“Gahh,” Zoey said, breathing through her mouth as she made her way back to Dominic. where they lay sprawled on the ground. “That stench.”
Arturo started to say something and Dominic barked “Quiet!” That instantly drew snarls from Ottavio and Carlo.
“What is it?” Arturo demanded.
Dominic stood there, concentrating. “There’s a portal close by. I can feel it. Believe me, when you’ve been partway through a portal, you don’t forget how that feels.”
Arturo nodded. “I sense it too. Powerful pulses of magic. Definitely a lesser portal, but I can sense that chaos magic leaking through. There’s something strange about it, though. Lesser portals usually fade at a steady rate, they don’t pulse.”
“We need to go investigate,” Ottavio said suddenly. He turned and hurried through the woods, and Carlo followed behind him. That was odd, Zoey thought. He was actually leaving Arturo’s side? In the middle of a magical meltdown?
But Giuliana jumped up and followed him, and Dominic hesitated and then grabbed Zoey’s arm. They pushed through thick underbrush, made their way around a hillside – and there it was. It was a bizarre rip in reality, a big wavery hole about eight feet high and equally wide. It hurt to look directly at it, and the air in the clearing was wavery.
And standing there, pointing a long, slim wand at the portal, was Benedict. His hand shook. His face was pale and sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Close it!” Arturo shouted.
“Can’t you see I’m trying! I’m not strong enough on my own!” Benedict panted. His hair was plastered to his skull with sweat.
A strangled scream came from the woods off to their left. “Primo,” Arturo said aloud. “That’s his scent.”
Ottavio was behavingly oddly, Zoey thought. He had stepped close to Arturo, but he was putting Arturo in between him and the portal. It should be the other way around – he should be placing is body between Arturo and the portal. Arturo, distracted, took a couple of steps back – closer to the portal.
Dominic noticed at the same time. “Stop that!” he bellowed at Ottavio.
“Stop what?” Ottavio was all innocence.
“We need to go get help for Benedict,” Arturo growled. “A couple more mages will be able to help him close it.”
“No, we need to stay here. In case more ghouls come out,” Ottavio said.
Arturo looked at him strangely. “Since when do you argue with me?”
A strange question bubbled up inside Zoey’s head. It had been nagging at her subconscious for a while now, but all of a sudden it seemed extremely urgent. “Giuliana, how many times did you follow me and try to kidnap me?” she blurted.
“She did what now?” Dominic barked.
“You’re asking me this now?” Giuliana squinted at the portal, then looked at Zoey, blinking hard. “Twice. Why?”
“There were dozens of times something was blocking me, trying to get at me. For weeks. Ever since Dominic bit me. It was you, wasn’t it, Ottavio?” Zoey demanded. “You’re up to something.”
They were distracted for a minute when Luigi Bianchi came bursting through the bushes, grinning fiercely, covered with blood. “It’s done,” he said to Ottavio. “I killed them.”
Primo, and his loyal Capo Salvatore, Zoey guessed, her stomach clenching tight.
Quick as a flash, Ottavio jammed his pistol up against Giuliana’s head. Giuliana cried out with rage, clawing at Ottavio’s hands. Arturo let out an infuriated snarl.
“Careful,” Ottavio snapped. “A silver bullet through the skull and she’s beyond the help of any med-mage.”
Dominic moved protectively in front of Zoey, putting himself between her and Ottavio.
“Why?” Arturo demanded, his eyes glowing a deadly gold.
"Because you are weak," Ottavio said. "And so was Primo. You should have killed Primo and taken the east side for the pack a long time ago. And Primo should have been willing to do the same or die trying. No real Alpha lets another pack operate in their territory.”
Carlo looked hurt and baffled. “What are you doing?” he demanded of his brother. “Why are you hurting Guli?”
Ottavio ignored him, and looked at Arturo with hatred. "You should have killed Carlo when he failed the turn. He's an embarrassment. A weakness."
"Me?" Carlo’s face fell. "I'm barrassment? Is that bad?"
“Stop him!” Dominic bellowed to Benedict. Benedict glanced at Ottavio.
