by V Vee
Talia nodded. "I appreciate you helping in either case."
"It is my pleasure. I just ask one thing…" Fernando sat forward in the large, cushioned, dark red chair with its ornate gold trim and stroked his beard with his bejeweled right hand.
"Of course, anything," Talia agreed.
"Your best friend and partner, Joi? I need… information on her." Fernando shrugged.
"What… kind of information?" Talia asked, suspicion crawling through her stomach like a large spider.
"I don't really know just yet. But soon, very soon, she is going to meet a man named, Angelo Marconi. And when she does things are going to… change. For her. For you. For everyone that you know. When that happens, I want you to simply keep me in the loop. Let me know what's being said by whom and when."
Talia nibbled on her bottom lip and shook her head. "I don't know. I feel a little uncomfortable doing that, Father. I mean, Joi's my best friend."
Fernando nodded and sat back in his chair, crossing an ankle over the opposite knee. "Yes, I know. And believe me, I wouldn't have asked in any other case, but Angelo? He is not a particularly good guy. And I foolishly partnered with him on a deal myself. I would hate for him to do to your friend what he has done to me and my company."
Talia frowned and reached out to touch her father's arm, she froze when he yanked his arm away from her touch, wondering why he was so averse to her touching him. "What did he do to you and your company? And how do you know he wants to partner up with Joi?"
Fernando rose from his chair and walked over to the sideboard in his office. He poured himself two fingers of the Scotch that rested atop the wooden piece of furniture and took a healthy swallow before returning his gaze to Talia's face.
"Let's just say I have some very reliable intel within his organization and they told me that it would not be long now before Angelo would make his move, and that when he did, what he had planned for Joi, would be much worse than what he had planned for me."
Talia leapt from her chair and began to pace. "Well, maybe I should simply stop him and Joi from partnering up. Stop him from making contact with—"
"No!" Fernando yelled, causing Talia to startle. "You must let things progress as they are meant to. We must catch him in the act if we have any hope at all of stopping him. So… you will help me?"
Talia opened her mouth to agree but a soft, distant voice caused her to hesitate once again.
"You do want help for your mother, do you not?" Fernando encouraged.
Talia nodded and sighed. "Fine. I will help you, Father. I will do whatever it takes to help my mother."
Which was why Talia had to step away from the group assembled at Joi's parents' home, in order to walk outside. She'd agreed to her father's plan and had been steadily offering details and information about her best friend, in spite of the guilt and shame which weighed her down, and now that Joi and Angelo had met—were in fact possibly doing more than simply "getting to know one another"—Talia was pretty sure that her monthly reports would increase. Besides, her phone was vibrating in her pocket and she knew who it was before she even looked at the device. Gritting her teeth, she answered.
“Ciao, Papá.”
“Ciao, Figlia. Come va?”
Talia rolled her eyes. She hated it when her father attempted small talk with her. She knew why he was calling, and she really wished he would simply get to the purpose of why he’d phoned her. The longer she was away from everyone, the more suspicious she appeared.
“Che cosa vuoi, Papá?” she asked impatiently.
The deep, dark chuckle he released filled her with dread and Talia swallowed the bile that arose in her throat.
“You are just like me, Little One,” he said, abandoning his use of Italian. “You have no need for niceties, always wanting to get to the meat of the matter. As is our way.”
Talia clenched her fist, hating the reference to yet another secret she was keeping from her best friends. Nausea rolled through her. She hated that she was in this position. She knew it was her father’s intent when he laughed uproariously once more.
“Have you nothing to say, my daughter?”
Talia shook her head, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. No, she didn’t have anything to say. Any words that came out of her mouth, her father would only twist around to fit his own agenda. She had not spent much time with the man who had sired her, but the moments she had she’d become aware of one very glaring fact: Her Papá was a self-serving asshole.
And she was in his debt.
“Papá, is there something important you wanted to talk to me about? I am with my friends and the longer I spend away from them, the more suspicious they’re going to become,” Talia pointed out.
“Yes, yes,” her father’s voice lost its amusement and became dangerously serious. “I know exactly where you are… and who else is there with you.”
Ice filled Talia’s veins. The only person who was there besides her—the only one who didn’t actually belong was Angelo Marconi, her father’s enemy and his biggest business partner. The man had taken an interest in Joi, one Talia knew could only be attributed to one thing. Joi was Angelo’s mate. Once a shifter found the one created for them by the gods, they possessed a single-minded focus to bond with that other person. As often as possible.
Growing up, even as a half-breed, Talia had been told stories of fated mated pairs throughout history. From the very first couple: Adam and Eve, Adam who had been created human and had been “married” to Tabitha, but had met Eve, who’d been bitten by a wolf and though she’d been “created” from Adam’s rib—as innocuous an explanation of the appearance of a second woman in the Garden of Eden as Talia had ever heard—the woman had intrigued him. He’d been Eve’s mate. Eve, the first shifter.
Shifters were told to hold their mates in the highest regard. They were all given one, and though they could marry and procreate with anyone, it was only with their mates that their shifter nature could be passed down. Only with their mates could they ensure the health and well-being of their offspring.
