Beau knew the instant he saw the shaggy haired lion leaning dejectedly against the bar, the search for at least one of his mates was over. Liam was everything he could have ever dreamed of in a mate, if he’d ever thought for a minute his mate was male. Sexy, well-formed in every department, and strong with a mane of blond hair that fell over a wide, handsome face. Liam was the epitome of a hunky surfer dude complete with a tan. Beau was immediately smitten.
“You don’t want to hear this,” Liam said, gesturing with his glass. “I mean, that’s not fair for me to do that, right? Theo, yeah, he did a lot of horrible stuff and he’s lucky he’s not in jail, but you say he’s your mate too, well then, I can’t influence you against him. That’s not right.”
“I agree there are two sides to every story,” Beau said, purposefully keeping his voice calm. The mention of jail alarmed him, but he needed to know what he was facing. “Why don’t you tell me what happened from your perspective?”
“This has got nothing to do with perspective, man,” Liam was getting angrier by the minute. “Theo was an ass. That’s my perspective. But the facts, they speak for themselves. He came into this town uninvited. He kidnapped one of my best friends, a true mated best friend. No wait, let’s get real factual here. Simon was pregnant when Theo kidnapped him right from this very bar. And do you know why? Do you? Do you know what he planned to do with Simon?”
Beau shook his head unsure what to think.
“Theo wanted Simon to be his pet. His pet! He didn’t care that Simon and Darwin are true mates. He didn’t care that Simon had a belly full of twins. He stated categorically that he didn’t believe in true mates and he planned on keeping Simon as his pet…as his pet…fuck I can’t believe anyone could be like that.”
Beau thought about Noah’s comments about going to the wrong clubs, but kept those ideas to himself. “I take it Simon is all right now? Did he have the babies? What happened to Theo?”
“Nothing happened to Theo.” Liam’s blue eyes were dulled with pain and rimmed in red. “My lion wouldn’t let anyone hurt him when we saved Simon. Poor Simon was chained to a chair. His mouse mate, can you believe that? His cute little mouse mate saved him, and we were there, and it was just as well I was because otherwise Darwin would have knifed him. Rocky was ready to kill him and he could because he’s the Sherriff. Ra wanted to rip his throat out and I stopped them. I stopped my friends from carrying out shifter justice for Simon which they had every right to demand, because the moment I scented Theo I knew he was my mate.”
“Aww, fuck, babe, that had to hurt.” Beau leaned over and pulled Liam into his arms. Liam fit against him perfectly and Beau’s cock perked up although Beau ignored it. The tremble through Liam’s body was a clear sign of how hard his mate had struggled since that fateful day. “I take it your friends let Theo go?”
“Yeah, although they weren’t happy about it.” Liam’s hair brushed against Beau’s chin as he shook his head. “They had every right to kill him. But all they did was banish him. He’s not allowed to set foot in Arrowtown again.”
That could make things difficult, but Beau let his concerns go for now. “Theo was at least thankful to you, wasn’t he? Why didn’t he ask you to go with him when he left?”
Pushing against Beau’s chest, Liam sat with a spine so straight it was as though he had a broom handle up his ass. “Theodore fucking Western has been an asshole his whole life. He came from my home pride. The pride that kicked me and my brother out when I was just fifteen for being gay. I didn’t know we were mates at the time and lord knows, he never noticed me then.”
“But he had to know you saved his life?” Fuck, this is worse than I thought.
Liam’s laugh didn’t hold a hint of humor. “Oh yeah, he knows I saved him, and do you know what he did? He ignored me. Completely. Never said a word to me or even acknowledged me. He got on his fancy dancy plane without a backwards glance and took off to goodness knows where. All I know is he’s banished from his pride as well.”
“Because of what he did to your friend Simon?”
“No, they wouldn’t care about that. He failed in his job, that’s why the pride banished him. He was the lawyer hired by my father, the pride alpha, to strip me and Lucien, my brother, from every asset we would ever own in apparent recompense for our lack of providing cubs for the pride. That’s how Theo found out about Simon who was working on our behalf. He got some snake fetish or something and decided because Simon was pregnant he’d make the perfect sub or pet.”
“Holy shit.” Beau looked at his mate with a whole new level of respect. “And you dealt with all of this on your own?”
“I have my brother,” Liam shrugged. “I share a huge house with Simon and Darwin, Ra and Seth – they’re true mates too. Then there’s Rocky and Mal, they’re wolf shifters and Brutus who’s a bear shifter, not to mention the kids. We all formed our own sort of pack, I supposed you’d call it. It was Ra who found me and Lucien when we were homeless.”
“Liam. Mate.” Beau was close to tears. All he wanted to do was pull Liam back into his arms and never let him go. With the barest of brushstrokes Liam painted a picture of a life Beau wasn’t sure even he’d be able to survive. He reached out, fully intending to do just that, when Liam pulled away.
“So now you see why you can’t claim me,” he said, his sexy rumble broken. “I believe we’re mates. I want you so bad it hurts. But you need to at least meet Theo first. Talk to him. See him. Lord knows, you’ll probably prefer him to me anyway. I’m really sorry, because I know you said you have two mates, but you have to understand that Theo and I can never be together and it’s not right he should be alone just because you found me first.”
Liam’s protecting his other mate? Beau could hardly believe his ears. For all he’d been through, his sweet lion was putting Theo’s needs before his own and that told Beau all he needed to know about his precious mate. Yes, he’d want Theo with the same intensity when they met, but no, he wasn’t going to even consider going after that lion when Liam was so broken by events out of his control. Not yet. Liam’s heart was bigger than any Beau had come across before and he wasn’t going to even think about the issues with Theo until he claimed Liam as his own.
“I’m not going anywhere, babe,” he said flashing a smile. “I’ll respect your need for space and I’ll take the time to court you, if you so desire, but I’m not leaving you now it’s taken me so long to find you.”
“Court me?” A sweet blush covered Liam’s cheeks. “But what about Theo? He’s got no one to care for him. The pride banished him. He’s all alone.”
Beau knew he had to choose his words carefully. He fully intended on having both mates by his side in time, but he knew in Liam’s eyes that was an impossibility. “Fate drew me here,” he said, deliberately hiding the fact his animal insisted they trace the sad link rather than the angry one that led to Theo. “All my life I wished for a sweet, strong mate who would care for me. I’ve been alone a long time, too. I’m not discounting Theo’s our mate, but let’s take one step at a time and focus on us first.”
“I can’t be with him.” Liam’s bottom lip trembled. “I can’t betray my pack. They’re like my family and I can’t leave Lucien. I just can’t and that’s not fair on you.”
“I’m not asking you to betray or leave anyone, sweetness. All I am asking is that you give us a chance.” Beau opened his arms out wide, well aware they had an audience although no one was rude enough to be blatantly staring. But he kept his eyes on Liam’s face, watching as the man wrestled with himself. Finally, Liam nodded and leaned towards him. Beau’s heart soared, and his animal sang as the man’s lovely head rested on his chest. It wasn’t the ideal location; there was a table between them for a start. It wasn’t what Beau had hoped would happen when the pull towards his mate yanked him through the club doors. But it was a good first step in the right direction. Holding Liam firmly against him, Beau pondered his next move.