* * *
Nick’s heart pounded beneath Tracy’s hand, draped over his chest. A lazy smile touched his lips as she traced a heart there. He loved that sense of whimsy, it brought much-needed levity into his life. Even before the insanity of the evening at the Pack house, he’d known his life was too serious.
He moved into Tracy’s body, feeling the cool steel of her nipple rings against his back. Her sweet little nipples were always hard, he most definitely liked that.
There’d been dozens of women that year alone. Each encounter had been satisfying physically but not emotionally. He’d told himself that he didn’t need it, that emotional connection was for suckers. Besides, he’d had his friendships with Sarah and Josh, the Third in Pacific.
But as he lay there, he realized that he’d been lonely for the kind of connection he’d felt since he first bonded with Tracy. He not only loved her and was mated to her and to Gabe, but he felt a deep kinship with her. Whole where he’d felt empty.
All his life he’d purposely held himself back in the shadow so that Ben could excel. And most of the time Nick had been okay with that. He really hadn’t wanted the pressure of being Alpha. It was a public, people-oriented position and as Enforcer, Nick had the kind of privacy and quiet that Ben could only dream of. The Pack house was constantly full of people and that would have driven him nuts.
At the same time, he knew something, something that his father and Ben knew too. Nick was far more qualified to be Alpha than Ben was. Nick was smarter and stronger and quicker. Just because Ben was older didn’t mean he was automatically Alpha. And yet, Nick hadn’t wanted to challenge or embarrass his brother. He loved Ben and Sarah and his niece and nephew.
Still, he was really thrown for a loop over Ben’s and Sarah’s behavior. That first night, when he’d taken Tracy to meet them, Ben had been a bit hesitant about his endorsement of Tracy, although he’d been pleasant enough to her face. And Sarah, well, he’d allowed her to convince him that it was just silly jealousy but clearly it was far more than that. He felt sick at making Tracy so upset with that phone call when she’d been right about Sarah’s attitude.
“Hey, you were all warm and relaxed but you’re all tensed up now.” Tracy kissed his shoulder and he turned over to face her. “You want to talk about it?”
“You’re far too distracting there naked and delicious and smelling like sex. Let’s clean up and meet in the living room in a few minutes. I’ll make some tea and we’ll hash this situation with Pacific out.”
Tracy sat up and climbed over him and sent them both a look back over her shoulder. “If you say so. But I might be lonely in there all by myself.” And swayed her naked ass right into the connecting bath.
Gabe looked at Nick and they both laughed and got up to follow.
* * *
An hour later they stumbled into the kitchen and rustled up some tea and sandwiches for the discussion. Each one of them moved around the other with a kind of ease and rhythm that you don’t get until you’ve known a person for some time.
Already their scents had begun to marry, to mix into one unique scent that would brand their sealed tri-mate bond. It teased Tracy’s senses even as it warmed her insides.
Settling into the living room, Tracy sat in the big club chair near the fireplace and tucked her feet under her while she drank her tea.
“You wanna tell me what the hell happened tonight? I mean, is it normal behavior for the Pack to be so wild when you get a new member?”
Nick sighed heavily and leaned his head back against the couch. “We don’t get new members very often but it’s never been like this. I’m still totally shocked. Jo, the wolf who attacked you, she’s not...she’s not prone to attacking anyone. I don’t understand.”
“Let me guess, Blondie, Jo, whatever-the-fuck, she’s a friend of Sarah’s.”
Nick took a deep breath and nodded. “Jesus, you don’t think?”
“That your bitchy, precious Sarah planned to try and fuck me over from the first moment she heard of me and enlisted that low-rent twit to try and start shit?”
Gabe burst out laughing and then sobered, wiping the tears from his eyes. He got up and moved to Tracy, kissing her and sitting back down. “Darling, you really must learn to express yourself better. Don’t hold back.”
Nick rubbed the bridge of his nose and smiled. “You think her apology was a fake?” He held up his hand. “No, don’t answer that. I know it was. I’m sorry. You were right. I don’t know how I could have been so wrong about her.”