Only with their mates would they find true peace and a feeling of completeness.
Shifters who went too long without finding the one created for them oftentimes went crazy. They would lose touch with reality, become feral, and, becoming a danger to themselves and others around them, have to be put down. Talia wasn’t exactly sure how the shifter community had been able to keep the deaths—murders—of so many people, so many shifters, under wraps, but for centuries they’d been doing so.
And it would continue. Starting with her father.
That is, if he didn’t kill Angelo Marconi first.
"Is there a particular reason for this call, Papa?" Talia asked again.
"Oh yes, my darling daughter, there is. I want to know the very moment Angelo claims Joi. The instant you smell her scent change, I want you to call me and let me know."
Talia frowned. "Why?"
"Because it would mean things had begun. That everything was going according to plan, and the time to act, my time to act, was drawing closer. Much, much closer."
Talia nodded and agreed, though unease washed over her like a tidal wave. She wanted to ask questions but knew she couldn't. Not now. Not until her own plan was put into action. Not until she knew her mother was safe and out of the woods. And only then would she do what she had to do.
And kill her father.
Chapter Two
His Brother's Keeper
Harold "Howl" Marconi stared at the papers that sat on his desk, the figures swirling and vibrating before his eyes. While he loved his job at Woodland Pack Industries, it was his job as the Beta of said wolf shifting pack that really gave him a sense of purpose. More than anything else.
Especially since he didn’t really have anything else going for him in his life at that time.
The sound of a crash, as well as explicit and rage-fueled profanity filling the air made Howl’s head jerk up in surprise. He frowned and shook
his head as his eldest brother, Growl or Angelo, ranted and raved in his office. He felt bad for his brother, he really did. Growl’s mate, Joi Young, had run soon after he’d claimed her. Not completely of course, Growl’s scent hadn’t changed, which meant he was attached but not yet bound. But even though Growl hadn’t claimed his mate thoroughly, the mating fever had already taken hold of him, no doubt it had a grip on his very human mate as well.
I could never be mated to a human, Howl thought to himself with a grimace. Humans are so weak. Human females are even worst.
Knowing that it was his job to help his brother keep his head on straight, not just as his brother but also as his Beta, Howl rose from the chair in his own office and marched off to Growl’s office. He had to come up with a plan of action before Growl destroyed not only the office, but the morale of the entire pack.
Walking into Angelo’s office, Howl stopped for a long moment to marvel at the destruction. Was this what happened to a shifter when they met their mate and lost them? For the first time in a long time Howl was thankful he’d enlisted in the military. The only thing worse than having a human for a mate would be to have a mate and lose them. And after his many years in the service the possibility of his mate being a part of his unit was slim to none.
Stepping fully into the plush, masculine room, Howl strode over to Angelo’s desk and gathered up the papers that had been tossed on top. He looked through them and shook his head at the words, directions, and locations that had been furiously scratched out.
It seemed that his big brother’s mate was giving him the slip. She’d gone from one place to another until her trail went cold. This Joi wasn’t a typical woman it appeared. If she weren’t a human, Howl would probably admire her.
He went to Growl and stood right in front of him. He heard his brother muttering beneath his breath about Alpha Bianchi and Howl frowned again. Why would his brother be talking about that asshole? He reached out to touch his brother's arm but stopped when Angelo growled and shoved him away.
“Growl? What do you want to do now?” Howl asked with a sigh, running his fingers through his thick, black hair, causing it to become as tousled and disarrayed as Growl's. This was not why he'd come home on leave from the Army. For two weeks Growl had pushed him, and their brothers Thunder, and Rumble, as well as his best friends: Snarl and Grumble, to the limit in the search for Joi. Giving them every lead he could think of, her sisters, her best friends, her parents… each time they had come back empty-handed.
Howl knew his brother wouldn't be able to accept the idea that he would never be able to find his mate without help from someone who knew her. Especially due to the fact that every day, every week, Angelo’s wolf grew weaker within him. His soul died a little more. Everyone could feel it. Could sense that the Alpha's wolf was dying. All because of the claiming bite Growl had given to Joi. The Alpha was bonded to the human woman, and without completing the bond, without joining fully, Angelo would slowly waste away. Not only that, without renewing the mark every few weeks, his wolf would waste away.
It was all the more reason for Howl to make sure he never met his mate. He never wanted to be affected to such a degree because of another person.
“We keep searching,” Growl finally responded, turning away from Howl and looking out the window with an aggrieved sigh.
Howl released a breath of frustration as well and spun on his heel preparing to leave his brother to his thoughts when the phone in Angelo's office buzzed and he walked over to press the intercom button.
“What?” he snarled. Howl rolled his eyes at his brother's reaction. Snipping and growling at everyone was not going to help them get the information that they needed any quicker. While he knew that his older brother's nickname was "Growl" sometimes Howl thought he played into it just a little too much.
Says the man whose nickname is Howl, his subconscious mocked.
“S-sorry to bother you, Mr. Marconi, but there’s a Talia Henderson here. She says she has information on the whereabouts on a Miss Joi Young?” the front desk receptionist, Priya, said, her voice chipper and cheery, in spite of her stammering and hesitation. Howl had more than once seen her eyeing his brothers whenever they had to walk past her desk and knew she was hoping that one day one of them would ask her out. She was one of the pack members—male and female—who were hoping to be chosen by one of the Marconi brothers as their mate.
