by Lauren Dane
Lex didn’t say a word. His face was impassive as he directed his people with hand signals. He looked over at Nina and gave one hard shake of his head. She knew he was ordering her to stay out there and she nodded. He looked to Megan and gave her the palm of his hand—she was to stay with Nina. Megan inclined her head and backed Nina up into the trees a bit farther, but they still had a view of the house.
Nina watched, holding her breath, as they headed out. While the other guards on Lex’s team fanned around the house, he, Dave and Stoner walked straight up the back deck stairs and kicked in the back door. He was impressive and scary and Nina watched in awe as he did his Enforcer thing. Something deep inside her responded to how he moved, how he took charge. And she had to admit that knowing he was doing part of this whole thing to avenge Gabriel’s death touched her deeply. There’d never been anyone in her life she could count on, on that level. Having Lex made her whole. Made everything all right even if it still brought a lump to her throat each time she thought of how pointless Gabriel’s death was.
Lex shot two of the men in the head before they’d even stood fully. Stoner stood off to the side, weapon drawn just in case. Nina gasped as one of the wolves jumped at Lex, knocking him off balance but not off his feet. He was all violence and menace as he moved with liquid speed and threw the other wolf into the glass and out onto the deck.
There was a short struggle, but Nina’s attention was torn from the scene by the sight of two men running toward them. Megan drew and one of them turned and saw her and jumped on her.
The other turned and moved toward Nina, growling and snarling.
It was time for her to do her job as Second. The weight of that fell on her until time slowed. With great clarity and a sense of purpose, Nina reached out, sighted down her arm and squeezed the trigger. The sound exploded, the acrid scent of gunpowder hung in the air around them. In an odd sort of calm, she squeezed again, and one more time, and the man crumpled to the ground.
She felt a touch on her arm and looked to see Megan speaking to her but she couldn’t hear anything but the ringing in her ears. Her shoulder hurt, her eyes burned. Megan put an arm around her and squeezed. Nina had done her duty to her Pack and she’d saved her life and the life of her sister-in-law in the bargain.
Remembering Lex and the battle on the deck, Nina spun just in time to see Lex heading toward them at top speed. Fear on his face, he looked at Megan, who smiled and nodded, and he closed his eyes for a moment. Relief clear on his face, he moved to pick Nina up and cradled her against his body, holding her there as they walked back through the forest.
By the time they’d gotten back to the car she had her hearing back and his heartbeat was keeping time, lulling her.
He set her down next to the car and unlocked it. “Beautiful, are you all right?”
Nina sat in the soft bucket seat. “Yeah. I think so. I really don’t like shooting people, Lex.”
“I don’t like you shooting people either, Nina. But you saved Megan’s life. You saved your own life. You did what you had to do and I’m proud of you for it. You’re strong and I’m thankful.” He knelt in front of her and ran his hands up her legs and put his head in her lap for a moment.
She ran her hands through his hair. “Did you get the virus?”
“We got two vials. Jack Reed, the Alpha of the Rogues, is dead, his people in the house are dead. Our wolf was gravely injured, they took him to Dr. Molinari. I hope he makes it.”
“What about Pellini?”
Lex shook his head. “He denied any involvement when I called him earlier and you know we couldn’t find anything concrete tying him to any of this.”
Megan came out of the woods and Lex went off to speak to Stoner and the guards for several minutes before coming back to the car and taking them back home.
“Is Stoner okay with what happened back there?”
Lex nodded. “He understands our need to run our affairs. He’s going to be a liaison between the Pack and the police. I think it’s a good plan. He’s a good man.”
Nina nodded. “Yeah. It’ll be good to have him on our side.”
Cade was waiting for them when they walked back inside. He hugged Megan and then Nina, kissing her lips gently. “Go take a shower, baby. You did good.”
She smirked up at him. “Easy there, Mayor McTouchy.”
