Page 61 of Threads of Fate

They shouldn’t keep them waiting; maybe they can see if Nix will let them come in, or Jay can send them home until tomorrow. He knows there will be some resistance if he doesn’t let them at least see Nix awake, but Nix has to decide what he can handle and how much. This transition has notgone according to the textbook, and Jay thinks that’s definitely everything to do with him being an omega.

Maybe getting him a shower will help bring a bit more “Nix” to the forefront and send the “wolf” to the background.

“Maybe we should clean you up? You’ll feel better.”

“Yeah, the blood smells gross.” Luca’s nose wrinkles with distaste—blood is definitely not on his list of favorite bodily fluids.

Nix flinches at the mention of the blood. “What happened?”

Jay can’t figure out if he means: How did he get here? Where have you been? What is with all this blood? So, he starts with the easiest thing. “You’re at the hospital. You cut your mouth and hands, baby. Will you let me clean them up? We can get the nurse–”

“No! Nobody else. Just you and Luca.” The scent of burnt cookies is suddenly so strong that Luca covers his nose. “Not safe. He might come. Hurt you.” There’s another scuffle in the hall, and if Jay strains, he can hear Rowan growling. That pre-rut is a pain in the ass.

Jay’s heart breaks when his mate says, “If…ifhecomes, Nix fight this time, but you run. Luca, too.” His eyes glaze over, but Jay holds his tiny, bloody hands against his bare chest so he can ground him in his heartbeat.

“You are so brave, Nix. Thank you for protecting Luca when I wasn’t here. But you are safe with us. No one will ever hurt you, ever again. Whoever you’re thinking of right now can’t hurt you.”

“Dawson,” he spits. “Not here?” At Jay’s shake of his head, Nix looks deeply into his eyes and must see something because he nods once. “Okay. Luca safe, too?” It’s such a Nix thing to do; to be worried about others more than himself. The trust inherent in his words makes Jay’s wolf wriggle like a puppy.

“Yes, baby, of course.”

“Jay always keeps us safe. We keep each other safe. All of us. We’re a family.”

His omega gasps and stills so suddenly that Jay tenses for attack, proverbial hackles raised. “A family? You—a family?” Nix’s scent is sour now, and he drops Jay’s hands like they’re hot coals and steps back. “Luca? You? Together?” He hits gently on the side of his head and pulls his hair roughly. “Stupid, stupid.” He spins around, looking for a place to hide.

Luca intercepts him with both hands on Nix’s arms. “Nix! It’s okay. You are our family, too. I’m sorry that didn’t come out right. Please let Jay explain. Please?” Luca is so sincere and distressed that their omega can’t help but give him all his attention.

“Nix, it’s complicated. But I have always loved you. You are our family, too, and if you let me, I can explain. Will you let me clean you up, and then we can talk? Please?”

Nix tilts his head and nods in tentative agreement. “Trust you.” Nix looks down at himself. “Can have a shower? Need to pee.” His face is flushed with embarrassment. “Maybe sit down?” He’s at the end of his adrenaline-fueled physical endurance and he wobbles on his feet.

Jay catches him easily.

Luca sighs, hands under his chin and eyes shining. “Swoon. It’s like one of those romance movies, for real. Sue me.”

Nix looks disbelievingly at Jay, huffing out a small laugh. “Cute.” And Jay can only nod in agreement.

“Okay, let’s see about that shower, then we can get you some food. Do you think you want help? You’re a little wobbly. I can help you or Luca if you don’t want the nurse yet.”

Luca looks so eager that he’s almost dancing on the spot, which makes Nix giggle. He must be thinking about it, but his face falls. “No…m’not…nice. Can do it on my own.” He uses his free hand to gesture at himself, like his “not nice” is clear to all.

Jay is unbelieving that his mate could ever be “not nice” looking but is apprehensive about pointing out that Nix’s scars have disappeared since he’s not quite ready to provide explanations in full. Not that it would matter. If Nix had survived his trauma as a human, no matter how he looked, Jay and his mates would love him, regardless. Nix’s beauty shines from the inside; the outsides are just extra.

“Nix, you are beautiful. But if you want, I’ll wait outside the door, so you can call me if you feel shaky.” His wolf does not agree with this compromise and insists that having their mate out of sight is intolerable.Good thing you’re not in charge then.

Seeing the black t-shirt he’d been holding on the floor, Nix picks it up and lifts it to his nose, then his face crumples in despair.

“Hey, now. What’s wrong?” His omega should never be sad again, and most certainly not about a t-shirt.

“Smells not…good. It was good before.” It’s covered in blood from Nix’s claws, which no doubt eclipses Grayson’s fresh basil scent that’s always lighter than Leo’s cinnamon or Jay’s pine scents.

“Do you want to pick something else?” Luca jogs around the bed to where Nix had pushed him and all the nesting stuff Luca had brought from home onto the floor.

Jay thinks for a second that Nix might stop the beta from destroying his emergency “nest,” but he visibly shakes the thought away as Nix joins the beta next to the pile of clothing. He stares at the laundry and moves to the bed to pick up a pair of Leo’s workout shorts, pinching the soft material between his fingers.

“Why bring laundry here?” Putting the shorts down to his right, he begins absentmindedly sorting the clothes into piles using a system only he understands. When he’s got most of it in piles, he stops on a pair of gray sweatpants that belong to Rowanand a soft white sweater that is Finn’s. He carefully pulls the sweater to his nose and breathes so deeply that Jay thinks he’ll have fibers in his lungs.

He shows the sweater to Jay. “Finn,” he whispers. “Finn’s. I want Finn.”

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