When he and Jay reach Cat, she raises an eyebrow and points at Dill Pickle’s boots. The laces have been tied together.
That explains why Rowan had been so intent on “guarding” the body.
“Rowan!” Jay yells. The troublemaker can’t be far—he never is during moments like this.
“What!” Rowan jogs up, arms crossed, a smug smile in place. He’s veryhandsome and very pleased with himself.
Cat blinks, her cheeks flushing, and Gideon can’t blame her. Rowan is nuclear-level hot in his tank top and knee-length shorts. Hecouldn’tblame her—but hewould,if she didn’t quit ogling his man.
He lifts an eyebrow.
She meets his eyes and looks away.
Jay sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Ro, why are his bootlaces tied together?”
It’s as if he’s afraid to ask—Gideon would be.
“Well, he might turn into a zombie,” Rowan says with a shrug, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
Jay stares before finally asking the question: “And the bootlaces will prevent that?”
Rowan scoffs. “Fuck no, but it sure will be funnier.”
Chapter Nineteen: Jay
Jay wakes in his bed in the dead of night with a persistent feeling that something is off. Not dire or dangerous, necessarily—justoff.His wolf still hasn’t settled one iota with Logan’s Sentinel guards patrolling the grounds. He can’t hear them, as they are well-trained, but Jay’s wolf knows they are in his territory—near his mates—and he is spending extra energy keeping him from tracking them through the compound for no reason.
After Cat and her team handled the removal of Dill Pickle and the pizza boy—Josh, his name isJosh—everyone split up instead of heading to the nest.
Jay had held back his instincts and barely stopped his wolf from dragging them into the nest so he could lie on them like a goddamned fortress—forcing any intruder to go through him first.
The old security system was back in place, but it was a temporary fix. Jay wouldn’t feel better until the new one was up and doing its damn job, because now they all know its flaws too well.
The Sentinel agents promised they’d be back by dawn. Not as covert as working under cover of darkness, but Logan had made the call—waiting until nightfall again would be a mistake. The sun would be up in under four hours—but that still didn’t explain what had woken him.
Jay had followed Gideon up the left-wing stairs, barely managing to steer his mate into his own space. He’d needed the added comfort after Nix offered a small wave instead of the hug Jay had been craving. Clinging to Grayson and Luca, he’d urged them into his own nest—quietly closed the door. After that, Finn followed Leo and a disappointed, growling Rowaninto the youngest’s room, and that was that.
As much as Jay needed to lie on his mates like a dragon with his hoard, he also knew they had their own ways of coping with the night’s events.
It had been a revelation watching Nix rip the heart from the intruder’s chest. He’d moved as if he were born to fight—dancing and floating through each attack and defense. If Jay hadn’t known better, he would have said Nix had been doing this his whole life. Saying he’d been terrifyingly beautiful didn’t begin to cover it.
It had gone a long way to reassuring Jay about the upcoming trial and as long as Hayes stuck to brute force instead of a psychological game, it meant Jay could finally breathe. Hayes could hardly be a more adept fighter than the highly trained assassin currently on his way to an unmarked grave as they speak.
Oh, how Jay wishes he could say the same about Hayes.
Jay should have been more upset that Gideon had taken matters into his own hands when it came to Hayes’s treatment in prison—but he wasn’t. He couldn’t be. The bastard deserved every single ounce of pain the universe could deliver and more.
It only took the memory of Nix fresh from surgery—his urine output bag red with blood, his broken face bandaged, and the scent of death lingering in the air—for Jay to be on board with that plan, one hundred percent.
He couldn’t admit it then—not even to himself,especially to himself—but Nix had arrived in the ICU on borrowed time. Seeing how far he’s come—how alive he is now—makes Jay even happier to know that every minute of Hayes’s life since then has been an exercise in pain.
He only wishes Gideon hadn’t felt the need to keep it to himself, even if he understoodwhyhe had. Jay learns more and more about his mate every day, and when he thinks about it, he realizes it’ll only be two years in December since Gideon became part of their life. He fits them so well—makes them better as a pack just for being here. It’s easy to forget, sometimes, that they’re still getting to know him.
How Jay loves him—isin lovewith him.
Secretive. Self-possessed. Passionate. There is no one more loyal. Jayknew from the moment they met that this man was meant to stand at his side and help him lead his pack. His unfaltering confidence is a powerful force in their lives, from the day-to-day to the big things.
But tonight, Gideon had faltered.
