Fated Forgiveness (Kindred of Arkadia Book 4)

by Alanea Alder

  "I owed someone a calendar for hurting her feelings. I had to show how much she meant to not only me, but to my mate as well," Gabriel said, giving them a rare smile.

  Rebecca wrapped one arm around Ashby and the other one around Gabriel. "I love you both! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she chanted, then flinched when one of the men let out a loud yell. A group of lions started laughing as one of the wolves flailed around holding his arm, cursing.

  "Maybe we should sabotage the hot tar thing," Ashby said, going pale as some of the shifters went to lay more tar.

  Ma and Felix shrugged.

  "They'll live," they both said at the same time.

  "I don't want to go back inside, but I'm getting a bit lightheaded." Rebecca admitted. Instantly Ma had the small woman and was steering her into the shade of the diner's awning.

  "Let's move tables and chairs into the shade," Kate suggested.

  "Excellent idea," Gabriel said, as he helped Ashby, Nic, Felix and Kate arrange the table and chairs.

  Felix sat Rebecca down in a chair and had her put her feet up. Minutes later Ma brought out another shake.

  Rebecca grimaced. "I hate to say it, but I'm kinda tired of the coffee flavor," she admitted.

  Ma smiled. "That's okay, baby girl, this one is a new one. Bananas Foster." She handed it over to Rebecca who began to suck it down greedily.

  When the men realized they had an audience, they began to strut more.

  Rebecca whistled and catcalled. "I don't care how old he is, that man is just fucking hot!" Rebecca said, eyeing Lachlan. Sebastian grinned.

  "Maybe we should introduce him to Ms. Tully," Ashby suggested, a sly smile on his face. Kate and Rebecca burst out laughing.

  "No way! We like Lachlan, remember? We need his support on the council." Kate giggled.

  "Kate, I wish you could have seen those council members. Every single one of them exuded raw power and had this older, sophisticated hotness going on," Rebecca said, fanning herself.

  Kate grinned. "I met Ramsey right after I mated to Bran. If he ages as well, Yum," Kate said.

  "Speaking of which. Damn, Ma, you're lucky too!" Rebecca laughed, pointing to where Pa had also stripped off his shirt.

  Ma blushed. "Well, well. I might just make him his favorite strawberry pie for dessert," she said, before heading back into the diner.

  "Aren't strawberries known for being an aphrodisiac?" Ashby asked, eyes wide.

  Gabriel nodded. "As Rian would say, 'Bow chica wow wow,'" Gabriel said in a deadpan voice.

  Sebastian spit out the large gulp of iced tea he had just drunk. He never would have dreamed the vampire prince would say such a thing. Leave it to Rian to corrupt the man. Sebastian laughed as Rebecca pounded on his back in an effort to help him breathe. He felt carefree for the first time in years. He would always miss his parents, but Fate had given him a new family, and he would always be grateful.

  A couple hours later the men gave up. The unmated ones headed back to their homes to clean up as the mated ones walked over to the tables outside the diner.

  "Did you enjoy the show, kitten?" Liam asked, leaning in, kissing Sebastian. When Liam stood, Kent stepped forward and kissed Sebastian as well.

  "I did, I have the hottest men in Arkadia," Sebastian said, letting his eyes roam his men's naked muscled chests before stopping at their groins. Both men shifted their weight from foot to foot, trying to ease the sudden tightness of their jeans.

  "Come here, baby," Liam said, reaching for his mate.

  Sebastian scooted back. "Nuh uh, you both stink. Go home and shower, we'll have dinner here," Sebastian said.

  Kent and Liam pouted.

  "Come on Kate, just one kiss," Caleb cajoled.

  "No way, shifter smelling here. You not only have man BO but some sort of funky canine smell going at the same time. I don't mind sweaty, naked-time smell, but this is baked-on, dirt-encrusted, sweaty smell. Y'all are nasty," she complained, holding her nose.

  "Please, Aleks, go," Rebecca's voice was weak and she had turned a faint green color. She looked like she was trying to keep from dry heaving.

