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 hair 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 more angry.

“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.

Chapter Five

Several boxes of Tracy’s clothing and other goods from her house arrived the next morning at the apartment, courtesy of Nina’s quick thinking.

Nick raised an eyebrow as she looked for a place to put it all. The problem was that he had as much clothing as she did, which didn’t bode well for their present living conditions at all. Hell, he had no idea where Gabe was going to put anything at all.

“Sweetie, can’t you leave some of it in a box for now?”