Page 35 of Threads of Fate

Gideon continues, “They used enough K to drop a bear, and we barely got him into the tank. They’ve had to restrain him.” At the sound of the word “restrain,” Jay flinches. Their beautiful, ethereal Grayson is so filled with need that he’d harmed another person and is now chained to a bed like a madman. Finn’sstomach twists, his doctor’s brain running through every bit of training he can remember.

Rebound ruts are dangerous; alpha hormones come in waves, ebbing and flowing through their rut and slowly fading away after the last wave. In a rebound, the last wave ebbs, but flows back like a tsunami after a few days. It’s ten times worse than the previous waves and lasts longer. If they’ve got him sedated again, Grayson is going to be sick from the ketamine, and when he comes out, he’s going to feel all the pain of the rut, especially if he’s alone. It would have been better if he could be at home in the den, with familiar scents to help ease him.

“Are Luca and Leo okay with it? Has anyone explained what’s happening to them? The risks?”

Gideon snorts under his breath. “Luca wanted Leo to turn the car around right then, he was so excited. He wanted me to tell you he’s going to need to be without his pants at your place of employment, and he hopes you’ll forgive him. Rowan wanted to come too, but with today’s display, I thought it best he stayed at home since we don’t want to set him off. His rut’s only a week out.”

The pack is already under so much pressure: It will be two ruts back-to-back while Jay is out of commission since he refuses to leave and Nix is still not out of the woods. “Text if Luca or Leo needs to tap out. Are you able to rest until he’s awake?” Jay asks.

Jay hates not being with his mates during ruts, but they all know Nix has to take priority now, and that has divided the alpha.

“I should go. He’ll be awake soon. I’ll text when I can,” Gideon says before he disconnects.

An hour later, after Jay has settled back into his chair and begun singing a Bruno Mars song that Finn can’t remember the name of, Hannah brings in a cast saw. “Nix, I’m going to removethese casts, and then you can have a bath of sorts. It won’t hurt, though, so no need to worry.”

That last statement is more for Jay’s benefit, as the alpha had tensed when he’d seen the saw blade. Hannah also removes the bandages on Nix’s face, so Finn can finally see the face he’d fallen in love with four days ago.

Has it just been four days? It feels like they have lived a lifetime since.

Nix is gorgeous, just like he’d thought that first night in the ER. Long dark lashes lie on his freckled cheeks, and he has a tiny, pointed nose sitting above plush, full lips. But now he seems healthier. Glowing, even with the leftover blood and antiseptic still dotting his skin. Jay is frozen and mesmerized, and Finn realizes that it must be like seeing a ghost. “He’s beautiful.”

Bringing his hand up, Jay runs his hand through Nix’s unwashed blond hair. “He had brown hair when I knew him. Before. But these freckles are the same. There’s one right here by his eye—see? It’s shaped like a heart. I used to tell him it was like he had galaxies on his cheeks. I couldn’t say it then because, well, the whole Were-Human thing, but I think he was kissed by The Goddess.”

“You’re such a romantic, but I imagine it feels like coming home?” Finn asks, wondering if Nix is listening and hoping that if he is, he knows how beautiful they think he is. Finn has plans to tell him every day of forever.

“Mr. Rhodes, I need to bathe him. Do you want to—?” Jay growls, causing Hannah to back up, hands raised. “Dr. Merritt, perhaps you and your alpha would like to handle this? I’m not quite as good a shot as Yasmine.”

So when she returns with the basins of water, soap, and a clean gown, Finn looks askance at his leader. Finn doesn’t want to bare his neck a third time today.

“You do it, Finn. I’ll just help when you need me.”

Finn starts with Nix’s face, carefully wiping away the dried blood and antiseptic that stains his cheeks. The water turns pink as he moves to Nix’s neck and shoulders, his tiny hands next. Seeing them unmarked by the bruises and fractures they once bore brings tears to Finn’s eyes, though he blinks them away. Jay follows with a towel, drying Nix to keep him warm.

Pulling back the sheet, Finn pauses, momentarily stunned by their mate’s quiet beauty—golden skin, lean muscle, and freckles the transition had left untouched, as though even the Goddess cherished them.

Nix’s sleeping form is an unmoving weight in Jay’s arms, but he doesn’t let go. If holding Nix feels like the only way he can help, even if he’s mostly in the way, then Finn will work around them. They move quickly and gently, mindful of his comfort, washing his hair and erasing the last traces of the casts. When the bed is fresh and ready, Jay finally lays Nix down, tucking him under a warm blanket with quiet care.

Jay settles beside Nix again instead of returning to the chair, and Finn’s chest tightens. Not for the first time, he misses the quick smile and warm, steady voice of the man who had so effortlessly captured his attention just days ago. Brushing a hand gently through Nix’s damp hair, Finn leans in and presses a soft kiss to Jay’s cheek, murmuring, “Sleep.”

Chapter Sixteen: Grayson

Grayson

Grayson presented when he was fifteen, and it went just about as badly as you’d think.

It had been during spring break, and his parents had been out at work. He’d woken to fire burning outward in every direction from his core in never-ending waves. His own fresh, child-like scent gave way to the smell of the herbs his father kept in pots in the kitchen window. His vision oscillated between blurry to so sharp he could see the fibers from his shredded Marvel Universe pillow, the soft fill sticking to his sweaty skin. Gums throbbing and head pounding, he’d vomited at the overload to his new senses before passing out.

He’d woken the second time not much later and crawled to the bathroom. He didn’t know what was wrong, nor did he have the clarity to call his parents. The gender studies at school hadn’t yet covered presentation in the curriculum and wouldn’t for four more years. The minute he made it into the bathroom, he’d blacked out for a second time, cracking his head open on the toilet. He had woken up in a rut room of the hospital a week later, confused and missing the rest of his vacation.

And now the fire was back.

Every cell in his body was burning, but at least now he knew what was happening.

A decade hasn’t changed much because the rut room smells the same: stale, antiseptic, and—to Grayson’s enigma nose—vaguely like the last alpha who’d suffered here.

Where is his pack? He never goes through a rut alone now, and he howls in frustration. A door opens in the corner of the room, and he recognizes his mate. Gideon. Yes, he wants Gideon.Needshim.

Gorgeous Gideon with his thick thighs and sharp tongue. Gideon is moving too slowly, and the wolf is frustrated with the delay. But when he lifts his arms from the bed, he meets with resistance; leather cuffs are attached to both his arms and his legs and lead down to heavy steel chains. Why is he strapped down? His wolf slams against the mental cage Grayson keeps him in, and he howls again at this impertinence.

---