Mated to the Enforcer (Mafia Wolf Shifters) (Encantado Shifters Book 2)

by Georgette St. Clair

  You get out here, or I’ll rip you out of me. I swear before all things holy. You earn your fucking keep.

  Disrespectful or not, Kalinda was going to get in command of the flames deep inside of her.

  We’re here, Ales. We’re here, they finally answered.

  Help me. Make me strong enough to heal her.

  It won’t—

  I don’t care!

  So be it.

  The world went dark, spinning around, mushing colors into one until they were nothing but haphazard slashes of black, so much like the Chaos Realm. A pale pink light threaded with glittering silver lines, no larger than a spec but great in intensity, hovered, fading fast. Silva. Kalinda gripped that light, cradling it against her chest.

  Not yet, girly. Not fucking yet.

  The sticky silver lines, like steel spiderwebs, clenched tighter, making it hard for Kalinda to touch the pink light directly.

  Binding. The girl is bound.

  I don’t care what she is, Kalinda argued with the spirits inside her. Break that shit.

  The Ales speaks and knows what she wants … finally.

  Whatever that meant.

  Keep hold of her. Don’t let her go, they whispered.

  Never, Kalinda promised.

  She held on tighter, pulling for her magic, infusing it with green for healing. The ground wasn’t as hard under her knees anymore, and sweet air buffeted her face. Kalinda didn’t pay attention to any of it. Everything in her was focused on the light between her palms. She sent all the love and care she could, wrapping herself, Silva’s body, and the pink light into the color of green.

  The ancient flames inside Kalinda pushed out from her body, whipping around her and blowing her hair free of the tight bun she had during practice. Her dark strands flared in the maelstrom, power prisming out in a rainbow dance of colors.

  I’m a lightshow, Silva. Come see.

  Slowly, painstakingly so, each threat wrapped around the light where it fell and twisted around Kalinda’s fingers before burning away to ash. With each one removed, Silva’s light grew. Larger and larger, heavier and heavier. And with the growth came such overwhelming magic, Kalinda could barely hold on.

  Freezing ice. That’s what Silva’s light became—so cold it burned. She was Kalinda’s opposite; hard where Kalinda was soft. Ruthless where Kalinda was kind. It almost felt nothing like the woman she’d known, and yet there was laughter there too. Freedom contained under rules and rites she couldn’t fight.

  She felt like she was seeing Silva for the first time.

  When the light grew too heavy, Kalinda forced it back into Silva’s form, into the bloody cavity left by the bullet’s vicious trajectory.

  “Come on, Silva.”

  Silver dust exploded, blinding Kalinda for a moment before a very different Silva was in her arms. Kalinda blinked, sure she was imagining things.

  “Silva?”

  “Dude, I think I rock. Like … even more than I did before. Oh, and nice aerodynamics.”

  What?

  Silva smiled and pointed down. Okay, so that was a very unladylike scream that came out of Kalinda’s mouth when she realized they were hovering in the air—way up in the air. Skyscraper fucking high.

  “What the hell?”

  “Shhhh. It’s okay. You brought me up here, and now I won’t let you fall. See?”

  Yeah, she saw her potential death. Not cool.

  “Look, Kalinda.”

  Kalinda forced her gaze to her friend, who now sported a gorgeous set of black and silver wings like a butterfly. They were much larger, though, and bent at an odd angle when she flapped them so they appeared to almost be treading the air like water. Kalinda hugged her friend close.

  “You scared the hell out of me” she forced out through her tears.

  “Are you crying?”

  “Only a little.”

  Delicate fingers pushed into Kalinda’s hair, softly untangling knots as they went. “You saved my life, Kalinda. It’s my job as your cosantiór, Princess.”

  “What does that mean, the word you just said? And did you call me a princess?”

  “Your guard or protector, and yes, I did.”

  Kalinda pulled back and looked at Silva. “Where did that come from? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Oh, Kalinda, I remember everything. And we’re so about to piss off the Trinity.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “You were all mad like whoa, and then got on Giuliana like death to Sunday. Oh, and then you flew. You freaking flew, Kalinda, way up in the air.”

