Page 16

Instead of texting, Logan Frost arrives in under an hour, with a vaguely smug Arlo right behind him.

The big alpha has a bit of a bruise on his jaw, and his lips are red, but Gideon doesn’t comment like he might have on any other occasion.

The former Were Secret Service agent is usually quite jovial, and no one loves PDA more than Logan—except maybe his mate, Baz.

But now, he’s got his intimidating business face on.

Arlo is once again dressed like he’s touring the Arctic in January. The mountain of clothes he’s wearing smells of the Kennedy pack, and it looks like a walking nest.

His own scent, one of peaches, is almost completely overwhelmed by the smell of baking dinner rolls. It is so strong that Gideon has the never-before-experienced, overwhelming urge to placate another alpha’s mate.

Jay is immobilized, his nose in the air and a dazed look on his face, which Leo—thankfully—heads off at the pass.

Staring at another alpha’s pregnant mate is a surefire way to cause an immediate negative reaction—especially if Logan is even half as protective as Jay.

Logan has puffed himself up, standing bigger and broader so that he can shield his omega behind him.

It’s probably best if they get on with it if they don’t want an unintentional showdown.

“Thanks for coming, guys. Sorry to pull you away from home, Arlo.”

He leads them into the kitchen, where Leo has dragged Jay, and they are once again watching the footage from the break-in.

“No problem. Show me what you’ve got,” Logan says.

The five of them watch the intruders come in and out of the Rhodes’s residence until Jay has had enough, walking away to drop onto the couch with a growl.

“Okay. Well. As I’m sure you’ve realized, those aren’t amateurs. I’d say ex-military ops of some kind, right? What do you think, babe? More than your run-of-the-mill guy off the street.”

Arlo runs the footage back and then offers, “Indeed. I’d say special forces. It’s the boots. Also, they had the codes for sure,” the omega confirms.

It’s just as Gideon thought.

“I’m going to walk the perimeter and take a look around, if that’s okay. Give me twenty. Arlo, maybe you could check out the tech setup?”

When Logan disappears out the front door and appears a few minutes later through the windows of the sliding doors at the side of the house, Arlo starts removing his pack’s “walking nest,” piling clothes haphazardly on the back of the kitchen stool.

“I am so over this, Logan Frost. This is fucking ridiculous. I am never doing this again. Sorry, bean, but your dad is driving me nuts,” Arlo mutters to himself…or maybe to his unborn baby.

It’s as if the normally restrained man has forgotten the three others are even in the room, and when he gets down to his black sweats and T-shirt, he finally stops his monologue.

Nonplussed, he runs his hands through his hair and over his enormous belly.

“Okay, Leo, show me the tech.”

He doesn’t acknowledge the three of them staring like idiots again.

It’s not like Gideon hasn’t seen things and done even more, but this is one of the happiest. It doesn’t take much effort for his mind to wander to their omega in the same incredibly rotund state—maybe even more so since Nix is tiny, whereas Arlo is much taller and less…androgynous.

His wolf happily generates a visual: Nix looks soft, round, and flushed with pleasure at carrying Gideon’s baby .

His stomach swoops at the thought, just like it had when they’d told Nix about omegas being able to bear children—the feeling hot and heavy in his groin. But seeing daydream-Nix so visibly pregnant also spikes his anxiety, and he can’t quite put a finger on why .

Leo is startled at being addressed, but he rallies like the saint he is—better prepared than either of his alphas.

“Sure. There are monitors in the pantry, but the hub is in here.”

Their voices fade away as they walk into the library.

Once there’s no longer a distraction, Jay pulls him down onto the couch beside him.

“We’re on it now, Gid. We’ll get it fixed up and…” Jay soothes, and it’s probably as much for himself as for Gideon.

“It’s not the fixing that has me worried. It’s the why. Nix is in court in less than forty-eight hours, and this cannot be a coincidence. I can’t believe I fucked the system up this badly. They could have waltzed in here, tranq’d him, and we would never know where he’d gone.”

The guilt is crushing, and Gideon’s stomach is still roiling at the close call—no matter that he never throws up. Ever . This was too close for comfort.

Logan arrives back through the sliding doors before Jay can respond, but his alpha grabs Gideon by the back of the neck and kisses him soundly. There’s a we will talk later look in his eye, but there’s also understanding. It helps settle him even more.

The security specialist is spitting out so much tech-speak that Gideon has no way to follow. He catches the last bit, though.

