Liam ran his head under the shower water, trying to stop his body from shaking. The house was full. After Hal and Lucien had their tearful reunion, Hal explained, as best he could, all that he knew about Theo and his plans to kidnap Simon. Ra was on the phone, yelling at the disinterested council, demanding they send guards. Beau’s brother Noah had turned up with a couple of friends, sharing an inch-thick file of Theo’s criminal past. It seemed kidnapping was one of the least of his crimes that included selling children, extortion, and allegations of murder. Liam felt sick inside, knowing the Fates deemed someone like that perfect for him.
Beau tried calling the Lamont Pride, but no one there wanted to discuss Theo’s association with them. As far as they were concerned, he didn’t exist. Lucien remembered Theo had a brother and he and Noah tried to track him down, to no avail. A police check on Theo’s address showed he’d already done a runner and the house showed signs of a hasty departure.
And through all this, there was Beau’s claiming comment; something Liam couldn’t dismiss no matter how hard he tried. Having a mate was the one gift he’d wanted his entire life. Now the time was close, Liam wasn’t sure he could do it. Massaging shampoo through his hair, he tried to reconcile his dreams and knowledge about mates with Theo’s behavior. None of it fit. And if Theo didn’t act the way a loving mate should, how could he believe Beau would? Especially after his outburst in front of Ra the day before.
Theo should’ve felt the same need to protect him and Beau as Liam did the night he realized they were mates. Yet from what Beau said the man was only interested in claiming Beau for his money and status, ordering Beau to his knees so he could take what he wanted. Liam shivered as he imagined Theo doing that to him. In the privacy of his shower, he could admit he’d have probably done what Theo wanted but he would have felt like shit afterwards. Beau was clearly made of stronger stuff. From what Beau said, Theo’s only concession to feeling the mating pull at all was claiming that he smelled good, but even then, Theo dismissed that as something that happened with other people too.
So, what was wrong with the damn lion? Liam mulled it over as he soaped himself and rinsed off, thinking and discarding ideas as fast as he thought them up. As far as he knew, Theo was a pure lion shifter. No one in the pride had ever suggested otherwise. All shifters felt the need to mate and certainly Theo wanted to bite Beau, so those instincts were still working. But trying to take him like a bar-alley hookup was wrong on so many levels.
Unless it’s your ideas of mates that’s wrong. Liam considered that but deep inside he knew that wasn’t true. From the get go, Ra and Seth and then Simon and Darwin – all they wanted was to protect and watch out for each other. Seth’s parents were the same, and when Liam thought about it, he remembered other true mate pairs in his pride. Not a lot of them, but there were some, and there were other true mated pairs in Arrowtown. Mates never hurt each other. It was like the paranormal golden rule.
Turning off the water and stepping out of the shower, Liam wasn’t surprised to see Beau waiting for him, holding up a towel. Moving into it, Liam let himself be dried off, his brain still working a mile a minute. “You’re thinking really hard,” Beau said softly, “anything I can do to help?”
“I think something’s wrong with Theo,” he said as Beau wrapped the towel around him and then rested his arms around Liam’s waist. “Something psychologically, or magically or something. I don’t know. I just don’t understand why any shifter would treat their mates the way he’s doing. It doesn’t make sense.”
“There are good and bad people in the shifter world, the same as there are with any other species.” At least Beau didn’t brush off his fears. “My father told me the Fates don’t give mates to people with an evil soul. It’s not fair on the innocent party in the relationship.”
“But Theo was meant for us,” Liam tried to put his fractured thoughts into words. “Surely that means he wasn’t born evil, but then…I don’t know what any of this means. Did you feel a bond with him when you met, the way you did with me?”
“Yes, but it was different.” Beau scrunched up his nose. “My cock reacted just the same as it did when I met you, but my animal half was screaming at me to get away from him. I didn’t expect that.”
“What are you?” Liam had never heard of an animal spirit rejecting his mate and he didn’t recognize Beau’s scent. “Don’t you feel the need to protect your mates the way we lions do?”
