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“We voted to let her live. We did not vote to let her livein Warden’s Pass.”
“So, you’re going to make the man pick between his mate and his family? What if the Howlers would have said that to you? Your options would have been to let me be killed or leave your family, because we both know you would not have been able to walk away from me forever.”
Her eyes narrowed on him, but Trick recognized that look as the one she gave Lucifer when he was making great points and it was grating on her nerves.
“Oh, get the fuck over it,” Lucifer grumbled as he rolled his eyes.
Crush huffed out a sigh and looked to Trick. “You really trust her?”
He gave a nod. “It took months, Crush. We did a lot of talking. Hell, she had numerous opportunities to take me out. If she was still down to kill shifters just because they were shifters, she would have slit my throat in my sleep. I mated her… the whole deal. She’s mine. To be really honest with you, I trust her more than I trust you right now.”
Trick scanned the group around him, recognizing the hurt and pain just below the carefully crafted masks they wore to hide their true feelings, and he hated that any of them had been hurt, especially Rex. He understood their grief. It lurked inside of him, too, but at some point, as a family, they needed to move forward.
When his gaze landed on Crush again, she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I need to talk to my club.”
“Kisy and the other Ol’ Ladies have accepted her,” Pinky said quietly.
“Well, she’s not just an Ol’ Lady,” Crush bit out. “She’ll need to voteas a Clawabout whether we let… Stiletto… around our family.”
As Trick’s growl rolled out of him, Axle’s alpha voice filled the air as he said, “Stilettoisfamily. She’s no different than any other Ol’ Lady or Ol’ Man, Crush. The question on the table is… can we trustyouaround her.”
Crush’s glare settled on Axle. “Don’t fucking alpha voice me, asshole.”
Axle rolled his eyes and huffed out a sigh. “Have your vote. Just know… the result of this vote will determine whether the Howlers and the Claws are allies or enemies.” Then his president turned his back on all of them, proving he wasn’t scared of Crush, and walked away.
As Crush stormed off in the other direction, heading for the stairs to the second floor of the building, Trick’s focus shifted to Pinky. She held his gaze, and Trick swore she was trying to let him know she would go to bat for Stiletto in their vote. He gave a nod, confirming her message was received.
Lucifer nodded to Trick and followed his mate.
Trick jogged to catch up with his president before slowing his pace and walking next to him. Rex did the same on the man’s other side.
“Thank you,” Trick said.
“Don’t fucking thank me for shit we’re supposed to do,” Axle growled, but Trick knew the anger wasn’t at him. “There’s no question for us, Trick. No question. She’s family. She has Howler protection. End of story.”
Trick gave a nod. “I know, but I need to see it.”
“Understood.”
Rex sighed. “I’m down for protecting her, but… that doesn’t mean I won’t keep my eye on her for other reasons. I’m going to need to see that she isn’t a threat.”
As his bear bristled at the questioning of their mate’s intentions, Trick looked over at his brother. “That’s fair. She’s willing to put in the work.”
“Bring her to the clubhouse. Tonight. 8:00. With the Howlers there, she’ll be protected, no matter what the Claws decide.”
Rex let out a low whistle. “I don’t envy Kisy.”
“Kisy already made her opinion known. She’s just going to do it again at the meeting.” Axle turned his head and met Trick’s gaze with his own. “I don’t think that vote is going to go the way Crush wants it to.”
Trick nodded.
“Do you trust Kisy around Stiletto?”
“Yeah,” Trick admitted, “just not alone, but that’s not special to Kisy. That’s all of you, except Ranger and Rock.”
Axle’s hand settled on his shoulder. “Give us a chance to prove it, and we’ll show you that you can trust us.”
Trick’s bear was pawing the ground and huffing the entire ride to the compound that night. The animal was anxious as hell, and Trick understood that, since he was feeling much the same. Hope that everything would work out simmered in his gut, but he was having trouble believing it to be a possibility. One wrong move, and his mate could be in danger. That fear overrode any hope.
