Last to Love

by Alexa Whitewolf

  ∞ ♦ ∞

  To say I feel like shit in the morning is an understatement. There’s no point hiding the dark circles under my eyes, not even my best makeup can do that. So I pull on whatever I can and head downstairs, only to run into the human running the inn.

  “Is your car fixed?” she asks me bluntly.

  “Almost,” I mutter and avoid her gaze, exiting the place in a hurry. She really doesn’t like strangers, I guess.

  Rather than go into town, I make my way out towards the woods. Restless energy fills me, and I know only one thing will quiet it down. It’s time I stop ignoring it and give in to my blood, to the magic singing in my veins.

  After about thirty minutes, I find a spot that’ll do the trick. The sun shines through the trees, though they’re close enough together to hide my presence from anyone in town.

  One more sweep of the surroundings, and I start taking off my clothes one by one, until I’m naked in the forest with only my pentagram pendant. And then I do what I haven’t done in forever – I tilt my head back, soaking in the sun’s rays and breathing in the freshness of the forest.

  My nonna used to take me and Ana to these rituals. Back then, of course, there was a lot more to it. But she always did say if ever I needed guidance, to return to nature like the day I was born and just soak it in. Magic will do the rest, as will your innate connection to nature. Between the wolf and the stregheria, you are beyond gifted... And the answers you seek will come.

  She was right... Though they’re not the ones I want.

  Tears start streaming down my cheeks. I hate that I broke the pack’s confidence and told Alessandro. I hate that he’s not going to let it go. And most of all, I hate Lucas and his damn stupid rationale and closed heart.

  And the only reason I’m feeling this much is because I’m freaking falling in love with him. Merda!

  The snap of a twig in the distance catches my attention, and before anyone comes around I morph to my wolf form. The instinct serves me right, as it’s two shaggy wolves that come out of nowhere.

  Reapers. They must be, because they don’t look anything like Dom’s pack. Their growls echo as they advance on me.

  Merda, am I on their territory? I didn’t even stop to consider the implications before coming up here. But I won’t back down, I was raised tougher than this.

  Before they can make the first move, I lunge. Only, I’m not alone. A dark wolf joins me, covering my back and attacking the second wolf. By the time we’ve dealt with both of them and their lifeless bodies and cooling off, I’m staring into blue eyes.

  Dominic?

  He tilts his head. What are you playing at, all alone in the woods?

  Forget that! How is it I can connect with you? It shouldn’t be possible, I’m not part of your pack.

  He shrugs. Aren’t you? Lucas sure spends a lot of time with you since you waltzed in.

  Lucas can go to hell.

  I try to move past him, but he blocks my way. What’s going on?

  I don’t mean for all of it to come out, but it does, and in the worst way possible. He’s playing all of us, is what! You think everything that’s happened is coincidence? It’s not! His damn chimera blood is at fault, and the longer you leave him in power, the worse off you’ll be.

  Lucas

  Annoyed is an understatement for my frame of mind. After Monica’s outburst last night, and her disappearance, I didn’t sleep much. When I enter Claws Auto – or what’s left of it – I’m immediately aware of not being alone.

  Tristan’s tapping Luz’s desk out of sheer boredom, but no one else is around. Did my message for a pack gathering not get through? I wait for him to say something, he’s ovviamente bursting with it.

  “So.... Rumor is it you and Monica are getting it on?”

  I scowl at him. “How is that your business, amico?”

  Tristan grins. “Are you kidding me? After everything you put us through with your sanctimonious bullshit, it’s about time you bite the dust. We all know Ileana meant for us to fall in love, and neither of us is complaining.”

  “Not me, amico.” I move past him, but Tristan follows me all the way to the back.

  “Where’s your girl?”

  “She’s not mine.” Whispers of harder, echoes of her moans in my ear, say the exact contrary. As does my body, tightening at the thought of her.

  “You went after her, time and time again. You’ve been distracted, no longer intent on exterminating the Reapers.”

