Chapter Three #3
Seth had many questions, but he didn’t want Ryan to feel like he was overstepping. He also didn’t want to bring up bad memories. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Ryan nodded. “He was a friend. More than that, he was my niece’s father and my sister’s husband, and losing him was a blow to our family.
The coven leaders didn’t care, though. They felt they hadn’t done anything wrong.
They’d given orders, and he’d followed them.
He died doing what he was supposed to do, or at least, that’s how they see things. ”
“It’s not how you see things, though.”
“He died because the coven leaders are thirsty for power and willing to do anything to get it. They never cared about him. They sacrificed him to get what they wanted. I couldn’t allow them to do that to the rest of my family.
Besides, Alyssa is still so young. I never wanted her to grow up in fear, and I know her father wouldn’t have wanted that, either.
When we were approached and it was suggested we leave the coven, we were scared, but we agreed it was the best thing we could do for our family. ”
“And now you’re here.”
Ryan nodded. “We are. And trust me, even with what happened the other day, we’re safer than we ever could be with the coven.”
Seth hoped Ryan was right and that Tim and Christian were the only idiots who would attack Ryan. He knew people, though. He’d seen how they were when he’d lived on the streets. “Well, if anyone ever bothers you again, please come and tell me,” he said.
“Oh? And what will you do? Protect me?”
Seth felt like his cheeks were on fire. “If I can. I didn’t do a bad job the other day, did I?”
“No, you didn’t.”
Ryan stopped walking. They were between the trees, so Seth was pretty sure that no one would be able to see them from the house, even if they peeked through the windows. He and Ryan hadn’t done anything that called for privacy for now, but maybe they would.
Seth still didn’t know who the woman who lived with Ryan was, but considering what Ryan had just told him, he guessed it was his sister. He wanted to know for sure before he did anything stupid, but he wasn’t sure how to ask without making a fool of himself.
“I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you did for me the other day,” Ryan said.
“I know you could have defended yourself,” Seth said. “I’m curious to know why you didn’t.”
“The only way I could’ve done it was by using magic, and that’s what the pack is afraid of. I’m pretty sure I would’ve made things worse if I’d used my magic.”
“For Tim and Christian, definitely.”
“For me and my family. I can’t afford to do anything that could get us kicked out of the pack.”
“I realize you don’t know Chance, but he wouldn’t do that.”
“He might not want to do it, but he could be pressured into it. I don’t want to put him in that position. I don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize me and my family’s place with the pack.”
“You care for them a lot.”
Ryan blinked. “Well, yes. They’re my family.”
“Your parents, your sister, and your niece, right?” There. That should be enough for Seth to find out if the woman who lived with Ryan was his sister. Ryan hadn’t mentioned anyone else, but there could still be someone.
Ryan nodded. “Yeah. You should meet Alyssa. She’s great.”
“I’m sure we can arrange that.”
“My mom would love to have you over for dinner, so probably. Don’t feel obligated to say yes, though.”
“I don’t. I want to get to know you and your family.”
“Yeah?”
This was where Seth needed to make a choice.
His pack knew what had happened to him when he was twelve, and Chance probably did, too, but they were the only ones.
Seth hadn’t even trusted Chance enough to tell him.
Theo no doubt had, and that was fine with Seth.
He didn’t enjoy talking about it, and he didn’t trust people enough to tell them.
But maybe he could trust Ryan. He had to if he wanted anything to happen between them. He wasn’t sure they would become anything more than friends, but he hoped they would. He was tired of being alone.
He wanted to get this out of the way before anything happened. Maybe once Ryan realized how fucked up Seth was, he’d change his mind, or maybe he’d decide to stay and try anyway. It was Seth’s biggest secret.
He wasn’t ashamed of what had happened. He didn’t have a reason to be. He hated that his parents had done all of that and that they still influenced him to this day. If he and Ryan were going to be anything, Ryan needed to know why Seth did some of the things he did.
God, this relationship thing was hard. It might even be too hard for Seth to want to continue with it, but he’d made Theo a promise. He’d told his brother that he would try.
So, he would.
* * * *
RYAN COULDN’T SAY HE was entirely surprised by Seth’s words. There was a reason for Seth’s presence here today, and Ryan didn’t think it was Alyssa. She was cute, but not that cute.
It sounded like Seth was willing to meet her, though.
Ryan was glad, but he wanted to wait a little longer before it happened.
His family could be a lot. His father was fine most of the time, but putting his mother and his sister in the same room was always chaotic, especially when it came to this kind of situation.
Alyssa was incredibly cute, but she was young, and she could be an angel one day and a demon the next.
It was a lot to deal with, and from what Ryan knew, Seth wasn’t exactly used to that kind of situation.
Ryan had heard things about Seth and his family. He knew that they hadn’t lived with the pack for long and that, before finding this place, they’d been moving from town to town, trying to find a home.
They had, and Ryan hoped the same would happen to him and his family.
Their situations were different, of course.
The pack had accepted Seth and his people, but then, they were shifters.
They’d never been a danger to the pack the way the mages had, either.
The mages weren’t shifters, and they were dangerous.
They could destroy the pack using their magic.
They wouldn’t do that—not the mages who’d moved in with the pack anyway—but how was the pack supposed to trust that? To trust them?
Ryan understood why Tim and Christian had attacked him. He didn’t blame them for that. He didn’t blame any of the pack members who were afraid. As long as they stayed away from his family and didn’t try to hurt them, he didn’t care if he got slapped every day of the week.
Seth cleared his throat. “I do want to get to know you and your family,” he confirmed. “I don’t have a lot of experience with good families, though. I mean, Theo has always been there for me, but our parents were assholes.”