Another one sorely disappointed.
“She knows where Joi is? Send her up, woman. NOW,” he roared into the speaker.
Howl reached out a hand to calm Angelo down or at best to restrain him when he heard his brother's reaction. He'd heard about Joi's friends. They were all humans, and while he had a somewhat… biased view when it came to human females, he was acutely aware of the fact that Angelo's mate would be upset if his brother scared or attacked her friend in an attempt to garner information from her. Restraint was best in that moment, but Angelo shrugged him off before rushing around his desk. He swung open the door to his office and strode quickly to the elevator, with Howl fast on his older brother's heels.
Halfway down the hallway, however, it wasn’t his brother who was rushing forward any longer, it was him. The smell of vanilla, cinnamon, and roasted almonds wafting up to his nostrils. The scent caused his cock to harden and his wolf to pant internally, while also trying to simultaneously burst his way out of Howl's body.
Mate.
Howl was only distantly aware of the chant going through his mind and soul. All he knew was that he had to get to that elevator first. He had to protect the woman inside of it. Had to touch her before anyone else could. No one else could touch what belonged to him.
Mine.
Mate.
Mine.
Mate.
Over and over the words collided in his head, until he was leaping forward the moment the elevator doors opened, standing in front of the woman named Talia, his lip curled up in his own angry snarl as he squared off against his brother.
“Mine,” Howl growled.
Angelo blinked and looked at Howl then back at Talia. Howl could understand his brother's surprise. He felt it as well. Who the fuck was this woman? Beyond being Joi's friend and his mate, who the hell was she? How could she invoke such a visceral reaction in him? He was aware of the fear and shock that she felt, could smell it in the air, but he wasn't able to soothe or calm her. Not at that moment. He had to make sure his brother understood that he had to tread lightly.
Talia belonged to him and Howl would kill anyone who tried to cause her harm.
Even his own brother.
Growling in reply, Angelo threw up his hands, but his brother's frustration did not phase Howl in the least. He simply crossed his arms across his chest and stared at him. He didn't care about his brother's runaway mate at that moment, the only woman that mattered to him was Talia.
“Where. Is. She. Talia? Tell. Me,” he demanded. Howl growled at Angelo, his brother, his Alpha, in warning.
Howl turned to look at his mate over his shoulder, his eyes taking in her full lips, dark brown skin, curvy, plus-sized form, and black, curly hair which hung down to her shoulders. Talia’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly, her fear an unpleasant stench that hung heavily in the air, agitating and further angering Howl who was barely holding onto his human form. His brother was scaring his mate and Howl was on the verge of attacking the older wolf.
“S-she’s in Cleland, Barbados. In a home she owns down there.” Talia shook her head, her words coming out in a trembling voice. “She’s not doing well. She’s getting really sick. H-here’s the address,” Talia held out a piece of paper towards Angelo, but Howl took the slip of paper from her and held it out to his brother, who nodded. Without another word, Angelo turned and headed to his private elevator that would take him to the roof, calling his helicopter pilot on the way.
Howl watched as his brother walked away before he turned to look at his mate.
"You smell like a human."
Chap
ter Three
You Smell Like A Human
"You smell like a human."
Talia quirked an eyebrow at the man standing in front of her and exhaled as she felt the fear which had been her constant companion for weeks slowly begin to dissipate. The minute Joi had taken off, opting to run from the very man who had been destined and fated to be hers, Talia had been living in a perpetual state of fright. Her father had been smug for all of a few days, having known—in some way—that Joi was going to run from Alpha Marconi the moment she got an opportunity. However, Talia's father hadn't anticipated on Joi literally disappearing and not being found for weeks. Apparently, Joi was only supposed to be missing for a few days, before she was found, the information provided to Alpha Marconi by the very man he despised.
Alpha Bianchi, Talia's father.
However, while Joi had told Talia where she was going, Talia had kept the information to herself for days, weeks. She would have continued to keep it a secret, from Joi's mate and her own father, choosing her friendship over men whom she owed no allegiance to, but the last time she'd spoken to Joi, just that moment, she'd realized that her friend was becoming increasingly weak and ill. And while she believed in a woman's right to choose, in all things, about her health, about having children, about whom she wanted to be in a relationship with, there were some instances where Talia believed that someone needed to speak up for others. And since Joi was unable to make rational decisions for herself, Talia had decided to go and inform Angelo about where his wayward mate had taken off to.
Talia just hadn't expected to find her own in the building as well.
"Who said I was human?" Talia responded, tilting her head to the side.
The shifter in front of her cocked his head to the side as well, perusing her entire form. Talia spread her arms wide and spun around just outside of the elevator, letting him get his fill of looking at her.
It was the boldest that she'd ever been in her life. She'd spent much of her life trying to be the best daughter in the world. While her mother had never come right out and said it, more than once Talia had thought the woman would have rather been childless. Especially if the way she always spoke about Talia’s father, and his absence in their lives, was any indication.
