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Where would Gideon get such a thing? The idea of a microchip is ludicrous; surely it’s just Gideon’s rampant paranoia.

“It just blew up ten minutes ago,” Gideon defends.

“To be fair, you’ve had them in your bag since yesterday,” Leo mutters.

Gideon casts an annoyed look at Leo, because that is not helping to diminish the squawks and groans from his mates.

Jay crosses his arms and sits on the arm of the couch. “Hear him out. Luca, we don’t jump all over each other like this, eh? We listen and then we decide as a group. We’re a team and a family.”

Grayson agrees.

Luca rarely ever goes against Gideon, but there’s no doubt he is spitting mad; scent like burnt coffee and his cheeks a fiery pink.

“Fine. Talk, but I’m not changing my mind.”

Gideon sighs before jumping in with both feet. “Lauren included these in the truck for a reason. They’re name-coded and they’re formulated for our physiology. No, don’t ask me how.” He holds up a hand. “Her methods outpace even my brain. I’m only glad they do.”

“But why do we need them? We’re together, and that’s not going to change, no matter what my mother thinks.”

“Leo, I think that’s why she’s worried. What if we are separated…what if it’s against our will?” Gideon asks.

Luca rolls his eyes dramatically. “Oh, please. We’ve been watching too many spy shows, and now you’re just looking for drama.”

“Tell me why this is pressing your buttons,” Gideon sighs.

It’s unsettling to see Luca untangle himself from Nix and face off against his soulmate.

Grayson feels a mirrored pain from Nix under his sternum.

“You know why, Gideon. My father had me tracked; oh, not with anything as fancy as that, but I was constantly watched. Where was I going? Who was I seeing? Every damn minute of my life before I was fifteen. I swore to myself that if I ever broke free, I was going to stay that way. I choose who knows where I am. Me!” Luca shouts the last part.

“Luc, we’re trying to protect you, not restrict you,” Jay says, placating.

“Fuck you. That’s what he said, too. Before he locked me in my room for three days, so that I could remember who got to decide where I went.”

“I hate that fucker,” Rowan growls. “But, Baby, we always know where you are already. Our phones are on the security app, or you tell us. How is this different?”

Rowan is genuinely confused, but Grayson gets it.

“He’s saying that he gets to give consent every single time. It’s not something we choose for him. If he wants to turn his phone off, he can. It’s up to him.”

Grayson understands Luca’s sentiment exactly. Their family agrees to the app and all it entails, but they can rescind that at any time, as Gideon has proven over the last few months.

Luca points at Grayson. “Exactly. I choose. I’m not going to be chipped like a wayward pet that you can track at your convenience. You can’t make me.”

Grayson can’t argue with that, as the thought of something under his skin makes the wolf twitchy. “Gid, you need to make us understandwhy you think this is necessary. We were on the offensive on the plane here, remember? Our quest to end him and then get on with the ‘Happily Ever After.’ Why this, why now?”

Gideon frowns and looks to Leo, then to Luca.

Grayson can’t figure out why he’s so reluctant until Gideon speaks.

“When I was six, my father put a gun in my hand. He wanted to be sure I could handle it.” He laughs bitterly. “Oh, not the gun itself, but the use of it. And you know what?”

Leo stands up in protest.

“I did.”

“Gid—”