“A bit. Although, I didn’t know that’s what it was. I just couldn’t stay away.”
“You just left home?”
Silva frowned. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I can’t remember. When I told you there were things I couldn’t tell you, I meant it. Most of my memory is a fog, and when I try too hard to remember, it hurts.”
“Hurts?” Kalinda felt like a parrot. Polly, want a cracker?
“Yes. It’s hard to describe, but everything inside of me wants to shrivel up and die. So since I like living, I don’t try so hard anymore.”
“I’m sorry, Silva.”
Silva shrugged. “I make do. What I can say is I figured why your magic worked on me in your kitchen the other day when it didn’t the first time.”
That got Kalinda’s attention. With the Viscount Pride Debacle—naming things was cool—Silva had been aware the entire time. She’d gotten the girls out of there before making sure she could tell Dominic and Romano what had happened when they showed up. Kalinda had wondered why Silva was so messed up the second time. At least she could finally get some answers.
“Why?”
“Because I ate it.”
Did the sun just come into the room?
Just hearing the word “ate” made her pulse jump and her thighs clench. Jesus, but she’d be a full course meal for Romano any day. How the hell she’d never taken him up on that offer before was pure sacrilege. Maybe she’d add some toppings next time—
“Earth to Kalinda.”
Dammit! Kalinda slicked her hair and regained her composure. “Continue.”
“You know, wolves have pretty long tongues.”
“Continue, Silva!”
“Fine, fine. You’re so much fun; I never knew. Anyway, when I ate your food infused with your magic, it was able to get past my natural defenses to magic.”
An idea formed in Kalinda’s mind. “Does that mean you’re immune to the Council? That could solve a lot of problems.”
“Unfortunately, no. They’re strong enough to direct their gifts at me. Fae blood may give me an edge, like shifters, but we agreed to give up some of our strength against magic when we joined the FBMC.”
The faraway look in Silva’s gaze made Kalinda stay quiet, unsure if Silva even realized she was sharing knowledge. Kalinda was afraid if she pointed it out, Silva would feel pain at remembering.
“Once we joined, we—” She stopped suddenly and gripped her stomach with a moan.
Kalinda rushed forward. “Don’t try to remember anymore. It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”
After a few breaths, Silva nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. At least we know you can be affected by my magic if I feed you, so maybe you just can’t have any of my delicious food. Too bad for you.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“Why?”
“Because it smells different now. More contained.”
That gave Kalinda pause. She’d been having problems controlling her magic for some time. Hearing that it may be within better control was pretty awesome. But the only thing that had changed was … sex. Seriously?
“You’re lying.”
“Not even a little bit. Maybe playing Little Red with the Big Bad Wolf gave you some practice.”
“It can’t be that easy.”
“Or maybe it is, to a point. Magic can be demanding. You can’t ignore it. When it wants you, it will have you. Denying it only makes it push stronger. If you accepted it, then it could be more subtle in you now.”
Kalinda rolled her eyes. “Sleeping with him did not fix me.”
“Oh, but maybe it did. Let’s test it. Shoot some my way.”
“I’d rather not.”
“That’s the point of the armor we have on. It’s Fae-built and cost more than a pixie whore on premium night, but Romano didn’t blink. He wants you safe and working with a Fae who can handle it. Besides …” Silva leaned over the counter to grab a knife. She hefted the weight of the handle a minute before tossing it lightning fast through the air. It embedded in the opposite wall with a thwack. “I have other skills too that might be useful for you to use.”
“Where the hell did you learn that?”
“I’m sort of tired of saying ‘I don’t know,’ so let’s just leave it at I can fight. You need to learn to do the same. Romano thought you’d like having a way to defend yourself instead of always relying on others.”
Romano was there every step of the way. Through her fight, through her fear, through denying him, he constantly showed how he thought of her and was willing to make this work. Kalinda may not be completely with this mated thing and doing something crazy like falling in love, but she couldn’t deny it felt nice to have someone on her side like that.
Damn, Houston, we may have a problem.
Chapter Twelve
Romano never really thought about having a mate. At least, not past the idea his wolf might choose one and he’d have to face it. Most of the time, he enjoyed life and women in a superficial capacity; he was too caught up with working for the Family.
Before becoming a Capo under Dominic, he’d been an Enforcer under Dominic for Arturo. That meant death and violence, blood and order, without much room for softness. And while they’d made some changes to the organization, they were still, at the core, dangerous men living dangerous lives. Now he had a mate, and he had to think of her safety as well as his. It was unfamiliar territory.
The thought overwhelmed him as he walked into the Arena to meet with Arturo and his men about the Viscount Pride. Dominic walked beside him, eyes forward and silent, a partner in this movement to keep their women safe. Part of Romano wanted to return to their bed, take her many more times, and enjoy days of learning every cry, every inch of her, and the multitude of ways he could make her climax. Even with all that, the urge to keep her alive was paramount.
There was a great chance, one he feared, of her turning wolf and facing great pain when she did. He didn’t know much about Born Wolves turning their mates who were high-level mages, but it seemed the success rate was high; however, there was no telling what would happen at the combination. The mating of a Born Wolf with a mage over Level 6 hadn’t been done before.
