“I’m fine. Thorn caught me. This growing shit is out of control.”
“Well, couldn’t exactly control it, but it worked.”
“It got my ass, Romano.”
Yeah, he’d totally laugh about that later.
Another thorn, wicked sharp, took a chunk out of his shoulder on the way past it. He growled his displeasure, pulling Zoey tighter to him. As much as he wanted to hold on to Kalinda, he couldn’t risk letting go of Zoey’s hand.
Giuliana huffed. “Think we can get to the car?”
“Yeah, about that …”
Dominic was going to fucking kill him. There was the car they’d driven to the Council meeting, up in the air, with a huge sunflower blooming through it.
I mean, it is pretty … I guess.
Zoey snorted. “I think the car looks better as a flowerpot.”
Giuliana growled. “This is all your fault. Who thinks of shit like this?”
It freaking worked, and that’s all they could hope for. It was ugly, and running through the thorns was not easy, but it was better than being trapped inside with the Council. There was no telling how long before they came after them.
So they ran … and they didn’t look back.
“You made a garden grow? Someone explain in a way that makes sense.”
Though he may no longer be their Alpha, Arturo commanded respect and power. His dark hair with a silver streak was styled to immaculate perfection, and his golden gaze traced over Zoey.
“Is the Alpha’s mate harmed?”
Zoey, who obviously had a death wish but didn’t give a shit, went straight to the Capo di tutti Capi of the Moretti Pack and wrapped her arms around his waist. He looked awkward for a moment before he tapped her back soothingly.
“I’m fine, and your future grandchild is too.”
Arturo raised his brows. “Grandchild?”
Zoey stepped back and rolled her eyes. “Who else? You’ve been a father to my husband, and he respects you as such. Of course, you’d be nonno.”
Arturo didn’t say anything for a moment and just watched Zoey. She took his stare head-on, holding her head high and her shoulders back. Dominic, Romano, and Giuliana were exhausted from running nearly ten miles before they thought it safe enough to call for backup, and then they continued to run to meet their ride. Zoey and Kalinda had rides the whole time, and Kalinda, thankfully, was back in Romano’s bed. They all stood in his living room.
After a minute, Arturo nodded. “Does she know what this means, Dominic?”
“She didn’t care, and neither did I. It is as Zoey says.”
And there goes the neighborhood.
“You’re totally screwed, Zoey. That was the worst decision ever. Didn’t you see how he treated me?” Giuliana joked. “Oh my God! I’m going to have a little cousin. Sweet.”
Romano raised his hand. “Oh, did I mention they’re having a girl?”
Dominic whipped around. “How do you know this?”
“Felt it in the weird kumbaya circle. She is strong, too, and already feisty. Laughs like her mother, demands like her father.”
He should have thought about it before he said it. Dominic’s chest swelled with pride, but a stone-cold shutter slid down over his face. Arturo was no better, his elegant hand sliding into his pocket. Both gazes locked onto Zoey’s stomach.
“I have accepted this child as my blood, and she will come as heir if there are no other children of my line as she is for yours,” Arturo began.
“I hear and accept,” Dominic answered.
“She will be protected in all things, and as heir, given place within both packs.”
“I hear and accept.”
“When she is marked, she shall be with the print of a Born Wolf and female Alpha.”
Dominic sucked in a breath. “Is that possible? I’m a Made Wolf and her mother is a mage.”
“Is she a pup in the womb?” Arturo clasped his hands in front of him.
“Yes,” Zoey answered.
“Then she is a Born Wolf. However it may have happened, it is so.”
“And a female Alpha?” Dominic clenched his fists at his sides.
“It is rare, but is has been done.”
Dominic swallowed. “I hear and accept.”
“Good. The Moretti Pack will join with the Lombardi Pack to protect the heir’s home and Kalinda. The well-being of her mother is paramount.”
“What if she wasn’t an heir?”
Leave it to Zoey to ask the hard questions.
