by Lauren Dane
Shelley shook her head as they pulled into the driveway of the first house. “I don’t know, Tracy. It all seems very suspicious to me. But there’ve been some…” She stopped speaking as Nick came to the door to open it for Tracy.
“Tell me later if you don’t feel comfortable saying it in front of Nick,” she murmured and let him open her door.
By the third house, Shelley had told Tracy that she’d gone out with the wolf who’d handled the basic accounting for the Pack and he’d quit and gone tight-lipped. In the end, he’d actually left the Pack. Shelley had thought it odd at the time but figured he’d felt like there was no real room for him in the Pack hierarchy and that’s why he’d left. She hadn’t thought of it again until she’d started thinking about how odd Ben and Sarah had been acting and when it’d all started up.
“Is it okay if I talk to Nick about this? I think he should know. I promise you he won’t be upset with you.”
“Okay. I don’t know much more than that. Like I said, I’d forgotten it entirely until last night.”
When they pulled up the long driveway leading to the last house, Tracy sat stunned. They drove up a hill and when they reached the top, there sat a Spanish Colonial, complete with a courtyard, fountain and gardens.
“Oh my goodness, who’d have expected this?” There was a lovely circular drive and lots of room at the sides of the house. It was not very common to see that style of architecture in the Northwest and Tracy instantly fell in love with the circular arches and the pretty gardens.
She was out the door before Gabe or Nick could get there, staring, openmouthed, at the house.
“This place just opened up yesterday. The same family that had it built ten years ago has moved to London. They’re good friends of mine but they don’t know if it’ll be for a year or permanent just yet. They are very nice people. The rent isn’t too high for a place this big.” The details Shelley was giving floated around Tracy as they walked into the open front hallway. The tile was a warm red glaze with pretty blue, cream and yellow accents inset here and there. The ceilings were high and big windows lined the first floor, flooding the house with light.
There were five bedrooms and huge closets. The kitchen was a dream with a huge island and a giant fridge and freezer. A cook’s fantasy. It looked out over a very large fenced yard with a pretty view. No immediate neighbors to either side.
“I’d ask what you think but, baby, you have no poker face at all.” Nick grinned at her. “What do you think, Gabe?”
“It’s beautiful and clearly Tracy loves it. When can we move in?”
“I just need to run a credit report and get a deposit and the first and last month’s rent and you can have the keys.”
“Milton is going to love the yard. Dogs are okay, right?”
“I’m sure if it was a stranger, no. But I know Nick and I know he’ll take care of the house and I can vouch for you with them.”
“Let’s do it. Can you handle selling my apartment?” Nick put his arm around Tracy, unable to not touch her.
“Hell yes! I’ll buy the damned thing, I’ve wanted that place for two years now. No offense, Tracy, but I think most of his appeal, other than the face, was that apartment.”
Caught by surprise, Tracy laughed. “Well, you can have the apartment, I’ll keep the face.”
Shelley grabbed her hand and squeezed. “You’ve got a deal.”
They all drove back to the office, filled out paperwork, wrote a check and got the keys. Tracy hugged Shelley on the way out. “Thanks for everything. And thanks for telling me all of that stuff. I appreciate it. I don’t know anyone down here and it’s nice feeling like I may have a friend.”
Shelley smiled. “You do have a friend. Truly. I’d love to grab a drink or lunch with you soon, get to know you better. Call me if you need anything else and I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.”
“Thanks.”
Grinning, she rode back to the apartment with Gabe and Nick.
“Okay, I admit it, the house is gorgeous. Good choice, baby.” Nick grinned at her, taking her hand and kissing her palm until shivers ran from the heat of his mouth straight to her pussy.
“Well, my. Yes. I’m glad you like it. And it’s got space for all of us and a yard for Milton. He will love that fountain and oh, the indoor pool and weight room will come in handy, won’t they?”
