Page 17

Lauren had arranged the two big black SUVs, and they were a classically safe choice, large enough to carry four mates each and all their luggage.

While Gideon and Grayson had thoughtfully restricted themselves to a single duffle, the others, including himself, had gone a little overboard.

Luca had packed two full bags, and given that he only ever wore half an outfit at any given moment, it gave Jay pause about what might be in those two large bags.

Even after Gideon’s lecture to Rowan about safety, Jay feels strange driving in his old city after so long, though he soon falls into old habits. It should be a fairly simple drive straight up the Bayside Bridge rather than the side streets.

It was immediately nostalgic and brought to mind the last time he’d ridden this route with his father in the driver’s seat and his mother talking non-stop about all the places he should look up while he was in Nashville.

He’d done nothing of the sort, given he’d been in an alpha hotel, then his apartment, and finally in an enigma detention cell, overwrought with grief.

And after that, he just hadn’t cared enough about anything for a long time.

But if he pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind, Jay can feel more than the sadness that colors the edges of all the bad memories. He lets some of those golden ones—the ones that he’d been talking about more and more with Nix—settle in the forefront.

“Good, Baby Boy?” he asks, one eye on the rearview image of his happy, vanilla-bread-scented mate.

“I’m good, Jamie. I…if we can, do you think we can drive by my old place? Maybe see some of the other places we used to go? I feel like those memories are a dream.”

Jay understands what he’s saying; so many recent memories have overshadowed the old ones, and it’s hard to recall the smallest and happiest of details. Jay would hate for his beloved to be disappointed, though, because time changes more than people.

“It might not be the same, you know?”

“Yeah, of course. Only if we have time,” Nix murmurs.

“We’ll make time. We didn’t come all this way to murder someone and not see your favorite spots.”

Luca makes “serious eyes” at Jay, warning him to keep his negativity to himself.

“We will make time. Luca is right.” Jay’s rewarded with a sunshine smile. “But maybe keep the talk of murder on the down-low, okay?”

They both roll their eyes, and Rowan scoffs. “Yeah, good idea.”

When they finally exit the highway onto the side streets headed toward the coast, Jay can still see Gideon in his rearview mirror.

He can almost taste the Cigar City beer he’s going to enjoy on the balcony overlooking the bay. They had been fortunate that their rental faced the water and the gorgeous marina, according to Finn.

Fifteen minutes out, Jay turns into a roundabout, and a large white van comes up on their right side.

“Hey!” Rowan shouts, rolling down the window. “Too fucking close, jackass!” follows, because the van is preventing them from making his exit.

He expects the white van to make a turn, but it follows them around on the outside, edging inwards and forcing their vehicle to over-correct or hit the center median.

The unpredictable behavior puts Jay’s wolf on guard. Taking it for the warning it is, Jay lets his protective irritation surge, heightening his instincts, making it easy to evaluate the whole scene in his mind.

This van is a definite threat, but Nix is sending something intense and galvanizing along his bond, and it bolsters him enough to have a moment of clarity .

When he brakes suddenly, the white van tries to follow suit, forcing their vehicle to nick the back end as they take the next exit at a higher speed than Jay would normally prefer, but still the white van—and thankfully, Gideon—follow suit.

“Rowan, find me the closest police station. Nix, get Leo on the phone, please. You okay there, Baby?”

He checks Luca in the rearview mirror and feels his warm hand on his neck.

“A-ok.”

“Good boy.”

“Next left,” Rowan says, a gravel in his tone that Jay rarely hears, and it’s followed by the ominous sound of his mate’s claws gouging into the plastic dash.

Following Rowan’s instructions, they take the next right, with the white van still in between them and Gideon’s vehicle.

He hears the call connect on Nix’s phone, but no one speaks for a moment.

“Leo?”

“What the fuck is going on?”

His normally unflappable Leo sounds freaked out, and it unsettles Luca even further.

In the rearview mirror, Nix grits his jaw, pressing Luca’s face into his neck. He’s trying to soothe their sensitive beta, but the burnt coffee smell still burns Jay’s nose.

The slick roads make for treacherous driving conditions, especially with the SUV traveling at 50 mph on the city’s side streets, but he can’t risk slowing down.

“Fuck if I know. Stay back, though. I don’t want them to decide they’d rather take you instead.”

There’s a growl in response, and Jay knows Gideon has no intention of backing off. Jay can’t say he’s surprised.

