Gabe had been trying very hard not to step into Nick’s place but damn it all, could they not see how Tracy needed to get out of there? “Tracy, get in the car. Nick, I’ll meet you at your apartment. Cade, Lex, everyone, Nick is right and I’m in an odd position here but still, there is an Alpha overload and it’s bound to complicate things further.”

He said all of it as he helped Tracy into the car and strode back toward his rental.

The Wardens all agreed, with the reminder that if there was trouble to call them for help. Lia spoke quietly to Tracy before she turned and walked with the rest of the family to their cars.

The drive back to the apartment was quiet but Nick’s hand was on her thigh when he wasn’t shifting gears.

He helped her out of the car and she let him take care of her, both of them needing that. Gabe was waiting near the elevators.

* * * * *

Once inside the apartment Tracy kicked off her shoes and went to the couch, where she collapsed. Nick handed her a drink and she thanked him. Looking up at Gabe, emotion rushed through her and she accepted it. She’d tried to pretend it was just the anchor bond but the truth was, she knew even then. Since the first moment he’d touched her she’d been falling into him and when he’d come inside her that morning she was lost. Her heart belonged to Gabe as much as it belonged to Nick.

“Let’s cut to the issue, shall we?” Her voice wasn’t as steady as she’d wanted it to be but she was in the room with two incredibly attractive males who, unless she was totally wrong, belonged to her. “My grandmother is never wrong about this stuff. And your mother, Nick, seemed to agree.”

Nodding with a sigh, Nick sat next to her and Gabe across from them on the low table.

“Gabe, you seem to be exhibiting behavior which would indicate you feel mated to Tracy.” Nick said all of this dryly.

“Well, yes. It’s been since this morning. Since the bonding. It was there before, the attraction, but this needis there now. And I have feelings of protection and kinship to you as well.” Gabe said this with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

That got her attention. Well .

“Let’s go over this from the beginning. I don’t believe I have all the facts about the tri-mate bond. Can you tell me everything you know?” Gabe had been schooled about werewolf culture and history, but something like the tri-mate bond was so rare that it wasn’t a common topic of discussion.

“Simply put, the tri-mate bond happens when the people in the tri-bond seal a mating instead of just an anchoring. As you’re aware, the tri-bond anchors the female mate to another wolf. In a sense it’s like the third leg on a stool. But aside from an emotional closeness there’s not an actual mate bond. But every great once in a while, during the tri-bond the female becomes mated to the third wolf—to the person she’s supposed to be anchored by. And the twinned mate bond becomes a mate bond of three. If I’m remembering correctly it happens in rare situations when the combination of males could be interchangeable. By that, I mean that either male could be a mate to the female. The odds are astronomical, really.” Tracy was pleased that she’d listened to her grandma more than she thought she had.

Gabe nodded and moved forward enough that his leg just barely touched Tracy’s. “I was drawn to you, which is a sign. You’re an exceptional woman. But not my usual type by a long shot.” He saw the wince and touched the back of Tracy’s hand. “And I don’t mean that in a bad way.”

“I don’t know anyone that this has ever happened to. The accounts do say it happens almost exclusively to Alpha wolves and their mates so I didn’t think about it.”

Tracy chewed on her bottom lip and decided to say it anyway. “Well, babe, I have news for you, you’re far more of an Alpha than your brother is. And Gabe is a very dominant wolf too. If either of you had your own Pack, you could easily be the Alpha.”

Nick scrubbed hands over his face. “I don’t want this, you know.”

Tracy turned to him and cradled his face in her hands. “I’m sorry. For this mess tonight with your Pack.

And well, how do we deal with this for you? If it is the tri-mate bond, it’s not like we can will it away.

When my grandmother spoke to me just before we left, she told me the stories of spells that could terminate the bond were all untrue. A wolf can choose not to seal the bond. Walk away and not look back. Eventually, they’d

find another mate out there, most likely. But once the bond is sealed, it’s sealed. I wish I could make this better for you. You must be so sorry you met me.”

Nick’s breath froze. After all of the upheaval in her life, having to leave her city, Pack, business and home behind, the way his family treated her that night—after all of that she actually worried about him and his feelings? He leaned into her palm. “Oh baby, never that. You’re a joy to me. Finding you is something I’d never regret. As for the tri-mate bond? Tracy, it is what it is. I can’t change it. Do I want to share you? No. No, I don’t. But Gabe is every bit as much your mate as I am. Without you, he’ll never find real happiness. He won’t be able to be with any other females now that you’ve sealed the bond. How could I wish him such emptiness? And how could I even begin to ask you to live without

your mate? And he is your mate as much as I am. And because of that, he’s mine too. It’s the only way I can explain why I don’t want to kill him right now.”