  Aleks stepped back immediately before turning to Ashby.

  "Ashby, can we use the bathroom in the apartment over Sweet Nothings?" Aleks asked.

  Ashby nodded. "Just clean up after yourselves." Ashby handed Aleks his key ring. The mated men followed behind Aleks, eager to clean up so they could get close to their mates.

  "You know, I kinda like sitting outside for dinner. This could be a new thing," Damian said, as he and Rian walked up.

  "How did you guys get clean so fast?" Sebastian asked.

  "Oh, we left like three hours ago. It's not that often we get the pool at the pride house to ourselves. We had a relaxing afternoon," Rian explained.

  Gabriel's cell phone rang and he answered.

  "Gabriel here. What? Are you sure? If he comes back or you have an update call me immediately." He ended the call.

  Ashby looked at him, worried. "What is it? What's happened?" he asked.

  Gabriel's grip tightened on his cell phone to the point where Sebastian thought it would be crushed. "Rhys is missing. He had a date with Garrett Masters, the one who helped apprehend one of the vampires that went after you at the club. Rhys never showed up for their date. We haven't found any evidence of foul play. He could just be off for one of his weekend adventures, except he would never stand anyone up and he didn't make arrangements for the bar to be covered at Purgatory." Gabriel's face was unreadable.

  Ashby stood and climbed into his mate's lap, holding him tightly.

  "Is there anything we can do?" Sebastian asked.

  Gabriel shook his head.

  "What's wrong?" Aleks asked as he walked up, his hair still dripping from his hasty shower.

  "Rhys, one of our coven's vampires, is missing," Ashby explained.

  "I can send my old partner from Raleigh to check it out. He's part of a shifter unit there, so you wouldn't have to hide what you are," Aleks offered.

  Gabriel looked up, relief on his face. "If you could do that I would be most appreciative. Rhys means a lot to all of us," Gabriel said, pulling Ashby close.

  "Consider it done." Aleks kissed Rebecca soundly and walked off to make his phone call.

  When Caleb and Bran, then Liam and Kent rejoined the group, Ma started to lay out a huge family-style buffet as the cleaned-up, unmated pack, pride and sloth members showed up for food after a hard day's work. It turned into an impromptu town picnic.

  "What are we going to do about Bobbles and Things?" Rian asked.

  "You know, I don't know," Ma said, scratching her head.

  "He had a grandson. Ora will be contacting him to discuss settling his property," Lachlan answered.

  "But, what about all that yummy, chocolatey goodness that will go bad if it isn't sold? We can't just abandon those precious little darlings in the store," Damian said. Kate nodded in agreement.

  "Not much we can do about that, I suppose." Lachlan looked at Damian. "Unless you have something in mind?"

  "Rian and me, I mean, Rian and I, could help at the store. Lucy is still there and we all know she did most of the work anyway between stocking and helping customers. Plus, Rian and I know about chocolate," Damian said, looking excited.

  "If you promise to deposit the profits made for the future owner, I will agree to keeping the store open," Lachlan said.

  "Yes! Awesome. I can't wait to see what he was keeping from us. He never sold us the really good stuff," Damian said, rubbing his hands together. Kate whimpered. Damian looked over to where she sat, looking hopeful.

  "Don't worry, Katie Bell, we are definitely sharing. No more elitist chocolate regime," Damian said.

  "Oh my God, when I think of all the chocolate we haven't been able to try," Kate said, wiping her mouth.

  "Woman, you are hopeless." Caleb laughed and stood with Bran as they headed back over to the buffet table to grab more food.

  "Oh no, I don't have cho
colate, the world is ending," Bran teased. Caleb bumped fists with him. Kate narrowed her eyes at them and waited until they were walking back before she retaliated.

  "I'll probably want chocolate for my entire pregnancy so you better start sucking up to Rian and Damian now."

  Sebastian watched as Caleb froze in his tracks. Bran's mind must have gone on auto pilot because he crashed into the back of Caleb with his plate. Both men tumbled to the ground.

