Page 34 of Darkness Echoes (Echoes of Eternity #1)

Gideon closes the oven on the dinner rolls he’d cobbled together from the surprisingly well-stocked safe house pantry. It took him a while to get used to the difference in basic ingredients, but Gideon has always enjoyed a challenge. It reminds him, again, that maybe he needs a new venture.

Quest is even more successful under Maureen’s management than it had been under his sole control, even if Gideon still manages the menus with Elias. But Maureen has vision, determination, and the talent to back it up, and it’s making Gideon more money than he truly needs.

Where Quest had once been the center of his world—before Luca and the others saved him from years of waiting—it has become easier to let his more-than-competent staff, and dare he say, friends , take on more of the day-to-day tasks.

Perhaps it’s time to partner with the others at Quest. Maureen had balked when he’d offered in the fall, but maybe it’s time for him to do for Maureen and Elias what Oscar and his mate had done for him when he started.

Just thinking about the older couple who had saved him makes him smile.

They’d been surprised to receive his letter and check last year, and the Rhodes Pack wouldn’t miss a few hundred thousand dollars. It was a small price to pay for their faith in him all those years ago, though it was a return on their investment.

No more, no less.

Besides, there are so many new adventures waiting. The possibility of creating a new place might give him more opportunity to make something closer to his roots—like cooking with his family and other families in mind .

A heavy thud shakes the glass door to the pool deck, rattling it in its frame, startling Gideon so that the dish he’s washing slips from his hands into the sink.

Another slam, harder this time, echoes through the house, followed by vicious growling. His gaze snaps to the glass door just in time to see Rowan yanked backward into the pool, still fully clothed—shoes and all.

It might have been funny if it weren’t the only way they could slow him down and if Leo weren’t expending his every last bit of strength and energy to do it.

Gideon hadn’t been kidding when he’d told Jay that Finn insisted they couldn’t tranq Rowan so soon after the last time. So this is it. Finn is watching from the sidelines, just in case Leo needs an extra hand or someone gets hurt.

The moment Nix had left with Jay, and Rowan had counted to the usual two thousand in several languages at once, he’d bounded to his feet and made for the door. No matter how they’d tried to reason with him, he’d wanted his omega, and he wouldn’t be persuaded otherwise.

The young alpha had even employed cunning instead of brute force at one point, convincing his appointed babysitters that he only needed fresh air, only for Finn to spot him trying to scale the back fence into the neighbor’s yard.

Leo had tackled him into the pool, and that’s where they’d stayed, wrestling and facing off the entire time. The beta was strong, but not enigma-strong, and certainly not Rowan-strong, yet it seemed to work, regardless.

When Gideon had checked in, Finn had whispered that he thought Leo was winning more contests because Rowan must be pulling his punches and because Leo was a better swimmer.

The water was most likely giving him a much-needed edge in keeping Rowan occupied.

Gideon just hoped Leo could keep it up, or he’d have to get wet and employ his own, less swimmy tactics.

The security system at the front door beeps, and Finn has ten seconds to open the glass door to let Rowan in as he vaults over Leo’s head and onto his feet on the side of the pool.

Ah, pulling his punches, then .

At least they know now that he can keep the wolf under control enough that he recognizes his other mates.

“Rowan! You are soaking wet and cold. Strip off or you’ll soak him!”

Rowan freezes and starts tearing his clothes off, getting hamstrung by his shoelaces.

He’s hopping and slipping around so much that Gideon has to spare a chuckle because his mate is magnificently naked but looks foolish, hopping up and down in a single magenta sneaker, dick out and flopping around like a wrinkly fish.

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 hungry now ,” 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 on laundry-versus-nest decisions in the corner of the room.

In response, Nix runs a hand through Grayson’s long hair to offer some comfort or to gain some, it’s hard to tell.

“Hayes didn’t like my MeeMaw. Said she was an interfering bitch. Can you imagine?” He shakes his head. “I mean, she was , but I think I can say the dislike was mutual. She said Hayes was no good. Guess she was right, eh?” He whispers the last part and runs both hands over his belly.

“Anyway,” he rallies a little and starts the story again. “He told me to cut ties, and I was afraid she’d say, ‘I told you so, Austin,’ so I did. I’m not even sure she’s still alive, you know? And she probably wouldn’t want to—” He stops and shakes his head.

Nix told Gideon recently that he’s trying not to hear Hayes in the words he says to himself. There’s no doubt that it’s one of the hardest parts of healing—of doing the work.

Gideon can’t relate as more often than not, it’s his own voice he hears when he fucks up.

“I can find her for you?” Finn offers, sitting next Grayson and pulling Nix’s soft legs over his lap.

The room is flooded with vanilla, then burnt cookies, then back to sweet vanilla until Nix just sucks it right up.

Grayson growls and presses his nose under Nix’s ear. “Angel, just think about it. No pressure.” He glances at Finn. “Right, Finn?”