Page 110 of Tides of Fate

“What the fuck is going on?” Jay chokes out. The magnitude of what this might mean for them is overwhelming. How far could a man like Patrick Carnell reach? Jay knows it’s farther than they have planned for, that’s for damned sure.

“Jay.” Calm now where he hadn’t been just minutes before, Gideon’s voice is steady. When Jay doesn’t move, Gideon crosses the room and kneels in front of him, prying Jay’s hands from his hair.

“You were right,” Gideon says, voice low, rough with exhaustion. “We can’t do this tonight. We’re safe for now. You have to believe that.”

Jay exhales sharply, dropping his forehead to Gideon’s shoulder. He feels Gideon sigh, and then a warm hand drifts up to his neck, fingers threading into his hair.

I trust you,Jay says to himself. And Gideon should know that hasn’t changed, “I trustyou.”

A rueful small flickers across Gideon’s full mouth before he smiles. “Then we’ll worry about Hayes, Patrick Carnell, and anything else tomorrow.”

Gideon throws the blankets back on the bed before climbing in, and Jay can only follow—like he always has. The thought makes him smile because it’s accurate. Jay leads their pack, but more often than not, Gideon leads Jay.

And boy, is he grateful for it.

It might seem strange at first that the tables have turned and Gideon is now comforting him, but it’s always been Gideon’s way.

“Sleep, Alpha.”

Fatigue wars with his wolf’s desire to check on his mates, so Jay focuses on the gentle hand in his hair.

The soft scent of summer rain soothes away most of Jay’s fearful smoky pine. His partner’s deep breathing under his cheek showed Jay that whatever guilt had driven him into the bathroom earlier was quiet—for the moment.

Maybe he’s feeling relief at having shared his worries about Carnell’s potential plans. Maybe he’s doing what he always does when Jay or his other mates need him—showing them that he will stand in the way of anyone who comes for their family. It all goes a long way to settling Jay toward sleep.

Gideon thinks he has to do good things tobegood, but Jay believes it’s the other way around: Gideon does good things because heisgood. Even if it takes a lifetime, Jay vows he’ll make sure his mate knows the difference.

***

It feels like only twenty minutes have passed instead of four hours. The door slams open so hard it rattles the wall. After the previous night’s revelations, it’s no surprise that the abrupt noise sends his wolf into high alert. In seconds, Jay is crouched on the bed, fangs down and claws out,ready to defend his sleeping mate. His natural-born weapons retreat only when he sees Luca, who, for once, is wearing pants.

Well, fuck. That bodes ill.

“Sugar! Jaybird! Lauren and Frankie are here. Hurry, you gotta see!”

And just like that, he’s gone, leaving the door wide open.

Jay hears his mothers-in-law speaking in the living room, their voices carrying through the open doorway. No call came through from security? Picking up his phone, he sees it’s well past dawn. Fuck. How had he slept through that?

“Gid.” Jay nudges Gideon, who is surely faking it. “I’m not going down by myself.”

Frankie has always loved Jay.

But Lauren? Whew. She’s intimidating, effortlessly superior, and makes Jay feel like he’s not at all deserving of her son, Leo.

“I’m sick. No, wait…I’m hurt. Yeah, my shoulder is hurting. Must stay in bed until they go.” Gideon fake coughs for good measure.

Standing at the foot of the bed, Jay pulls the covers off in much the same way he had last night.

“Please?” he whines with an exaggerated pout.

Gideon’s grimace is comical as he groans. “Ew. Okay. I will get up and beard that lion in our den if you promise never to do that again.”

Gideon pokes Jay in the chest as he passes, then takes his stunning ass to the closet and returns with the most offensive T-shirt Jay owns—a mustard yellow monstrosity with “Fuck You” printed in ten different languages—and a pair of boxers so small they can only be Luca’s.

“No. Gideon—come on. Why do you make this worse for yourself?”For me,Jay whines to himself.

“Better hurry up, Alpha. Can’t leave your mothers-in-law waiting,” Gideon says as he disappears out the door.

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