Page 85 of Tides of Fate

(Rewind)

There’s a crazy sense of dread crawling down Gideon’s spine as he drives through the gates at the compound ninety minutes after he’d reluctantly left Nix at home alone.

Everything looks as it usually does—decorated for fall with marigolds, chrysanthemums, and tall ornamental grasses in large clay pots, handpicked by Grayson just a few weeks ago. They’re as calm and welcoming as the man who chose them.

The day so far had been too unsettling for his wolf. With his soulmate out in a stranger’s office, Rowan backing up Grayson—who was away from his own soulmate, BBS be damned—his wolf felt restless. Finn was at the hospital, meeting with his mentor to prepare for the official launch of the Department of Andrology.

Gideon had grown comfortable with them all under his roof as they let their bonds settle, and now, their absence…chafes. Perhaps that was why the feeling of dread he’d had when Maureen called about the fire hadn’t dissipated one iota.

At least Nix is at home with Tsuki, safe behind the gates and security system. He’d checked that Nix’s phone was still at the compound three times while he’d been busy holding his tongue with the suspicious fire marshal.

As if he’d set fire to the kitchen of his successful multimillion-dollar business. But after the third round of the same damn questions, his temper was hanging by a thread.

It hadn’t taken the fire marshal and the arson detective long to confirm his kitchen had been torched—from the inside.

And, alright, that wasn’t the best thing to hear. Someone had circumvented the alarms and destroyed the heart of his second home. But no one had been hurt, and it could have been fucking worse.

It could have been their den.

Instincts twinging hard, the thought has no sooner entered his brain than he bolts from the SUV and into the house. There is no doubt in his mind that something isn’t as it should be, and that suspicion is only validated when he finds the alarm deactivated and the living room empty.

“Nix! Tsuki!” he shouts, but there is no answer.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he checks every open door down the hallway. In his omega’s room, he finds Nix’s phone on the nightstand, a wet towel hanging over the bar of the shower, and the scent of vanilla—singed around the edges.

“Fuck. Where are you, kitten?” he mutters to himself. His dread hasn’t worsened, but it hasn’t eased either.

Where could Nix have gone that he would take Tsuki with him and leave his phone behind?

After he and Leo had left their phones at home that one time, Nix had committed to taking his device with him wherever he went. And more importantly, he wasn’t supposed to leave the house alone—not until he could wear a scent-blocking patch and not without a packmate. Not yet.

There’s a commotion in the kitchen as three-quarters of LRH crashes back into the house. They’re happy and boisterous—completely unaware that Gideon is about to burst that bubble with a hand grenade.

Because their omega is gone.

“Sugar, it was epic!” Luca shouts, causing Leo to cringe at the volume of his mate’s enthusiasm. He’s hanging off Leo—first on his back, then swinging around to his front—kneading his shoulders and kissing his face like an especially affectionate, exuberant squirrel.

“Wasn’t it epic, Leo? They’re so nice.”

“Catch!” Leo yells, and of course, Gideon does—as Leothrows the smaller man four feet through the air, just so he can have free hands to dig around in the fridge.

Gideon drops Luca’s feet to the floor. “Stand, please.”

“But, sugar…” Luca has already found a spare T-shirt from somewhere and is in the process of dropping his skirt to the floor—only to pause, his nose in the air.

“Oh, shit. Why do you smell worked up?”

“Jay,” Gideon says.

Jay is smiling at his phone, scrolling through photos from this past week—happy ones of Nix, the others, and even Tsuki.

He wishes he could let them ride this high, and if Jay’s reaction to Leo and Nix’s disappearance earlier in the week is any indication—but Gideon doesn’t have time to ease him into it.

“Hey, love. Meeting was good.” Jay’s face falls, and his eyes dart behind Gideon to the living room. “What is it?”

It doesn’t take him more than a heartbeat to figure out something is off. “Where is Nix?”

Scenting the air, he tracks Nix’s scent to the pile of blankets on the couch, and he tries to go upstairs, but Gideon saves him the trouble.

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