“Dom and I ran into trouble when we went out with the vrykolakas,” Dani says. At my confused frown, she adds, “They’re Dominic’s extended pack, basically hybrids without souls. Half-vampire, half-wolf, born and raised in the Carpathian Mountains.”
“Dom’s cousin brought them here,” Lucrezia says, “and once Dominic killed him, he inherited the wolves. They’re not the kindest, but they are extremely loyal to him.”
“I... Okay. So, the reconnaissance mission with these...vrykolakas...went bad?”
Dani bites into half a croissant. “Mm, yeah. One of them was dying, and when Lucas came, he, um, pretty much resuscitated him. And then he freaked out and took off.”
“He...what?”
Lucrezia reaches for a pastry. “He brought him back from the dead. Dominic says his wolf called him lord of death.”
My head spins, and I stand from the table, barely holding on. Rumors from around the pack – Alessandro’s pack – come back to me. That Alessandro’s wife had been feared. That she could crack open the Underworld. That her sons had inherited her gift until the youngest one had died... I’d been afraid of Alessandro wanting Lucas for a reason, and now I know why.
“Monica?” Lucrezia asks, also standing now. “Are you okay?”
“I.... No.” I shake my head, backing away from them. “Thank you...for what you told me. But I have to go find Lucas.”
Dani stands, too. “We can drive you. I have Tristan’s car.”
∞ ♦ ∞
The girls drop me off at Lucas’ bungalow, then drive off. I stare at the laid-back brick building, lost in the middle of nowhere. For some reason, I thought he’d be living in a mansion, but I guess he’s not like his father.
No. He’s like his mamma. I’d heard different stories, some from my nonna, and more from Alessandro. According to him, it was Francesca’s ambition that broke them apart. And if Lucas is anything like her, his entire pack is in danger.
Steeling myself against emotions, against feeling too much, I stomp to the dark wooden door and bang my palm on it.
Moments pass, and no one comes. I bang some more, then give up and walk around the property. At the back, there’s a fenced-in backyard. I hear some grunts and when I turn around the corner, I stop dead in my tracks.
Lucas is doing chin ups. Half-naked.
A bar of steel is secured between two massive oak trees, and he’s lifting himself up and down at a rhythm known only to him. Loose sweatpants hang off his lean hips, and his corded muscles ripple with every movement.
Beads of sweat drip down his back, but he doesn’t seem cold. Not in the least. He looks hot. And I want to lick all over that body with an intensity that stuns me.
I take in a shaky breath, and he stops. Glances over his shoulder, his eyes burning through me. Then he lands on his feet quieter than a cat and turns to me. The sight of his naked chest completely evaporates what I was going to say, so I stand there staring at him instead, and holding back the urge to run into his arms.
“Come back for more?” he smirks.
∞ ∞ ∞
∞ Combattere ∞
“The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
-Socrates-
Monica
Lucas’ arrogance snaps me out of my daze, and I manage a shake of the head. With more firmness than I thought possible, I say, “No. I’m not here for that. This entire time I’ve been here, I thought you didn’t know what you are. That you were oblivious, that the gift hadn’t manifested in you. But you do know, don’t you?”
His jaw clenches, and one of his hands flexes in a fist, before he forces himself to relax again. I know he doesn’t mean the gesture for me, but he’s definitely angry. Cornered. Like a lion caged.
Thread carefully, Monica.
“No idea what you mean,” he says finally, and stalks past me.
His scent of man, musk and sandalwood hits me, and I sway on my feet again. Is this the chimera in him? Is it more? The energy in the air is unmistakably chaotic, though.
Focus!
I follow him through the French doors and inside the house. The kitchen is clean, but the living room I see past the open concept is a destroyed mess, drawing my attention. “What happened here?”
Lucas glances around as if completely disinterested and shrugs. “Dominic and I, we disagreed over a few things.”
“Like Lucrezia dying?”
He freezes then and turns to me slowly. Coal eyes burn into mine, and I swear there’s a hint of red there. “Come again, cara?”