“I’m a hundred and fifty year old phoenix.” Holy crap. “And my bird, he wants to protect you. In fact, he wants to protect you from Theo. Since we’ve met, all he’s wanted to do was to have you close and protect you from harm.”
“But not Theo? Why is that, when we both know he’s ours?” Liam was missing something, he just knew he was, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. His lion wanted to protect Theo the one time they met face to face, which was why the man was still breathing. Why didn’t Beau feel the same way? What had changed in little more than a month? “We need to find him,” he said quickly. “We need to find Theo before the others do. Something about this is just not right. There’s got to be an explanation for this.”
“We need to claim each other before we do that.” Beau’s fingers crossed Liam’s lips as he went to protest. “Please, hear me out. I’m not saying we shouldn’t find Theo and find out what the hell is going on with him. But that can wait. I want to focus on you and me for a minute. I promised to court you. You deserve to have someone lavishing you with all the loving attention possible. I want to give that to you, but things are fucked up right now. I get that. All I know with certainty is I need to claim you and I desperately want you to claim me in return. Call it a gut feeling, call it what you want but please, will you be my mate?”
All at once Liam was conscious of Beau’s hard body and intoxicating scent. His hardened cock was trapped in his towel. Pale green eyes watched him as though he was the most desired being on the planet and the arms that held him promised the safety and security Liam longed for. The way Beau’s nostrils flared, the gentle rise and fall of his chest, not to mention the lump pressing against his abdomen; they were all things Liam dreamed of when he thought about having a mate.
Beau was right. Liam might have pined for Theo, but Beau was in his arms now; willing and promising his dreams on a platter. Thinking could wait. They could solve the mystery of Theo soon enough. Tilting his head up slightly and rising on his toes, Liam leaned forward and stole a kiss.
/~/~/~/~/
Lightening sparks raced up and down Beau’s spine as their lips met for the first time. His heart, something Beau had always considered nothing more than a mechanical muscle, burst into life sending flames skittering across his skin. But all Beau concentrated on was their kiss. He knew his mate would never be harmed by anything he did but for the first time in his life he felt genuinely alive. The mate he’d waited for for over a century was finally in his arms.
Did he think of Theo? Of course, he did, but Beau pushed those thoughts out of his mind as Liam’s tongue dipped into his mouth. Everything felt right. The weight of Liam in his arms, the softness of their kiss, it was all just perfect. When Liam started pushing him backward, never once breaking their lip lock, Beau went willingly. He wanted a bed. Hell, any flat surface would do. As Liam’s hands found their way under his shirt, that need intensified but before Beau knew what was happening, the back of his knees hit the bed and Liam broke their kiss with a resounding pop.
“Let me undress you, please?” There was an unmistakable vulnerability in Liam’s eyes and Beau spread his arms and let his lion do as he wished. He was so glad he did. Liam treated his body like a precious gift. Firm caresses as he removed Beau’s shirt caused blue flames to spread over his skin, something that seemed to fascinate his young mate.
“It doesn’t burn me.” Liam’s head was down near his zipper and he tilted his head to one side, looking up. Caught up with the sensations, it took Beau a moment to answer.
“My phoenix…my phoenix recognizes you as our mate. He’s preparing me for claiming,” he managed to say. The position of Liam’s head was giving him so many ideas, like Liam opening his zipper with his teeth. Or not, because the way the front of his pants bulged, things could get messy real quick. Liam seemed to understand.
“I want you so badly,” he confessed over the sound of Beau’s zipper being opened. “There are so many things I’ve dreamed of doing and after…let’s just say I want to cram everything I know into our first time but now it’s here, I don’t have the patience.”
“We’ve got eternity to try all these things,” Beau reassured him. “Right now, I have an ass clenching in anticipation of being filled with your cock.”
That was clearly the right thing to say, because seconds later, Beau found his pants were gone and he was lying flat on his back on a huge bed. By the Fates I hope my mate has lube.