Lex tugged on her ponytail with a laugh. “I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
She stood beneath the spray and let the tears come. Big gulping sobs shook her body. It was over. The men who’d killed her brother were dead and her mate was the one who made sure of that. Lex protected her and avenged her loss. The depth of what that meant stunned her.
Nina realized that being with Lex, even through all the horror that she’d experienced, had enabled her to get through it. That was family. That was connection.
It would take a while but in time, she would get over what happened in the living room of the Pack house. Eventually, she’d come to forgive the other wolves their inaction. She would however, use her position to deal with the stupid way werewolves treated humans. She’d do it for Gabriel and for the Nina Reyes who wasn’t human anymore. Knowing that it would agitate the hell out of Lex and Cade just made the thought even more delicious.
* * *
When she walked out of the bathroom a dozen candles lit the room. Lex lay in the center of their big bed, the golden glow of the candlelight making him look godlike.
The corner of her mouth hitched up even as her body tightened in response to his presence.
“Hey there. You look happy to see me.” She nodded to his erection.
“Yes, my thingy is quite pleased.”
Nina laughed and jumped on the bed where he caught her easily and rolled so that he was above her, looking down into her face.
She reached down, wrapped her hand around his cock and squeezed gently. “I think you’re old enough to say cock now, Lex. Sheesh.”
He laughed and kissed her quick and hard. “Well, I am just a fuck-drunk werewolf, remember?”
“Oh yeah.” She snickered. “Come on in, Scooby. The water is fine and your wife needs some action.”
“I love you, Mrs. Scooby.” He positioned the head of his cock just outside her pussy and pushed into her body slowly.
“Good. Now shut up and fuck me ’cause I love you too. You big tool.”
Their laughter died on a gasp as he entered her body fully.
* * * * *
Read on for a preview of WOLVES’ TRIAD, the next book in the CASCADIA WOLVES series from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Dane
Wolves’ Triad
by Lauren Dane
Tracy Warden grabbed a cup of coffee in the spacious kitchen belonging to her brothers and sister-in-law. It was a room that felt like home. A room she’d cooked numerous meals in, had shared coffee and drinks in with her sister-in-law and best friend, Nina. Before Nina came, the room—the house—had been nice enough, but somehow the love she brought, the laughter and joy, made it a home.
Tracy often wondered if it was about Nina or the connection she had with Lex. Wondered if she’d ever have that sense of belonging in a place—to someone—that Nina and Lex obviously did.
“Have some breakfast, Trace. There’s plenty. You know how Cade is when he cooks. He’ll pout like a four-year-old if you don’t eat anything.”
She looked back over her shoulder at Nina and laughed at the irreverence with which her sister-in-law treated their Alpha and the oldest brother in the Warden family. Cade may have scared the bejesus out of everyone else but Nina was fearless. Of course, considering the last year and a half of Nina’s life, what did she have to fear that she hadn’t overcome?
“You’re going to get me into trouble, old woman,” Tracy snickered as she joined Nina at the table.
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“If you think I didn’t hear that comment, Nina, you’re mistaken,” Cade said in a growl as he came into the room and put a platter of bacon and another of eggs and toast down.
“Oh I’m all aquiver. I beg your pardon, Oh Supreme Tool, er, Alpha. Please don’t discipline me with your scary frown and spatula.”
Lex came in, kissed the top of Nina’s head and sat down, trying to stifle his smile. “He needs to take you in hand,” Cade groused as he sat and began to heap food on his plate.
“Oh he has. Can’t you recognize the satisfied look on his face?” Nina said, one eyebrow up as she put a napkin on her lap.
“TMI! Let’s talk about something else, please, while I still have an appetite,” Tracy joked as she buttered her toast.
“TMI?” Lex looked puzzled.
“Too much information.” Nina winked at her sister-in-law.
“Yes, like how Mom keeps coming over here looking for you, Tracy. She says you’re never home. Are you ducking her?” Cade had his big-brother-Alpha face on.
“I keep telling you to rekey the gate code so she can’t sneak in here,” Nina murmured to Lex, who nearly choked on his coffee.