“I would have helped anyway, but now I’m willing to destroy the entire Council if it comes to that.”
And he fucking meant it. It was in his eyes, the way his grin was more wolf than human. Arturo meant to face any battle that came their way, and Dominic matched him.
“The Council will be coming for Kalinda. They won’t let this slight go,” Dominic cautioned.
“Then so be it. I’ll have men stationed here by the end of the day.”
Dominic slid his hand in his pocket. “And what about Moretti lands?”
A harsh, predatory smile spread across Arturo’s face. “There will be enough to keep us covered, but they won’t be looking to come at us. Attacking my pack would only give me grounds to petition the National Council against them. Coming to help protect you is within my right. We will be here. And I’ll send men to check out the Viscount Pride. They started this, did they not?”
“Yes, and faked an allergy to do it,” Romano answered.
Arturo snorted. “It only worked because they were facing low-level mages. But we’ll find out what their stake is too. Focus your men on the compound here. We’ll cover outside and the perimeter.”
Dominic nodded. “Agreed. Once we have everyone in place, we can meet to discuss measures and what we may have found in the morning. I have a feeling Romano may have a battle on his hands tonight.”
“Oh?”
Romano shrugged at Arturo’s questioning gaze. “I may have claimed Kalinda, and she won’t be very happy with it.”
“You are not your mother, Romano. You never have been. Get your mate underhand; that’s all it takes.”
Yeah, it was going to be that easy. Sure. Arturo left, and with him, Dominic, Zoey, and Giuliana. Until the next morning, the leaders had nothing else to do but coordinate their men. And Dominic made it plain that Romano’s job was Kalinda for now.
Despite what Arturo said, Romano couldn’t help but wonder. Sure, circumstances were different than when his mother was claimed by his father, and Born Wolves went by older laws at times than Made Wolves. But a wolf was a wolf, and they claimed when their wolf told them.
Romano understood and had been around magekind long enough to know they didn’t understand wolves completely. Most of them feared the shifters, which was why no-shift had been created in the first place. The idea shifters went around just biting and changing everyone was a perpetuated fear. He wasn’t certain where it had come from either. When wolves got rowdy at an event where mages were in attendance, most accidental bites weren’t mate bites and didn’t lead to automatic shifting.
But the fear was enough to send the masses running.
He could understand Kalinda. She’d been through enough upheaval in just the last few weeks. Adding the possibility of becoming a wolf and now having a mate would only add another layer to her world she viewed as full of shit.
Romano sighed. Yeah, having a mate was going to be the easiest thing in the world for her to fight against when death-by-Council, her new Level-9 power, and her position on the Council wasn’t really much of a choice. And he’d just taken another choice away from a woman who loved freedom.
Not the best start to their mating.
Chapter Ten
Her head was pounding, and she was not in Kansas anymore. She recognized the room she was in, at least. Always a silver lining, Kalinda. Just focus on that. But she was really over waking up like this. Granted, this time she had much more pleasant company to look at, b
ut she was pissed.
No. Pissed was an understatement.
Wrathful? Oh, that was good.
Seething? That might be a bit better.
Explosive? Got it in one!
Romano must have sensed it because his nostrils flared out, scenting the air, and grew still. “Kalinda …”
“My neck hurts, Romano. Care to tell me what that means?”
She knew, of course. She remembered how Zoey said she’d felt after she’d been bitten and favored her backside, of all places, for quite some time. And she’d had the no-shift potion within a short period to make sure she didn’t turn wolfy. Kalinda had provided it at great expense to help her friend, of course, and now she found herself in the same predicament.
The fact she was in his bedroom without the potion already … in … her … hand told her she may have more than a little to deal with.
Romano sighed before rubbing his hand down his face. “You already know.”
Nope. Not going to run from this. Not even a little bit. She was done taking everyone else’s shit. She didn’t choose any of this, and no one cared about her choice at every step.
“You mated me.”
