In a family of blonds, Tegan and Layla were the only ones who’d inherited their maternal grandmother’s fiery red. Her green eyes and the jut of her chin were pretty much the same stubborn set that the other Wardens had though, and Tracy sighed seeing it.

In the end, they decided to have Tegan rent to own the house and pay more as she could. Both of them felt like they’d won something in the argument and the house stayed in the family.

When all of the males came back into the room the amount of testosterone hit the roof, and all the mated females wore secret smiles and squirmed a bit.

Gabe settled in on one side of Tracy and Nick on the other. She felt utterly safe snuggled between them and Milton lay at her feet. A girl could get used to all this male adulation. She shot a grin at Nina, who snorted a laugh.

“I’d ask what that was about but I really don’t want to know,” Cade muttered dryly. “So we’ve established that Tracy, Nick and Gabe have a tri-mate bond and we’ve allowed Grandma to crow about it and I’m sure that Mom is so pleased she’ll give those of us who are yet to be mated a break for a little while.” He shot a hopeful look at his mother, who waved him off.

“Anyway, Gabe has some things to tell us about the Pellini Group before Nina tells us what she found out about the Pacific Pack bank records that she illegally hacked into earlier this afternoon.” With that, Cade shot a glare at Tracy, who gave him a discreetly raised middle finger as she scratched her nose.

Gabe sat forward instead of standing up. This was his family now and he didn’t want to push his rank.

“As you’re aware, the Pellini family has found the ear of the Second in the National Pack. I’ve been more and more concerned by this in the last six months as I’ve seen the Pellini people have more of a say in Pack business. This makes me very unhappy and I’ve been concerned as I watched them get their claws into the National Pack. But I’m Third,” he shrugged, “and what the Second does is something I need to be careful over. And it’s something that Pellini has used in his whisperings to the Second. He’s made me look like a traitor and someone out to usurp the Second’s position. So each time someone comes to me worried about the situation, I have to reassure them.”

“But you don’t feel very reassured?” Cade asked.

“No. No I don’t, and my being away right now only exacerbates things because I’m a voice of reason in the inner circle. When I’m not around, it makes it easier for the Second to get to the Alpha.”

“Well, we’ve had our share of worries. As you probably know, we’ve had our own problems with the Pellini family in the last few years. We can never seem to get enough on them. Even after we had the run-in with them that got Carter executed and dumped on our land, we couldn’t prove that they were the ones behind the stolen virus or the hit. And we don’t know if they reproduced any of the virus to use later. So you can understand our concern that suddenly a murderer and criminal like Warren Pellini has the ear of one of the most powerful wolves in the country.” Lex took a drink of his beer.

“I can’t go into all of it, but there have been some less-than-ideal business decisions made because of Pellini’s involvement. People who’ve confronted him on it have been fired or challenged or threatened.

I’ve been threatened but my position is more solid than a lot of others because the Alpha trusts me greatly. But he also trusts the Second.

“So what I’d like to do is find out where the Packs are on this. I’ve spoken with Great Lakes, Shasta, City of Angels and Golden Gate and they’re all with me. I hate to put you on the spot but this is a serious situation and will only get worse until we get Pellini out of there.”

Lex took a quick look at Cade, who gave a small nod. “We’re with you. What do you need?”

“Right now, nothing. I’m hoping this will be bloodless and reasonable. If I can go to the Alpha and show him that the Packs of the nation are concerned about Pellini and want him out, I believe he’ll make that happen.”

“Okay. We’ve got your back.”

He turned to Nick. “And Pacific?”

Nick shrugged. “I can’t speak for the Pack, obviously. But if you’re asking what the Enforcer thinks, I think the Pellini Family is bad news and they endanger all of us. If the humans had any idea there was such a thing as werewolf organized crime it could lead to some very frightening times. Ben was antsy about it the other day. Asked me to feel Cascadia out about the situation. But he said he didn’t want to take sides. In my opinion, it’s a bad idea. But we haven’t discussed it as a Pack. With things so bad right now, I don’t know what to say.”

Gabe scrubbed his hands over his face. “I understand your predicament, Nick, I really do. But it is important. For precisely the reasons you bring up. The humans are suspicious of us as it is. This is something I’d like you to look into soon.” He sighed.

“Well, this is probably a good time to bring up what I found today.” Nina pulled some papers out of a file folder on the low table near the couch. “I did a basic search through the transaction records for the past three years. I looked into Pack accounts and the personal accounts of Sarah and Ben as well.”

Nick looked up sharply but said nothing.

“I’m sorry, Nick. I just thought it would be wise to cover all the bases. I looked at yours as well.”

“Nina!” Tracy objected. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”