Page 47 of Threads of Fate

Falling forward, Finn’s hand is fully on his cock now, working him into the over-sensitivity that Leo complains about but secretly loves.

When Leo has had enough, he huffs, and with one last flick to the head of his cock, Finn pulls him in for a tight hug.

“Such a good boy. So good,” Finn whispers, and Leo comes down feelingso good.

A short time later, he becomes aware that his eyelashes are stuck together, and his clothes are ruined.

“Uh…Finnie, pretty sure there’s more on my shirt than just pasta sauce now.”

Finn blinks at the mess. “Shit. Jay’s definitely not staying calm if he sees this. Did you bring your phone?”

Leo shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Great. Just great.” Finn sighs, rubbing his forehead. He’s taking off his stained pants and pulling his ruined shirt over hishead, dropping them to the floor. Naked and still partially hard, he reaches for the door.

“Holy shit. You can’t go out there like that. What if the nurse is out there? What if you set Jay off?”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Hands on his hips, he’s so unbelievably hot; with lean muscles and broad shoulders, and Leo wants to suck him off again. He’s a work of art. “My eyes are up here, baby.” Leo loves it when his mate looks at him like that; a mix of a little bit sarcastic and a whole lot of love.

Just then there’s a knock, and it’s almost comedic how they look at each other. Finn hurries and flips the fan on, which they should probably have done twenty minutes ago. It’s then that Leo notices the white towels folded on the shelf beside the shower. The door handle twists just as Finn covers his cock, and if Leo’s sad about it, no one will know but him.

Finn pulls open the door a crack to see Gideon on the other side, holding a bag of clothes and toiletries. He reaches in and flips the switch beside the fan and the light. The sound dampening starts up, and with a smirk, he thrusts the bag into Finn’s arms, pulling the door closed.

Finn and he take one look at each other, eyes wide, and crack up. Oh well, it’s not anything the others haven’t witnessed firsthand before.

They shower and change into the loungewear in the bag, there’s a notable lack of underwear because Gideon is a horny bastard. When they come back into the room, Luca jumps up, arms crossed, mid-tantrum if Leo had to guess. Rowan has his arm around a sick-looking Grayson on the couch.

“You okay there, Gray?” Leo asks.

“Mmm-hmm.”

“His hormones leveled out enough that they let him out of alpha-hormone jail,” Rowan says, and grunts as Gray elbowshim in the solar plexus. He still looks green and is clutching a bottle of ginger ale like a lifeline.

Finn falls onto the couch beside them, pulling Leo down on his lap. Bringing a water bottle up to his lips, he commands, “Drink.” Leo can’t be blamed if he wiggles a bit.

“No fair. Leo got to—” Luca starts up what must be a continuation of his argument, stomping his foot.

Gideon sighs. He throws a pillow on the floor near his spot on the couch and points without raising his head from the book he’s reading. “Luca. Down. You’re going to wake up Jay.” Luca goes to his knees; quiet, but he’s not happy about it.

“Luc’s mad because Gideon wouldn’t let him break down the door when we got here. Got mouthy.” Rowan runs his fingers through Gray’s long hair and smirks at Luca when he gets a glare for his words. “He’s got a point though. What happened to keeping it SFW, Finn?”

It’s Finn’s turn to glare, and he hides his forehead between Leo’s shoulder blades. He’s the only one who can hear it when the alpha whispers, “So worth it.”

Leo can only grin. His whole family is together and when he checks, he can see Jay is still lying beside Nix, his slow, even breathing a sure sign he’s asleep.

Chapter Twenty: Jay

Jay

Coming off the alpha suppressants feels a bit like presenting again. He’s grateful he had only been on them for a few days because the fatigue, nausea, and agitation were almost better than this increased desire to fucking punch someone until they were dead and bloody. But he’d promised his boys, and Jay did not break promises.

When he’d first presented, it had quickly become a priority for his manager at Ripley Records to make sure he had the required alpha safety/etiquette training necessary to function with his newly enhanced sense and instincts. But you couldn’t be James Rhodes’ alpha son—even a potential one—without understanding exactly what it meant if you let your instincts get the better of you, and Jay had endured the broken arm, courtesy of his father, to prove it. Despite it being a short-lived injury, the pain had been an excellent reminder to twelve-year-old Jamie.

The afternoon when Jay had heard that Nix died in a fatal car crash with his family, all the strict training he’d had under his father’s roof meant nothing. While tranquilizers had done their job, when he’d eventually come to, he’d still been snarling and physically restrained. His shared apartment had been utterly destroyed: the windows smashed, appliances dented and spilling their insides all over the kitchen, the furniture inmatchsticks, and his roommates cowering in the hall. Jay’s grief and rage had been all-consuming.

They’d put him in an alpha facility for a few days, done some genetic testing, andboom!discovered he was an enigma alpha. The incident is in a locked case file, surrounded by a firewall, NDAs, and threats of lawsuits a mile long. Everyone had made allowances for his burgeoning celebrity status, but not his grief, not really.

It had been a surprise to him that he’d been an enigma, as he had none of the outward attitude markers they usually find in enigma’s pre-presentation. Jay knew it was because of his upbringing and the intense control he had over his very noisy wolf. Most Weres don’t connect with their wolf until they present, but Jay has knownhimin some aspect of his whole life.

---