He nodded, and that sent her flying off the ledge directly into the deep end of molten lava. Everything burned. Acrid air met her nose, and heat pulsed off her scalp. Kalinda’s skin was tight, pulling until it itched, and she clenched her teeth.
Yeah, he was sooooo dead.
“Did you even once think of how I’d feel?”
Romano ran rough hands through his hair, dislodging the dark strands across his forehead. “It’s all I thought about, Kalinda. Did I know you’d be angry?” She snorted. “Yes. Did I know I’d have a mate who wasn’t any more interested in being in my bed than having a root canal? Yeah, I knew that too. And I still did it to save her life.”
Okay, to be fair, she didn’t know what had happened when she was out in the crazy sphere, but still …
“Was there no other way? I mean, come on, how long have you been angling to get me in bed?”
Romano’s eyes flashed and he seemed, she couldn’t quite put a word to it … bigger? His shoulders were thrust back, his jaw jutted furiously, and his fists clenched at his side.
“If all I wanted was you in bed, I would have said so. If all I wanted was to make you come so many times you couldn’t see straight and couldn’t think unless it was about me, or for you to carry the taste of my possession for the rest of your life, I would have said that too.”
Well. Damn. No, she wasn’t going to let him change this around.
“You know what I mean.”
“Joining the Council or not is literally life or death, and I refused to let your death be on my hands. Be pissed if you want, but there it is.”
“I didn’t want any of this.”
He flung his arms out wide, but she didn’t back down, sitting up in the bed and matching him glare for glare.
“Too bad, baby. It’s here, and we don’t have any other choice.”
“There is always a choice, Romano.”
He growled. That sound didn’t do anything to her lady bits. Okay, that was a lie.
“You know what, stop. Just stop. I get it. This has messed up every plan you’ve ever had with your life, the least of which was ever being tied to me. But do you think it’s any different for shifters? I can’t stop my wolf from craving you. I can’t stop myself from wanting to protect you and doing anything to ensure that. I don’t have a choice. Jesus, Kalinda. If I did, this may seem like something impossible, but I’d still want you.”
Exactly how was she supposed to answer that? Most of the last few months had been nothing but a whirlwind of random burps of her magic flaring in ways she didn’t understand, the Chaos Realm, the Council—oh, and the death sentence—and now she was mated.
But … choose her? He didn’t know her.
Why was everyone trying to change her life and make her feel bad about it? Nobody would deal with all of this without breaking, and she was barely keeping it together. She just wanted … a moment to think, to get her head clear. Anything but to keep fighting.
She took a deep breath. Kalinda, sort through it. She heard her grandmother’s voice as clear as if she were sitting right next to her. She’d always said a woman was defined by how she dealt with the curveballs in her life. So what was Kalinda really feeling? That was the question.
Romano was gorgeous, and not in a superficial way, but he’d handled her lashing out, fighting him every step of the way, and still stood beside her. She didn’t doubt his entire pack was putting themselves on the line to do for her what they were doing. And she couldn’t forget what Romano and Dominic did.
At the end of the day, the Lombardi Pack was full of Made Wolves who lived by a code of violence and power. It wasn’t just their wolves that made them dominating and always moving forward. They lived to lead and control their interests with an iron fist. Romano was dealing with her situation the same way. She’d seen how Dominic had done the same with Zoey.
But Kalinda had always prided herself on caring for her own matters, running her business, and protecting her girls. She kept her head down, built her empire slowly, and tried to live as human-like as possible in a place where magic lived and breathed.
And now …
“It’s too much, Romano.”
For the first time in forever, she took a leap. She was afraid of it all. Of how this would completely change her life.
“I never really talk about it, but I was going to get married.”
Romano growled, and she rolled her eyes. “Pipe down, Fido. I loved him. I had a plan to own my restaurant and live as his wife. To have my family around me, the white picket fence. And then the FBMC scanned my hometown. I never thought of it, of having mage blood. I couldn’t do anything but make good food, but they told me I needed to move to a portal city. I thought …” she swallowed.
