by L E Franks
“Hmm, yeah—you two were tight before Cali, right? Like in each other’s business tight?”
“So?” This was freaking Carlo out a little bit, he thought back to all the time he and Jeanette had spent together growing up.
“Were you out to the pack back then?” The hunt for more ingredients apparently forgotten, Ted leaned against the stainless steel doors, settling in, preparing to give him a lesson on pack relations.
“Uh, nope.” Carlo looked longingly at the nachos. He poked at a chip.
“Well there you go.” Ted smiled happily.
“Go?” Carlo wasn’t seeing it and Ted’s rolled eyes meant that he was going to regret the next words, so he said. “Just tell me. I know you think I’m a dipshit, don’t hold back.”
“Okay,” Ted was beaming now, “So Carmine was trying not to pound you for stringing along the only girl he ever loved… ya know, since you were like the Alpha-Prince and all and he’d get, what, thrown out or somethin’? I bet he was all like, stoked when your ass got shipped to Cali. You should ask Jeanette how long it took him to ask her out after the door hit you on the ass.”
“Oh, fuck me. Huh… you know there was never anything between us.” Ted nodded in agreement. “She’s like my sister and my mom combined… that’s just… yuck!” Carlo shivered and Ted smirked.
“Of course, from the other side I’m sure Carmine can’t imagine anyone not wanting the love of his life… cuz she’s pretty damn cool from what I could tell. But, don’t worry about it.” Ted had turned back to open the refrigerator once more.
“Why?” Carlo whined, Ted hadn’t finished with him… he had his ‘smug all knowing Ted vibe’ going.
“Oh, cool!” After rummaging around a little, he grabbed a tub of marinating chicken wings that had been shoved in the back, behind six-packs of beer. They must have forgotten to put them on the grill earlier.
“Ted…” Carlo growled, crossing his arms.
“Ah… okay, so he won. He won, you lost. He got the princess—you got squat. You’ll be fine. Probably shouldn’t have mentioned the other stuff cuz you’re going to be all ‘broody Carlo’ around him and start shit, just cuz you can’t keep your mouth shut…”
Ted pulled out a mixing bowl and started yanking things out of the pantry.
“But I don’t want a princess!” Carlo protested. He hated to lose. Even a make-believe fight.
“A prince, whatever.” Ted didn’t seem impressed. “Point is, you don’t have one of those either so I’d say Carmine is like—what? One? Or maybe three up on you? Those girls of his are to die for!”
The knock at the front door startled Carlo; he glanced at his watch—eleven fifteen. A little late for guests, unless it was someone looking for the lost and found; hopefully the twins hadn’t forgotten a favorite stuffed animal or something.
Ted raised a brow in question, heading out to answer the door when Carlo just shrugged, following after him.
Pulling the door open, Carlo noted that Ted didn’t look surprised to see the guys from across the street.
“Hey guys! You finally made it—um, Joey’s around here somewhere… you wanna….” Ted stuttered to a halt, his welcome gesture only half made. The twinks hadn’t made a move to enter the house and he looked a bit foolish holding the door open.
Carlo recognized them as the kids who tried to pick him up last night at Vibe as well as the new neighbors. He shook his head—just his fucking luck.
He pushed forward. Time to get rid of them… maybe another time, some day when the fucking Pack Alpha and Chief Enforcer weren’t sitting thirty feet away. Shit.
A whine drew everyone’s attention downward. The other guy—Kevin, maybe—had a beautiful gray wolf sitting on his foot, its head shoved halfway up the leg of his cargo shorts. He was trying to control the beast with a white canvas belt looped around its neck.
Fuck! Joey!
“We found him at our place, is he yours? I’d hate to have to call animal control.”
“Oh, he’s mine!” It was so ridiculous that Carlo almost burst out laughing. He leaned forward yanking the wolf away from Kevin before landing a sharp smack across its snout. “Bad dog!!!”
“Sorry about this, he’s always getting out, running into to trouble. I have half a mind to take him to the pound myself, let someone else try their hand at dealing with him. I’m getting tired of cleaning up his messes. They tell me that if I have him neutered he’ll calm down and learn to obey. I think I’ll make an appointment for next week and just get him snipped. Maybe he’d mellow out and listen!”
The wolf whined and Carlo gave him another rap on the nose. “Behave!” The pair stood close together looking a little worried for the animal, but Carlo gave them one of his best smiles until they relaxed.
“Thanks again, I’ll make sure that he doesn’t get out and bother you again for a very long time… I think it’s time to get him a shock collar and a shorter chain out back.” He was about to leave, his fist threaded through the scruff of Joey’s neck when Grady piped up.
“What’s his name?”
Carlo looked at Ted before a wicked smile curled across his lips. “Cagnaccio.”
Kevin looked surprised. “You named him ‘bad dog’?”
“I call them like I see ’em.” Carlo smirked.
Ted leaned into him and whispered, “You better get him upstairs before…” He rolled his head towards the back of the house before turning back to Kevin and Grady waiting on the front step. “Come on in—let’s find you something to drink while Carlo scares up Joey.”