“Military-grade. Yes. No, we’ll do that part ourselves. Off-book. Just you, Ky, Lo, and Mish. No logs. Like my place. After dark. ETA?”

Logan looks outside, and the sun is still high in the sky.

“19:00 should do it. We’ll be here.”

Leo and Arlo return, and Arlo holds out his hand for the phone, which Logan summarily hands over.

“Hey, Cat, it’s Arlo. Tell me what’s in stock for the interface, please. Yeah? Let’s do three, plus the mobile ones. No, Logan will do it. I know. We’re working on it, chica. Yeah, it’s been a while. Ha. Writing my memoirs—you know how it is. Sure thing. Bye.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know it’s probably been difficult hiding his pregnancy, and he has no doubt been dodging friends’ requests and nosy coworkers.

But also? Gideon would read the hell out of those memoirs.

There is an air of mystery about the aloof omega; in fact, the Kennedy pack formation itself was Netflix-worthy. The bits and pieces he’d been privy to were unbelievable—and spanned the globe.

When he hangs up, he sits down beside his mate, and Leo hands him a bottle of water.

“Thanks for coming, man,” Jay says to their family friend.

“I don’t know what you’re going through, Jay, but I can understand a little about how you might feel about your Nix.”

He leans back so he can feel Arlo behind him.

“We’re luckier than most in our mates, and having someone in your home when it’s about to get messy is shitty. Come on, let’s go to the kitchen, and I’ll explain what we’re going to do tonight under the cover of darkness.”

Gideon is awed by the sheer level of security they’re installing.

Something as simple as having Tsuki around means they have to account for mass-tripping pressure-sensitive alarms. If any of the alarms are tripped, they will go directly to Sentinel Security’s central response unit rather than the local police department.

It’s so intricate compared to anything Gideon could have conceived, and he’s shaken again by how his hubris had nearly gotten his mate abducted under his nose.

There’s a burst of sweet vanilla, and all five men in the kitchen look up.

It’s his fresh-from-the-bath, flushed omega, dressed in fleece pajama pants and a purple hoodie with “Boo-Yah” written across the belly of a cartoon ghost.

He’s beautiful, especially when he’s happy, and seeing his friend makes his smile even bigger.

Gideon thinks he should have tried to slow Nix’s enthusiasm before Logan or Jay intervened, but Nix is faster.

“Arlo! You came!”

Nix forgoes propriety and hugs his very first friend as if this were the hundredth time they’d met and not just the second.

Arlo catches him easily, and when Nix presses a kiss to his cheek, the older omega’s eyes pop wide open, but a tiny smile lights up his face.

He moves to intercept Logan, should he not take kindly to Nix’s PDA, but it proves to be a non-issue.

The big man is frozen—as most people are when they experience the full brunt of Nix’s soul in its purest, most beautiful form.

His nostrils flare, his pupils dilating as if his instincts betray him before he locks them down. The big alpha’s face is the definition of micro-expressions—shifting from surprise to awe, back to surprise again, then cute overload, before finally settling into a business-like smile.

His eyes give him away, though—they’re full of mirth.

Probably because Arlo is decidedly not affectionate, and yet his arms are holding Nix close as if Nix were his child.

“Nix. How are you? This is my mate, Logan.”

Arlo has four inches on Nix, and where Arlo is broader, Nix looks diminutive and gentle.

Comparatively, Logan is a giant—but that doesn’t stop Nix for one second from making yet another conquest.

“Thank you for coming,” Nix says, sticking out his hand.

Logan abandons his attempt to look big and scary, and instead, a doting smile brightens his face as he accepts Nix’s small hand, placing his other over the top.

“You must be Nix. Arlo has told me how you keep your mates in line with an iron will.”

Arlo lets Nix go only to smack Logan on the arm.

Gideon laughs out loud at Nix’s shocked expression.

But it’s Jay who grabs him and holds him close, flooding his mate’s clothing and hair with big puffs of territorial pine.

“Jamie. Stop. Whoa, what are you—” Their omega gives a cute, squeaky sneeze. “Really?”

Two more sneezes follow, and Logan has his hands clasped under his chin, heart-eyes in full effect.

Gideon thinks it’s because he has an overwhelming urge to squeeze him.

“Excuse me. I must be allergic to something.” Nix rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, possessive alpha,” Leo mutters.

“I know what that’s like, although sneezing isn’t my first response.” Arlo crosses his arms while Logan touches the bruise on his neck.