Gabe laughed. “I like seeing you this way. In fact, I think I’m going to do my level best to keep you like this all the time.” He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder.
“Well, I am happy. And I need to deal with my house. My grandmother is still alive but she won’t want it. I tried to get her to let me buy it when my grandfather died and left it to me but she refused. She lives in a swank condo community for hot seniors near my parents. I could sell it, but it’s been in my family since it was built.”
“What about one of your sisters? Another member of your family? Do you think one of them would want it?” Nick thought about her family he’d met at the joining.
“Well, my cousin Dave and Megan live at the house with Cade, Nina and Lex. Tegan may want it, she has loved it and she’s in an apartment right now. I’ll have to ask her. Of course, she’ll insist on paying for the damned thing because that’s how she is. She won’t take anything from anyone.”
“Tegan is Megan’s twin?”
“Yes but they couldn’t be more different. Megan is outgoing and funny but Tegan is so serious. She’s a lot like Cade. She’s a good person and someone you can always count on but she hates to count on anyone else. She had a mate, you know. They met and married when she was twenty and he was nineteen. Oh man, were they ever in love! But he was killed in Afghanistan several years ago. And her anchor was already mated to someone so it wasn’t as if she could have pursued anything with him anyway. She’s been so aloof ever since.” One had the option of pursuing a relationship with her anchor, as a bond had been established on some level. But if the anchor was mated, the female would be alone.
Nick’s stomach clenched at the thought of losing her. The emptiness one must feel after the death of a mate! It terrified him. He met Gabe’s eyes in the rearview mirror and knew Gabe had been thinking the same thing. An unspoken bond formed between them to keep her safe at all costs.
“I’m sorry, baby. I can’t imagine how painful that must have been for her.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t talk about it much. She and Layla, my other sister, are closest, and even Lay has felt shut out sometimes. Anyway, I should go up there and deal with all of this myself. Deal with the store, the house, bring back my car and my furniture and Milty.”
“Not by yourself you won’t,” Gabe growled from the backseat. “Nick, myself or both of us will accompany you. We don’t know what is going on with Sarah and Ben and until we do, I plan to keep an extra close watch on you.”
That chafed but she understood it. “Don’t you have to go to Boston too?”
“Boston can wait a few days. There’s trouble brewing, but if this isn’t resolved when I need to get back you’ll come with me. I don’t want you here with all of this insanity.”
They pulled into the parking garage and went into the elevator, where both men pressed against her until she could barely think. “When you do that, I can’t think straight,” she sighed as Nick slid his lips down her neck.
“Good.” His hands moved up her torso as Gabe ground himself into her ass, his hands moving inside her sweater and cupping her breasts.
The elevator came to a stop and they all groaned and spilled out into the hall, adjusting clothing and rushing to the apartment.
Being pushed back to the carpet with Nick over her, she put her hand out to stop him and turned his head by his chin, showing him the phone. “Thirty-two messages. You’d better see what it is. Could be an emergency, god knows it’s been that kind of week.”
He sighed and sat up with a growl. Gabe helped her up and pushed her against the wall. “While he’s busy, I’ll just keep you o
ccupied.”
But they were both listening to the calls and stopped to go over to the couch, where Nick was watching the machine wearily.
There were several messages from his father, a few from Ben, more from Sarah and various others from different members of the Pack, both for and against him. Tracy put her hand against his cheek.
“My father wants to work things out within the family and show a united front to the rest of the Pack. Josh wants me to challenge Ben. Ben wants to try and work it out, Sarah wants me to apologize to Ben. And a whole lot of ‘what are you thinking’ and ‘kick his ass and protect your mate’. I don’t know what to think.”
“I forgot to tell you a few things Shelley told me. She seemed to think there may be some suspicious reason behind the wolf who was your accountant’s leaving the Pack. Have there been any financial irregularities that you know of?”
