Page 45 of Bonds of Fate

When Gideon catches him easily, he’s squeezed so tightly, with Gideon running his nose up behind Nix’s ear, and he thinks the other man might have a tear in his eye. “You alright?”

Gideon gives him the smallest nod. “I’m better now. Let’s go home, and we can have pizza.”

“And a movie? I wantPrincess Bride, please.” Gideon shifts him around until he’s on his back to save his bare feet on the return trip, and they head for home with Luca on Jamie’s back. They make it extra difficult because they insist on holding hands.

No one asks if he’s alright, and that’s fine by him because he’s not sure he could lie and sayyes.

He slips down when they get to the pool deck and heads inside and straight up the stairs to Jamie’s room. He wants to wash the tree sap and dirt from his body and take a few minutes to try to lock that box of emotions down. No one follows, and he is inordinately grateful for the time alone so that he can get his errant thoughts in order.

The wolf hasn’t given up on their plans to be the instrument of Dawson Hayes’ death, but the wolf will need to bide his time. Their mates are too concerned, and he doesn’t know enough about this community to guarantee success.

Nix will need to speak with the lawyer again privately.

They don’t want to leave their mates after finding them, but neither will Nix force Finn to lie to the government on their behalf—their alpha is too honorable for that. If facing Hayes in the courtroom or on a field of battle means he’s wiped off the face of this earth for eternity, then the wolfwilldo what needs to be done. They will not risk any of their mates.

Nix, at least, feels surprisingly calmer with a plan, and when he steps out, there’s a baby pink t-shirt that smells like Luca lying on the bed. It’s humongous on him, and there’s a pink pony on the front. It covers his butt, and as expected, there are no pants. He uses the basil-and-green-tea-scented lotion on Jamie’s bedside and lets his hair air dry as best he can. He even looks through the drawers until he finds a pair of warm woolly socks with eggplants on them.

When he comes down, the pizza is steaming on the coffee table/ottoman, and there are napkins and plates stacked in a pile. He’s not had pizza since he left Clearwater, and it smells really good. Finn, Leo, and Grayson are still absent, and it’s been almost two days since he’d seen Rowan. He’s struck by how much that physically pains him.

But Luca is sitting in the center of the couch under the chick-patterned blanket like Luca knows he must be missing Rowan and beckons him over. He avoids the big plate of pizza on his lap to squeeze in beside him as tightly as he can. There’s a hum of whispered voices where Gideon and Jamie are speaking in the kitchen, just out of sight.

He wants to ask about the others, but finding the words is hard. Maybe he hasn’t shed the wolf as much as he thought.

Luca must understand, though, because he reassures him with a quiet, “Hey, baby. Don’t think about anything but Buttercup and Wesley. I waited for you. Here. Eat.” The movie starts, and they finish the pizza, reciting the lines they know–which is most of them—even after all this time. Nix feels fuzzy and warm, letting Luca’s mocha scent send him further into that floaty place he craves—

down

down

down

They’re asleep, with full tummies and hand-in-hand, before Wesley has been mostly-dead-all-day.

Chapter Twelve: Rowan

Rowan

If there’s one thing Rowan hates about ruts, it’s the chafing.

By the end of the second day and the third bottle of lube, his dick is always on fire, and not in a fun way.

Wait—isthere a fun way to have a dick on fire? Probably not. He’s never said it out loud because he doesn’t want to listen to his mates make fun of him, even though he knows he can’t be alone in it.

Attractive hypocrites, the lot of them.

So, the first thing he feels when he wakes up is the infernal burning sensation of his overused dick. Grayson is lying on his arm, and they are both covered in come and that third bottle of lube. No idea what day it is or even what time it is, but it looks like early afternoon sunshine is lying in beams across the floor.

He can feel every muscle in his body thumping in time with his heartbeat–like you do after a good workout–from his toes to the top of his head. Rowan can’t remember a rut like this one, where he just rode wave after wave, one after the other, with hardly a second to catch his breath. No doubt it’s because his wolf is pushy and loud and has a goddamned one-track mind.

He’s used to feeling out of control when his rut hits. But with the work he does with Gideon now—and with Jay and Leo to assist—it’s become manageable.

In fact, it’s something he even looks forward to.

For those few days, he enjoys letting his wolf do what he was born to do—within reason. Jay and Gideon keep him within the broad boundaries they set beforehand, and delicious Leo makes him work for it a little bit. It’s Heaven.

Aside from the chafing, of course.

But this time, it’s been exhausting, physically and emotionally, because his wolf will not listen. Like the time in the ICU and down in the gym, his wolf sees Nix, and suddenly, all bets are off. All his wolf wants is to breed his omega and make him round with his pup.

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