Page 164 of Tides of Fate

He stumbles backward but keeps his feet, changing his momentum so he can charge Nix, arms around his waist in an attempt to take them to the ground again.

This time, though, Nix is ready.

Arms pinned to his sides, he digs his claws into Hayes’s back before throwing his arms up, breaking free.

Grasping Hayes by the hair, he presses his thumb into Hayes’s eye.

Hayes’s horrified shriek is instantaneous, and Nix pulls away to headbutt him until he’s flat on his back in the dirt. Shaking off the eyeball that was still impaled on his thumb, Nix spits out a mouthful of blood.

He growls, and flashes of blue light reflect on Hayes’s face as he stalks toward him, scrambling across the grass to escape.

There is something satisfying about Hayes’s terror as he gains his feet and breaks into a run down the field. The guards close ranks, but Nix has no intention of letting him get that far.

Nix jogs after him and grabs him by the hair. The first handful pulls out at the roots, but Nix just tries again, dragging him back down the field while Hayes claws at his arms. The gouges are deep, and Nix can see his muscle, but he still doesn’t let go.

The pain and blood only feed his wolf’s burning need for vengeance.

With a last shake, Nix flings Hayes away, but he comes back swinging, catching Nix in the ribs and opening a gash in his side.

While not half as big as the one he’d received from Gideon, it burns—even through his mental block—and the searing pain distracts him enough that he cries out while Hayes laughs and licks the blood off his claws with a cackle.

Nix refuses to look at his mates, even though it is proving more difficult than he’d expected. Blood pours from his side, slower than it had in the gym, but once Hayes thinks Nix is cowed by the pain, he takes a moment to gloat, raising his good arm in the air and pointing back toward the stands.

The wolf growls low, landing a kick to the side of Hayes’s left knee—then his calf—followed by a long, claw-tipped swipeto Hayes’s abdomen as he tilts to the side. Not enough to disembowel, but enough to hurt like fire.

Then—soft as a prayer, cutting through the wind and over the distance—he hears his name.

Just his name, in a voice he loves.

Luca.

He can’t resist the urge to look this time, and when he looks up, they’re all standing at the railing, and he can see them perfectly. He can read the fury, fear, and love in their faces—but he can’tfeelthem.

Heneedsto feel them—to anchor himself with their love.

The surge of need is so intense that it flashes white behind his eyes, shattering the iron grip he has on his bonds.

Instinctively, he opens himself up, letting the bonds rush in, flooding him with love and power being pushed through the bond, reminding him he is loved and he is theirs.

With their love comes relief from the pain in his face, the wound in his belly—and with a sharp crack, his nose snaps back into place.

Nix understands now—his bonds aren’t a weakness.

Their bonds make him strong.

Heal him.

Give him courage.

Make him cunning.

Make him whole.

There’s nothing Nix can’t do when he has them in the forefront of his heart and mind.

It’s time to finish this.

To take vengeance for every moment of pain and fear Hayes has reveled in over the past five years.

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