* * * *
RYAN COULDN’T SAY HEwas 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 notthatcute.
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 trustthem?
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 ourparentscould 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 happeneventually.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?”