  "Oh my God, is that why I've been getting sick? I made an appointment with Dr. Claybourne for the second he got back." Nic groaned.

  "Your turn! I got sick with Rebecca when she had morning sickness and now you can with Kate." Ashby laughed at pointed at his friend.

  Sebastian took a deep breath and looked at Felix. The other hybrid nodded his encouragement. Sebastian looked beside him where Kent and Liam were poking fun at Caleb and Bran, who had managed to make their way over to their mate and were nuzzling and rubbing her belly.

  "It could be because of me, too," he said quietly.

  Liam's and Kent's heads swung around.

  Liam stood. "You. You. Are you sure?"

  Sebastian nodded. "Felix confirmed it for me today at the clinic," he said, smiling up at his mate.

  "Wait, what?" Rebecca asked, her mouth dropping.

  "You…you…you," Liam stammered, placing both hands on his knees as he bent over and began dragging in deep breaths. Kent rushed past their hyperventilating mate and swung Sebastian up in his arms.

  "Thank you, baby. Thank you," was the quiet whisper.

  Sebastian could feel his hot tears trail down his shoulder and back as his gentle giant wept at the news he was going to be a father.

  "Do you mean he is, well, is he pregnant?" Rebecca asked.

  "Yup! Liam and Kent must have laid it on him good," Felix said, stuffing his face with mac and cheese.

  Suddenly, he was scooped out of Kent's arms and Liam was swinging him around.

  "Easy, Liam," Kent said.

  Liam stopped immediately and sat down, pulling Sebastian into his lap.

  "How?" Lachlan asked in wonder.

  "One of the reasons hybrids are coveted. We can literally shift into anything. I…did you really want the biology lesson?" Sebastian asked. Everyone but Rebecca was shaking their heads. He somehow knew that his Alpha Mother was going to ask him a million questions later.

  "The Lewenhart line continues," Lachlan whispered, tears running down his cheeks.

  "That's right! You're going to be a great-grand father." Sebastian smiled at the older man, who was beaming at Liam with pride in his eyes.

  "Wait, so you, Rebecca and Kate are all pregnant?" Ashby asked, turning pale. Nic gulped.

  Ashby turned to Gabriel in a panic. "We need ginger. Lots of ginger and mint." Ashby said, frantically.

  Gabriel smiled. "I can get you whatever you want, mon ange," he assured his mate.

  "You know what this means!" Rian said, and his eyes met Felix's.

  "Shopping!" they both yelled.

  "When are you both due?" Rian asked, whipping out his phone.

  "December," Sebastian and Kate said at the same time, then smiled at each other.

  "Hey, I'm due in December. How come I have to be pregnant for like almost a whole year and you guys only have to do like six months?" Rebecca complained. Aleks began to rub her lower back.

  "Shifters have shorter gestational periods," Felix said, looking over Rian's shoulder at his phone.

  "No way. Pottery Barn Jr. for sure," he said, pointing to Sebastian.

  "I sure hope Dr. Claybourne is in town in December," Rebecca said, shrugging.

  "Don't worry, I can help," Felix said.

  Aleks, Caleb, Liam, Bran and Kent exchanged glances.

  Sebastian rolled his eyes. He was willing to bet that for the month of December poor Dr. Claybourne would end up shackled to his clinic. Despite appearing to be an air-headed flake, Sebastian trusted Felix with his life and knew that he was more than capable of helping with his child.

  Sebastian looked up at the sound of scraping metal. Caleb and Kent were dragging over a couple of the double-wide park benches from the town square across the street. Sebastian began to giggle.

  "Great idea," Liam said, standing with Sebastian in his arms to sit on the bench with Kent, who wrapped his arm around them both. Sebastian was pulled to sit right between them on both of their laps.

  On the other side of the long tables he could see Kate was in a similar position with Caleb and Bran.

  "You know if any more ménage matings pop up, we're going to have to seriously rethink furniture here in Arkadia," Ma said thoughtfully.

