’s

head and spoke up.

“Let’s go make sure she’s taking it easy. Would that make you feel better, baby?” He asked. Sebastian

nodded. Kent looked over to Liam.

“Is that okay with you?” Kent asked.

“I’d honestly feel better checking on her too. I don’t like that she has lost so much weight.” Liam

agreed. Rian turned back around.

“Okay. Liam, eat your alligators so you can head out.” Rian chimed in sounding more like himself. Rex

couldn’t help the chuckles that escaped this time. Sebastian ducked his head, smiling. The mood in the

kitchen lightened, but Kent could see that the entire pride took Rian’s concerns to heart.

Kent thought it was amazing how much one small human could affect so many shifters. He couldn’t

wait to spend more time with her.

Chapter 6

Kent couldn’t wait to get home. They had been at Rebecca’s all afternoon and he was exhausted. The

petite woman never sat still. She bounced around like a ping pong ball, seemingly jumping from subject to

subject as easily as she went from room to room. Sebastian was completely relaxed, as if he were visiting

his childhood home. Liam watched Rebecca like a hawk, making sure she took it easy and showered her

with a brotherly type of affection. Kent smiled, remembering the exuberant way she had greeted them,

hopping around, excited to show them the cake she had made. The worried expression on Liam’s face

clearly showed that he was afraid she would collapse at any moment, and he had only relaxed when she

finally sat down at the table to eat with them.

Kent looked down at his phone. It was four o’clock in the afternoon, they still had another hour before

they could head home. Kent was suddenly unsure if a surprise party was the best idea. He was relatively

new to town and had only been with his mates a short while. His earlier excited butterflies were quickly

turning to sludge in his stomach.

“Kent, you don’t have to sit by yourself like a lump,” Rebecca chided. Kent’s attention snapped to the

present.

“Sorry, Alpha Mother, I was just thinking about the dessert you made for us. I’m now an official fan of

lemon drop cake,” Kent said glibly.

“I can get you another piece,” Rebecca said quickly, her eyes going to the clock on the mantle over the