  Kalinda had to laugh as Zoey described what had happened. Not that it made a whole bunch of sense, but since Kalinda had been there, she figured out the particulars. Silva still sat beside her, her wings tucked away now. Silva said most of her kind could hide their wings in slits in their back when they needed to. It itched like hell, but they grew up practicing it, so they could take it. Oh, and she wasn’t actually called Silva. Her name was Niamh Danaan of the Silver. “Silva” was the only thing she’d known when she woken up after being bound.

  “We know what we saw, Zoey,” Dominic said. He eyed Silva. “You’re Fae royalty?”

  Silva tucked her hair behind her ear before she straightened her back and held her head high. From the pose, Kalinda could see so much more than she’d noticed before. Silva’s grace, her way of managing and delegating. She’d known how to do it all because of her position within the Fae Realm.

  “Yes. To put it the quickest, I’m sort of the Queen of the Fae?”

  “Sort of?!” Zoey screeched.

  “Well, I am, but the position is one with stipulations. It’s hard to explain it all, but basically, the Fae were created for two reasons: to manage the fate of Earth and to walk beside the Old Ones. Over time, and due to the evolution of humans, we’ve taken a seat to the back, but we still are called in times of great need.”

  “Is that why your blood called you to me?” Kalinda mused.

  “Yes, and no. Not just any Fae would come for you. Your line is of the eldest, and as such, the royals are your bound protectors. We cannot deny coming to your aid. It’s a blood compact created so long ago the paperwork is farting dust now, but you get the picture.”

  “You don’t sound much like an ancient queen,” Romano said.

  Silva rolled her eyes. “I’ve been living as a normal Fae, not remembering any of my old manners and teachings. The information is back, but the control isn’t.” She shrugged. “Don’t think I mind it that much. I like me this way. Besides, I wasn’t exactly the best queen.”

  “That’s what led to you being bound?”

  Leave it to Dominic to go for the information. The man had no interest in frills. They had been sitting in his living room since the “Kalinda Can Fly” incident, and the pack lands had been put on lockdown. They were still waiting on the scenters to get back with more information.

  “I lost my sister, and this was my punishment. I was … conceited and bloated with my power. No Ales had been around for so long, and we forgot what that felt like. I was too comfortable and wasn’t paying attention, too into my own life and wealth. My sister paid the price.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Kalinda grabbed her hand. “Losing someone is never easy.”

  “No. It’s not.”

  For a moment, Silva’s eyes were haunted before she blinked, clearing away the emotion. “For now, what matters is, I have a way to beat the Trinity.”

  “I’m all fucking ears,” Dominic answered.

  A knock at the door ended the conversation, and Romano moved to open the door. Pasquale, walked in. He’d been the best scenter for the Bianchi Pack before they’d joined the Lombardi Pack. Dominic had kept him in place after the changeover.

  “Alpha, we found the culprits.”

  Romano gripped the door, the wood creaking under the force. “Who?”

  His voice was more growl than sound, and it went straight to Kalinda’s nether regions. God, he was hot.


  “Three lion shifters. By scent, members of the Viscount Pride.”

  “Retaliation.”

  Romano spun at Arturo’s voice. Behind him was Zahara. They came in together, Zahara’s gaze scanning over Kalinda and Silva with a mysterious smile before it locked on to Dominic. Kalinda didn’t know exactly how to describe that look. Craving? Sadness? A mixture of both? She glanced over at Zoey, but the Alpha mate was too busy looking at Pasquale.

  Wonder what that’s about …

  “Arturo,” Dominic greeted.

  “Dominic. The men they found are dead. It seems Kalinda’s magic has some combat use as well.”

  Kalinda perked up at that. “Say what?”

  “I could smell old magic all over them, and it was directive,” Pasquale explained.

  “She turned them against each other?” Romano whistled. “Good one, baby.”

  “Why would they be retaliating by shooting Silva?” That didn’t make any sense. Yeah, they’d lost the chance to get Kalinda and Zoey, but that didn’t mean they had to keep going with attacks.