  I whirl on him, baring my teeth. “I only went to interrogate her. Away from all of you.”

  My shout seems to draw in my other wolf, as Finn steps in. His emerald gaze settles on us, and he arches an eyebrow. “What’s going on here?”

  “Nothing,” I mutter and try to walk off. But they’re too intent on getting answers, and it’s my own stupid fault for being so careless. I grip the edge of my desk, tightening my fingers until it feels like the wood’s about to give.

  “It’s something,” Finn says. “First Dominic calls us in the middle of the night, saying to meet here first thing. And now, this. Why are you shutting us out, Lucas?”

  “Yeah, why don’t you tell them?”

  My grip slackens on the desk. Dominic. I turn to him, taking in his stormy expression and feeling like real shit is about to go down now. “Tell them what, amico?”

  “I figured it out, you know.” There’s a new steely quality to his gaze. Is everyone around me losing their minds? Before I can say anything, Dominic scowls. “You’ve been doing this on purpose. All this shit about being a pack, protecting us... When in fact, you’re collecting us.”

  A beat of silence follows his revelation.

  “Scusi, but what?” I glance at my other two wolves, each with mirrored expressions of confusion. At least until Dominic starts explaining.

  “You’re half-wolf, half-chimera. A chimera is able to soak in the gifts of those reporting to it, of channeling them. That is why their packs were sought in the past, and that’s exactly why you went to build your own.”

  “How did you find out?”

  “You don’t deny it, then?” Dominic takes another stop. “So that’s what you do. Running away from your daddy, only so you can find another way to fight him through others. Same as you’ve been using my wolves to fight your battle with the Reapers.” He clenches his fists, looking like he’s about to lose it. “I don't know if you ever planned to use us and the girls against your father, but you can forget that shit.”

  “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

  Dominic crosses his arms over his chest. “Really? Monica told me everything. Including that your father kicked you out of your old pack because you killed your brother.”

  A haze of red descends on me at that. My body starts trembling with it, despite all my efforts to contain it. “What did you just say?”

  “There’s no point in lying, Lucas.”

  I’m on him in the next breath, my fist colliding with his jaw with enough force to reverberate in my arm. Dominic stumbles back, then catches himself. “That’s what I thought. Come at me with brutal force to shut me up, yeah? Same as you used my vrykolakas to clean up town.”

  “You’ve fucking lost it!” Then we’re grappling, fighting, tossing each other into shit and trying to inflict as much pain as possible. What’s left of my office goes to pieces, and still it doesn’t satisfy our desire for mutual destruction.

  Finn and Tristan jump in the fray, both to restrain me. They have a hard time, on account of the red haze pushing me, dictating what I’m doing. My body shakes, my torso enlarges, and my hands get covered in coarser, red hair.

  I shake them off easily, and they slam into a wall. My promise to Finn, my good intent of pack consensus – it’s all forgotten in my rage.

  In a deeper voice than before, I grip Dominic by his throat. “You’ve crossed me for the last time. You are hereby banned from this pack, Dominic Kosta, and exiled from this town. You have twenty-four hours
to get out, otherwise I will hunt you down and kill you.”

  Then I toss him to the ground. Holding onto his throat, Dominic looks past me to Finn and Tristan. “Watch your backs, and your mates. Lucas will bring down the entire wrath of the lupi mannari on you, and nothing will protect you while you’re bound to him.”

  Angrily, he gets up and stalks out. After a few deep breaths, I calm down enough to revert the change – whatever the fuck that was. Once I see my hands are normal, I turn to my two other wolves.

  Finn’s green gaze is filled with worry, even as Tristan asks, “You alright, chefe?”

  “Yeah.” I go to move past them, but Finn stops me.

  “You promised this time, it would be a unanimous decision.”

  I stare him down, and whatever he sees in my expression it’s enough to make him drop his hand, and bow his head. “Alright, mate, have it your way. One more question, though. Is any of what Dominic said true?”