Tracy got out of the chair and came to kneel before Nick. She cradled his head between her hands. “Nick, you’ve known her all these years and she used that to manipulate you. I’d be lying if I said I was happy that you called her the way you did, but I understand why you did it. And she betrayed that.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Thank you, baby. But I have a hard time believing that that entire thing tonight was out of simple jealousy that you are my mate.”
“I’m with you on that, Nick. That scene tonight was way more complicated than mere jealousy. And in any case, Ben was agitated about something and it wasn’t just a room full of alphas.” Gabe had been around a lot of wolves with things to hide for the past twenty years and he was sure that Ben Lawrence was hiding something, and most likely either for or with the knowledge of Sarah.
“What’s been going on lately?” Tracy climbed up into Nick’s lap and Gabe took her legs, absently massaging her calves and feet as they spoke.
“Nothing, really. Our profits are down, but so are everyone’s, the economy is crap right now. I’ve had to break up some fights, deal with inter-Pack stuff, but we haven’t beefed with Cascadia. That whole buffer thing was just routine stuff.”
“How long have you known you could be Alpha?” Tracy asked, looking straight into his eyes.
He sighed. “Years. But I haven’t wanted to be Alpha. I liked my life well enough. I certainly liked my privacy and not having to live at the Pack house. Ben is much older than I am. I was fifteen when he took over Pacific. I could have challenged him even then—” he shrugged “—but why? Ben wanted it, he was good with the Pack. And seven years ago he met Sarah and seemed to stabilize even more with a mate. The Pack seemed to like having a mated pair at the helm and I was only twenty-three then anyway.”
“You anchored her at twenty-three? No wonder you were so close to her, Nick. Babe, that’s a pretty impressionable age to have something so deep happen to you.”
Gabe laughed. “Sweetheart, you did say you were twenty-five?”
She tossed her hair back and gave him an imperious look. “I am twenty-five. But shit, after a few hours with Sarah, those are like dog years, I think. She’s very immature for an Alpha female. And petty. And she needs to wax her chin.”
Gabe burst out laughing again and Nick hid a smile beneath his hand. “Remind me to never piss you off,” Gabe said.
“And to always deal with unsightly body hair.” Nick grinned and kissed her shoulder.
“Okay, first of all, you will piss me off. You are a man and an alpha male, ergo, you will turn into an asshole of epic proportions and I will have to smack you down for it. Deal. And yes, please, I promise to keep the three-inch hairs from my chin if you’ll keep your balls nice and smooth for me. They may even get licked that way.”
Nick closed his eyes and groaned. “Okay, let’s keep focused here or I’m going to lose it. No more talking about licking my anything until we finish here.”
“I’m going to ignore that comment about being an asshole and try not to feel like a creepy old man for having a wife who is sixteen years my junior and instead get back to the topic at hand.” Gabe raised an eyebrow at Tracy, who smirked. “Do you think that Ben may have been threatened by your becoming mated? Thinking that perhaps you’d challenge him at last?”
“He and I haven’t had any problems lately getting along. We never have. In my entire life the only time I’ve ever been mad at him has been over stupid shit. Nothing major. The man who shoved you tonight is a stranger to me.” And that’s what ate at him most.
“Okay, so I know how he acted to my face yesterday but what was his reaction privately?”
“He was...hesitant. I told him briefly on the phone that I’d met my mate but I didn’t tell him who. I thought he’d get a kick out of it, you know, some kind of political alliance between Cascadia and Pacific. But when I introduced you that changed. He took me aside and asked me if I was sure you were truly my mate. He seemed agitated. But he was fine to your face. I thought he may have been worried that your Pack was so much stronger and would be in our business a lot.”
Tracy laughed. “Well, if Nina wasn’t there to restrain Lex and Cade, I don’t have any doubt that they’d be up your nose a lot to keep an eye on me—that’s how they are. But that’s a big brother thing. Cade worries like an old woman and Lex is an insufferable meddler. But Nina keeps them both under her thumb so get that horrified look off your face.”