Like the other driver can sense Jay’s momentarily worried distraction, the van pulls up close behind them, as if they are trying to get enough guts to either pass against traffic or hit them from behind .

The van’s occupants don’t seem to want to harm them—maybe just intimidate them and force them onto the shoulder or into a driveway.

Still, time seems to slow down as the van hits them from behind. But Jay holds firm and presses down on the accelerator, increasing the distance between them in an effort to break away.

It doesn’t deter them, and they hit them harder a second time, causing Luca to squeak and Nix to take up growling.

There’s that eerie blue glow illuminating the interior of the SUV.

“Whatever you’re thinking, Nix, the answer is no.”

Jay allows himself a brief mental vision of his fierce omega opening the door and climbing atop the roof so he can jump on the hood of the van and rip the occupants’ limbs off before he shuts it down.

“Remember our babies, yeah?”

“Fine,” he grumbles, and the blue light fades, but he sucks his scent up, creating a vacuum that makes Rowan bang his head gently on the window a few times in agitation.

He needs to get his baby enigma back in the game. “What’s next, Rowan?”

“Fuck, okay. Shit, the app says we’re coming up on a strip of construction, so there’s a traffic delay. What are we going to do?”

The white van bumps the SUV from behind, this time hard enough to cause them to swerve into oncoming traffic, narrowly missing a head-on collision with a transport truck.

“Fuck!”

Whoever is in the van is not letting traffic or bystanders deter them, and if they stop the SUV, there’s no telling what they’ll do to get what—or who—they want. Jay will be damned if he’s going to make it easy.

“We’re ready, Jamie. Just do what you need to do. Right, Luca?”

“Right,” Luca whispers, clearly uncertain if he means it.

“Hang on. When we stop, Rowan, get them out and run. You hear that, Leo? Nix, I mean it. You run and take care of Luca.”

Miraculously, the traffic never slows. There is no construction, and they hit two more green lights with no traffic, as they keep moving at top speed to the police station .

Jay takes the corner into the parking lot way too hard, slamming on the brakes directly in front of the building. “Go!”

The three of them are out of the SUV and running inside the building just as he’d asked, in mere seconds, as Jay watches the white van speed past—this time with Gideon on their tail.

“For fuck’s sake.”

He’d been so worried about his omega warrior, he’d forgotten to be worried about what Gideon might do.

He dials Finn. “Call him off, Finn. Gideon! I know you can hear me. Stop. We’ll be ready next time.”

There’s growling and muted arguing, and then silence.

Finn comes back on. “We’ll see you soon.”

“No, don’t come here. Head back to that mall we passed a few minutes ago. Dump the truck, and stay there until I can come. Going dark—no phones. And Finn?”

“Mmm?”

“It’s going to be okay. Just…”

“Don’t let Gideon out of my sight. Got it. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Jay abruptly disconnects when he hears a gruff voice laced with skepticism. “Mr. Rhodes?”

Two uniformed state troopers are standing with Nix and Luca, their postures stiff and their gazes sharp. One, a tall man with a thick mustache, folds his arms over his chest and looks Jay up and down, his expression unreadable but far from friendly.

The shorter one glances at Rowan, who is pacing with barely contained fury, the air around him spiked with an almost tangible heat that makes the officer’s jaw clench.

“Your…uh, husband,” the taller one says, his tone weighted with disdain, “claims you were chased by a white van. Are you sure about that?”

The taller of the officers steps up to the side of the Escalade, his gaze lingering on the fresh scrapes of white paint along the rear fender. He squats down, running a hand over the damage with exaggerated slowness, then stands and looks back at Jay with a faint smirk.

“Sideswiped a van, huh?”

The other officer snaps photos of the damage, but his movements are perfunctory, as if he’s already made up his mind.

“Sure, we can file a report, but this sounds like it might’ve been more…driver error than a chase.”

Swallowing his irritation, Jay tries to keep his tone even. “Thank you, officers. I’ll just make sure my family is okay first, if that’s alright?”

The taller officer snorts. “Yeah, yeah, take your time. Doesn’t change what’s on the record.”

Jay pulls Nix close, letting the frantic thrum of Nix’s heart and the solid weight of their babies pressed against his belly anchor him, calming the frustration threatening to bubble over. He doesn’t have time for their crap. Protecting his mate and family comes first.

“Are you okay? I told them to dump the SUV at the mall, back the way we came. Phones off and in lockdown mode. Hang tight in the lobby with Rowan and Luca.”