  The men looked uncomfortable for a minute before Zahara stepped forward. “Because Arturo tends to handle threats with death. Kill a family member and they are bound to want revenge.”

  “Kill a— What is she talking about?” Zoey’s attention was completely on her mate.

  “Viscount’s brother, and he was supposed to get you and Kalinda in their arrangement with the Trinity, as I told you,” Dominic offered.

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t explain— You killed the brother, didn’t you?”

  “I ordered it, actually,” Arturo interrupted. “It is our way, Zoey. You may not agree, but it is the reason they needed Trinity backing to even think they could come for you. How we do things is why you are protected the way you are. You know as well as anyone that Encantado isn’t a paradise, no matter how pretty some parts of it are.”

  “That doesn’t mean it has to be like this,” Zoey argued.

  Kalinda shook her head at her friend. “Sometimes it does, Zoey. I saw that man and what his pride was willing to do to me. You didn’t.”

  “But—”

  “We risked war to break your best friend out of the Trinity’s hold when they weren’t ready to let her go. Did you think that would be done without any blood lost?” Dominic asked her.

  It was a hard question, one Kalinda didn’t like to know the answer to, but she understood. Zoey had always seen the bright side of things, the sweeter side of life. Even if she could understand death may be necessary, it wouldn’t mean she had to accept it. Zoey went quiet, but Kalinda could see it sat uncomfortable with her.

  “I just wish it didn’t always have to be like this,” she grumbled.

  “Zoey, shifters are violent. It’s as natural to us as breathing, but you haven’t been faced with that every day. And we are mafia. I’m a Made Man, so are the other men standing here. We can’t simply walk away from that life. We have thousands of people who rely on our protection and our willingness to do whatever is needed. At some point, you have to understand it because it won’t change.”

  Romano stepped forward, no doubt wanting to change the topic and stop the pair from arguing. “Thank you, Zahara, for coming as quickly as you did. It seems we won’t need your services, but I’ll still pay.”

  Zahara shook her head. “Today is free.”

  “But since you’re here. This would be a good time to ask. How did you get free from the Trinity?”

  Zahara tensed, and for some reason, Kalinda didn’t want to hear the answer. “It doesn’t matter, Dom. We have Silva who knows of a way out for me.”

  “Because she let your mother die to save you,” Arturo answered Dominic for Zahara.

  One minute, Dominic was still. The next, he was leaping through the air, fangs bared and heading right for Zahara’s throat. The mage jumped back, her fingers working in the air in front of her, and Dominic slammed into a warded wall before he could get to her.

  “You bitch. You fucking bitch. I will kill you.”

  Romano rushed to Kalinda and Zoey’s side, even as Silva was on her feet, wings flared and ready to battle.

  “Calm!” Arturo roared.

  Dominic fought the stronger Alpha’s power, growling his displeasure, even as Romano, Giuliana, and Pasquale hit their knees.

  “I said calm.”

  This order made the lesser wolves in the room groan, falling to the floor on their sides to get away from the force. The Alpha power may not have been directed at them, but the force of it still reached them. Silva made sure she was to the front of the women the wolves could no longer protect. Even Zoey sat down, her color pale as she gripped her stomach.

  “Dominic, the baby!” Kalinda yelled. He could be hardheaded all he wanted, but his stubbornness was causing the pup in Zoey’s belly to also react.

  Instantly, he stopped, spinning around to check his wife. When he saw her pallor, he blanched. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know, love. I know.”

  “Hey, what about us?” Romano got out between coughs. His tone may have been jovial, but his eyes were sharp on Arturo.

  Dominic didn’t answer his Enforcer and instead turned back on Zahara. “Speak.”

  For a moment, she didn’t. She just stared, seeing something in Dominic the others didn’t. “You look just like her. Have her temper too. She never liked to be told what to do.”

  When Zahara spoke, she had tears in her eyes, and the pain in her face spoke to Kalinda. She knew that pain and understood what loss looked like. It had intimately changed her entire life. Recognizing it in Zahara made her move closer.

  “She was family, wasn’t she, Zahara? Your daughter?”