“Don’t listen to him, Nix. He actually likes it,” Logan teases, already backing away like he might make a run for it.

Nix’s cheeks go pink as Arlo chases Logan into the living room.

The alpha shrieks like a child as Nix claps and cheers his friend on, the worry from the morning momentarily forgotten.

When Arlo catches Logan and takes him to the ground, Jay puts his arms around Nix in a back hug, nuzzling his nose into his mate’s hair.

“What’s everyone else doing, baby?”

Nix laughs and finally looks at them.

“Well, Luca took Finn into his room, and Rowan and Grayson are watching that zombie drama.” He wrinkles his nose. He doesn’t say that he likely snuck away while the other four were otherwise occupied.

“Not down for zombies, Nix?” Logan asks, adjusting his clothes and smoothing out his ruffled hair. Arlo looks completely unphased, even if he smells a little more like cedar than before.

Arlo wrinkles his nose, too. “Me either. Real life is bad enough, you know? Hey, Nix, you have a gym here. Why don’t you show me what you’ve learned so far?”

“Oh…babe, I don’t think that’s—” Logan starts but doesn’t get more than those few words out.

“Do not finish that sentence. I can still take you, even with your baby on board.”

Is Logan the baby’s genetic father?

Gideon is too polite to ask how they know exactly, but he’s not the only one whose wheels are turning. Maybe Nix will ask, and they can all gossip about it later.

“If you want to see?” Nix smiles, and then he sets those beguiling eyes on Gideon. “Gideon has been teaching me, and I think it’s going okay, but if you had any advice, I’d happily accept. But first, I’m hungry. Could I have a banana, please?”

Nix hasn’t figured out yet that he doesn’t have to ask, but even if he does, no wiles are necessary.

It’s well past 5:00 p.m., and they haven’t made dinner plans. Rowan will have gnawed off a limb in the next hour.

“I’ll order something and get you both a snack. Then you can show Arlo what you’ve learned while we wait.”

Gideon gives each omega a snack of meat, cheese, and fresh fruit before they disappear to the gym, where they can hear laughter every few minutes.

With food ordered and nothing to do but wait, Logan lets Jay tell him about the changes for Long Road Home, offering suggestions for security—both cyber and physical.

It’s an hour later when Nix runs in, looking like he’s being chased by the hounds of Hell.

Gideon jumps up, but Logan’s already sprinting down the hall.

“Kitten, are you alright?”

He hopes Arlo was serious when he told Logan he could protect himself—and that he and the baby are just as Logan left them.

Gideon is not expecting Nix to say, “Arlo’s water just broke.”

Nix takes off up the stairs and returns with a sleepy, well-sated Finn, who is frantically throwing on a fresh shirt over his sweats. Nix carries his at-home med bag and towels.

They make it to the gym and through the door—only to run into Logan, who immediately shoves Finn back out again. The alpha’s fist is clenched in the doctor’s shirt, the only thing keeping Finn upright. Logan is growling and hissing, while Finn does his best to avoid eye contact.

“Shit,” Leo whispers and climbs right onto Jay’s back to slow their own protective leader down.

Gideon grabs Jay’s arm, too .

“Hey!” they hear from inside the gym.

“I am having your fucking child in here, and you’re being more of a pain in the ass than she is! So get it together!” Arlo yells.

Then, quieter, “Please. I need to see Finn. Then you can take me home.”

It’s enough to have Logan shaking it off, finally releasing Finn, allowing the leaner man to regain his footing.

“Sorry, but…uh… don’t hurt him, okay? I’m just barely hanging on and—”

Finn nods shortly, scooting around Logan, disappearing into the gym.

Jay exhales sharply, shoulders tight, and starts pacing the length of the room.

“It’s not our baby, and Finn is okay. Relax—he’s a professional,” Leo says.

“Fuck, I know that. But…you can’t tell me you aren’t thinking about if this were Nix, right?” Jay stops mid-step, eyes widening as if he’s just pieced something together. “Dammit.” He resumes pacing, more agitated than before.

It’s not long before Logan appears, Arlo held effortlessly in a bridal carry. The laboring omega has a baby-blue towel wrapped around his waist and a sour expression on his face.

“I can walk out of here on my own. She won’t be here for hours. At least stop for a minute.”

Logan looks very much like he would rather not, but he stops anyway.

Finn pulls on his shoes, taking the bag from Nix as he nods and smiles.