  Part of me wants to deny it, but something about Dominic’s certainty and rage makes me believe there is a grain of truth in there. Only, I’m not the one collecting. It’s my father. And if Monica told him...

  “I don’t know,” I say instead. “I don’t fucking know anymore.”

  Then I head to the back, though I don’t plan to stick around. The minute I’m sure they’re not following me, I head out to find the cunning minx. She’s got some answering to do.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  ∞ Testardo ∞

  “Stubborn and ardent clinging to one’s opinion is the best proof of stupidity.”

  -Michel de Montaigne-

  Monica

  After Dominic leaves, I curse my impulsive side. Something tells me this’ll come back and bite me in the culo, but it’s not until a few hours later that I realize just how badly I screwed up.

  By that point, I’m in a dingy bar on the far side of town, luckily with scarce customers around. The club sandwich in front of me remains untouched, and the coffee has long since gone cold.

  It starts with my cell ringing, and Alessandro’s voice sounding way too satisfied for my liking. “I wanted to praise you on a job well done, cara.” Unlike when Lucas says it, the word makes me nauseous.

  “Which part, exactly?”

  “Why, the information you provided. Your hunch was right, and Rockland Creek is a pool of specimens I simply need to see up close. I will send a team shortly, have no fear. Your work there is done.”

  Panic seizes me. “Wait, I –”

  “You have done well, but let the professionals take over now.”

  “But why, Alessandro? And what about Luciano?”

  “They can pick him up while they’re there, too.”

  My pulse races. I know that tone, that determination to get his way. “Luciano won’t go down easily.”

  “He is no match for my men.”

  I think back to the previous nights, to what I’ve seen. “You don’t know that.”

  “Do not fret. You can return home, and I will release you properly from your bonds to me.” He pauses. “Unless there is something else holding you there?”

  I don’t answer, and the silence lengthens.

  “I did not think so. Bene.” He hangs up before I can further protest, and I gape at my phone. My breathing increases to the point of hyperventilating as the full impact of what I’ve done descends on me.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  “Merda!”

  As if that’s not enough, Lucas strides in at that moment, all dark features and blazing eyes. He grabs me by the arm and yanks me away, stumbling on my heels, until we’re in a corner of the bar.

  After he places himself in front of me to shield us from anyone watching, he scowls. The fierceness in that gaze has me shiver even more. If he finds out what else I did...

  “What the fuck did you tell Dominic? What’s this about chimeras and collecting?” His grip on me tightens. “And why the fuck would you believe I killed my own brother?”

  Out of everything he says, that last part gets to me. “Because... Didn’t you?”

  Lucas slams his palm on the wall, and I jump. It wasn’t meant to intimidate me, it’s almost like he’s filled with an energy he can barely control. As I watch him, his biceps tense, the veins almost popping out, and he focuses on a point above my head, swallowing convulsively.

  Then his grip on my elbow relaxes, and he sticks to caging me in. “No,” he finally says. “I didn’t.”

  “I don’t... What happened, then? Alessandro says –”

  One hand drops to my mouth, touching my lips with his index. Lucas’ gaze lingers there for a moment, before meeting mine. “Don’t. Say. His. Name. Not right now, when I’m having a hard enough time to holding myself together.” He drops his hand, resuming caging me in. “As for what happened, it’s simple. My father dragged Matteo to a deal that went south. He was young, impressionable, wanted to please him. Despite my better efforts, he was shot that night, and didn’t survive.”

  His tone is cold, emotionless, as if he’s relating the story of someone else’s life. I can’t help myself, and I reach out for his cheek. He jumps as if not expecting the movement, and I whisper, “I’m sorry. I should’ve known Alessandro lied about that.”

  “And I wish you’d have asked me before spreading false information to my pack, but it’s too late. I cannot undo what I did.”

  “What...” Panic seizes me. “And what is that, Lucas?”

  His eyes narrow on me. “I kicked Dominic out of the pack. He was out of control after what you told me, and so was I. Things escalated...fast.”

  I look down, unable to hold his gaze anymore. “Is he okay?”

