Free Fated Forgiveness [Kindred of Arkadia 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) by Alanea Alder Page B

were Rebecca and Aleks. Aleks was chuckling, and Rebecca was jumping
    up and down trying to see them.
    “You!” he exclaimed, pointing to Kent, who shrugged and spread his hands. He whipped around back
    to Rebecca, who was now standing in front of the crowd beaming at him.
    “You!” He pointed to the tiny female, recalling her dramatic scene at her house not thirty minutes ago.
    She was laughing so hard she was wiping tears off her cheeks. Everyone was laughing and clapping. Rian
    walked up and kissed her on the top of her head.
    “Okay, everyone settle down.” Rian said holding up his hands for quiet. The large backyard barely
    contained the entire pride, Bran’s entire pack, the townspeople, and a couple vampires. Everyone had
    turned out for this party.
    “Liam, we can tell from your expression that our efforts to have a surprise party worked beautifully. But
    you’re probably wondering why.” Rian looked at Liam, who simply nodded.
    “Your wonderful mate confided that you and Sebastian needed a little boost. Everyone has things from
    their past that haunt them. He wanted to celebrate the strength of his mates, who have overcome so much to
    make your mating work,” Rian said, pointing to Kent, who was turning molten shades of red. Liam and
    Sebastian went to their mate and wrapped themselves around him.
    Never in his life had anyone ever done something so wonderful for him, not even his parents.
    “Before you molest him, we have a toast planned.” Rian grinned as people chuckled. Then his smiling
    face became somber. Damian joined Rian and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
    “Fifteen years ago Damian and I had a long conversation in our dorm room about what we would do
    after graduation. Both of us agreed that we didn’t want to hide who we were anymore. When we came out
    of the closet to our families and your father started a motion to ban us, I had never been more scared in my
    life. Arkadia was the only home we had ever known.” Rian looked up, tears in his eyes.
    “And out of nowhere, you jumped in front of us and stood up to your own father.” Rian’s voice shook,
    he tried to keep talking but couldn’t. Damian grabbed his hand and took over.
    “You shouted him down and said that being gay was not a good enough reason to be kicked out of a
    pride. That this was our home too. You challenged him, your own father. Watching that fight was the
    hardest thing we have ever had to do. We felt every gouge, every bite as if it were happening on our own
    bodies. In the end you won, but it cost you your family. The next day everyone we had ever known and
    loved left the pride to avoid living with gay lions.” Liam felt the knot in his throat threaten to cut off his air,
    all he could do was keep swallowing hard in an effort to keep his tears from falling.
    “Rian and I made a solemn vow that night that we would defend and take care of you, our Alpha, for
    the rest of our lives, even if it was just the three of us.” Damian’s grin was shaky.
    “But it wasn’t the three of us for long,” Rian said, taking over the story.
    “You started looking at a picture bigger than Arkadia. You began to think of every other displaced lion
    living alone because they were strong enough to embrace who they were, and you opened up the pride to
    them,” Rian said, gesturing to a young man who stepped forward.
    “I was only in seventh grade when my dad caught me kissing the Alpha’s son. He said I was evil and I
    was trying to spread my wickedness. He turned me over to the Alpha personally. That night every male in
    the pride took turns beating me and humiliating me.” The youth drew a ragged breath. Ma stepped forward
    and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up over his shoulder and flashed her a sad smile before
    continuing.
    “The next morning, I was barely breathing when my older sister snuck outside to tend my wounds. She
    helped me get dressed and gave me all the money she had, two hundred dollars,