Nick checked his horror. “I don’t know, but I want to get to the bottom of this. There’s no way I’d have you in a place I felt you were unsafe.” Nick pushed a curl back behind her ear.
“Or me. And I don’t think it’s safe and I think your brother is hiding something a hell of a lot bigger than worry that you’d challenge him. I’m not sure what it is and I don’t know him like you do so I could be wrong. But a huge part of my job is based on intuition and I spend all day long reading people. I’d like to talk to him and Sarah more to see what we can see.” Gabe looked up at Nick over Tracy’s head. “And well, the tri-mate bond thing is going to be tricky enough, my place in the Pack will be problematic.”
Nick nodded. “I realize it feels that way and yes, it probably is that way. You rank higher than me so it would be silly of you to give up that to come be Second in Pacific. As our mate, you will be Second as well as your own position in National. I’m sure we can work out an advisory role for you. A Mediator on the Enforcer’s rank would be really beneficial to us. It’ll help me to have another powerful wolf on my side in the Inner Circle too. Especially in this current situation with Ben and Sarah.”
“Okay. I can deal with that.” Gabe continued to gently stroke his hands over Tracy’s calves.
“Well, and getting back to the current problem—I love you with all my heart, Nick, but I won’t be a member of Pacific in this current state. I can join National at Gabe’s rank or go back to Cascadia and we can work out the commute. I won’t live in that situation and I sure as hell won’t hold a pledge to obey Ben or Sarah.”
Nick closed his eyes. “I’m sorry for putting you through this. Damn him! I can’t lose you, Tracy. I’d go insane if you joined National or went back to Cascadia.”
“No matter what happens with that, you won’t lose me, Nick. I’m yours, regardless of my Pack affiliation. You could join Cascadia but—” she shrugged “—Lex.”
“I know. He’s the Enforcer. Don’t think I haven’t obsessed over that a bit. God this is fucked up. I won’t allow Ben to hold this Pack if he’s going to break it in half. I’ll challenge him before I let you be driven away.”
“We have a bit before any of that needs to go that way.” Gabe tried to stay reasonable.
“And what are you going to do, Gabe? You’ve said you’d take the Second rank in a ceremonial way. But what do you want to do?” Tracy took his hand and kissed his knuckles.
He touched his chin as he thought. “I’ve been thinking. I’m damned good at what I do. I’ve trained for the last nearly twenty years to do it. There’s no room for me at Pacific. Excuse my bluntness here, but I’m much more powerful than Ben and there is no way I’d be in that Pack without challenging him. Tracy can join National, of course, and we can go bi-coastal. Theoretically, Nick could join National at my rank, but he’s not a Mediator. I’m not sure where he’d fit in at National. I see some major problems with that.”
“Can you take some time off while we deal with this? You’re leaving tomorrow?” Panic raced through Tracy at the thought of him leaving.
Sensing her emotions, Gabe pulled her into his lap. “No, honey, I’m not leaving tomorrow. I’ll take some time, I have it to take. There are some things brewing that I need to keep an eye on but my assistant will keep me apprised. Do you think I’d just leave you right now? With all this up in the air?”
“I don’t know. I’m all over the map here. You have a life in Boston. Friends and family and a Pack. You’re important, your job is important so of course I understand that sometimes I’ll come second to that. I just—” her bottom lip trembled and his heart constricted in his chest “—I don’t want you to go away and forget me. I worry that you’ll go away and I’ll never see you and you’ll feel trapped and...” A sob tore through her and he hugged her tight.
He could face the snarling woman, the warrior and the strong-willed mate, but the teary-eyed woman in his lap nearly broke his heart. “Tracy, honey, you don’t come second to anything. Not ever. We’ll work this out, I promise. But I’m not leaving you. Don’t cry, please. I don’t want you to cry.” He looked up at Nick, who moved to hug her from behind, creating one unified embrace.