  "You better start planning a quadruple-seater for me, I plan on having three men," Rian announced, and everyone laughed.

  "To err is human, to forgive, divine," Liam said softly.

  "Alexander Pope. Liam, you constantly amaze me," Kent said, running his hands through the back of Liam's hair.

  "Sebastian forgave the way I treated him when I found out about him being a shifter. It takes a lot to forgive something like that," Liam said, squeezing Sebastian's hand.

  "You forgave me for keeping who I was a secret. I don't think any other man, especially an Alpha, could have forgiven that," Sebastian said, raising their joined hands to kiss his fingers.

  "Kent was patient and forgiving as we worked through our issues. Always selfless and thinking of us," Liam said as he reached his hand up, so that Kent could lace their fingers together where his hand rested on Liam's left shoulder.

  "Let's promise to always forgive each other no matter what. To never go to bed angry," Sebastian said.

  Liam grinned.

  "Yeah, there's no telling what I'll wake up to if you go to bed upset." Liam chuckled and Sebastian swatted him.

  Sebastian rested against his mates and knew that no matter what the future held, he and his mates would face it together.

  EPILOGUE

  "So, your foolproof plan to recapture my hybrids not only backfired, but, they are now under the protection of the council and Arkadia." The gentleman walked back and forth in front of the two men that kneeled before him.

  One was a wolf Alpha and the other a sniveling lawyer, yet despite their vastly different roles in life they both found themselves at his feet. Fitting.

  "The council let that human whore get to them. Her sweet, innocent act had them feeling sorry for her. Pure soul my ass, she is a violent bitch," Salsiby complained.

  The gentleman froze.

  "What did you say?" he asked quietly.

  Both men stilled, the smell of rank fear filled the room.

  "I–I–I said that she is a violent bitch, sir," Salsiby repeated.

  "Not that part, and actually, if she were being judged from a paranormal standpoint she is adorable in her ruthlessness. No. The other part. What about her soul?" The gentleman stood directly in front of Salsiby.

  "The vampire, Prince Gabriel, said that she had a pure aura, that he had only seen it once before." Salsiby said cringing.

  The gentleman couldn't help that shout of joy that erupted from his lips.

  "Payne, this man failed, but brought me important information, he is to only spend a week in the dungeon. The Alpha, however, failed in his plans, but I unfortunately need him. Give him to the pain expert for entertainment. I'll need him able to function in a few weeks, though." The gentleman turned around as Payne dragged the struggling and screaming men from his office.

  He walked over to the bookcase and pulled down a small wooden box. He opened the lid and pulled out an ornate brooch intricately designed around a letter A.

  "Fortune's Wheel keeps turning round." He smiled to himself and put the brooch back in the box.

  Thank you for reading!

  I hoped you enjoyed Fated Forgiveness!

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  Other Books by Alanea Alder

  Kindred of Arkadia Series

  This series is about a shifter only town coming together as pack, pride, and sloth to defend the ones they love. Each book tells the story of a new couple or triad coming together and the hardships they face not only in their own Fated mating, but also in keeping their town safe against an unknown threat that looms just out of sight.

  Book 1- Fate Knows Best

  Book 2- Fated to Be Family

  Book 3- Fated For Forever

  Book 4- Fated Forgiveness

  Book 5- Fated Healing

  Book 6- Fated Surrender

  Book 7- Gifts of Fate

  Book 8- Fated Redemption

  World of Arkadia- Click Here

  Bewitched and Bewildered Series

  She’s been Bewitched and he’s Bewildered…

  When the topic of grandchildren comes up during a weekly sewing circle, the matriarchs of the founding families seek out the witch Elder to scry to see if their sons’ have mates. They are shocked to discover that many of their sons’ mates are out in the world and many are human!

  Fearing that their future daughters-in-law will end up dead before being claimed and providing them with grandchildren to spoil, they convince their own mates that something must be done. After gathering all of the warriors together in a fake award ceremony, the witch Elder casts a spell to pull the warrior’s mates to them, whether they want it or not.