He wanted to deny it but he couldn’t. Part of him had loved Nina but knew she wasn’t his. Now that he’d found Grace, he understood what he’d felt was in part due to their bond and a pale shadow of what it was to really be mated.

“That’s due to the bond. But what I have with Grace, well there’s no comparison at all. She’s my everything. Nina is my sister, my Packmate and my anchor bond but Grace is my mate. My life is about her.”

“The steaks are nearly done. I’ll go in and talk to her. You’ll muck it all up.” Tegan stood and rolled her eyes at him.

“Don’t make things worse, Tee.”

“Please. I’ve dealt with Nina long enough to know a few things. I’ve also dealt with you long enough to know a few things. Lastly, I have lady parts, I have a bit more to say on this score than you do. Tomorrow you will make sure everything is about her and make it clear to everyone back home.” Tegan sighed and went toward the closed bedroom door where Grace had sequestered herself.

Grace scrubbed her face and moisturized before stomping back into the bedroom. The nerve of that woman! Grace knew people thought she was either evil because of who she was or a pushover. She was neither.

You didn’t have to be hard on the outside, foul mouthed, mean, snarky or bitchy to be powerful. Grace knew that. She held life and death in her hands on a daily basis. She waded into terror and blood every time she went to work. Didn’t mean she had to get a God complex like some of her colleagues or affect an exterior of nonchalance so thick they didn’t seem to be moved by anything.

Things moved Grace Pellini. Things got to her, touched her deeply. Made her angry and upset and insecure. That was human and she may be a werewolf but she was partly human too and unlike some others, she embraced that. Feeling things didn’t make her weak.

Right then, she felt like smacking Nina Warden’s bitchface. Hmpf.

She’d done her best to ignore part of the conversation out in the living room by turning on the water and washing up but she heard the steps coming down the hall toward the bedroom. Tegan, if she wasn’t mistaken.

“Can I come in?” Tegan asked from the other side of the door.

“Sure.” She opened the door and Tegan came into the room and sat on the bed.

Good gracious, Tegan was beautiful. So much so it made Grace uncomfortable just looking at her. She didn’t usually worry about her looks and wow, she did have Cade Warden naked and willing to serve her with gusto, so it wasn’t like she needed large br**sts and all that gorgeous hair, but these Warden women could give a person a complex.

“I just wanted to talk with you a bit. Make sure you’re okay. The thing is, I love Nina. She’s a very dear person to me. But, she’s wrong here and out of line and generally just acting like a brat. You’re my family now too. My sister, like she is, and I like you. I think you’re incredibly brave to have done what you did and not crack. You’re good for Cade, he needs something to care about other than the Pack. You’re worthy of him.”

“Something to care about other than the Pack and his brother’s wife?”

Tegan’s eyebrow went up in a very fine imitation of her oldest brother. She sighed. “Astute. But I’m not sure it’s that simple. And certainly not accurate at this point anyway. He loves you. I’ve been mated, twice. I’ve had an anchor. I know what it is to feel deeply for your anchor and what it feels like to be bonded to your mate. The difference is night and day. Tomorrow you may be in a better position to understand what I’m saying after you do the tri-bond with Jack. Lex and Nina are strong together, a force of nature really. She’s a very big personality. She tends to suck up the air in the room. It works because Lex needs that sort of woman to keep him in line as he can be, um, a wee bit controlling.”

Tegan paused and then laughed. “Okay, a lot controlling. Now Cade lives with them in the house and he’s very paternal. He’s a worrier, it’s his job as Alpha. I hope I don’t offend you when I assume you don’t know what it’s like to be around an actual Alpha.”

Grace shrugged. “No. Although I did grow up in a Pack, I know Warren isn’t an actual Alpha. He’s more like the boss of his group rather than the Alpha. There’s no compulsion to obey him other than fear.”

Tegan nodded. “Okay, then the thing is, Cade is no less strong than Lex. In fact, he’s stronger because Lex can pour all his energy into one thing, protection. Physical protection of the Pack. But Cade has to think about everything. Finances of the Pack, physical safety, boundary issues, inter-Pack relations, the relations of all the wolves in the Pack, his own family, his own position, the position of the Pack in the US and the world and now this war. He doesn’t need a big presence like Nina. And I’m not saying you’re not a big presence, you are. But with you, it’s under the surface. You don’t need to be managed. You won’t hare off on a wild scheme. You’re as calm and smart and far thinking as he is and that’s what he needs.”

“A Pellini is doubtless not what he needs. But he’s bonded to one now and that’s the breaks.”

Tegan laughed. “I like you, Grace. You’ll do fine. Nina is a good person, she is. She loves her husband and she loves her Pack. But you’re the Alpha and Cade is yours. Stand up for it and don’t let her push you around. I think the two of you will actually get along well once your roles get established. But I expect that establishing will be a bit bumpy and of course Cade just loves you and assumes that’s all it takes.” She stood. “And now, let’s go eat. You have no idea how pouty Cade gets if the food he makes gets cold.”