“I know about your pack,” I gulp when his expression becomes even stormier. “Their powers and...the mates.”
“You’ve been snooping around, then?” He reaches for a glass of water and downs it in two gulps, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
“No,” I whisper, unable to take my eyes off him. “I mean, yes. But not for Alessandro. After last night, you scared me.”
An odd expression crosses his face, almost like regret. “Mi dispiace,” he says softly, all anger gone out of him. “It wasn’t my intention.”
“I don’t mean it like that!” As if to prove my point, I step closer to him, leaving only a foot of distance so I can keep some sanity. “The rawness of the sex was great, amazing even! I mean because of how much pain you were in, and your inner turmoil. I thought... I thought your pack should know. And today I ran into the girls, and we talked.”
Lucas shakes his head. “Whatever they told you, it’ll be their interpretation of something they know nothing about.”
“Really?” I cross my arms over my chest. It’s fine if he wants to lie to himself, but this is pushing it. “And what about the resurrection of the vrykolakas?”
Lucas’ eyes burn dark fire again. “Do not put your nose where it doesn’t belong, cara.”
“And who are you to say where it does, and doesn’t, belong?”
He takes a step closer, this time bringing us chest to chest. His nostrils flare, and his hand lifts up to grab my chin in a firm grip. “You are crossing a line, Monica. Trust me, Alessandro doesn’t pay you enough for this.”
“You ever thought I’m not doing any of this because of what your father wants?”
His expression shifts, and this time I can’t read it. “Then it’s even more dangerous. We aren’t anything, tesoro. Three nights together don’t make a relationship, not that I’d ever be interested in one.”
He lets me go then and walks away into the living room. Not about to let this go, I follow him. “And why not?”
Instead of answering me, he pours himself a glass of whiskey, and stares at it. I smack it out of his hand, causing the glass to shatter against what’s left of the fireplace.
“Answer me!”
“I can’t love, alright?’ He lifts his gaze to mine, eyes narrowed. He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a hiss. “Is that what you want to hear? That losing my mother so shortly after my young brother broke me? That I’ll never get that attached to another female again? Well, there you go! You have your damned answer.”
I shake my head, and try to touch him but instead he grabs my wrist and pulls me closer. “You’re only going to get one thing from me, Monica – a good fuck. Nothing else.”
And fool that I am, I lean closer, tilting my face up towards his. I don’t have to speak. He reads me like an open book, even as my body hums in delight. And then Lucas drops his mouth to mine, and I forget everything else I’d come here to argue about.
We can be broken together. Surely that’s better than a lifetime of loneliness?
Lucas
I wake up to Monica sprawled over me, and no real memory of how that happened. My body remembers, but it’s harder for my mind to put things together. Then I realize what woke me, and glance at my phone.
A text from Lucrezia. Come out for a sec? I just need a quick word.
Gently, I push Monica off me and watch as she rolls over. Her long, raven
hair is messy and spread over the pillows, and her body is practically begging for another round. She looks good in my bed – like she belongs.
Attenzione, Lucas... You’re threading into the unknown. Yet not even my internal warning takes away from the satisfaction I – and my wolf – feel chest-deep.
Despite the tightness in my body, and Ileana’s words ringing in my ears, I force myself to pull on pants and a shirt and head outside.
Lucrezia is shivering, pacing back and forth in my backyard. I don’t see Dominic anywhere, which alone warns me what this is about. “Do you want to come inside?”
She looks up as I speak, and shakes her head. The tip of her nose is red from the cold, and her hands are buried in her parka for heat. “I’ll be quick, I promise.” A glance over my shoulder to the inside of the house, and she smiles. “I’m glad you two made up.”
“Made up?” I realize she must’ve been who dropped Monica here. “It’s not like that.”
Lucrezia laughs, then her face sobers up. “Whatever you say. Anyway, umm, the reason I’m here.” If there’s one thing I always appreciated, it’s her frankness. “I think you’re not telling us something, and I think... It might’ve also had something to do with me coming back to life.”
