Page 12 of Threads of Fate

Suddenly, the chaotic med-bay is empty; the silence is like a vacuum that sucks away his ability to stand. His legs give way underneath him, and he finally looks at what has fallen from Austin’s hand. There’s blood on it, but it doesn’t stop him from seeing the much younger faces of Austin and his very own pack alpha smiling out from the picture. With a shaking hand, he turns it over where the wordsNix and Jamieare written in red on the reverse side.

Chapter Five: Finn

Finn

Finn pulls his phone out, pressing the number for his alpha without taking his eyes off the photo. It rings twice before it connects. Jay has never let a call from his mates ring longer than that. He has always made it known that they are his number one priority. “Hey, Leo, turn that down. It’s Finn,” he says, covering the mouthpiece. “Hey baby, what’s up?”

Not knowing what to say or how to say anything, he just whimpers.

“Finn? Answer me, please. You’re scaring me.” Jay must signal Leo to come closer, and he puts the call on speaker.

“Finn, you’re making Jay sweat here and not in a fun way. Are you okay?” When Leo’s usual humor fails to get a response from Finn, he gets really serious, real fast. “Finn Merritt, what do you need?”

The sound of the door to the studio opening echoes down the line, followed by boots running down the hall of Ripley Records. It’s three minutes in the executive elevator and five to the preferred parking space at the rear of the building. Then, it is eighteen minutes to the emergency parking of the hospital and two more minutes to get past the charge nurse who is replacing Dennie and guarding the waiting room. He can wait. He can do it.

“Alpha, please come. We need you.”We.Jay doesn’t catch it. No doubt, it’s for the best, as Finn isn’t sure he could tell him over the phone.

“We’re on our way.” The doors to Leo’s Lexus slam shut, followed by a curse about traffic. “Just tell us: are you hurt?” Jay asks.

He wants to start wailing again, but it would make Leo crash the car, and he’s not sure if Leo could run the distance with an injured, feral Jay on his back. He probably could, but driving safely is better. Faster. Finn reaches up and yanks off his scent blocker patch, flinging it to the floor because Jay will lose his mind if he gets here and can’t scent him.

In the end, Finn can’t answer; he just keeps the line open, breathes, and listens as Jay sings to him softly. An orderly comes to clean the med-bay, but Finn’s grief and overpowering scent scare him away. Less than thirteen minutes later, he hears the call disconnect, and he panics. But powerful arms pick him up and force his head into his alpha’s neck.

Finn takes large gulps of pine-scented air and even though it’s smoky with fear, it’s perfect. Leo’s hands roam over whatever skin he can reach, and the three of them slide to the floor.

“It’s not his blood, Jay. It’s not his. Fuck.” Leo falls back on his ass in relief. “Finn, you scared us to death.”

At hearing the word death uttered in the same place where a devastatingly broken Austin had been just a few minutes ago, Finn gives in to his fear and grief and, yes, shame at failing his mate. Sobs shake his frame, and he’s quite certain he has never felt such sorrow. Not moving from his place in Jay’s neck, he holds the photo out to Leo, who is still rubbing his back with his nose pressed into Finn’s shoulder.

“What’s this?” Leo’s scent sours a bit. “Finn, where did you get this?” His voice carries a tone of disbelief that gets Jay’s attention easily. Leo is rarely shaken.

“What is it?” Jay asks.

Finn sits back so he can see his mates’ faces. “I met someone last night, and I think—no, Iknowthey are ours. Our mate,” Finn whispers brokenly.

Their mouths drop open in surprise. If it were anything other than the worst possible time, he would laugh at how synchronized they were; always together, these two, and more like each other than either would admit.

Confusion is obvious on Jay’s face, and chastisement is in his tone. “Why didn’t you say anything last night? Finn, this is important.”

Leo is quieter. He understands right away that Finn must have his reasons, and he always lets Finn have his say before telling him he’s an idiot.

“I know, Alpha. It’s just that he was…isa patient, and I…it’s a long story, but he’s human, and he was hurt so badly.” Leo gives Jay the blood-smudged photo.

As an enigma alpha, Jay’s sense of smell is strong. His perfect nose wrinkles at the blood so close to his face, but his eyes widen before he even looks at the picture. He recognizes Austin’s scent. A Were would never forget the scent of a mate even after all this time. It’s embedded in their very psyche.

“Where did you get this? Because this boy is dead…” With that, Jay reaches into his pocket without unseating Finn. He pulls out a well-worn set of three photos he had never shown them. “Where did you get this? Please.” Pleading and trying to put the pieces together, Jay matches the two photos up perfectly and turns it over to read the names on the back. He growls.

“Jay, this is the human I treated last night. He told us his name is Austin.” Jay’s face is frozen, jaw clenching. Intuitively, he connects all the dots: why Finn is devastated, why there is fucking blood on the photo.

“Where is he now? Phoenix!” He deposits Finn in Leo’s lap, clearly planning to find Phoenix for himself, but his mates are faster. Holding him back, Finn and Leo guide him back to the floor. “Nix!”

“Jaybird. Let Finn tell us what’s going on. Then we’ll find him. You’re going to get security sicced on us and then who will take care of Finn?”

The threat of failing to protect his mate has Jay back in control for now.

“How is this happening? Nix died in a car accident when he was fifteen.” They know this story. Jay told each of them when they were being courted, and it was never easy to hear their loving alpha say the words of loss. Jay runs his hands through his shoulder-length brown hair, pulling roughly at the loose curls.

“He’s been badly hurt.” Finn doesn’t sayagainbecause he doesn’t need to. “Riordan has him in surgery, and we won’t know how he is for hours. But it’s bad. It’s really bad. I thought he was dead when he came in…I thought he wasdead.” His words trail away.

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