“It’s not your fault, Calla. Baird insisted on the best money could buy for your ceremony. It was a way to show off to the pack how wealthy his in-laws were. He was delighted he could help us out. I have to admit we were thrilled he did too. He said the money came from funds he’d saved separately from the pack’s money, so it was his own to do with as he wished. He assured us he knew we could pay it all back to him in time and offered a reasonable interest rate, better than the banks could offer, though we couldn’t get any more loans from the bank.

“But when the marriage didn’t go through, we were afraid he’d try to use the loan as leverage to get you to return to him. We’d rather lose everything we own than see you mated to him. We had to use our own investments to pay for what we have already done. The manor house is mortgaged to the hilt. Cost overruns and lost profits made the burden more than we could handle.”

“I think he must have used the pack’s money without permission.”

“What?” Her father sounded as shocked as she was that her parents had borrowed from Baird.

“Guthrie overheard Baird’s cousin saying he believes that the pack is going to kill them over something. What else could it be about? Baird said if I went back to him, he wouldn’t have to repay the loan because my business’s income would be added to their pack’s finances, and the money you owe and all your properties would all be under their jurisdiction. But without my mating Baird, the pack wouldn’t get my income and you could possibly default on the loan, meaning it’s not a good financial investment for them.”

“Bloody hell. He lied to us then.”

“Most likely.” She let out her breath. “I’m not going back to him, no matter the mess he’s gotten himself into. How much money did you borrow?”

“A half million.”

She about had a stroke.

“We thought business would pick up after the renovations, but we have to finish off what we started.”

A half million?

“All right. I’ve got some money saved, and I’ll see if I can take out a loan based on my earnings. I doubt I can take out that much, though. What if we sold the carriage house? I could move back in with you and Mum at the manor house.”

“He wants it all now, Calla. He’s desperate to get you back.”

“Because he knows he’s running out of time.”

Her father didn’t say anything.

“I’m…courting Guthrie MacNeill. That’s one reason Baird is running out of time for me to agree to mate him. If he was truly afraid his wolf pack had learned he’d spent their money without their permission, there is that too.” She assumed her parents would be upset with her and tell her to wait until she was more over this situation with Baird. In the background, she heard her father tell her mother that she was dating Guthrie.

Silence.

“Dad, are you still there?”

“Calla, this is great news. When can you get married?”

“Dad?” Her father had to be crazy! She could just imagine going downstairs, joining Guthrie, throwing her arms around him and saying, “Hey, let’s get mated because I need to borrow a half-million dollars from you and that’s what mates are for, eh?”

“If you marry Guthrie, his pack would take us in as family and—”

“Dad, nay!”

Silence.

Then she heard her parents conversing in the background and waited.

“We’re trying to come up with some money through our relatives here,” her father explained.

“In Ireland?” Calla asked.

“It was the last thing we could come up with.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She was certain her distant relatives would want a partial interest in her parents’ properties in exchange for a loan.

“We didn’t want you feeling it was all your fault or that you were obligated to return to him.”

“I have some money, Dad. I could help some.” She rubbed her temple, the headache pooling there again. Returning to Baird was not an option. “Okay, so how much were you able to come up with?”

“Thirty thousand. That’s it.”

“And would our relations have an invested interest in the properties?” she asked.

“No, just payment of the loan and interest as soon as we’re able.”

She let out her breath. “All right. I’ll see what I can do. You should have told me.”

“Are you sure that you don’t want to mate with Guthrie sooner and—”

“Nay! I’ll do something. I’ll call you back when I’ve got some idea of how much money I can get together on short notice. Love you and Mum.”

They quickly said their good-byes, and she was getting ready to call her bank and broker when a knock sounded on the door and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She waited for a second, hoping whoever it was hadn’t been standing there for some time and heard her talking about the money over the phone. Or anything else, like how she wasn’t going back to Baird.

She didn’t want to get the MacNeills involved. She didn’t want them paying her parents’ debts to Baird. They might not even agree to such a thing, as much animosity as they had for Baird’s pack. And they might not have the funds to loan her parents the money, either. Or if they did have the money, it was probably all invested—as carefully as Guthrie took care of their finances—just like most of hers was.