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Wisely, Gideon keeps that to himself.

The rest of Gideon’s mates arrive like a sad parade, sending his stomach to his toes. If there’s one thing Gideon can’t get used to, it’s seeing kitten cry. Since the day Nix found the inner strength to face his abuser, it’s as if some long-closed dam of tears has been opened.

Where he once admitted to not crying for years—aside from that brief burst at the hospital—Nix now finds himself tearful when he’s happy, when he’s angry, and especially when his soft heart has been bruised. Seeing tears on those soft cheeks and in those gray eyes, brimming with sadness, makes Gideon’s wolf rear up and roar, ready to join Rowan in hunting the perpetrators down.

Has someone been cruel?

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they were going by the Rena’s old home. Maybe the new owners had made too many changes, and now his memories would never be the same.

Gideon could relate.

The land and cottage where he’d been living with his mother still stands abandoned, and no matter how many times he’d set foot in the mountains, he hadn’t been able to find the courage to visit. Despite talk of building something there last fall, he couldn’t bring himself to think of her place when Carnell occupied his every waking minute. It seemed sacrilegious.

Maybe the new owners hadn’t changed a thing and a new family lived where kitten should have been for the last ten years. Same walls and carpets,just different family photos and cars in the driveway. He is heartbroken for his softhearted mate and starts up a deep growl, claws digging into his palms deep enough to draw blood.

“Would everyone just calm the fuck down? I am tired of this alpha shit,” Luca says loudly and then softens his tone. “Nixie is okay. Aren’t you, Baby?”

Nix nods his head without lifting it from Grayson’s shoulder. He clings tightly to Grayson as the alpha settles them both on the couch, with Nix sitting sideways on his lap.

Shaking himself like a wet dog—wet hair flinging pool water on Finn, who had made the mistake of getting too close—Rowan slips behind the back of the couch. He sticks what is most likely a freezing cold nose into the top of Nix’s head, while Luca disappears for towels.

“I’m okay, Rowan. The babies are hungry, though.”

Washing his hands in the sink, Gideon watches the blood flow down the drain. He then pulls out bowls and placemats, so he can push them over the island toward Finn.

“What happened?” Leo asks, dropping his wet clothing on the lanai and accepting a towel from the stack Luca sets on the piano bench nearby.

Rowan heads—wet and naked—into the kitchen and begins lifting lids and opening the oven so he can get a noseful of the delicious beef stew Gideon has made to accompany the homemade bread rolls.

“Ya! Out of there. It’s almost ready. Fifteen minutes.”

“They’re hungrynow,” he whines like he hadn’t been in uber-alpha mode for the last hour.

Gideon throws him a banana. “Try that.”

“What happened?” Rowan repeats and opens the peel to break off bite-sized pieces for their mate.

He’s happy that at least he’s not chewing it for Nix first.

Sitting heavily on the only chair in the room, Jay rubs a hand over his face. “Nix’s grandma didn’t sell their place.”

Gideon’s heart soars for his mate. A place to call his own—steeped in family history, a sanctuary just for him. Gideon knows what that feels like,even if he can’t bear to think about it right now.

But knowing it’s there, waiting for him when he’s finally ready, anchors him when life feels like a runaway train.

“You didn’t go inside, though, did you?” Finn asks in an uncharacteristically protective tone. “We don’t know if it’s safe or if there has been anyone in it over the last ten years. We’ll need an inspection and a security team to swee–”

“That’s enough for now. Nix just has the keys. He’ll want to talk to Mrs. Stavros, the neighbor, again tomorrow.”

“You’re right. Sorry. Hey…Nix. You never said what happened to your grandmother?” Finn asks instead.

Nix lets Rowan put the last of the banana in his mouth and accepts the glass of chocolate milk.

Rowan is still naked, and Gideon will be damned if he goes to the table like that. Again.

“Go cover your dick,” Gideon whispers, careful not to interrupt Nix, who is rifling through some of the hardest parts of his past.

Rowan rolls his eyes and grabs something from the bag of clothing still waiting onlaundry-versus-nestdecisions in the corner of the room.