“Yeah, okay. I will. Keep your phone on, yeah? You’re right…I’ll need a ride.”

And then he and Nix laugh.

What the hell?

Did Finn just have an entire conversation with himself? With Nix?

“They’re bonded. Today. And now, he can sort of hear Nix when they’re super close—maybe farther as time goes on, yeah?” Jay gazes fondly at his mates, but there’s a twist to his mouth. “I’m envious of both of them.”

“He’s really something, eh?” Leo whispers.

Gideon has always thought so, but more and more these days, he finds himself wondering exactly who or what Nix is .

Logan has had enough of Nix and Arlo’s drawn-out goodbye and simply starts walking away.

Arlo shouts, “Jay! Cat is the lead on your install. Password is Frankenstein. Bye!”

They must look ridiculous, because Arlo just shakes his head. Gideon realizes the three of them are standing in a row, their right hands raised in identical gestures of goodbye.

Leo follows Finn out to ensure they get away smoothly. When he returns, he immediately starts unhooking the current system components in the kitchen.

Nix arrives soon after, giddy with excitement. With a running jump, he catapults himself into Jay’s arms from ten feet away. His scent is sugar and vanilla—oh, so happy.

Gideon has to get in close for a kiss. “ Kisses from my happy kitten, please.”

Nix is happy to oblige, already parting his lips when Gideon makes first contact. Submitting easily to Gideon’s plundering, his vanilla scent turns sugar-sweet when Gideon finally pulls away. Jay moans as he watches them part slowly from his front-row seat, and Gideon takes one last lick of his kitten’s slick lips.

“Sit down before you fall down.” Gideon grins, giving his leader a little push. When Jay is seated, Nix grinds down in his alpha’s lap, right over Jay’s impressive erection already tenting his pants.

Nix just gives Gideon a sassy wink. It’s sexy and free.

Come to think of it, Nix has seemed more content since coming home with Finn, despite all the security shit.

It hits Gideon then—they’re finally, fully bonded as a pack.

His omega is grinning, eyes bright, body loose and warm. He looks loved. He looks safe. He looks…home.

Gideon exhales a slow, shuddering breath.

No matter what comes next—whoever is coming for them—they’re unbreakable now.

“That was the best thing I’ve ever seen. Arlo is so brave. It must really hurt, you know, but he’s happy. Excited, too. I can hardly wait until that’s us, Jamie.”

Jay whimpers, and— fuck that breeding kink .

“Me too, baby boy. We can talk about it when you’re settled in. Lots of time, yeah?”

“Yeah, okay. But don’t forget.” As if any of them could. “Hey, why is the food so late?”

Good fucking question. It had been over an hour since he ordered. Checking the app, he finds a message about the delay.

“They should be here any minute. I’ll head them off at the gate.”

“Can I come, too?” Nix asks, eyes big, lips pouty.

Gideon agrees against his better judgment, leaving Leo and Jay to rally the others for dinner.

The sun has long since set, and though the moon hides behind a thick bank of clouds, the coach lamps along the drive cast a soft glow.

Nix sits on the step, pulling his hood up against the chill, a small smile curving his red lips. Once again, Gideon notes how content he looks, and his wolf wags its tail in response.

The quiet before the pizza delivery arrives gives Gideon a moment to take in the house. He studies it carefully, recalling the flaws Logan had pointed out and scanning for anything else that might have been overlooked.

He’s checking the angle from the front door camera—making sure the keypad isn’t visible in case someone hacks the system—when he backs into a hanging flower pot overflowing with orange marigolds.

“Ow, fuck.”

The pot crashes down onto the porch. As it rolls down the front stairs, bouncing past a startled Nix, it hits the bottom step and explodes into a pile of dirt and blooms.

Grayson will certainly complain about the mess. And the broken, no doubt hand-hewn pot. And probably— possibly —about his injured mate.

“Gideon, what’s this?” Nix asks, holding up a flat disc the size of his hand. A dull red light flashes on the surface, and when he flips it over, he sees it’s not a camera but an audio recorder.

Scanners would have detected a camera easily, but a digital recorder like this could slip past the sensors.

Whoever had placed it had been recording the keypad tones of the security system—for Goddess knows how long.

His stomach turns. How long had they been listening? He swallows down the acrid taste of failure.

On one hand, he’s once again pissed off and guilty. But on the other, he’s relieved. No one had betrayed them. He hadn’t wanted to consider what kind of enemy would enter their compound while masquerading as a friend.

