Gifts of Fate [Kindred of Arkadia 7] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free PDF Page B

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.
    Smiling, he yelled back, “Go ahead, what’s another ten pounds!”
    “Fuck you! And for that I’m taking all of them.” Felix smiled until he heard the front door close and his
    friend was gone.
    “You were right!” Claybourne blurted out.
    “Huh? About what?” Felix asked, wanting clarification.
    “All of it. You’re right, we should be enjoying our first Christmas together. You’re right, you don’t have
    a presence in our home, that’s my fault. Every time you bought something, it would seem out of place, you
    were considerate of my feelings and got rid of it. I had no idea that’s what I was doing. It wasn’t because
    you aren’t special to me.” Claybourne dropped to his knees, crying.
    “I never even realized that it was your first Christmas being free, of course you’d want to celebrate. But
    once again it was all about me. I freaked out that things were different. There were needles on the floor.
    The lights weren’t symmetrical on the tree. The snowman on the left side of the fireplace has a button
    missing. I turned into the one person I hate most in the world.” Claybourne pounded his fists into his
    thighs. Felix jumped off of the counter and dropped onto the floor beside his mate, grabbing both hands.
    “I should have thought about what these changes would do. I just thought that it would be okay since it
    was Christmas and who doesn’t like Christmas?”
    “Stop it! Stop making excuses for me. You are always compromising, always being selfless and putting
    what you want aside for my own asinine ways.”
    “You’re my mate, of course I’ll compromise. It just hurt the way you came at me like that,” Felix
    admitted softly.
    “We never celebrated Christmas when I was a child. Christmas meant mother would be busy with
    dinner parties and father would open a new bottle of whiskey. The house was never decorated. The one
    time I tried to put up a tree like my friends had, that is what my father yelled, ‘Take it down, it’s tacky and
    gaudy!’ After I left home, I didn’t know how to celebrate. It was just me, so I never started.” Claybourne
    looked up and Felix could see the stark terror in his eyes at the thought of becoming like his father.
    “Come with me.” Felix stood and pulled his mate up. He walked him back into the family room.
    He sat Claybourne on the sofa. He ran to the kitchen and grabbed the dustpan and foxtail. He quickly
    swept up the loose plastic needles and threw them away. Next he grabbed a black Sharpie from the utility
    drawer and drew a button on the snow man. He stood in front of his mate.
    “Okay, what needs to be changed with the lights?” he asked. Claybourne looked at him for a