Page 142 of Bonds of Fate

There is the tiniest thought from Jay’s wolf that Jay couldmakethem do what he wants—to save them—to protect them from anything the world might throw at them. Luca’s eyes pop open wide because maybe he feels it too—how close Jay is to using his Alpha-Voice.

The command is right there, waiting. One word, and they would listen. One word, and they’d stay safe. He could do it. He should do it.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He stabs that pointy finger into Jay’s chest, and Jay wants to growl and make Luca bare his neck. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Jaywould. He would sodare,and it scares him.

It’s enough that Jay takes one last look at his family and pushes past Leo and Rowan standing in the hall.

Jay is outside with the Ducati between his legs, tearing through the narrow opening in the main gate before he can change his mind and do something Jay is worried he won’t regret at all.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Nix

Nix

Nix watches his first love run from the room, taking a piece of his heart with him. He’s known since the moment he revealed his decision to fight Hayes that Jamie still had doubts—even if he tried to show his support. Even after all these years apart, Nix can still read him.

Jamie buries things deep, and he’s letting this run him ragged.

There was nothing Nix could do about trying to work through it now, though. Jamie would come back when he felt he was ready to face them, and, given how Jamie had fled, it could be a while until he returned.

Despite the weight of Jamie’s absence, despite the bruises this fight has already left on his heart, he still wants tonight with Grayson. Nix has plans—romantic, sexy plans, dammit—and he wants to give his mate his (mostly) undivided attention. If Grayson was putting in the effort to make this night special, then Nix was going to reward him for it, even if the timing wasn’t ideal.

“Well. That could have gone fucking better.” Luca grabs Nix around the waist and rocks him back and forth, careful of his wound. Gideon joins in, and together, they stand in the center of the gym. Leo had kissed his cheek before following Jamie out and taking a stone-faced Rowan with him.

Nix is learning that Leo often needs time to work through things, and Nix wants to be sure he respects that—he envies it, even.

Rowan, though? Nix thinks something might be building there. Their bond flares, and it’s burning with something that feels like anger. It’s uncomfortable, and Nix hopes they can talk it out before he has another irate enigma making threats and shaking Nix’s new family to the core.

It’s infuriating that Hayes’s influence is still infecting everything it touches, no matter how hard Nix fights for it to be different. He feels like he’s still dodging big things, and he hopes Rowan will not be one of them. Fighting the memories was one thing, but fighting Gideon in the gym was something else entirely.

The training session had gone smoother once Nix stopped overthinking and let his instincts take the lead. Gideon was a formidable opponent—well-trained, lethal, disciplined, and relentless. His uncanny ability to read Nix’s every tell made it feel like he was always one step ahead, forcing Nix to push harder and think faster.

Taking the accidental hit hadn’t been the worst part. Nix could handle that. What had gutted him was the devastation on Gideon’s face, the emotional turmoil radiating from his mates—no longer just a theory, but instead a bloody reality. But none of it changed a thing.

Because now he knew, without a doubt, he could do this. He could stand against Hayes and survive.

He wasn’t blind to the strain this was putting on his pack. He wasn’t oblivious to how he was pushing every single one of them to their limits. But if he backed down now, he’d never be free.

Even Jamie’s rage—fed by red-hot fear coursing along their bond—wouldn’t change his mind.

Nix’s hands tremble as he watches Jamie, Leo, and Rowan leave. Turning in Gideon and Luca’s arms, he squeezes them, whispering, “I’m sorry.”

He’s sure it won’t be the last time he has to say it, either. Finn joins them, and Nix lets his black currant add to the rain-soaked mocha, and together, it’s almost enough to drown out his sad vanilla and the lingering scent of vomit.

“Baby, come show me how to use that hose so I can clean this up.” Sighing, he pulls away, already missing their comfort.

“Kitten, I’ll do it. It’s my mess. Besides, don’t you have a date?”

Nix was dreading making an explanation for Grayson about the injury, wondering if it would be a repeat of Jay’s reaction, when Gideon brushes his fingers through Nix’s hair, then down under the shirt, over his wound. His eyebrows go up, and he lifts Jamie’s t-shirt to show Finn. “What the fuck?”

Finn drops into a crouch to see for himself. Nix can’t see it well, but by the look on Finn’s face, it doesn’t look as it should. “Does it not look good, Finn? Is it infected?”

Nix wrinkles his nose at the thought. That’s not sexy, and Nix doesn’t want to gross Grayson out later. Oh, and he doesn’t want to be sick, either. Can Weres get infected wounds? Is that a thing?

“Not at all. If anything, it looks days old. You wouldn’t have needed stitches.” Finn frowns, pulling at the skin as if the answer is written there. “And your legs? Perfect, in under twenty-four hours. I wonder if it’s an omega thing…”

His wheels are visibly turning, and he reaches for his med kit again. “Here, let me take the stitches out.” It takes Finn a fraction of the time to take them out as it had taken him to put them in. “Un-fucking-believable. I canseethe skin healing.”

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