“She’d just climb it, she’s ruthless when there’s prey in her sights.” Lex grinned behind his cup.
Cade looked at Lex and tried not to smile, but lost the battle. “Okay, so she’s...”
“Pushy? Come on, Cade! She keeps dropping in at my house with werewolves in tow who she just ran into at the grocery store or some such. It’s blatant and annoying.
Megan and Tegan just hide from her when she comes over here, Lex married Nina, and you, you’re the Alpha and she has to be nicer to you so I’m vulnerable to her attacks.”
“Don’t you want to have someone?” Lex asked quietly, his fingers playing with the ends of Nina’s hair.
Tracy softened. “Yes. Yes, I do, Lex. But I don’t want to date some suck-up that wants an in with the Alpha’s family. I want my mate. I want the kind of connection that you and Nina have.”
“Fair enough, doll.” Nina reached out and squeezed her hand. “You’ll find him. When you least expect it.” She grinned then. “And boy is he in for it!”
* * *
After breakfast, Tracy went into the office to start the accounting paperwork she did part-time for the Pack business and Nina moved about the house dealing with the plants before she went in to her gardening business for the day. Her florist shop had been burned down a year and a half before and instead of opening another florist’s she’d gone and opened up a full-scale nursery on the Eastside that had further nurtured her love for all things green—and had done extremely well in the bargain.
Lex Warden tried not to notice how good his wife looked as she reached up to water the plants on the shelves above the kitchen counter. The morning sun streamed through the window and over her body. Normally she was hard to ignore but this morning it was even worse as her skirt inched up ever higher as she moved.
Seeing the creamy café au lait skin of her thighs reminded him of the particularly fabulous way she’d said good morning and he had to shift in his seat as his cock hardened against the buttons of his fly.
“Hello? You still with us, Lex, or you planning to ravish your wife?” Cade snapped his fingers in front of Lex’s face as he followed the direction of Lex’s glance. Nina Reyes-Warden was quite a specimen and Cade harbored more than one of his own fantasies about his sister-in-law. He certainly couldn’t blame his brother for the goofy, dreamy smile he wore. His brother had been totally head over heels for his mate since the first moment he’d taken a deep whiff of her, and Cade envied that.
Lex snorted as Nina turned and rolled her eyes at both of them. “Jeez! Can’t a girl water plants around here without being objectified?” She squirted water at both of them and sashayed out, smiling to herself.
The phone rang and a few moments later Nina walked back into the room and handed the receiver to Lex. “It’s the Enforcer from the Pacific Clan.”
His fingers brushed hers and he watched, satisfied, as her pupils widened and her breathing sped up. He sent her a cocky grin and she mumbled “fucking furry tease” on her way back out of the room.
Cade motioned that he was going into his office to work and Lex nodded shortly before taking his call.
Lex came into the office half an hour later and threw his long frame into a chair. “That was Nick Lawrence calling about more border bullshit. I’ve sent Dave down to pick up three of our wolves who’re in jail for fighting with Pacific wolves. This dispute has gone on long enough. Someone is going to end up really hurt or dead.”
“Call the Mediator. You know it’s unavoidable.” Cade took a sip of his coffee, chuckling. The National Pack had a mediator, a man who came in to solve inter-Pack disputes. It was a pain to deal with bureaucracy like that, but Alpha wolves made for ridiculously complicated negotiations. It was better to call in an expert before wolves died.
“I know. Better we deal with this now.”
Cade nodded. “And anyway, the wolf who’s been in the shadow seat was made Mediator three years ago. I hear he’s good. Young. Forward-thinking. When you get together, take Nick aside and ask their opinion about the issue of Pellini Group’s influence on the National Governance Council.”
Lex sighed and finished his coffee. “I can’t imagine they like it any more than we do. Most of the Packs don’t like it. I say we deal with it now, before they get any more power.”