Dammit, it still hurt. After all this time.
“I thought he’d come with me, that he loved me enough to follow through with our dreams, but he walked away instead. I was tainted. So I lost my family and my fiancé. I lost everything, and I never had a say. Some freaking organization told me what my new life was going to be and I scraped until I rebuilt the pieces.”
Romano sat on the bed, close enough she could feel his heat. His gaze locked on hers. As much as she hated to admit it, he was a rock in the storm. He was so strong. His broad shoulders were barely contained in his black button-up. His hands rested in his lap, large and capable of both a deadly action and a caring touch. She could see the hammer of his gun as it rested in an underarm holster. This man was here, with her, watching over her as she slept. Protecting her when she was at her weakest. This man had claimed her and took it all with a crooked smile.
But that smile was gone now. All that remained was a man looking at a woman, listening, and all the joviality of his normal self was wiped away. She felt like she was seeing him for the first time—the man beneath the mask.
“You aren’t broken, Kalinda. And he was a piece of shit for not fighting for what belonged to him. He should have told you, no matter what, you were enough for him. You were worth it.”
He lifted one hand and traced the bite on her neck with a callused fingertip. “This mark means you are my enough. That’s all. That on a bad day, I choose you. On days the world requires too much, you can give me the burden. And when you’re in danger, I’m the shield. It means you are never going to be alone again. I’m so sorry you’ve been alone for so long.”
How did he know? How did he understand? The loneliness had eaten at her, twisted her until she couldn’t trust anyone to get too close.
“Everyone leaves, Romano.”
He sighed, cupping the back of her neck. Heat slid down her spine, pulling her nipples taut as she sucked in a tight breath.
“My mother didn’t want my father. She hated being mated to him. Craved to be free. She never understood why her wolf bowed to him
and let him claim her, and she never let he or I forget it. By the time she disappeared, I’d learned mating didn’t always mean forever, and those closet to you can rip out your heart.”
She hadn’t known.
Kalinda opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. “I don’t want to repeat the same mistakes my mother did. I won’t hold a woman to me who doesn’t want to be here. But I also won’t let you run away. You’re better than that.”
He pulled her into his body until they were chest to chest, their mouths a breath apart. “My woman fights. She claws, bites, and commands until she gets just what she wants. But she does not run. She may bend, she may even break, but she’s strong enough to pick up every fucking piece and put it back together. My woman is strong enough to claim just what she wants.”
Every word slipped into her soul. Heated breath skittered across her sensitive skin. She’d never been intimate like this, their eyes on each other, touching in a way like sex and yet so still. Her pulse jumped in her neck, and his fingers reflexively caressed the spot. Each time she exhaled, he inhaled.
“I can’t seem to do that right now,” she admitted.
Romano smiled, a brilliant white grin full of sharp teeth and wicked promise. “Oh, but you can and you will. I’m here to block anything and everyone from taking away the time you need to do just that.”
His fingers clenched around her neck, and she gripped the front of his shirt. “I don’t know how to do this.”
Fuck me running.
His tongue traced her full lower lip. A taunt. A challenge. That same odd feeling tightened her chest. Her magic. She stiffened, afraid of the heat slipping from her. Her blood was sluggish, too thick in her veins.
“Romano,” she warned.
He never let her go. His grip was an anchor, strong and sure. Ribbons of gold and black slid across her vision. It is in color just like Silva said. She’d never seen it before, but her magic reached for Romano. It wrapped around his arms, and his nostrils flared. Still, he didn’t move.
“No matter what it does, I’m still going to wait on you.”
Wait on her? What was he talking about? But the questions whipped out of her head too quickly for her to answer. She was too hot. Too tense. Too everything.
Mated to the Enforcer (Mafia Wolf Shifters) (Encantado Shifters Book 2) Page 10