“It’s security tech, kitten, but not ours.”

With the worst timing possible, the pizza guy rolls up to the gate, B.I.G’s Kick in the Door blasting too loud for their neighborhood.

No doubt the neighborhood watch will be sending strongly worded complaints by morning.

A long, black-clad arm reaches through the driver’s window to press the front gate buzzer.

“Hey, you stay here.” His tone brooks no argument.

Instead of opening the large gate, Gideon steps out through the side door to intercept their dinner. No one is getting in the gates until Sentinel Security has done its thing.

A familiar black car sits idling at the curb, a PIZZA light stuck to the top. But the guy inside isn’t their usual student driver in uniform.

“Oh, hey man—got your pizza. Need help bringing it in?”

Gideon does not, in fact, need help to carry six large pizzas and sides. But the guy exits the car anyway, boxes in hand.

He’s fucking huge, smells like dill pickles, and—

Looks awfully familiar.

Even without the balaclava, Gideon clocks him instantly as the saluting intruder.

At the same time the realization hits, Dill Pickle plows into him, slamming them both into the stone column where the buzzer and speaker are located.

Gideon sends a quick prayer of thanks to the Goddess when his shoulder narrowly misses the intercom—because that would have called his entire pack out into danger.

And this fight?

This fight isn’t for them.

He’s thrilled, and not just about their safety.

Someone tried to steal from his den.

Someone looked at Nix and thought they could take him.

He’s thrilled because this ? This is for Gideon.

Gideon is still holding the digital recorder, and he smashes it into the side of Dill Pickle’s head. If he’d caught him in the throat, he might have been fortunate enough to sever something important, but, in the end, he’s glad it only cuts him from the corner of his eye all the way to his chin. That way, this can go on a little bit longer.

Dill Pickle is now blinded in one eye, growling with his fangs down and claws out, adding to Gideon’s euphoria.

This is what he was born to do.

Letting his own wolf out, he starts driving the intruder back toward the gate, away from the side access door, slashing and kicking.

Dill Pickle can only get a few swipes in as Gideon shows him a few of the favorite things he’s learned from going up against Jay and now Nix.

It’s invigorating not to have to worry about killing his oppo—

—killing his opponent .

Like he’d thought he’d done in the gym.

Like that moment he’d looked down and seen Nix covered in blood and thought, for one soul-crushing second, that he’d killed his mate.

His stomach lurches at the memory, just like it had then.

It’s that single momentary distraction that lets Dill Pickle take him to the ground. In seconds, he has Gideon pinned, knees on his shoulders, heavy calves holding Gideon’s arms immobile.

“I’m not supposed to kill you, but there’s nothing to say I can’t hurt you a little—or a lot.”

He starts hitting Gideon’s face with big, meaty fists, and it’s not long before Gideon’s vision goes black.

When he comes to, Dill Pickle is no longer sitting on his chest .

Instead, he’s facing off with Gideon’s omega, ten feet away.

Holy fuck, could Nix have thrown him that far?

Nix stands as tall as he’s able between Gideon and their intruder, and when Dill Pickle climbs to his feet, Nix faces him down.

“Get out of my way, bitch. Let the big boys finish up here, and then we can go.”

He tries to go around Nix, clearly expecting him to be cowed.

“No. I will give you one chance to get in your car and drive away.” Nix’s voice is deep and vibrates along Gideon’s nerve endings, making the hair on his arms stand straight up.

Dill Pickle’s eyes glaze over before he shakes his head.

“What the fuck was that?” Dill Pickle roars, reaching for Nix.

Did Dill Pickle just say he’d come for Nix? Over his dead body.

Gideon climbs to his feet and sways, black spots at the edge of his vision, and when he feels himself falling, he just sits.

Nix takes his assailant’s hand, twisting it until Dill Pickle squeals, then swings his other hand around in a wild arc.

Blocking it with his forearm, Nix crouches and brings his leg out to knock his opponent on his ass.

Stepping back, he shakes out his hands. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he says, his tone serious. “But I will.”

The bigger man just laughs and lumbers to his feet. “You? That’s funny. Tiny-ass beta bitch. Don’t smell like shit; maybe you’re a dud. No accounting for taste, though.”

He’s right about one thing: Nix had sucked his scent right up.

It’s then that Nix lets his fangs drop, and his claws come out.