Ryan could tell that wasn’t something Seth usually talked about. He was touched that Seth seemed to want to do so now, but he didn’t want Seth to force himself to do something he wasn’t comfortable with. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah. I guess I thought they were normal parents until Theo came out to them. I was twelve, and I’d never really thought about liking boys or girls.
The only thing I knew for sure was that I love my brother, so when they yelled at him and kicked him out, I stood up to them. I didn’t want him to leave.”
Ryan wasn’t surprised. He could tell how much Seth loved his brother when he talked about him. It made sense that even at twelve, he would’ve stood up to anyone trying to hurt Theo.
“Let’s just say that neither of them appreciated me standing up for my brother,” Seth continued. “They beat me half to death.”
Ryan grimaced. “I’m really sorry you had to go through that.”
“Yeah, it’s not one of my favorite memories. I’d do it again to defend Theo, though. “
“Still. Your parents should never have hurt you.”
“They also shouldn’t have kicked Theo out for being gay.
He was so worried about me that he came back to check on me.
He was horrified, but he wasn’t supposed to be there, and he was only sixteen.
That’s when I decided that I wasn’t going to stay with our parents.
If Theo couldn’t stay, then I wouldn’t, either. ”
Ryan blinked. “You ran away?”
“I guess you can call it that, yeah. I wasn’t going to abandon Theo, and I convinced him to take me with him. We lived on the streets for a long time.” Seth grimaced and leaned against the closest tree. “For the past eight years, actually.”
That was a long time without a home. “But you found a family there.”
Seth smiled. “In the beginning, it was just me and Theo, but we started meeting other people who’d ended up on the streets the way we had. They got kicked out by their families or ran away. We banded together, and we became our own little pack.”
“And now, you’re here.”
“Yeah. Everyone’s settling down, and it’s great to see them building lives we never thought we could have.”
“You can do the same. You can settle down, too.”
Seth’s gaze caught Ryan’s. “Yeah, I guess I can. For a long time, I didn’t think I could.
How can I trust anyone when I couldn’t trust my parents?
They were supposed to protect me and Theo, but instead, they hurt both of us.
They kicked Theo out for something he couldn’t change.
If our parents could do that, I can only imagine what someone I’ve only known for a little while would do. ”
Ryan wasn’t sure if Seth was telling him that to warn him that he didn’t trust him or if there was more to it. He was afraid to ask, so he didn’t. He supposed he’d find out eventually.
“But Theo managed to trust Chance,” Seth continued. “And they’re happy together. He made me realize that I wanted that, too. Maybe not right away, but eventually.”
Ryan slowly nodded. So Seth was open to finding someone. Was he open to that someone being Ryan? Only time would tell, but for the first time since this mess started, he was hopeful. “And do you have someone in mind already?” he asked.
Seth’s cheeks flushed again. “I guess I do. There’s a reason I’m here.”
“Oh?” Ryan hoped he wasn’t pushing too hard, too fast. Seth said he was open to the idea of having someone, but he’d also said that it would happen eventually.
He didn’t strike Ryan as a man who would hesitate to say what was on his mind, though.
If he had a problem with Ryan being a bit pushy, Ryan had no doubt that he would tell him.
Seth nodded. “Yeah. I thought you were brave when you faced Tim and Christian.”
Ryan took a step closer. “Anything else?”
Seth’s cheeks were bright pink. It was cute. “Well, you’re also hot, which helps.”
Ryan laughed. “Thank you. I’m glad you feel that way.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “Was I not supposed to?”
Ryan took another step forward. Seth was still leaning against that tree, and he wasn’t making any moves to push away or put more space between them.
Ryan was going to take a chance, and he hoped it would pay off. He hadn’t come out here today thinking this would happen, but he wasn’t about to waste this opportunity.
With one last step, Ryan was so close to Seth that their chests brushed together as they breathed. Seth still didn’t move, not even when Ryan reached out to cup his cheek. Instead, he smiled, and Ryan knew that whatever happened next would be welcome.
He leaned in and pressed her lips together. Seth sighed into his mouth as if relieved. Maybe he was. Maybe he’d been waiting for them to stop dancing around each other. They hadn’t done so for long, but Ryan had known he wanted Seth since Seth had saved his life.
Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but even though Seth probably hadn’t saved his life, he’d saved him from a beating, and that was enough.
Seth was enough. He’d stepped in when Ryan had needed him to.
He’d cared enough to defend someone he didn’t know, and he’d checked in on Ryan several times since then.
He’d been worried about Ryan and his family.
Also, he was hot.
Seth kissed like a dream Ryan hadn’t known he had.
Seth wrapped his arms around Ryan’s neck and held him close, and Ryan let him.
He didn’t want to move away. He liked feeling like Seth wouldn’t let him even if he tried.
He liked feeling wanted, which wasn’t something that happened to him often.
His family loved him, but he’d always been afraid to let anyone else too close when he’d lived with the coven.
He hadn’t been able to trust anyone. He and Seth might not share the same experiences, but those experiences were similar enough that they understood each other.
The kiss wasn’t hurried or perfect, but it didn’t need to be.
It was a slow meeting of lips, cautious and hesitant, but filled with something deeper—relief.
Ryan didn’t know if he’d be able to trust Seth, but he wanted to, and part of him thought that he could.
He could have this. He could have someone he loved, someone he trusted as much as he trusted his parents and his sister.
Someone whistled, making both Ryan and Seth jump. Ryan turned to see a young man walking past. He didn’t stop. He was laughing, and he winked at Seth as he waved.
Ryan turned back to Seth. His cheeks had been pink before, but now, they were on fire.
“Please ignore Thomas,” Seth muttered.
“Is he one of your pack members?”
“More like my brother, which is why he did that.”
“I have a sister, so I understand.”
“I know you do.” The words were soft and made Ryan want to kiss again.
So, he did.