“Hurry the fuck up,” he snapped. “I can’t hold the portal open much longer.”
“Holy hell,” Zoey said in astonishment. Benedict was working with Ottavio and Luigi. He wasn’t trying to close the portal – he was using his magic to keep it open. He’d been tearing open portals and letting ghouls out. Distracting the authorities while the two packs duked it out, and while Ottavio and Luigi maneuvered behind the scenes.
Ottavio started moving with Giuliana, forcing her towards the portal. "Why were you following me?" Zoe asked, to stall him.
"Because you are a troublemaker who asks questions."
"You," Arturo said furiously. “You were the one who drove the businesses out of town, who sabotaged the garbage pickup. You told Jordan to stop the garbage trucks, and then killed him so he couldn’t snitch on you. You were trying to turn me against Dominic, and weaken the pack.”
“Only so I could build it back up again," Ottavio yelled, his face reddening. “Me and Luigi, we’re going to unite the packs. Anyone who doesn’t like it will die. Just like this spoiled little bitch.”
And he hurled Giuliana through the portal, into the chaos realm.
Without a word, Arturo dove in after her.
“I can get them! I can get them!” Zoey screamed at Dominic. “My map magic will bring us back! Stay out, Dominic!” And before he could stop her, she’d darted through.
But Dominic, that fool, ran in after her.
Bizarre sensations blasted Zoey, overwhelming her. The ground rippled under her feet. Her head pounded, and she choked on a wave of nausea and terror. If Benedict stopped focusing his magic, the portal would seal itself off. And that’s what he would do, of course; they’d be trapped here forever, and Ottavio could go spin his own story about what had happened, and take over the pack. The portal wouldn’t close instantly, but without Benedict holding it open, they probably only had minutes.
Everything was wavy and fractured and constantly changing. She fell to her knees, disoriented, and started crawling towards where she thought Giuliana was, but her map magic was confused. It wanted her to splinter into a thousand directions.
What was she crawling on? The ground felt harsh and spiky and ugly and angry. The air here hated her. This place was wrong, or she was wrong, she needed to get out, get out, get out…
She desperately tried to focus. She pictured Giuliana, but the picture stayed still in her mind. She couldn’t sense which way to go. That had never, ever happened to her before. She was completely lost.
She couldn’t see. There were no colors or shapes any more, everything was blurring. She heard distorted howling sounds, and she thought it was Dominic yelling her name, but she was no longer sure of anything.
She had led the man she loved to her death. She had failed everyone. Her heart sped up, slowed down, fell out of her body, jumped and danced…she was losing her mind. They would all die here.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Come on!” That sounded like Carlo’s voice. Sort of like Carlo, but clear and intelligent, all the dullness gone. It couldn’t be that, it must be a trick of the chaos realm. “I’ve got you! Zoey, come on! This way!”
The air was too thick to breathe. Zoey couldn’t move her limbs. It felt as if someone was pulling Zoey through mud, through quicksand, through…through the portal.
She and Dominic went flying through the air and landed with heavy thuds on the dirt, gasping for breath. A minute later, Arturo and Giuliana came flying out, sprawling. Dominic reached out and grabbed Zoey’s trembling arm, and p
ulled her to him.
“Oh, my God. What was that?” she moaned, half-dazed.
“You’re alive. You’re alive,” Dominic chanted, pressing his face into her hair.
The air smelled like blood. Carlo was saying something. Carlo was standing over her.
A small explosion shook the ground, and she looked up, and the portal was gone. Benedict lay on the ground, his throat torn open. Primo was sprawled on the grass next to him, his neck hanging at a strange angle, and Ottavio was on his knees, whimpering and clutching a broken arm.
“I said, are you all right?” Carlo said again.
“All right?” Zoey blinked up at him. “I…I can breathe. I can see again.” She felt her face, her legs. “I’m here. All of me is here. Whoa. That was absolutely horrible, let’s never do that again.” She struggled to stand up. Dominic climbed to his feet, and they stood there, leaning on each other and shaking.
“Carlo?” Arturo stood up, looking dazed. “Carlo! You’re healed. My God, you’re back.”