“That’s treason and I forbid you to talk like that outside of this house.” Cade’s voice was sharp. Warren Pellini and his connected wolves had found an in into the National Pack governance structure. Right now Pellini had the ear of a few powerful wolves, and they were all uneasy.
“Hey, I can do my fucking job, Cade. You don’t need to forbid me like I’m some unranked wolf.” Lex pushed his chair back and stood up, eyes flashing.
“Whoa!” Nina rushed into the room and put herself between them. “Knock it off, both of you! You don’t see me and Tracy doing this sort of thing, do you?” Nina tossed an annoyed look over her shoulder at her sister-in-law, who was watching the exchange with similar annoyance and concern. “Boys, boys, put your cocks away please. If you don’t, I’m just going to break out the ruler and measure them once and for all. But let’s do this instead—shut the fuck up and stop the swaggery Who’s the Biggest Baddest Wolf crap. At least before lunch.”
She placed a hand on each of their chests and felt their pounding hearts beneath her palms. Their hearts in her hand, it meant something. The three of them were tied to each other in a really elemental way and sometimes she was the bridge between two very strong males.
The anger and challenge drained from them and she allowed herself a little sigh of relief.
“God, you’re full of shit for someone so hot.” Cade leaned in, kissed her forehead and looked around her at his brother. “I didn’t mean offense by it. I do trust you to do your job. I trust you with my life every day. This is worrying me more than I realized, I suppose.”
Lex relaxed a bit and pulled Nina to him with one hand, her back to his chest, and grabbed his brother with the other and cupped his neck. “Of course. I’m sorry I overreacted.”
Tracy snorted. Turning around, she picked up the pile of paper she’d been working on, and put it in front of Cade. “I have to go to work.” She shook her head at her sister-in-law. “Better you to have to deal with this crap than me.”
“You’re going to work dressed like that?” Cade frowned at Tracy in her very short denim skirt, her legs encased in fishnet stockings. She was wearing a tight red sweater and her golden-brown hair hung in loose curls around her face and shoulders.
“No, I forgot my boots.” She reached into the hall closet and pulled out a pair of high-heeled boots that laced up the front and came to her knees.
“Why not? She looks amazing.” Nina kissed Tracy’s cheek and turned back to look at her husband.
“That’s the point. That skirt is too short, the sweater is too tight. The boots, they’re...they’re...”At a loss for words, Lex just gestured at her wildly.
Tracy winked at both her overbearing brothers and pulled her coat on. “They’re really gorgeous, aren’t they? I love them.” Looking back at Nina, she grinned. “Just call me or have your guy call me and I’ll bring those pots back here tonight.”
Blowing them all a kiss, she sauntered out of the room, yelled her goodbyes to everyone else and left.
* * *
Aside from the accounting work she did for the Pack, Tracy was lucky enough to have the refuge of her record store, Spin the Black Circle. She had loved the place since the first moment she’d found the empty storefront two years before but it was an added bonus that her mother hated it and didn’t want to come near it. Tracy was spending a lot of time there lately and was strongly considering kicking out the tenants who lived upstairs so she could move in there and have a great reason to keep her mother away. She was also fortunate to have a manager who loved the store almost as much as she did and who ran the place with amazing efficiency and the help of a small but great staff.
After several hours at the store, she went home to get some paperwork for Cade. The house was one that she’d spent a lot of time in as a kid. Her grandparents had turned the Pack over to her father before Tracy was born, and as a result they had a lot of free time to spend with their grandchildren.
Milton, her chocolate Labrador retriever, was happily waiting for her in the front windows. Those big front windows looked out toward the Ballard Locks. The water could look green and murky, black and cold or bright blue and glittering beneath the sun depending on the day and the season. The small porch had a glider swing and plants that were tended to by Nina. Even in the cold of winter, she’d had colorful plants. Nina planted some stuff that looked like cabbages and they were a vibrant purple. Tracy had no freaking idea just what it was, but she couldn’t argue that it made the house look nice with a bit of color to break the monotony of the gray Seattle skies.