Chapter Seven

Hephaestus had lived for the longest time, adjusting the things he did so that he could balance on a foot that just hadn't come out right. He had a lot of upper body strength, thanks to his work in the forge, and his legs had adapted to cope with his lameness. Even so, he dithered for about five minutes, once he'd parked his truck in his garage, as to whether carrying Landyn was a good idea.

The sweet ferret had fallen asleep, something that was totally understandable after a big meal and being in the warmth of the truck. But his peaceful slumber gave Hephaestus the chance to really study the man the Fates thought perfect for him.

How the hell did you stay safe when you didn't have a home to go to?

Why don't you have a home? Are your parents dead?

Who the hell is this vampire chasing you? And why…

Hephaestus didn't finish his last thought. The Fates never commented, gave reasons, or explained their decisions. Even in cases, such as when Poseidon specifically visited them to demand his mating be broken, they had pretty much just laughed in his face and sent him on his way. Hephaestus had no plans on following Poseidon's example.

The Fates have never been wrong. Hephaestus gently stroked down the side of Landyn's face, careful not to disturb his young mate's rest. He still had doubts – the habits of a hundred lifetimes weren't going to disappear just because someone with a cute smile and an accepting attitude came along. Landyn was nothing like the people he'd been with before, in looks or personality. But maybe that's why he's mine, Hephaestus mused, because he is so different.

Sitting in the truck wasn't comfortable for him and Hephaestus was tired. He hadn't realized how stressed he'd been since causing the car accident, but now that it was over, he could sense how his worry for the shifter had been a constant burr under his skin, nagging at his mind since it happened. Now Landyn was with him, curled up trustingly against his arm. It was as if Hephaestus's mind had signaled to the rest of his body that it could finally relax.

Carefully pulling Landyn so he was resting on his chest, Hephaestus opened his driver's door and moved slowly, getting out of the truck and closing the door as softly as he could one-handed. Landyn weighed next to nothing, something Hephaestus knew wasn't normal for a healthy adult shifter. He thought of Landyn's innocent comment about lying in the middle of a table full of food and chuckled quietly. I could make that happen.

Walking slowly into the house, Hephaestus yawned. He could put Landyn into one of his many guest rooms, but Hephaestus reasoned that could be disconcerting for his mate when he woke up, so he made his way across the entrance, past the staircase, heading for his master suite at the back of the house. Passing the kitchen, he muttered a curse as Bronte called out to him. He hadn't realized it was so late and that his companions were home.

"Sire, what have you got there?" Bronte's voice was loud, and Hephaestus glared, trying to convey without words that Landyn was sleeping.

"Steropes, I told you. Didn't I tell you that our worried god was going to go and find that homeless shifter and make sure he was all right? He did. He's here." Bronte came closer. "Oh, sire. You shouldn't be carrying him. Only Zeus knows how much trudging around you did this evening finding the little nuisance.

"Let me take him. I'll put him in one of the guest rooms until we can work out what to do with him. Did you need Arges to come and rub your leg for you? You know that helps you sleep. I can come and rub something else for you, too, if you like. The pickings at the club tonight were slim so we came home early."

Hephaestus felt it, the moment Landyn realized they weren't alone. The man's whole body tensed. "Landyn is my mate," Hephaestus said, in a low growl. "I don't need my leg rubbed. I don't need you rubbing anything else, and we're not going to stuff my mate in a guest room as though he is a hassle to be dealt with in the morning."

"I don't believe it." Bronte was craning his neck, trying to see Landyn's face. Hephaestus tightened his arms, wanting to protect his mate from the scrutiny. "Sire, I know you've been a bit off lately – since the accident, yes, but there is no way the Fates would pair you with someone so small. He's so…" Bronte waved his hand, "…insignificant. It'll be because of the accident. You're not thinking clearly. Let me take him and…"

"I said no!" Hephaestus yelled. It was as if he could sense Landyn's panic and pain at someone dissing the claim they hadn't even made yet. As he yelled, Landyn flinched, and then suddenly there was nothing but a pile of clothes in his hands as Landyn shifted, scurrying out of the arm of his shirt, down Hephaestus's leg, and running as fast as his little legs could carry him back to the front door.

"You fucking asshole," Hephaestus roared at a stunned looking Bronte. "You woke him up and because you wouldn't listen to me, now I've frightened him, AGAIN. If you don't believe that cute ferret is my mate, then fuck off back to Olympus. In two minutes you've undone all the work I've put into helping that sweet shifter feel comfortable this evening, and for what?"

"But sire…"

"For what, I asked you. Because you don't like change? Because you feel your fucking bulk and muscles make you special somehow? You took centuries, millenniums of our friendship and blew it all away just because my mate, the mate the Fates chose for me," - Hephaestus thumped his chest - "didn't look like you expected him to. So you shit on him, and when you did that you were shitting on me and our friendship. Fuck off, do you hear me? If you can't be supportive, fucking pack your things and fuck off. I've got to find where my mate ran off to."

