Page 2 of Gifts of Fate (Kindred of Arkadia #7)

Rebecca

“Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful,” Rebecca sang cheerfully as she hung fresh garland and wreaths up in the diner.

She loved Christmas. The snow outside reminded her of the magical day when she first came to Arkadia.

So much had happened in the past year, it felt like she had lived here all her life.

The diner smelled like Ma’s beef stew, homemade bread and cinnamon from the desserts baking in the oven.

She was about to get on the step ladder when she heard a low growl from her mate.

She looked behind her to see Liam already standing from where he sat with his mates.

He walked over and winked at her before he took the garland from her hands.

She turned to Aleks. “You don’t have to be so growly.”

“You should know better than to be climbing around on a step ladder. You’re due any day now. You’re so big you’d probably topple off to one side.”

Rebecca gasped and looked down at her stomach. She secretly complained to Ashby and Sebastian about how big she was because she didn’t want to worry Aleks, but damn the man for calling her out on it in the diner.

“I’m not that big. I’m perfectly healthy.” She sniffed.

Liam leaned down and whispered, “You know he’s just worried. We all are. You’re just so tiny and let’s face it, your tummy is not.” He kissed the top of her head, arranged the last section of garland, and stepped down.

“I’m fine. We both are. Drill sergeant over there has been keeping track of how many steps I take from the den to the bathroom, how many ounces of water I drink and all my pre- natal vitamins.” She smiled sweetly at Aleks before sticking her tongue out at him and rubbing her tummy.

“Have you picked out a name yet?” Ashby asked, grinning.

Rebecca could kiss the man. He always seemed to know exactly what she was feeling and what to do to make her feel better.

Bringing up choosing a baby name would be a fun way to bring her overbearing bear down a notch or two.

He had been dogging her every step for the past month and restricted her visits to the diner.

Torturing him was her only form of entertainment.

“I think I have.”

“It has to be an ‘A’ name,” Aleks jumped in. She had been teasing him about naming the baby Gabriel for weeks.

“I found the perfect name. Aloisius. It’s Liam’s middle name and I think it will suit my baby right down to his little purr,” Rebecca said, taking a seat across from Ashby who had his back to Aleks. He caught her eye and winked.

“That’s a fine name,” Liam exclaimed, jumping on the bandwagon.

“Like hell! We are not naming my son Aloisius! And he does not purr, he growls!” Aleks rumbled.

“Hmmm I don’t know, it feels like a purr to me,” Rebecca said innocently.

“It’s a growl.”

“A purr could sound like a growl,” Kaden added.

“Especially from her tummy like that,” Rex chimed in with a straight face.

Rebecca looked around and realized most of the pride was in the diner.

“It’s a growl, dammit!”

“It’s okay, Aloisius, daddy loves you no matter what, even if you purr.” Rebecca made kissy noises to her stomach.

“He is not going to be Aloisius!” Aleks roared.

“You said I got to pick the first name since you picked the middle name,” Rebecca reminded him.

“That was because of a family tradition,” Aleks protested.

“Not my problem. Oh!” Rebecca rubbed her stomach and looked over to Sebastian who had also grabbed his midsection.

Liam, Kent, and Aleks jumped up and went to their mates.

“What is it?” Aleks ran a gentle hand over Rebecca’s stomach.

“Are you okay, kitten?” Liam asked.

“That felt funny,” Sebastian said, frowning.

“I feel fine now,” Rebecca said, tilting her head back for a kiss.

No matter what was going on Aleks had a way of making time stop every time their lips touched.

He didn’t disappoint. He delved into her mouth 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.

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

“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.

Ashby twisted a napkin. “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.