was another part of Ra that Kirill guessed few people ever saw. The one who wasn’t confident, the one who worried constantly about what people thought of him, the shy god who’d spent longer than Kirill had been alive, lonely. That side I hurt.
Kirill tried to tell himself he was justified, walking out the way he did. I didn’t throw anything this time and I didn’t yell. But his inner voice, the one who was firmly on the side of right, reminded him that walking away, with not even a kiss or a hug for his upset beloved, spoke volumes on its own. And thinking that Arvyn was there with Ra at least – that didn’t help either, because theirs was a relationship of equals and it wasn’t Arvyn’s place to make Ra feel better when Kirill had been the asshole.
It was the shock. The idea of me getting pregnant was a huge shock. Or at least that’s what Kirill told himself, but even to his mind, the excuse didn’t hold up. Arvyn hadn’t looked worried about it – he was just as laid back about that as everything else. But as he stood on the cliff, freezing his ass off, Kirill had to wonder if having children, even if he was the one carrying them, would be such a bad thing. The chance for a real family, the pitter patter of little feet…
Kirill’s head shot up – the faint cry of a wolf rushing past him on the wind. At the same time, a pang of distress flowed through his bond with his mates and Kirill was running before he’d had time to process anything. I bet it’s Seth, it’s that damn Seth. I’ll fucking kill him, even as his logical mind reminded him that killing a god just wasn’t possible. I’ll at least maim him, Kirill thought as he blurred his way back to the house.
/~/~/~/~/
Back in the kitchen, Ra was trying to learn how to flip pancakes with a pan, rather than a flick of his fingers when his senses alerted him to Seth’s arrival. The god was not happy, and he was not alone.
“By the Fates, have you truly sunk that low to be cooking now?” Seth’s arrogance and rage swept through the cozy feel of the cottage like a knife through a spider web. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
Reaching over, Ra turned off the element on the stove, and put the pan carefully back on the bench. Arvyn, who’d been beating eggs in a bowl, growled and slammed the bowl back onto the countertop. But the wolf didn’t say anything, not yet, although Ra could feel the sudden tension from his mate.
“I didn’t ask you here to socialize, Seth.” His hands now free, Ra stood perfectly still, his hands linked in front of him. “In fact, I didn’t ask you to come at all. You are the one who insisted on bringing my two prisoners back to me, and that’s fine. You’ve done that. Now you can leave.”
“I’m not leaving now I’ve just got here. As soon as you said the word mates, I knew I had to come and see what depravity you’ve gotten up to now.” Seth waved his arm around the cozy kitchen scene, his face alight with scorn. “It’s worse than I thought. You’re fucking cooking, in a kitchen with this… this… this mongrel who should be on his knees worshipping the ground you walk on.”
“That is not the purpose of mates,” Ra snapped sharply. “Arvyn is my fated mate, he wears my mark as I wear his…”
“You let this mangy wolf bite you?” Seth seemed to grow in size and before Ra could react, he’d grabbed Arvyn by the neck and was shaking him. “How dare you bite him, you filthy dog. He’s a god, the father of us all. You’re nothing. You cannot use him this way.”
“Let him go!” Ra hesitated, his fingers flashing with power, but if he aimed for Seth and made a mistake, he could hurt his mate. But then Seth flung Arvyn against the wall, the man letting out a piercing howl as he slid into a heap on the floor.
“You had no right.” Ra’s power surged through him, his traditional form emerging in a blink. He was so tall now, he had to duck his head to stop from hitting the ceiling, but all Ra could center on was Seth, who was looking at him, his head tilted to one side.
“Really, Ra?