Refusing to listen to anything else the cyclops might have to say, Hephaestus made his way back to the entranceway, clutching the clothes he'd magicked up for Landyn, shuffling along as fast as he could. The house was dimly lit – one of the reasons why Hephaestus hadn't realized his companions were home. The second reason being he just hadn't thought about it. But Landyn hadn't been claimed yet, so he was still lit up like a beacon for Hephaestus to find, even in his ferret form.

"I am so sorry, Landyn." Hephaestus saw the light coming from the back of an armchair in the corner of his reading room. "I should've warned you I share my house with three cyclops – Bronte, Arges, and Steropes. They have been my companions in the studio since just after time began."

The light started to move along the wall. Shit, he's going for the door. Hephaestus didn't want to shut his mate in or make him feel he was caged in any way, but he lived in a big house, and he really didn't want to be chasing Landyn all over it, trying to get his mate to shift back again.

"Is this about the sex Bronte was implying? Of course, it will be. Shifters consider fidelity between mates one of the major cornerstones of their existence. See, this is one of those times when I fucked up because I wasn't thinking straight." Taking a chance, Hephaestus closed the door so Landyn couldn't get out, but then sat on a two-seater couch watching the light slowly move.

"It wasn't that I wasn't caring about you." By the forge, now I'm getting my words muddled. "The cyclops are my friends, or they were until five minutes ago, and yes we've fooled around. I've always known I had no place in the bond those three share and anything we did or shared was casual and just fun."

That light was getting closer to the door. Hephaestus didn't think he could watch if his little ferret wanted to leave and looked down at his hands.

"In all the time I've existed, I've never had a true bond with anyone. I've been worshipped in the past, there are stories of me being married in the past – a long, long, long time past. I can't come to you and claim I've never touched another intimately, or that I haven't shared a bed with others, but I can promise you absolutely, hand-on-heart, that I haven't touched the cyclops or anyone else since I saw your light. As soon as I realized the Fates saw past my deformed foot and blessed me with a mate, I knew I needed to be worthy of you."

Glancing up, Hephaestus saw the light had stopped heading for the door, and was now slowly moving its way around the wall the other way. He's getting closer to me. Taking the long way around.

"You know, cyclops are unusual creatures. They're giants, if you didn't know that. In their natural form, they only have one eye, although I adapted their appearance when we moved to Earth, so they can morph and fit in during their daily life. They have been around longer than me, and like me, there are different stories of how they came to be. One story speaks about them being the offspring of Uranus, the Sky God and Gaia, the Earth Goddess which is the more likely tale. But then other scholars, who have nothing but their own imagination to guide them claim that my uncle Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea is the cyclops father.

"What is true is that they were the original blacksmiths in the Underworld, and when I set up my own forge under Olympus they joined me there. They taught me so much." Hephaestus chuckled, although there wasn't a lot of humor in it. "Unfortunately, when it's all said and done, for all their skill the cyclops have, the giants' mentality revolves around the idea that the bigger the person is, the more right that person might be. I can only apologize again for the way Bronte spoke this evening. He had no right to speak to me, or about you, in that way."

There was a sharp little black nose peeking out from the side of the single seater armchair. "You would scent it, if I was lying, wouldn't you?"

Bright eyes sparkled as the furry head nodded.

"I guess it's been an overwhelming day, when it's all said and done, for both of us, don't you think?"

The nod was slower this time, and the front half of the ferret inched forward.

"What I was thinking is that we need sleep. You can stay furry, but I'd like you in my room, if that's all right. Can we do that?" Hephaestus reached down, holding his hands open near the ground. "Did you want to come with me?"

One step. Then another. And then, like a blur the black-footed ferret sprinted across the distance between them, leaning up, his front paws on Hephaestus's leg.

Being careful, because Hephaestus knew how big his hands were in comparison to the ferret, he picked Landyn up, bringing him up so they were looking eye to eye. Landyn had his mouth open as he panted. His teeth were sharp.

"You can bite me if you like," Hephaestus said softly. "Claim me now, so you know no matter who else comes near me, I will always be yours. I'm not perfect. I've got a lot to learn. But you are a gift I will cherish for eternity. That much I can promise you." With a thought, Hephaestus's shirt disappeared. He was fairly sure he wasn't imagining the gleam in Landyn's dark eyes. "Can you reach?"

Leaning forward Landyn sniffed up Hephaestus's chest, his whiskers leaving tingles as he went higher and higher. Hephaestus closed his eyes, a grin forming as the ferret went right up his neck, those whiskers tickling behind his ears, before two paws landed on his shoulder. The bite was fast. Hephaestus barely blinked. But his cock went from half plump to full in seconds before his balls unloaded.

But more important than the messy pants was the click Hephaestus felt in his soul. A click that sent a warmth throughout Hephaestus's affection-starved body – a connection he'd been looking for since coming into inception without even realizing it.

"I claim Landyn as my own." The words were as soft as the tongue licking over his bite mark, but the ferret shivered and then cuddled into Hephaestus's neck.

"Are you asleep again?" Hephaestus chuckled, holding onto Landyn carefully as he made his way back through the house to his suite, without interruption this time.