“We’ll fix this, baby. I swear to you. The three of us will make this work. We’re meant to be and so we will be,” Nick murmured into her ear. “I love you. Gabe loves you. It’s going to be okay.” He’d make sure it was.
* * *
A thousand miles away, Warren Pellini answered his cell phone. “Hello there, Sarah, and how are you?”
“God damn it! Warren, Nick’s mate is Tracy Warden. Tonight at the Pacific Pack house we were wall-to-fucking-wall Cascadia wolves!”
Pellini chuckled. “Well, well, well. Small world, isn’t it? I bet that got your tiny heart racing, didn’t it?”
“Don’t laugh, Warren! This is serious. She’s Second now and I don’t have the hold on Nick that I had before.”
“As long as you stay calm and treat her well, what’s the problem? Is it that you can’t dangle Nick anymore?”
“She’s the problem! She’s a pushy bitch. She started all kinds of trouble and they left and Nick and Ben are at each other’s throats and Ben is worried that Nick will challenge him and now my meddling in-laws are up in our business. Can’t you just have her killed?”
The amused smile slid off Pellini’s face and the look that replaced it wasn’t friendly at all. “Whyever would you say such a stupid thing, Sarah? That’s not funny at all. I would never do such a thing and it’s not something to joke about. Especially on the phone.” The last was said through clenched teeth in a low growl that raised the hairs on Sarah’s arms.
“I, uh, I’m sorry. I’m just upset.”
“Nevertheless, you need to take care of your own problems, Sarah, and let me remind you that our business is very important to my family. If you continue this trouble with the Wardens it does not bode well for our continued relations.”
Sarah’s heart threatened to burst from her chest. “There’s another thing.” Her voice was small when she said it but she had no choice. She had to tell him now because if he heard it thirdhand, he’d be even angrier.
“And that is?”
“There’s a tri-mate bond.”
“Really?” Interest laced his voice. “With who?”
“Nick, Tracy and Gabe Murphy.”
“The Mediator? He’s there?”
“Yes. There was a border issue to deal with and he came in to mediate it between us and Cascadia. That’s how Nick and Tracy met to begin with.”
“How much does Nick know about our business relationship?”
“He doesn’t. I only told Ben because he figured it out on his own. He’s very nervous
about it.”
Pellini sighed. “Sarah, this is quickly becoming messy. My people hate messy. It takes away from profit and we have to spend entirely too much time cleaning up. I’ll think on some things and get back in touch with you.” He hung up before she could say anything else.
She put the phone back in the cradle and looked out the window. It was all so damned simple before. She cursed herself again for being stupid enough to seek out Pellini’s help when she needed the cash to cover a large transaction she’d floated late the year before. But the deal had been so good, and she’d overextended herself and once the deal was completed she could pay back the accounts she’d drawn on and be square with her clients again.
And the deal had gone very well, but the money was so good and it had been so pleasant dealing with Warren Pellini that she’d gone to him three more times. Until the deal had gone south, leaving her owing a very large sum of money that she should never have taken from her client accounts. Suddenly she’d been facing arrest and jail if anyone found out. She’d had to borrow double from Pellini to pay back the client accounts, leaving her in the hole with the Pellini Group. Being the sick bastard he was, he’d taken advantage of that opening and had thrust himself into Pack business and really, before she knew it, Pacific had been laundering large volumes of cash for Pellini.
She never should have gone to Pellini to begin with but she was desperate. The bank wouldn’t extend her any more credit and she was on the verge of losing her business. And her greed had gotten her into a world of trouble and with her, the Pack.
Three months before, Ben had found out and confronted her and while he was still really angry with her, he loved her, she was his mate and he wanted to fix it and get the hell out from under the mob.
And now the Pack that hated Pellini and who Pellini hated right back was related to hers and she had a very angry, very nervous mate and had lost her best friend. All because of that bitch Tracy Warden.