Page 99 of Tides of Fate

“Ooh, Rhodes’s bitch can throw a punch. Won’t matter by the time we’re done. We’ll beat that out of you soon enough.”

It’s then that Gideon sees Nix turn his mind inward and let his wolf out. His blows are harder, faster, and connect twice as often. Instead of staying on the defense, Nix is driving the intruder backward in close combat.

In a last-ditch effort to gain the upper hand, Dill Pickle goes low and takes Nix to the ground beneath him. Gideon knows from experience that it hurts like a bitch—no air in your lungs and the agony of impact along your spine. But this is what they’ve practiced, day after day, takedown after takedown.

In the next instant, Nix digs both hands into his opponent’s sides, claws ripping chunks of flesh free as Dill Pickle screams. It’s exactly as he and Gideon had drilled, but instead of getting out right away, Nix flips their positions, reaches into Dill Pickle’s chest, and rips his sputtering heart out.

“Who’s the bitch now?” he growls.

Gideon doesn’t dare breathe.

Nix is magnificent in the moonlight, hands dripping with blood, holding the heart of his vanquished enemy in protection of himself and his pack. It sings in Gideon’s soul, and it’s enough to draw his entire pack down the driveway at a run.

“That. Was. EPIC!” Luca yells, launching into a victory dance, complete with fist pumps and hip thrusts. “Ooh yeah. Ooh yeah.”

Leo kneels on the asphalt and brushes the hair from Gideon’s face, gently un-sticking clumps of hair matted with drying blood. The pulling adds insult to injury, so Gideon bats his fussing mate’s hands away. “Leave off, Leo. Ow.” But he magnanimously accepts the kisses pressed to his cheeks and forehead.

Nix remains seated on Dill Pickle’s now-empty chest while Jay standsnearby, uncertainty etched into every tense line of his body. He clears his throat to get Nix’s attention, but instead of seeking comfort from their alpha, Nix moves to kneel beside Gideon, resting a gentle, grounding hand on his chest.

Someone quiets Luca, and the group falls silent.

“Mine,” Nix growls, his wolf still close to the surface. His blue eyes glow, and that voice sends a fresh shiver down Gideon’s spine.

“Yes. I’m yours. Can you come back to me now? The bad guy isn’t going to hurt me anymore.” Gideon presses Nix’s hand more firmly to his chest with his good hand. “Okay? Come back to us, kitten.”

His blue eyes fade away first, and then, in a blink, his fangs and claws follow suit.“Oh, Goddess. What did I do?”

“Well,” Rowan drawls, “looks like the pizza guy wasn’t a pizza guy.” He gives the body a kick, looking put out—probably because he missed out on the fun parts.

“Not at all,” Grayson says. “We saw the whole thing once Nix’s bonds started flaring up.”

Leo pushes Rowan away in case he decides he’s going to do something unforgivable—like pee on the dead guy. He nudges the body with a toe. “But what are we going to do with a body?”

They’re close to the road, and although the estates are isolated, it won’t be long before someone drives by.

Gideon will take the heat from the cops, as Were laws are pretty clear on self-defense, defense of a mate, and defense of property. If Dill Pickle had a pack, though, it could get dicier.

And there’s no way they can let their omega spend a night in jail—especially with a court date looming.

Luca squeezes in between Nix and Gideon so he can kiss whatever pieces of skin look bruised or broken.“Are you okay, Nix?”

Nix just melts into them, his hands slipping under Gideon’s shirt, kneading like the kitten he is while he licks at Gideon’s bond on Luca’s neck.

Tsuki arrives soon after from wherever she’d gone and sits quietly by Jay’sfeet, hardly fazed by her people, the dead guy, or Luca’s bare ass glowing under the moonlight.

Just then, Rowan lifts his nose in the air and speaks up with a frown.“Hey, that guy is ‘dill pickle’ from earlier.”

Yeah, Gideon knows.

Chapter Eighteen: Gideon

“This is going to hurt,” Finn warns him before shoving Gideon’s shoulder back into its socket.

It does. It hurts like a bitch, and he’s the only one who doesn’t flinch.

Gideon learned early that making a fuss about pain only got you more of the same. Patrick Carnell had taught him that life is pain, and the sooner you accepted that it was unavoidable, the better you’d be at teaching the lesson to others.

So Gideon had learnedbothlessons, and he’d learned them well.

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