Page 54 of Threads of Fate

Despite his disdain for PDA and the seriousness of the situation, the blushing Gray places a chaste kiss on his lips. “You too, alpha.” He pauses like he’s got more to say, and Jay wishes Grayson wasn’t wearing a scent blocker patch so he could get a read on what his mate is so hesitant to talk to him about.

It reminds him that he and Gideon are committing a professional faux pas.

“Hey, Gid, do you have patches for us?” It’s Finn who digs around in his pockets and passes over hospital-grade scent blocker patches. Immediately after he puts it in place, Jay suppresses the instinct to rip it off again, as if his wolf doesn’t like his mates out in the world without Jay’s smoky pine telling other Weres to back off.

He distracts himself by checking on the others. Rowan is still shooting daggers at the tiny beta behind the reception desk. Her smile is just friendly—not predatory, although Jay wouldn’t blame her. Leo is gorgeous in his royal blue suit and baby pink shirt and tie. He’s even more handsome with one hand in his pants pocket and an elbow on the counter as he laughs.

He remembers that Rowan’s rut is scheduled in less than a week, and already, his proprietary instincts toward his betas are making things…difficult.

Jay sighs and prays no one loses a limb today.

Seeing his alphas waiting, Leo bids the receptionist goodbye and joins them, Finn’s briefcase in hand. Rowan growls a bit and puts his arm around the beta’s shoulders while keeping eye contact with the receptionist, making Leo preen at the alpha posturing display and the receptionist rolls her eyes.

The young alpha keeps it up all the way to the penthouse office elevator until Grayson bumps Rowan’s shoulder. “Ro, I’m not sure you could take her in a fight. She looks tough.”

Rowan snaps his teeth, almost picking Leo up right off his feet.

“Down, boy! I’m only joking. She doesn’t want your man.”

Jay wonders if Grayson’s suppressants have made him stupid.

Leo protests with a “Hey, I’m a catch!”

Finn sighs at Rowan’s escalating growls. “Are you trying to get him worked up?” Leo had already put his patch on at home, familiar with the workings of his father’s firm, but now the young enigma can’t smell Leo, and it’s aggravating his wolf.

Quickly, before the elevator can come to a stop on the top floor, Finn pulls the beta’s patch off so the young alpha can get a whiff of cinnamon.

“Oops, my bad.” Leo chuckles before smoothing the patch back in place.

“Can wenotdo this right now?” It’s always Gideon’s job to rein them in and not for the first time today, Jay is grateful for his right-hand man.

“Like herding cats with a wet noodle. I am not paid enough for this.”

To be fair: he isn’t paid at all except maybe in kisses and orgasms.

When they finally arrive on the top floor, Leo exits first, speeding up when he sees his father in front of his assistant’s desk. Rowan loses hold of him, his growls barely contained in the somber space.

“Rowan Foster.” Jay’s firm hand on the young man’s neck stops him in his tracks. Rowan looks down so as not to inadvertently issue a challenge, baring his neck. “Okay, there, Alpha? I need your head in the game. We are a family, and we need to act like it. Can you do this? Or do you need to head back to the hospital with Luca and Nix?”

He’s obviously embarrassed about being called out, but Jay can’t afford to cut him any slack; this is as serious as anything in life will ever be.

“I can do it, Alpha. Sorry.” He meets Jay’s eyes with a sincere apology.

“Don’t be sorry—be the man I know you are.” He turns to find the Costas men chatting quietly, kindly giving him a chance to get his pack mate back in line.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Jay

Jay

“Mr. Costas, sir. Thank you for seeing us on short notice.”

“Jay. Enough of the formalities. I’ve been telling you for almost a decade if you can’t call me Dad, then at least Antonio.” Their host smiles with a slap to Jay’s shoulder, causing his new assistant to stare, eyes wide at her normally-so-formal employer being so familiar. “Let’s go into my office, and we can get things started.”

Leo is the spitting image of his broad-shouldered alpha father, inheriting the same imposing frame, but his sharp eyes and confident features unmistakably belong to his alpha birth mother. His gentle demeanor, however, is a testament to the influence of his second mother, who softened his edges with love and patience.

They are meeting in Antonio’s corner office, where the seating has already been arranged, with chairs and sofas encircling a low coffee table neatly set with coffee and water.

They wait for their host to be seated in the large armchair before finding their seats. Leo once shared that his father used the throne-like chair as a strategy with rivals and clients alike because it made him look like a King holding court.

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