Carlo nodded slowly. “When I jumped through the portal after you, everything was perfectly clear. You were all crawling around yelling, in this strange blank land where everything had no color. It was like the chaos was scrambling your brains, and fixing mine.”
He looked around the clearing.
“I killed them,” he said dimly, his gaze focusing on Benedict and Primo.
Giuliana was still on her hands and knees, puking in the grass.
“Carlo,” Ottavio wailed, cradling his shattered arm. “Look what you’ve done! To me! I’m your brother!”
“No, Ottavio. Look what you’ve done.” Carlo’s face was bleak as he stalked over to Ottavio. He pointed in the direction of the city. “You had Benedict open the gates to hell. All those people dying, just so you could lure Arturo here. You knew he’d have to respond to a ghoul attack. And then you’d throw him through the portal. That was the only way you could kill him, wasn’t it? You couldn’t take him on in a fair fight.”
“Carlo, you’re fixed! You’re okay now!” Ottavio tried to scoot away from his brother. He gave him a sickly, ingratiating grin, cringing as Carlo towered over him. “Look how strong you are! You’re stronger than ever! We can rule the pack together now! We can…ahhhhhhh….”
Zoey put her hands over her ears to dull the sound of Carlo killing Ottavio.
* * * *
Two days later, they were gathered in Arturo’s living room. Arturo had summoned Dominic, Romano and Zoey to his house, probably to ask Dominic to re-join the pack. That wasn’t an offer that Dominic could accept. He’d only come to say good-bye.
Giuliana was there, sitting to the left of her uncle, still looking pale and queasy, as they all were. Even Arturo’s normally healthy complexion had a pallor to it. Med-mages had done all they can, but they’d all feel like they had a bad hangover for at least another few days.
Carlo sat by Arturo’s right side. He wore a crisp pressed suit and his eyes shone with intelligence, but they were haunted now. Killing his own brother hadn’t been easy for him.
They sat nibbling on biscotti and sipping coffee for a few minutes, murmuring pleasantries, while Dominic waited for Arturo to get to the point of why he’d invited them.
But the question he sprang on him wasn’t the one that Dominic expected.
“Why did you bite Zoey?” Arturo asked. “It wasn’t a moon-bite.”
Dominic set down his coffee and arched an eyebrow. “How long have you known?” he asked. Zoey looked at him in confusion.
“I always knew,” Arturo said, leaning back in his seat. “You’re not a born wolf. You’re a made wolf. Only born wolves moon-bite.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Dominic asked his former boss.
Arturo shrugged. “It gave us an easy way to get out of having you enter an alliance with Fabiana. I knew they only wanted to do it to send her in as a spy. I suspected that they might use it as an excuse to declare war on us, but they would have done so either way. I also suspected that they were somehow behind the sabotage on our businesses, I just never guessed that Ottavio was part of that too.”
“I knew too,” Giuliana said. “It’s just not something that comes up that often, because made wolves are rarer than born wolves, and either way, most wolves end up in arranged matings before they get to meet their real mate on a full moon. But I knew it was impossible that it was a moon-bite. That’s why I questioned it. I thought Zoey had placed a spell on you or something, and she was just playing coy to make it more believable.”
“So this was never real?” Zoey spoke up, eyes shimmering with tears. Dominic shot Arturo a dirty look. He wished that Arturo had let him tell Zoey on his own, without springing it on her like this.
“My feelings for you have always been real,” Dominic said fiercely. “And once I shifted and bit you, my wolf took to you right away.”
Zoey blinked harder, and it hurt Dominic’s heart to see her questioning their mating bond. “But why did you even bite me in the first place?”
“Because Ottavio was about to kill you. I saw you walk up to him and ask for an audience with Arturo. He was just about to shift and kill. I know exactly what he looks like when he’s about to do that. I’ve seen him do it many times before.”
Her eyes widened in horror. “You’re kidding me. He would have killed me on the spot?”
“He was seconds away from tearing your throat out. I thought that he perceived that you had disrespected Arturo. Now, I realize that he didn’t want Arturo to know about the garbage situation in your neighborhood. But when I saw that look on his face, I just acted on instinct. To protect you. The only way to prevent him from killing you was to shift and mate-bite you.”