I step closer then, pulled in by her words. “What makes you say that?”
“What you did, with the vrykolakas... And what they called you. Lordul morţii. I asked Dominic, and he said it translates to lord of death.”
“That doesn’t mean anything, though.”
“But it does.” She jumps from foot to foot, shivering. “I worked it out, too. Tytus gave me the protection of my soul, but what truly stopped my soul from passing was the fact I also had your protection.” She bites her lip when I don’t say anything. “Can you deny it?”
I throw my head back and look at the night sky. Can I? “No. But I didn’t do it on purpose, Lucrezia. What I am, what’s in me, it’s not... I can’t control it.”
“Then tell everyone. It’s pointless hiding it, and there’s obviously something else going on with you. We can help, Lucas.”
I sigh. “Did Dominic tell his wolves to finish the job with the Reapers?”
She narrows her eyes on me. “Stop trying to change the subject. But no, he didn’t. He’s waiting to hear from you, and you’ve been...busy.”
“That’s new, him waiting.”
Lucrezia clicks her tongue as if I’m a child in need of scolding. The funny thing is, it almost makes me sheepish. Almost. “Fine,” I mutter. “I’ll think about what you said, I promise. Just tell Dominic I’ll see him in the morning, and to gather everyone.”
“I will.” She steps to hug me, and I watch as she leaves in the darkness.
Can I really tell them everything? And if I don’t, how much danger am I putting them in by keeping silent?
Monica
I’ve never had a wolf leave my bed in the middle of the night to meet another woman. And yet, that’s exactly what happens. When I feel Lucas get up, I wait for a beat before pulling on a robe and tip toeing to the living room.
Outside, I see a flash of red hair pacing, and in the faint light from the house I recognize Lucrezia. There must be a good reason for her presence here, but I can’t see past my annoyance. Did Lucas have to go meet her, and right after blowing my mind in bed again?
A darker part of me whispers, Or is this what he means by not being able to do a relationship?
I lean against the wall, trying to make out what they’re talking about, but it’s a wasted cause. Lucas’ house is sound proofed and I can’t catch a single word. What I do see is Lucrezia’s expression, and despite knowing she’s mated, there’s some other emotion in her features.
Gratitude? Do they have a history? And is it any of my business?
No, it’s not. And yet that doesn’t stop my annoyance from sky-rocketing. By the time Lucrezia goes in for a hug, I’m ready to go out there and rip out a few of those pretty strands.
Even after she’s gone, Lucas waits for a few more moments as though dazed, before eventually coming back inside. He’s so lost in his own thoughts he doesn’t see me right as he walks in, not until I speak.
“What was that about?” I don’t do jealous. Never in my life have I felt possessive over a guy. And yet, in that moment, my words are filled with the green little monster, and it pisses me off even more.
Lucas stops in his tracks and tilts his head my way. “What?”
“Why was Lucrezia here?”
His confused expression is replaced by indifference, and he shrugs. “Pack business.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“Sì.” Now he’s frowning at me, and his clenching jaw should be warning enough I’m threading on thin ice. It’s not.
“And you don’t think that’s messed up?”
At my words, Lucas runs a hand over his face and sighs heavily. “Che diavalo... I’m too tired for this shit. Say what you want to say, or drop this and let’s go back to bed.”
“Fine.” I push off the wall and jab a finger in his chest. “You say you want no relationship, yet admit to being devastated when your beta’s mate dies. Then that same woman comes to see you in the middle of the night, and you have no problem whatsoever going out there to see her, like a good little puppy. Right after a night of sex with me. Well, I do have a problem with it!”
His jaw grows tighter, and I swear his teeth are grinding. “Then it’s a good thing I don’t have to ask your permission, no?”
My index jabs harder. “You’re a jackass, you know that?”