  Lucas snorts. “Now you care about him, after last night you accused me of getting it on with Lucrezia?”

  There’s nothing I can say to that, so I don’t. The silence lengthens. Someone leaves the bar. I have a feeling besides the bartender who’s in the kitchen, we’re all alone now. The awareness raises tingles up my spine, and not in a scary way.

  “Monica...” Lucas groans. In a gesture completely unlike himself, he drops his head next to mine, letting our foreheads touch for the barest of moments. Then he straightens up, determination in every hard angle of his features. “Stop side-tracking me. Why did you tell Dominic I’m collecting them? What’s all this about the chimera?”

  The confusion under the anger is what gets me. “Did your father never tell you?”

  “Tell me what, cara? I’m running out of patience with your riddles and games.”

  “It’s not a damn game!”

  He leans closer to me then. “Then fucking tell me.”

  I take in a large gulp of air, and try to explain what I’ve already told Dominic. “Your mother, Francesca...”

  He lifts a hand, and I flinch. The gesture has him pause, eyes narrowed. “What else have you suffered at my father’s hands?”

  I look away, unwilling to tell him of the punishments I’ve faced. Or those I’ll face if I come clean with him. But Lucas doesn’t let go. He touches my chin to raise it, and the blaze is gone out of his eyes, replaced by something almost...tender.

  “Monica, I would never hit you. If nothing else, you must know I’m not my father.” And just like that, his previous annoyance with me is gone. Frozen, fighting wave after wave of emotions, I try to hold myself together. Lucas makes it even harder. “Tesoro... Why are you trembling?”

  That does it, and the waterworks begin. Out of all his mercurial moods, it had to be him crossing into tenderness that breaks the dam and causes me to lose it. Guilt chokes me up over what I did, over everything I’ve ruined since coming here – and everything that will be ruined once Alessandro’s soldiers come running.

  Lucas holds me while I dirty his shirt, then I pull back and try to clean the mess of mascara, tears and snot on my face. He gives no indication that I’m hideous, instead only watching me with a pensive look.

  When I’ve finally calmed enough, I say, “Okay, here’s the deal. Your d
ad married Francesca not for love, but because he bought her. I know all this because my grandmother was in your pack at the time... She sent me away once my parents died to protect me, but I’ve never known another family. So when Alessandro’s men came to recruit for stregheria learning, I volunteered and ended up under Alessandro’s thumb anyway.”

  Another gulp of air, then I continue. “Luckily, only his thumb, and not his bed. My cousin Ana was less lucky. But he’s a demanding master, and he loves special shifters. Like your mom, like you...like me.”

  Lucas’ eyes narrow on my pentagram necklace, then his expression clears. “Your magic, you mean?”

  I shouldn’t be surprised how much he picked up on. If not him, his wolves probably filled him in from what I told the girls.

  “And a bit more... I sense things. Like how I sensed your pack was mated, and how I knew you were more than just, well, you. Anyway. Point is, Alessandro loves collecting. That is what he was building with your mother. A chimera in a pack acts like a conduit. If used properly, it can be the most powerful tool. But it needs nourishment, and that’s where the special shifters come in. Your father sought far and wide, but by the time he gathered them Francesca saw past his crap, and wasn’t willing to put her soul in jeopardy to open the Underworld. Because once a chimera accumulates all the gifts, takes enough souls...”

  “The conduit of them all will open the Underworld, and thus a path to the river of eternal life.” Lucas finishes the sentence for me. “I’ve known since before she died, it was why I was careful until recently with the lives I took. Now, it doesn’t matter.” His gaze narrows on me again. “Why did you not tell me all this upfront? Why go behind my back, to Dominic of all people?”

  Tears fill my eyes again. “It wasn’t on purpose. He caught me when some Reapers were coming by to attack me, and I was mad at you."

  He looks me up and down. “Were you hurt?”

  “No,” I whisper.

  “I still don’t understand how you thought I, of all people, was collecting those around me.”