“Well, there should have been a fairly large bit of cash moving through after the lumber sales. First we did the sale of the raw lumber and then we sold the land and the mill. The mill was worked by our wolves and wasn’t profitable and hadn’t been for years. Most of the families have moved here to Portland or out to the coast where we have a resort the Pack owns. And then we moved the capital into other projects and some into basic stuff like the health insurance for the Pack and the pension program. Our accountant did get a bit squirrelly at the end but I just chalked it up to not having a lot of single women. He told me he was leaving for a Pack with more females in it.”
“I don’t know. But I think you should look into it.”
“You can’t seriously think that my brother is stealing from his own Pack?” Nick pushed up off the couch and began to pace.
“I said I didn’t know and I don’t. I didn’t say anything about Ben anyway. But it seems a big coincidence and coincidences are suspicious. Have you had money problems and then it got better, a lot better, with the sale?” Tracy was stung but tried to remember how hard it must be for him.
“And lay off her, Nick. It’s not her fault for telling you the truth and it sure as hell isn’t her fault that your brother and his mate are up to something.” Gabe wasn’t so understanding, Tracy was his to protect too.
“You think I like this? Being hurt that my mate is accusing my brother of something?”
“You think I like coming into your family and being attacked and maligned? Having the female you’re anchored to say all of that stuff to try and put a wedge between us? You think I wanted my mate’s Pack to hate me for some unknown reason? You think I want this to be happening to you and hurting you, Nick? Is that what you think?”
He turned and sank to his knees, putting his head on her lap. “I’m sorry. I know you aren’t trying to hurt me. I’m sorry my family is acting this way. I don’t understand it.”
She bent her head over his and massaged his scalp. “I know. I’m sorry it’s happening to you and I just want to get to the bottom of it. If Ben is in trouble, you should know why so you can help him.”
“I hate the idea of having to go over there again and bring you into the middle of that. You should stay back here until I figure it all out.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll just wait here for you and paint my toenails. Oh no, wait, I’m Second in the Pack and your mate, guess I’ll do my job and be there. Dumbass, you actually think I’d stay here while you did this all yourself?”
He started to speak but saw the hard set of her mouth and sighed deeply. It was time to put away his feelings as a brother and be the Enforcer of his clan. If he had to challenge his brother to save Pacific and Tracy, he would. Period.
“Too bad the Mediator is so utterly biased in this case.” Tracy sent Gabe a weak smile and he returned it, leaning in quickly to kiss the tip of her nose.
“You have to see this through. Not just to figure out what’s wrong to protect Tracy, but to protect the Pack. It’s your duty. I’ll help in whatever way I can.” Gabe looked at Nick, who’d sat back on the couch.
“Yes, it’s my duty. And I’ll do it because I’m the Enforcer and it’s my job to protect my Pack.” Nick took a deep breath and Tracy watched in awe as he pulled on his rank like a suit of armor. Sitting there, he radiated strength and power and menace.
“Wow, I know I’m not supposed to say this, but you’re really hot when you’re all badass.”
The look he sent her made heat spread outward from low in her gut. When he spoke, his voice was low and the bass in it vibrated down her spine. “I’m going to take you when this is over and my wolf is riding me, Tracy. I’m going to bury myself deep in your cunt and Gabe is going to fill you from behind. I’m going to mark you here,” he touched her neck where it met her shoulder, “and anywhere else that appeals to me.”
She blinked several times, feeling slightly lightheaded.
Gabe leaned in to growl in her ear. “Maybe I’ll put a chain through these rings,” his hands moved to her breasts, “and bind your hands. I’d like that, to see you bound and at my pleasure. At our pleasure. Perhaps even bring out the blindfold so you won’t know what you’ll feel next.”
She closed her eyes and let the image of that float through her system, making her feel heavy and warm.
Nick chuckled. “I think she likes that, Gabe.”
“Good, because I think we need a very large four-poster bed so that we can make use of the many ways to spread and bind her. Do you like rope, sweetheart?”
She shook herself out of her fantasy to answer. “Rope?”
