“Earth to Nix,” a voice rumbled with an amused laugh. “You gonna soap up that SUV or make love to it?”
Blinking, Nix realized he was standing motionless, holding the sponge just above the hood, suds running down his arm. He glanced across the vehicle to see Aric Savage smirking at him, one fiery eyebrow raised.
“Just thinking, that’s all,” Nix mumbled, resuming his task.
“Do I even need to ask what you’re thinking about? Or who?”
“Shut up, man.”
Of course, that meant his friend wasn’t about to let the subject drop.
“Seriously, what is your damage? Noah’s a great guy, and a blind man could see that you two are crazy about each other.”
Aric sounded so genuinely baffled, Nix made an effort to give his friend a pass for prying into his business. “Don’t worry about it, okay? This is my problem and I have to deal with it.”
“What problem?” Aric’s brows drew together, and he looked more baffled than ever.
Leaning on the hood of the SUV, Nix glared at his friend. “I’m not gay, goddammit! That’s the problem! I’m fucking straight, and my wolf is about to tear me apart because he’s so pissed off at me!”
Not gay. Even as the words left his mouth, he winced inwardly at the lie and wondered if his friend heard it.
Apparently not, judging by his next words; the redhead wasn’t fazed by his outburst. “That makes no sense, you being straight. First of all, how could your Bondmate be so wrong for you? And second of all, I’ve seen you together, and I know you like him. A lot. And I don’t mean as buddies who watch football and drink beers together.”
A chill washed over Nix’s skin as he stared at Aric. All these years, he’d fought so hard to stamp out that side of himself—the part that his father saw as an abomination.
“I—”
Whatever Nix had been about to say was interrupted by a loud tone over the intercom system. A red light flashed from a corner of the hangar, signaling an emergency somewhere within the compound. Immediately Nix dropped the sponge and wiped his hands on his shirt, listening as the automated voice announced where help was needed.
“Personal emergency alert device activated. Sanctuary, level four. Nearest Alpha Pack team members please respond. Repeat, personal—”
Nix was running before the voice finished repeating the information, Aric right on his heels. It didn’t matter that he was wearing nothing but wet, loose cargo shorts, that he had no weapon. Nothing mattered except getting there and making sure his mate wasn’t the one in danger.
Never in his twenty-eight years had he moved so fast. He crossed the distance between the hangar and Sanctuary in record time, bounding up the front steps, throwing open the doors, and dashing into the lobby. A wide-eyed receptionist was standing behind the front desk, panic etched on her features.
“Room 412 is on lockdown,” she called. “That’s Leonidis, our tiger shifter’s room.”
“Who’s in there with him?” Nix demanded.
The woman shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Shit.”
Nix took off for the closest stairwell, aware of more pounding bootsteps behind him. Ever since Sanctuary had been breached by a monster trying to kill Micah Chase, one of their Pack brothers, they’d implemented and practiced new emergency measures in every building. The elevators were shut down to prevent easy access to escape routes, as well as every stairwell but one. Everyone was on lockdown, nobody in or out of the building except Alpha Pack team members unless their commander said so, or until the situation was contained. Period.
Nix and Aric took the stairs two at a time, Nix barely aware of the burn in his thigh muscles as he reached the fourth floor. As soon as they emerged into the hallway, an alarmed orderly pointed them toward the correct room. The racket from the tiger throwing himself against the heavy hospital door, snarling and scratching, could be heard all through the corridors.
Sprinting again, he rounded a corner to see Melina pacing with a tranquilizer gun in her hand. Several nurses hovered anxiously behind the desk at the nurses’ station—none of them were Noah. Nix’s gut clenched in dread.
“Thank God you’re here,” she said sharply. “I can’t open the door to tranq him until he’s distracted or subdued.”
“Who’s in there with the tiger?”
“I can’t say for sure.” Her gaze slid away from his.
“But you have an idea.”
The beast slammed the door again, with such force that Nix feared the frame would splinter and give way. If the tiger escaped the room, things could get messy real fast.
Correction—messier.