His blue eyes cast an unearthly glow, somehow brighter under a full moon that has come out from behind the clouds. His hair dances in a nonexistent breeze, and his deep, omega voice gives Dill Pickle one last warning.

“This is your last chance. Go .”

The command is powerful enough that the big oaf takes one step toward his car before stopping abruptly and charging at Nix head-on with a roar.

Nix calmly steps aside as Dill Pickle crashes headfirst into the iron gates. The impact doesn’t slow him down, and soon he’s throwing punches. Some connect, but Nix counters, hit for hit, as though sparring with Gideon in the gym.

Breathing heavily, Dill Pickle has to monologue himself all the way to the ground. What a fucking dumbass.

“Ooh, Rhodes’s bitch can throw a punch. Won’t matter by the time we’re done. We’ll beat that out of you soon enough.”

It’s then that Gideon sees Nix turn his mind inward and let his wolf out. His blows are harder, faster, and connect twice as often. Instead of staying on the defense, Nix is driving the intruder backward in close combat.

In a last-ditch effort to gain the upper hand, Dill Pickle goes low and takes Nix to the ground beneath him. Gideon knows from experience that it hurts like a bitch—no air in your lungs and the agony of impact along your spine. But this is what they’ve practiced, day after day, takedown after takedown.

In the next instant, Nix digs both hands into his opponent’s sides, claws ripping chunks of flesh free as Dill Pickle screams. It’s exactly as he and Gideon had drilled, but instead of getting out right away, Nix flips their positions, reaches into Dill Pickle’s chest, and rips his sputtering heart out.

“Who’s the bitch now?” he growls.

Gideon doesn’t dare breathe.

Nix is magnificent in the moonlight, hands dripping with blood, holding the heart of his vanquished enemy in protection of himself and his pack. It sings in Gideon’s soul, and it’s enough to draw his entire pack down the driveway at a run.

“That. Was. EPIC!” Luca yells, launching into a victory dance, complete with fist pumps and hip thrusts. “Ooh yeah. Ooh yeah.”

Leo kneels on the asphalt and brushes the hair from Gideon’s face, gently un-sticking clumps of hair matted with drying blood. The pulling adds insult to injury, so Gideon bats his fussing mate’s hands away. “Leave off, Leo. Ow.” But he magnanimously accepts the kisses pressed to his cheeks and forehead.

Nix remains seated on Dill Pickle’s now-empty chest while Jay stands nearby, uncertainty etched into every tense line of his body. He clears his throat to get Nix’s attention, but instead of seeking comfort from their alpha, Nix moves to kneel beside Gideon, resting a gentle, grounding hand on his chest.

Someone quiets Luca, and the group falls silent.

“Mine,” Nix growls, his wolf still close to the surface. His blue eyes glow, and that voice sends a fresh shiver down Gideon’s spine.

“Yes. I’m yours. Can you come back to me now? The bad guy isn’t going to hurt me anymore.” Gideon presses Nix’s hand more firmly to his chest with his good hand. “Okay? Come back to us, kitten.”

His blue eyes fade away first, and then, in a blink, his fangs and claws follow suit. “Oh, Goddess. What did I do?”

“Well,” Rowan drawls, “looks like the pizza guy wasn’t a pizza guy.” He gives the body a kick, looking put out—probably because he missed out on the fun parts.

“Not at all,” Grayson says. “We saw the whole thing once Nix’s bonds started flaring up.”

Leo pushes Rowan away in case he decides he’s going to do something unforgivable—like pee on the dead guy. He nudges the body with a toe. “But what are we going to do with a body?”

They’re close to the road, and although the estates are isolated, it won’t be long before someone drives by.

Gideon will take the heat from the cops, as Were laws are pretty clear on self-defense, defense of a mate, and defense of property. If Dill Pickle had a pack, though, it could get dicier.

And there’s no way they can let their omega spend a night in jail—especially with a court date looming.

Luca squeezes in between Nix and Gideon so he can kiss whatever pieces of skin look bruised or broken. “ Are you okay, Nix?”

Nix just melts into them, his hands slipping under Gideon’s shirt, kneading like the kitten he is while he licks at Gideon’s bond on Luca’s neck.

Tsuki arrives soon after from wherever she’d gone and sits quietly by Jay’s feet, hardly fazed by her people, the dead guy, or Luca’s bare ass glowing under the moonlight.

Just then, Rowan lifts his nose in the air and speaks up with a frown. “ Hey, that guy is ‘dill pickle’ from earlier.”

Yeah, Gideon knows.