Not only that, the Council would come for her eventually, though they would have to plan their move to keep from inciting a war. The Viscount Pride had their hand in this, and there was also no telling how they would be able to get out from under the Council’s death sentence if she decided against going with their wishes. There were too many dangers, too many unknowns, and it made Romano’s wolf uncomfortable.
“Quiet on you makes me nervous.” Finally breaking the silence, Dominic was sharp as they stopped in the middle of packed earth dyed red from the blood of contenders. They stood in one of the few places wolves could fight to the death in fighting for bets and glory. Even some disputes could be settled within these hallowed walls where the air smelled like death.
It had been years, of course, since anyone was willing to challenge Dominic or Romano. “There are too many factors. I can’t just run in and kill everyone like I’d normally do.”
“It’s tempting. I know the feeling. Did you settle things with Kalinda?”
Romano sighed. “As much as we can. A breakthrough with that woman one day could be just a crack in the armor the next.”
“So you called for backup.”
“Hey, Silva is going to train Kalinda when I can’t be there. I call that a smart business move.”
Dominic started walking with a snort, and Romano fell into step with him. “You’re chicken shit, that’s what happened. Admit it.”
“I don’t understand those words. Did you say you’re a baby douche?”
“Why a baby douche instead of just a douche?”
“Sounds like you just called yourself a double baby douche, and that’s really sad. They probably have support groups for that.”
Domini
c’s laughter trailed with them as they got into the lone elevator off the main floor and pressed the lower of only two buttons. The doors slid closed and they descended. “At least your sense of humor is still intact.”
“Always. I should probably go on the road.”
“I’d buy all your tickets and not show up just so you can have an empty stadium.”
“But did I make money off your sale though? I’d win.”
Dominic shook his head before all levity left his face when the elevator doors slid open. Here, when the meeting of the bosses commenced, there were no openings for laughter. Within these walls they decided on life or death.
Arturo was already seated to one side of the table, Carlo at his right hand. Carlo had taken Dominic’s place at Arturo’s side after he had dispatched Primo and Ottavio to the underworld.
Carlo acknowledged them first, inclining his head to Dominic. “You’ve made it.”
As Dominic reached his chair, he greeted Arturo. “What have you found out?”
“The Viscount Pride was hired by the Council to cause a situation in which Kalinda would be taken under their custody and then handed over to the Council,” Arturo answered.
“What would that earn them?”
“I figured you would ask that, so I wanted us all to hear it.”
Doors to the right opened up and two Enforcers, faces hard, dragged in a blond man, blood caked into the golden strands of his hair and down the side of his face, into the room. He was shirtless, and his pants were barely hanging on. His flesh was a tapestry of cuts and bruises. Not that Romano gave a shit at all. That fucking pride had targeted his mate, and he wanted to know why.
“This is Bastion, the Leo of Viscount Pride’s brother,” Arturo explained.
Romano whistled. Arturo was never kind when he wanted information. Snatching Orion’s brother sent a message Kalinda was not to be touched.
“What did your brother get from selling out to the Council?”
Bastion spat on the ground. “Didn’t one of yours join Benedict? Who’s the sellout?”
One of the Enforcers raised a meaty fist and all of Bastion’s bravado leaked out of him in one sharp whimper.
“I won’t ask again,” Dominic warned.
“Mating rights and your land.”
Dominic stood, pulling his gun from his side. Bastion’s eyes widened until the whites were prominent, and he tried to put his hands in front of his face. The Enforcer’s hold on him prevented him from completing the action.
“Please,” he begged.
Just a mere step away, Dominic stopped and let his gun rest at his side. “My lands? If you joined the Council, they promised you mating rights to whom?”
Bastion swallowed. “We’d claim the mage, Kalinda, and the earth witch, Zoey.”
Romano was on his feet the instant Kalinda’s name was mentioned. Too fast for the eye to follow, Dominic lifted his gun and fired, blasting a hole in Bastion’s leg. Bastion jerked in shock and let out a scream of pain.
“Shift,” Dominic ordered, using his Alpha power. The air crackled, but Romano was so furious he barely felt the sharp little sparks. Bastion wailed but turned instantly, his lion springing free, snarling and sharp, black claws exposed. He crouched, ready to leap, but Dominic stopped him.
“Shift.”
Bastion’s scream filled the room. Shifting from lion to human had healed most of his injuries and the bullet wound was closed, pink flesh puckering. A longer stay in his lion form would heal it entirely, but Dominic was hot with rage and it made him cruel. He’d forced the lion to shift fast enough to heal the wound but hadn’t given his body a chance to push out the bullet. The residual pain from a forced shifting would be killer too.
Romano didn’t care about that either. Before he even thought about it, he pulled his gun and shot Bastion in the other leg. Dominic never missed a beat, forcing Bastion to shift from man to lion and back again.
“Those women are mated,” Arturo added, his voice deceptively lazy. “And one of them carries the heir of both the Moretti and Lombardi Packs.”
