Page 43 of Bonds of Fate

Seeing for himself what was on the reverse—Jay Rhodes—and realizing that Hayes had deliberately hidden him from fate, from destiny, from the Goddess, and most of all, from his true love…shattered something inside Nix.

The box of hatred and rage he’d spent years locking up, burying it deep in the Mariana Trench of his psyche—cracked wide open.

Buried deep because he’d learned early on—once Hayes had been very, very sure that Nix had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide—that any drama would leave him broken and bloody in a variety of horrifyingly creative ways.

Learning the extent of the premeditated evil superseded his knowledge of the many injuries Hayes had inflicted. It was worse, even, than lying about knowing Jamie or that he worked at Ripley Records.

To his wolf, it was an unforgivable offense that Hayes had made sure that no matter how he’d secretly prayed that Jamie might be looking for him—that destiny might intervene and reunite them in this lifetime—Hayes had destroyed even that glimmer of hope with sadistic glee.

Nix didn’t doubt for a moment that the pendant had done what it intended.

No wonder Hayes had loved seeing that pendant around his neck; each time had been a reminder of how he was getting one over on his enemy, the successful andhappyJamie Rhodes.

Hurting Nix had been a pleasantly entertaining byproduct.

Nix feels pure rage, knowing it was nothing but cursed luck—nothing but a cruel twist of fate—that, in his eagerness to hurt him, Hayes had inadvertently torn the pendant from his neck.

His freedom, his future, even his life—all of it owed to nothing but chance. And that burns.

His wolf seethes with hatred, and Nix lets him take control—shielding himself from the worst of his grief, surrendering to the fury instead. Letting it run wild.

He should feel bad that they had frightened the lawyer, that even Gideon had looked wary at the hatred burning through their veins like venom; the wolf’s only thought is to use it to strike their torturer down. It’s that desire for retribution that sends them through the door, onto the pool deck, and over the short wall on its other side.

The trees on the Rhodes property are majestic and mature, and with so much land around him, the wolf gives in to the urge to run.

If they weren’t so enraged, they might have wondered how it was even possible—this much open space in the heart of Nashville, where land is at a premium.

Picking up speed, they move through the trees on bare feet until they’re brought up short several minutes later. There’s avery tall stone wall, and it runs off in both directions as far as they can see, and although the wolf thinks they can scale it, they don’t have time. Their pack alpha is on their heels, and they do not want to channel their fury in the wrong direction.

They want Hayes’s bloodshed, not anyone else’s.

So they do the next best thing—they climb the tallest tree in the vicinity. Ironically, it smells just like their mate. Nix has never climbed trees, but his wolf pays no heed. It’s not long until they are as high as they can be, sitting as still as possible, and when their alpha comes to the wall, they’re silent.

“Nix. Fuck, where are you? I can’t chase you through the streets of fucking Nashville in broad daylight.” Jamie is upset, causing the wolf to whine; Nix thinks they might want to comfort him but remembers their need to find Hayes.

They just have to be patient. Their mate will tire soon enough, and then they can track their tormentor and take their vengeance. They adjust their crouch so they can sit easily on the branch and watch the top of their mate’s head twenty feet below.

It’s the rustle of the branches and the fall of the needles that give them away.

“Nixie? Where…holy Jesus, fuck. Don’t move.” The wolf doesn’t like the sound of their mate’s distress, but when Jamie goes for the base of the tree as if he might climb up, the wolf growls a menacing warning.

They don’t want their mate in the tree. He might fall and be hurt.

“Okay. I won’t come up. Can I sit here with you?”

The wolf shakes their head and growls again. The sooner their mate leaves, the sooner they can scale the wall and find Dawson Hayes. His rotten scent still clings in Nix’s brain.

It’s strange—Nix knows Hayes was human. Heshouldn’thave been able to scent him at all. But with his wolf, they remember.

The evil. The ruin. The decay.

Because Dawson Hayes hadn’t just stunk of flesh, his very soul had smelled rotten.

“Alright. Just give me a minute to think. Fuck.” He reaches into his back pocket, and he’s got his phone in hand. He doesn’t take his eyes off Nix, but the wind has picked up, branches creaking, and they can’t hear who he’s calling. Frustrated, the wolf growls again and, this time, bares their fangs in warning.

When he pockets the phone, he sits. “Sorry, baby, I’m going to sit for a minute. You run fast. I think I need to pick up some cardio.”

Nix finds his words underneath the wolf’s rage. “Go, Jamie.”

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