After that, they take turns in the shower before getting the nest set up and the laundry finished.
Gideon carefully keeps anything he and his “team” will be wearing to confront Carnell out of Jay’s scent’s reach, so as not to tip Carnell off to Jay’s survival.
Luca isn’t happy about it—or about living with the consequences of his actions from the afternoon. Whining and grumbling, until finally Rowan scruffs him by the neck and scents him so hard that the beta settles in a dopey daze.
It’s the early hours of the morning by the time they all quiet down and Gideon checks the locks one last time.
He climbs over Jay and slips in between Finn and Jay, causing the other alpha to grumble.
“My turn, puppy. Go back to sleep.”
When he’s finally quiet, Jay pulls him closer, pressing his nose into his soft, wavy hair and breathing deeply of rainstorms and the outdoors.
“You promise, right?”
It takes him a minute to catch up, his mind having wandered to phoenixes, teleportation, and how Grayson had known Rowan was going to fall—or how he got there in time. And being grateful he had. Jay realizes he’s talking about his promise from this afternoon.
“I do.”
Gideon traces a heart pattern on Jay’s belly, over and over, and it’s enough for both of them to finally fall asleep.
**
It can’t be more than a few hours later before Grayson jerks awake, wide-eyed, with a hand pressed to his chest. Nix isn’t far behind him, smelling of angry burnt sugar and wearing a look of disgust.
“Gray?” Leo asks, eyes wide with residual adrenaline.
“I—we saw Withers,” Grayson growls.
Rowan gets up and returns with two glasses of water and the rest of the chocolate chips. He takes a handful before handing the bag to Leo so he can pop them one by one into Nix’s mouth.
“You traveled?”
“He was out by the beach, behind that big place I saw him and Carnell last time. He was…fuck.
“He was hurting someone else. I tried to stop him, but it doesn’t work like that.” Grayson takes a few chips from Leo’s hand and then drops them, shaking his head. “Makes me sick.”
Fucking parasite. Jay is looking forward to meeting him in person.
“It wasn’t Winnie or Ansel,” Nix says. “But it was terrible. It looked like it hurt.”
Luca pulls their omega closer and kisses his cheek.
Growling, Gideon gets out of bed so he can pull his pants on. “Did he see you?”
Grayson nods. “He said: There you are. Come and get me, Hot-stuff. I’ll be waiting.”
22
The Black King Commands (Leo)
“Leo, your smile is a little off-putting, considering you’re dressed for a funeral and plotting murder,” Rowan says, as he sits on the side of the nest and ties his black sneakers.
No small amount of envy burns as Leo eyes Rowan’s footwear—his leather dress shoes pinch, no matter how high-end.
His poor feet miss his beat-up Nikes at home.
Unlike Rowan, who hoards sneakers like dragons hoard gold, he owns eight pairs of shoes and wears three. Four, if you count funerals.
