Page 27 of Tides of Fate

But despite their happiness, the general mood isoff.

And Rowan is surprised he didn’t notice it right away.

“What the fuck happened today?” Rowan asks, and he certainly doesn’t mean to ask it out loud, because Rowan likes to use his super observation powers to figure shit out on his own and not look like a doofus. Or risk the intense teasing.

But he has, and now everyone is looking at him—except the dog, who has begun chewing on the toe of Jay’s sock while Gideon glares daggers at its poor, defenseless head.

Shit. Maybe it’s because Rowan had been so focused on Nix that he hadn’t thought for a single second whether anyone else might not like the dog. Oops. Nothing he can do about it now, and with Nix so happy, they wouldn’t change a thing, anyway.

In an effort to move the attention away from himself, Rowan grabs the three large bags of puppy supplies he’d purchased at the big-box pet store. He kick-shoves the biggest bag of puppy food across the floor, then pulls out a giant navy dog bed with tiny little moons and stars on it. The puppy had Goldilocks’d the entire row of beds and chosen this one to be just right.

In the second bag, he pulls out a white, bedazzled dog harness for walking and a matching leash. She hadn’t had one when he’d taken her into the store with him, and all the sales clerks had been so impressed by how obedient she’d been. She’d followed him up and down the aisles, nosing at things she liked until he’d dropped them into the basket. One time, she’d even helped herself to a bag of tennis balls. It had been so cute to watch her drag it down the aisle all by herself that he couldn’t help but get it all on video for Nix later.

The third bag holds so many dog toys Rowan had lost count—including that bag of tennis balls. He drops it in front of Luca, who digs them out one by one, a few with raised eyebrows because, yup, they are hardly different from those found in Gideon’s toy cupboard, but are definitely not person-orifice safe (it says so on the packaging. Not that he looked).

Gideon must be thinking the same thing because his “Luca, no” is a warning to Luca not to get any ideas.

It’s then that Rowan realizes no one has answered his question. No one is looking at anyone else, and his wolf raises his nose at the discord. Rowan’s wolf is always searching for a crack in the pack’s harmony.

He’s never told anyone just how bad it gets. They know his wolf drives him hard, and there’s Gideon’s theory—that it’s The Goddess’s way of ensuring Jay’s wolf is earning his place enough to keep it.

Blah, blah, blah.

But since that day in the ICU when the wolf had tried his luck—and every day since—his wolf has wanted Nix for himself. It works constantly toconvince Rowan that his omega, his betas, and his alphas belong to him.

Rowan has kept him down for the most part, and Gideon’s training has served him well. But it’s a struggle every minute of every day, and it feels like it’s only getting worse.

Sure, Grayson gave good advice yesterday. Rowan can admit that. It all made sense when Grayson said Nix needs to rescue himself—so he can heal and be free of thinking he’d never have been enough.

Rowan had left the Art House feeling somewhat better after that, and while it had made sense at the time, his wolf still thinks it’s not entirely right.

Rowan hadn’t let himself think too much of it when Gideon had wrangled them into the nest for an early bedtime—which, sadly, had not included orgasms. He had fallen asleep listening to Gideon breathe on top of him and into his ear, his scent stormy and unsettled, while Finn talked about his dreams of taking care of Weres like Nix. The scent of his warm mates was safe and familiar, even if it wasn’t content.

Then today, he’d been distracted by his four-legged epiphany, the anticipation of Nix’s reaction, and maybe even the fantasy of gratitude-based sexy times.

But now, with his mates in obvious avoidance mode, Nix’s scent having faded down to a trickle, and Jay, Finn, and Grayson looking like they had just come home from a war…

Well, Rowan’s wolf thinks this is because Jay isn’t doing his job.

Their pack alpha is unsettled, unsure, and un-fucking-happy. He’s watching their omega play and laugh, but his eyes are far away, and his scent is smokey. When was the last time it had been a strong, fresh pine?

The wolf thinks maybe Rowan could make them happy—could make their scents full and sweet. It reminds him that Jay might be weakened and that there should be a changing of the guard.

It happens before Rowan can even blink because the wolf has just been biding its time.

The puppy and Nix are the first to hear him, unsurprisingly, because their ears are equally sensitive. The wolf has started a deep, rumblinggrowl, and Nix hands the puppy to Luca, concern and caution written on his beautiful face.

“Ro?”

The wolf doesn’t like that Nix sounds afraid—or that there is an absence of vanilla scent. It only ramps up his anxiety and anger.

When Nix is close enough, Rowan roughly pushes his omega behind himself, backing them both toward the kitchen and away from Finn and Grayson.

His two nearest mates are lovers, not fighters, and the wolf isn’t concerned about them, even though Finn mumbles, “Crap. What set him off?”

Jay has climbed to his feet with Gideon by his side, and Rowan’s wolf wants to howl with glee at the thought that he stands between them and his omega. Gideon will come around when he sees that Jay is too weak to protect them.

It hurts so much when he thinks it, but the wolf holds the pain down and bares his teeth.

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