Lucas grabs my wrist, stepping closer to me. “I never promised you flowers and a picket fence, did I? Now either you come back to bed, or don’t let the door hit you on the way out. I need sleep, Monica. There’s some real shit going down and I’m going to need my wits about me.”
No tesoro, no sign of regret in his voice. Whatever possessed me to think muddying the waters by sleeping with him was a good idea? Ovviamente, it isn’t, since he messes with my head. Anyone else, I’d walk out on and not look back. But this guy....
We stare at each other for a long moment, the silence growing. Then Lucas drops his hands, and the fight seems to go out of him. “Come to bed, Monica.” He turns and walks away, and despite feeling like he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders, I can’t make myself follow.
Am I reading too much into this? Probably. But what does that say of me, other than I’ve completely lost track of my mission here, and have gone ahead and let this lupo impossibile get under my skin? Maybe even deeper than that.
Don’t think that. This has nothing to do with your heart.
A ring by the couch draws my attention. My jacket is scattered there, along with Lucas’ sweatpants. Our clothes were left in disarray all over from the chaotic sex we just had.
Heart in my throat, I tiptoe closer and pick up my cellphone. “Sì?”
A silence thicker than fog answers me. “I thought you were dead. I said to my men, there is no reason why she would not answer her phone after a few days there, unless she has been found out and she is dead.”
“Alessandro –”
“Ana said you’ve always been reckless, but I told her I trained you well.”
I grit my teeth. “You did.”
“Then why is it you lean towards disappointing me?”
There is no easy answer, so I keep my silence. It doesn’t take long for Alessandro to fill it in.
“Luciano got to you, didn’t he?” When I still say nothing, he continues, “I underestimated him. For sure, I told myself, you will have the upper hand over him. I suppose, after all, you are only a woman.”
He sighs, and the sound hurts my ears with its fakeness. “Did you find out anything about the girls and wolves in his pack?”
“Nothing interesting,” I lie. “They’re just mates, is all.”
“Ah.” He pauses again, and I hear something tinkling as if he dropped ice in a glass. “And I suppos
e they have no special powers, nothing that Luciano would be...collecting...do they?”
My heart drops in my stomach at his words. In the window, I see my reflection, and the paleness of my own skin. “What?”
“Monica, Monica, Monica. Bambina, did you really think he’s untainted by corruption? Have you forgotten what I told you about his mother? Luciano has half her genes. The chimera in him, the beast he is striving to avoid becoming, it calls to him. And it demands that he creates his own harem of collectable pieces.”
“No...” I think back to Dani, Lucrezia and Elle. “He’s not like that.”
Alessandro chuckles darkly. “That kind of ambition cannot be ignored, cara.”
“I...No. That can’t be true.”
“Ask him, if you dare,” he taunts me. “He will be unable to deny it.”
I don’t want to believe him. After all the crap Alessandro pulled on me, I shouldn’t. But, earlier, when I tried to talk to Lucas, he changed the subject. He’s not opening up, acting like he’s got something to hide. “Why would he do that? What does he gain?”
“Besides power, cara?” He laughs. “Luciano also gains an arsenal of weapons. The chimera in him collects, because it can channel the various gifts and enhance his own power. It really is that simple. And in the end, regardless of what he does, he will put all their lives in danger. Unless...unless he already has.”
My sharp intake confirms his fears, as he drops his tone and pretends to sound sad. “Sì, I thought as much. Did someone die?”
“I... No, she is alive. But only because she ended up under a zmeu’s protection.”
“A zmeu? The Romanian dragons?’ The eagerness in his voice makes me realize I’ve said the wrong thing.
“I have to go before I get found out. I’ll reach out later. Ciao.” Hanging up, I’m trembling. I glance towards where Lucas disappeared, and the trembling increases.
I don’t believe what Alessandro says... At least not his version. But would Lucas even realize what he’s doing, if he’s not aware of his full powers? Would he even be able to stop himself?
Instead of joining him in the bedroom, I open the door to the outside, shift to my wolf form, and leave in the middle of the night. Wherever the truth lies, it’s not in this house.
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