“But…that’s for life!” she spluttered. She looked at him with a hint of doubt. “Isn’t it?”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “There’s nowhere in the world that you could run and hide from me, Zoey. You are mine. I meant it when I said that I was entranced by you the first moment I ever saw you. I wanted you so much that it was painful for me to talk to you, so I avoided you. I thought about you all the time, but I was willing to sacrifice my own happiness for the good of the pack. Then, when I saw Ottavio about to rip your head off, I just…acted. My wolf and I, together. And I have never regretted it.”
“Now I have a favor to ask of you again,” Arturo said, and Dominic tensed. It wouldn’t be easy to turn Arturo down, after living his life only for the Blood Oath pack for the last ten years.
But Arturo shocked him, yet again. “Primo’s death has created a power vacuum in the East. The Bianchi pack has been dismantled, and the surviving Bianchi family members have been leaving behind what are currently lone wolves. They need a leader. I have no desire to lead them. You will take over as their Capo di Tutti Capos, with Romano as your Capo, and I would like you to take Giuliana as your med-mage.”
“My brains must still be scrambled from the chaos realm,” Dominic said. “I could swear that I just heard you say that you wanted me to take over the former Bianchi pack.”
“You heard me perfectly well.” Arturo’s amber eyes shone fiercely.
He meant it. Dominic. Capo di Tutti Capos of his own pack. He’d never even aspired to that. He’d been content leading his own small crew of soldiers and being fiercely loyal to his boss.
“I don’t know if I’m cut out for it,” he protested. “I’m nothing like you.”
“You don’t have to be. No two leaders are exactly like, but the important thing is, you’ve got the right qualities to lead a pack. You’re strong and you’re fearless and you’re capable. And you’re harsh, but fair. You’re well known, and well respected, in the city. There is no-one else I’d rather see as leader. You and I would be able to work in cooperation, rather than competing with each other. No more pack wars. No more wasting time and money when we could be making money. No more crying widows. They’re so loud when they cry. I find it distracting.”
Yep, that was Ar
turo, all heart.
Dominic looked at Zoey. “My mate would have to agree to this. Asking her to be the Alpha’s mate is a lot.”
“It’s…” Zoey had a dazed expression. “I mean…it would mean peace for the city, wouldn’t it? Peace for the packs? If it would, then I’m willing to try my best.”
“You think that they would even accept me as their Alpha?” Dominic asked Arturo.
“With me backing it, yes. The Bianchi family has been driven out of town and is in disgrace. This would allow them to stay in their homes and keep their property.” Arturo looked at his niece. “I know it’s time to let you free to live your own life. As long as you’re under my roof, I can’t resist my urge to protect you so much that I’m smothering you. It is agonizingly hard to let you go, but it is what is best for you. Maybe if I hadn’t been so overprotective with your mother, she would have been able to choose a mate and she would have been happy.”
“Uncle,” she said, and hugged him, crying. “I know you did it because you love me. You did the wrong thing, but it was for the right reasons. Thank you.”
“I’m a Capo?” Romano said, looking comically happy.
“This is what you focus on?” Dominic said, irritated. “If I decide to take over the east side, and that’s a big if, you’re a Capo until you finally drive me nuts and I fit you with concrete galoshes.”
“Excellent!” Romano tried to fist-bump him. Dominic ignored it. “I should last a good year, at least. Maybe two.”
“Optimistic,” Dominic muttered. “And I still didn’t say I’d do it. I need a few days to think about it, Arturo. But I appreciate your faith in me.”
He stood up, and Zoey joined him, grimacing a little. “Frickin’ hell,” she groaned. “Chaos realm hangover suuucks.”
“I hear that,” Dominic said. “I feel like a million-year-old wolf with arthritis. Right now I couldn’t be the Alpha of a cub scout pack.”
“Sorry I missed it,” Romano said cheerfully, standing up too. “Do you want me to carry you? Can I get a walker for you, grandpa?”
Mated To The Capo (Mafia Shifters Book 1) Page 17