Page 128 of Bonds of Fate

It doesn’t take long until they’re back in Luca’s room, casting the soiled blankets to the floor and just rolling in on top of the remaining ones to pull a duvet over them. Nix is on Gideon’s left, and Luca is on the right. It’s cozy and safe, and Nix is connected to two more of his mates in yet another incredible way. Red and magenta and turquoise and purple ribbons of fate are swirling and giving him strength in ways he could never have expected.

“Thank you,” he whispers when they are almost asleep. “I love you both so much.”

Luca is snoring a tiny bit, asleep already, but Gideon presses a soft kiss to his temple. “Go to sleep, kitten. Tomorrow, we train.”

The words cast a frisson of fear along his spine, but he also knows that while it isn’t a blanket endorsement of his choice, Gideon is saying that he believesinhim, too.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Gideon

Gideon

After years of training under a retired Special Ops commander at a local club—and despite the late nights he spends at Quest or tangled up in the nest with his mates—Gideon has never broken the habit of rising early.

It’s why his eyes snap open at 6:30 AM, even when every part of him would rather sink back into the warmth of his mates. Both of his beautiful boys are still dead to the world, exactly where they’d fallen asleep six hours ago.

the Goddess hadn’t told him exactly how extraordinary Nix would be—how he would be a gift to Gideon, or how now that they are bound together with Luca in a way that is so fundamentally Were, or that his connection to Them would be stronger because of it.

Together, they areAlphaBetaOmega.

When the three of them connected through the bond, it was like Gideon had turned the knob on an old radio—where once there had been only static and white noise, their joining and bite had tuned the frequency to perfect clarity.

It would be crazy to say that They are speaking to him through this connection—he’s no zealot, no religious fanatic. And yet, since that frequency tuned in, his link to his wolf and the cosmic rhythm of being Were has never been clearer.

The thrum of the Moon, the way the spirit of the wolf pours into every cell of his body—it’s an epiphany. Even his connection to Luca feels stronger than ever, as if Nix’s bond amplifies the soulmate thread between them.

It’s miraculous.

And overwhelming.

His two sleeping mates are facing each other, each with their heads on his chest, faces mere inches from each other, hands entwined, breathing the same air in synchronicity.

Gideon had thought before that they had gelled in a way that none of his other mates had, despite being fated, and here is undeniable—profound—proof.

In an effort not to disturb them, Gideon quietly exits the bed, sliding down to the end and glancing back to see them seamlessly occupy the cozy space he had just left, their brows furrowed slightly.

Standing in the dim light of the autumn morning, dick hard and reconsidering his early morning stupidity of getting out of bed in the first place, he gently covers them with a sheet and throws on his running gear, grabbing his favorite shoes from Luca’s closet.

If there is coffee on, Gideon hopes there is some for him because if there isn’t morning sex, then coffee will have to do.

Yeah, yeah, he sees the irony.

Before he heads downstairs, he detours down the hall to where Nix now has his space—the room where he’d had the worst nightmare Gideon had ever witnessed.

He’s glad he doesn’t know the reality of what Nix has endured beyond his injuries from Hayes’s last attack because if he did, Gideon fears there would be no stopping him from hunting Hayes down and ending him, no matter the collateral damage and the consequences.

Because he is sure of one thing—a life sentence in prison would not be the place to keep his wolf’s dark side under control.

It had been horrific, but seeing the unadulterated viciousness of Nix’s wolf had been revelatory.

Gideon’s wolf had been angry when Nix had announced his intent to meet Hayes on the field of battle and then incensed that their pack alpha would allow it. Nix had already walked through fire and had proven his strength in the way he had survived. He shouldn’t have to prove it again with his teeth and claws.

Stopping in the doorway, he feels gratitude to whoever has cleaned Nix’s room and removed the destroyed bed linens, mattress, and bloody carpet to another location. The emptiness of the room hasn’t stopped Grayson from making a pallet of blankets on the floor, though, just in case his soulmate returned.

Gideon’s ethereal ice prince is still asleep, curled on his side facing the door, and in the low light of the room, he still glows. “Gray.”

His mate jerks out of his dream, and when he sees Gideon, he holds out his hand.

“Come on, let’s go for a run,” Gideon cajoles. “Afterward, I’ll buy you something sweet.”

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