  Zahara’s answering cry and cringe away from the truth of it was answer enough. She fell to the floor, her sobs bursting through the room, her frame shaking with the force. Arturo was at her side, pulling her into his chest. It was the softest Kalinda had ever seen him be.

  “Your … daughter?” Dominic repeated. He stumbled back, and Zoey was there, burying her face into his back and wrapping her arms around his waist. Her support steadied him.

  It was Arturo who answered as Zahara wept. “The Trinity demanded one thing from Zahara in return for her freedom: the life of her line. She refused to let them have her family, and her daughter was all that was left, or so she thought. The Trinity attacked anyway, trying to force her hand, and Zahara had the power to save her daughter.”

  “But my daughter hadn’t told me about you, Dominic. She was afraid I wouldn’t accept your father—a human mobster she’d met on the edge of the portal, an illegal affair. She loved him, and he cared for you the best he could. You had some mage blood, but not enough to pick up in a scan,” Zahara continued. “So I had to make a choice: save my daughter, or my grandson. For her, it was simple. It had to be you. I didn’t have enough power for both of you, and she knew it. I let her die and gave you to Arturo to care for.”

  “Why?” Zoey asked for her husband, who still stood in a stupor.

  “Because the Trinity would have killed Dominic too,” Zahara explained, her words punctuated with tears. “I put a spell on Arturo to forget who the boy was. He only remembered he had to protect him. Benedict facilitated it for us. If I had known he’d one day come back to go after Arturo— It doesn’t matter. He would have used what he knew about you against me to fight the Trinity.”

  “With his death, I remembered why I took you under my wing and allowed you to be bitten by a wolf,” Arturo said grimly. “Your mage blood, diluted as it may have been, allowed you to be changed over. You were human enough to allow the change but mage enough to survive it. Mages, you see, can’t be changed into shifters. We have kept that from them for a very long time and hyped up the no-shift potion.”

  Kalinda blinked. “I won’t turn into a wolf?”

  Arturo shook his head. “No. But we had to have you think you would, or the Trinity would have read that in your mind. There are very few
of us who know this secret, to keep it safe. But you, Dominic, were a bridge, something that shouldn’t have happened. They would have wanted to know why.”

  “You’re my grandmother,” Dominic finally said.

  With Arturo’s help, Zahara stood once more. “Yes.” Everything in her wilted, the relief on her face palpable. “I’ve wanted to say that for so long. The Trinity succeeded, though not in the way they’d hoped. They assumed I had to live with the guilt of losing my family by not choosing them, and when I didn’t run to them, they changed the rules for joining the Council. But they did take you away anyway. You were so close, and yet I couldn’t do a thing. Not one single thing. Every time I saw you, my heart broke. I worked for you and put away every penny you ever paid me. It seems your child is going to be very rich.”

  The small joke broke the tension in the room, and finally Dominic stepped forward. It was hesitant, a child unsure of where to go, until he shook his head and moved purposefully, dragging Zahara into his arms.

  “Ciao, nonna.”

  Kalinda wasn’t sure what he said, but the heartfelt emotion behind the words made even her teary-eyed. Zahara let him hold her for a few minutes, clinging tightly to his lapels with a white-knuckled grip.

  “Well, explains why you have a year-round tan, my man,” Romano joked.

  Kalinda hit him, even as she laughed. “What is wrong with you?”

  “What? It’s true though.”

  “Oh, Romano. It seems we have some unfinished business.” Dominic’s eyes met Romano’s over Zahara’s head. “I seem to remember you trying to bite my grandmother.”

  Romano put his hands up in the air. “Okay, in all fairness, that was before I knew she was your nonna. And, to be honest, she doesn’t look a day over thirty. You have to give me credit.”

  “Actually, he did bite me. I just healed it,” Zahara added.

  Romano grabbed his chest in mock surprise. “And you, Brutus?”

  The room laughed, for a moment the levity of life filling the space instead of the death and fear of the last few weeks. Even Kalinda breathed a sigh of relief. Dominic had a grandmother, she wasn’t going to turn into a wolf, and Silva had a plan to get her out of the Trinity death sentence. Score!