“Mmm-hmmm. I think we’ve got a lot of things to try together, don’t you, Nick?”
“Most definitely.” Nick’s face was very close to Tracy’s and also to Gabe’s. Their mingled scent drove Tracy insane with need.
“Please fuck me,” she whispered as Nick’s hands worked at the button and zipper of her jeans.
Gabe pulled her sweater over her head and was back, hands on her breasts, mouth brushing hot kisses against the back of her neck.
“Stand up,” Nick said and she obeyed, both men still sitting. Nick pushed her jeans and panties down her legs and she stepped out of them and was there totally naked as both of them raked their eyes over her, devouring every detail of her body.
“You’re so beautiful there in the late afternoon sun, Tracy. Your skin nearly glows with the light. I love the way your back curves. You have such long legs but tiny feet. I don’t think I’ve seen a wolf with such petite features before.” Gabe stood and she heard his belt jingle as he loosened his pants and the hiss of the material as they hit the floor.
“Petite? I’m five-ten. That’s not petite.” Her voice nearly broke at the heat of him as he moved close behind her. She watched Nick pull off his shirt, exposing his chest and the flat, hard muscle there.
“Yes you’re tall, but you have a pixie nose and freckles across your cheeks and a sweet mouth to go with those tiny feet. It’s your features that are petite.” Gabe spoke as he took her wrists and she felt the cool leather of his belt wrap around them. “Is this all right with you?” He spoke softly as he tightened the belt, binding her hands and lower arms.
Excitement coursed through her body. “Yes. I trust you.”
Nick stood, removing his pants and boxers, tossing them into the chair behind him. He was so hard that her mouth watered and her clit pulsed.
“Good. Now, let’s move to the chaise.” Gabe tugged on her wrists gently.
“With the windows open like that? Anyone could see in!”
“Why, yes, yes they could. Does that excite you, Tracy? Knowing that someone sitting at their desk doing work could look up and see us through the windows? See you fucking two men? See your naked body writhing? See you with my cock in your mouth?” Gabe half sat, half lay on the chaise, widening his thighs so she’d be able to kneel there.
“I…” The idea of someone perhaps catching them did turn her on. Oh gracious she was bad! There she stood, totally naked, hands and arms tied with a belt, getting ready to have sex with two men. She grinned. Yep,
despite everything else, life was fucking good.
“That’s right, baby. You can’t deny that it turns you on. I can smell how much it turns you on, I can hear it as you walk. Your nipples are rock-hard and you keep licking your lips.” Nick spoke as he helped position her because her wrists were still bound. He knelt behind her as she leaned down to Gabe. He held his cock so that she could take it into her mouth.
“Nice and slow and keep me wet. You’re so good, Tracy. Your mouth is sooo good,” Gabe crooned and ran fingertips over her shoulders and the back of her neck.
She moaned and arched her back when Nick held her open with one hand and thrust into her snug heat in one thrust.
“Oh god yes,” Nick murmured, catching her wrists in one hand to help her stay up as she moved her mouth over Gabe’s cock. What a sight she made there between them! So sexy and outright hot it melted his control. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been so turned on in his life. But each time he was with this woman, he thought that. Each time he touched her, he needed her more than the last time he did.
The way her body felt wrapped around his cock was so good that he wasn’t sure his system could process it all. He’d always loved sex, had it quite often with many beautiful women and not one experience he’d ever had before he met Tracy could even compare. With her—inside her, touching her, smelling her, feeling her body against his—he was whole. He belonged to her, to them.
Nick watched her love Gabe with her mouth, watched Gabe’s hand gently caress her neck and shoulders. Tenderness burst through him for them both. He felt an intense connection to these two wolves he found himself bound to. If he hadn’t, Nick wasn’t sure they could have made the threesome work. But he felt as emotionally bonded to Gabe as he did to Tracy. A deep sense of kinship ran between them, held them all together as a unit.