Gideon’s eyes cut to him. “Kitten.”
Nix grins. “Yes,sir?”
Finn exhales, long-suffering, and closes his med bag with a snap. “We’re going to the hospital.”
Leo’s eyes widen in horror. “No.”
Finn’s gaze goes flat. “Yes.”
Jay’s arm tightens around Grayson, steady and unyielding, and his voice drops into Grayson’s ear like a vow.
“Let them try again,” Jay murmurs, quiet as a knife. “Next time, we won’t be so polite.”
Grayson’s wolf bares its teeth in agreement, but not in triumph. They didn’t win. Not really.
Whoever they were may have retreated, but now they knew what he was capable of. They knew he had been hiding the full extent of his power—and what he was willing to do to protect himself and his family.
The ball is in their court, and now all they can do is wait.
Grayson
He hits the bottom of the driveway at the wrought-iron gate and drags for air while sunrise lifts over the trees lining their quiet street. Nearby, the flower boxes are dressed for the season, copper mums tumbling over the edges of the giant planters in a spill of burnished light that smells like autumn.Of course, Leo has outdone himself this year.
Last year, he and Leo had worked together to make them beautiful, but this year, Grayson had been stuck in a classroom, and Leo had made the trek to the flower markets and greenhouses alone. It was a first since they moved in…and hopefully it will be the last. He just hopes it’s not because he’ll be in the mountains four thousand miles away.
Grayson keys in the code, slips through the side door, and jogs up the drive. He’s surprised Jay isn’t waiting on the porch, ready to blast him for being out without him. He’d almost been kidnapped yesterday, and here he is, running around Nashville alone…well, mostly. He throws a wave at the lone Sentinel guard, still catching his breath at the end of the drive. Poor guy had settled into a rhythm ten feet behind him for Grayson’s fifteen-mile run at top speed.
Driven from the nest by his anxiety before the sun was up, he’d managed to escape long talks and sympathy long enough to run off some of his worry and hopefully clear his head.
A matte black van is parked, sitting just outside the front door of the house. Its doors stand wide open with the kids’ car seats already buckled in. It’s weird, since they’ll be with their grandparents here at home while the pack is at the tribunal this afternoon.
From inside the house comes the kind of noise that means either someone has died or is going to. The front door opens before Grayson reaches it, and Tsuki barrels out with her leash in her jaws, tail helicoptering, shoulders quivering like a sprinter on a block. She drops the leash into Grayson’s palm and turns to stare at him as if to say,Where have you been?And maybe a little ofWhy didn’t you take me along?
Inside is a storm. Jay is crouching by the bench in the foyer, tying Skye’s laces and murmuring the little rhyme Luca taught them. “Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree…”
A small backpack sits open beside him, and they’re loaded with the efficiency only Finn, Gideon, or Jay can manage: water bottle, coloring books and crayons, and the well-loved copies ofThe Hundred Acre WoodandPurple PeoplethatSkye loves best. His Pooh Bear is tucked under one arm, with his tiny headphones covering his ears. Despite the noise, he’s as serene as a monk.
Jay kisses the top of his head and says, “You can be my helper today, yeah? Hey, pretty, ribs okay?”
He looks like he’s gearing up for something more when Rowan rounds the corner from the kitchen, both babies strapped to his chest—Rosie facing in, Mari facing out—and an apple gripped in his teeth while he adjusts a buckle. Mari waves a pale yellow sock like a flag while she squeals at the top of her lungs. It doesn’t faze her sister sleeping three inches away, two tiny fingers in her rosebud mouth.
Rowan chews, swallows, and says, “‘Bout time. Get a move on, or Gid is going to blow a gasket.”
“I heard that, Foster!” Gideon shouts from the kitchen. “You’ll be the one blowing—”
Where Grayson had expected his pack to be moping, pacing, and avoiding Gideon’s impotent slamming of pots in the kitchen,thisis not that. “What the fuck is going on?”
Finn scuttles past with a stack of first editions and two navy blue journals hugged to his chest. Notably, they’re gifts he’s received from family members. He nearly collides with the cat carrier in the hallway, where two angry yellow eyes glower from behind bars, affronted at the concept of sudden travel. Domino is the epitome of an inside cat, and he’s only ever been in the carrier on the way to see the villainous vet.
Another carrier shows Doodle staring eagerly at the open door as if she would happily accompany them into the wide unknown or go on her own if she could just get them to leave the door open for ten seconds.
Luca’s voice floats in from upstairs: “I’m not apologizing for that, Costas. You should know better than to try to pull that shit in the shower with a concussion. Sit down before you fall down.”
There’s an ominous thudding on the stairs, and he appears a second later, lugging a clear storage bin overflowing with nesting materials, three sweaters draped over one shoulder, and absolutely no pants. He looks like a man on a mission.
“Ooh, yummy, my favorite…sweaty Gray—” He takes a single step toward Grayson, but stops just short of touching distance. “No, Luca, no. We do not have time.” He licks his lips, eyebrows waggling. There’s no doubt he could be persuaded despite the mysterious time constraints.
When Grayson stands there looking stupefied, he sighs. “Hey, does anyone know where my Uggs are?” he asks the room at large. “Do not say ‘where you left them,’ that’s a lie.”