Bastion stuttered for a moment. “We weren’t told that. Only that doing this would elevate our place with the Council, and we’d be given high-level mages to give extra power to our bloodline.”
“Which one?” Romano wasn’t sure why he wanted to know, but he did. “Which one had you and your brother chosen?”
Bastion refused to answer, so Romano lifted his gun again. Bastion’s answer came out in a rush. “I was going to get the earth witch and my brother the other.”
Arturo shifted in his seat. “So the Council put you on Kalinda’s trail to capture her?”
“The one with the shop? Yes. We were to monitor her. My brother once passed by her shop while she and the other woman were in there. Her wards on the shop reacted to a vampire, but her scent still came through. We’d been told to smell for old magic. Once we did, it was reported to the Council and plans were made to take her.”
It didn’t make sense. Why would the Council go through all that trouble when they could have quietly taken her themselves? Benedict’s betrayal hadn’t become obvious by then, so how would they have even known in the first place? There were always more fucking questions than answers.
“What tipped the Council’s hand about her?”
“They didn’t tell us. We just had a job to do and take the girl so the Council would give us what we wanted. The wolves have ruled long enough. It’s our turn.”
“You say it in present tense like it’s going to happen,” Romano forced out through gritted teeth.
Bastion’s eyes glowed with anger. “My brother will never stop,” he sneered, still arrogant and clueless.
“Well, let’s send him a message to encourage him to make better choices, shall we?” Arturo’s words rolled out on a slow, deadly growl.
Arturo nodded, and the Enforcers lifted Bastion off his feet. Bastion’s eyes went wide with fear; he knew what that meant. He thrashed and bucked against them, his fangs thrusting from his gums, but their grip on him was like iron.
“Make sure his brother gets all the messages.”
Piece by piece.
Bastion kicked and snarled and tried to shift yet again, yellow fur flowing over his face. Dominic sent out another wave of Alpha power and forced him back into his human form, wrenching a shriek of pain from the panicked animal.
The wolves watched as the screeching, struggling lion was hauled from the room.
It wasn’t something they did often, but the Leo of Viscount Pride had moved to claim two mated women. Kalinda may not have been mated when they’d been put on her trail, but Zoey had been, and there was no way they hadn’t known. Even Kalinda’s Katering would have been run over with the scent of wolves, a warning to anyone wanting to encroach. Not a single one of them sitting at the table was going to ignore such a violation without violence.
“I’m surprised you didn’t have him think of a number between one and two hundred like we used to do,” Carlo commented.
“I find myself getting a little lenient in my older age,” Arturo returned.
Carlo snorted. “Yeah, so lenient you’ll be sending him to his brother in pieces.”
“It absolutely is. I could have kept him alive while the pieces were made.”
To punctuate his thoughts, a single gunshot rang out loudly, echoing through the room.
“At least we know why the Viscount Pride was willing to challenge us to get Kalinda out of there. What the Council orchestrated in dangerous. Yes, Kalinda is my mate, but maneuvering whole power structures in Encantado?”
“They never would have given the Viscount Pride half of what they promised. It would have been impossible, and the pride was just too stupid and greedy to see that. But we don’t know if everyone on the Council was privy to those plans or not,” Arturo argued.
“I have no doubt Lennox was in on it. He wants Kalinda.”
Romano remembered how the bastard had touched her like sh
e belonged to him or was meant for him. He still planned on killing the bastard at a later date.
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Carlo offered. “We know what the pride’s game was, and we can keep protection at a heightened level. The Leo will want to retaliate, but the message may be enough to remind him he is pushing things far above his strength. All we need to do is protect the women and wait to see what happens when the time is up for Kalinda’s shifting.”
“We still don’t know how to get her out of the death sentence,” Romano argued. “Kalinda isn’t going to accept joining the Council after the way they’ve done her, and we still face that. Joining the Council would mean she’d be locked to their lands and under their control. It won’t matter that I am her mate. They may have to allow me access to her or confine me to living beside her.”
“Neither of which is an option,” Dominic promised. “Zahara is the only high-level mage who was able to turn down the Council and survive.”
“You won’t be able to follow Zahara’s path,” Arturo warned.
“Why?” Romano had never seen Arturo look as deadly as he did at that moment.
Dominic tensed. He hadn’t relaxed since Bastion’s exposure of the Viscount Pride’s play in all of this. But he was rock solid now.
For moment, surprise broke through before the shutters came back down over Arturo’s face. “We will discuss it later.”
“I am not one of your wolves any longer, Arturo,” Dominic argued.
Threat and domination whipped through the room. Romano maneuvered to be behind his Alpha, even as Carlo did the same with Arturo. The two pairs faced off in the center of the room, one Alpha against another, their Enforcers at their side.
Not exactly how this meeting was supposed to go.
“You think you have what it takes to go after me, pup?”
“We can sure as fuck see how it goes.”
And that was not going to help.
Romano grimaced, knowing what he was about to do could get his head ripped off, but so be it. There were much more important things going on than an Alpha pissing contest. Dominic would just have to hate him now and thank him later.
Mated to the Enforcer (Mafia Wolf Shifters) (Encantado Shifters Book 2) Page 12