Right. Scare up Joey. I’ll think of something to do with the little fucker. Carlo tightened his grip on the belt dragging Joey to the stairs. The wolf gagging and whining as they went. Faker.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Angelo heard the doorbell and a noise that sounded like one of his wolves. He stood, his brows bunching as anger and panic swelled. Excusing himself from Sebastian’s presence, he slipped silently into the kitchen, waiting as Carlo and Ted made their way to the front door. He held back, listening to the men at the entryway, anger rolling over him as he eavesdropped, his body vibrating almost out of control. To keep from barging in and spilling the beans in front of the humans, he stayed hidden, leaning against the living room wall, seething. He knew every single one of his wolves by sight, by smell, and particularly by sound. The whine that Joey Tessaro had made while in wolf form had informed his Alpha of his distress and his location; a location that also included his scent mingling strongly with those of two humans. And now those humans were in Carlo’s house, sitting next to Carlo’s roommate, laughing and drinking as though they weren’t minutes away from death. Ted was another unsettling factor. No one knew where he came from or who he belonged to, and having Ted involved with the humans was near unbearable.
Sebastian sidled up next to him and nudged him with an elbow, “Probably don’t want to shift in here, given the uh, company.”
Grunting in agreement, Angelo sucked in a deep breath. He continued to glare at the trio lounging across the room but Seb was right as usual. But this was the final straw. Really. The final, final straw.
They were extremely lucky that only a handful of pack had remained by the time the humans arrived. Seb knew exactly what he was doing and had sent all the rest out to the deck within moments of Joey’s return. They only had a very slim chance to prevent disaster for the two men. He needed to find out what Carlo was thinking, allowing this under his roof. Angelo shook his head. He just couldn’t believe it. This, on top of everything else Carlo had put him through lately?
The risk of exposure was just too great, especially with half the pack drunk. Had Joey not been in wolf form, it would have been okay. They lived amongst humans, attending school with them, working with them—Hell, he was in the Marines and could keep it together, but at a pack party, and to have one of them shifted and most of them drunk—they’d all want to shift.
“I want....” he couldn’t bring himself to express
out loud how badly he wanted to hurt Carlo. This farce of a separation from the pack, from his duties as a leader, the blatant disregard for their rules—the laws that had kept them hidden for a millennium, had to end. And allowing Joey to shift and bring humans to their house? What the fuck was he thinking?
“You’re vibrating. You’ll start knocking photographs off the wall if you keep this up.” Sebastian moved in front of him, blocking his view of the humans. “It may still be salvageable, Angelo.”
God, he hoped so. He considered calling Daniel back, but if this went south and Joey was revealed to the pair as the stray they’d just rescued, they’d have no choice but to remove them as a threat…it wouldn’t be fair to Daniel, not with Joshua in South Carolina. Some secrets could only be buried if there was considerable distance from your mate.
What a pain. If he left now he could be back at Parris Island before dawn, signed contract in hand. He could walk away from all the responsibility, all the politics, and go back to being a simple man. Well, maybe not simple…or a man, but a being with a simple life. He could be a marine forever...
His thoughts followed that track for several minutes until he noticed Carmine ushering the twinks out of the room. Ted glanced his way before moving closer, stopping a respectful distance from him. The blond’s eyes flickered once to the humans before returning to Angelo.
Ted swallowed before speaking, “I’m sorry, Alpha. I’m sure you don’t want to hear from me… but Kevin and Grady are good kids. They’re just here for a couple of weeks. And… God, they think Joey is just a big… dog—not that they think Joey is a dog, but they think that dog is just a dog. They won’t be a problem. We won’t make a mistake around them. I… we can’t let them take the punishment for our mistake. Please Alpha.” Ted lowered his head, barely breathing in his supplication.
Angelo considered the man. He must be around Carlo’s age, in his mid-twenties. His white blond hair, falling into his eyes as he bowed his head, yet his back was straight and shoulders back. Angelo sniffed, taking in Ted’s scent. The man was a strong wolf—strong enough to lead his own pack, yet he’d maintained an illusion of submission throughout the day. There was no smell of treachery about him, there was nothing except the desire to please. Angelo’s instincts flared at what must be an intricate deception. Ted was a mystery for another time—the real problem here had just arrived.
Joey came down the stairs, hair still dripping wet, Carlo’s hand gripping his neck and directing him to where they were standing. Ted slipped away, catching up to the twinks as they came around the corner and entered the kitchen, slinging an arm around both boys and leading them to the far end of the kitchen and out of Angelo’s sight. Angelo guessed Ted would feed them since he seemed to be a decent chef, at least from what he’d eaten.
Angelo waited until the sounds of laughter and dishes clanking drifted back to them before turning his gaze on Joey, narrowing his eyes just a bit. Joey sunk to his knees, pain and regret etched across his face. Carlo stepped to the side and shook his head at Joey, his visage grim.
Angelo cleared his throat. “There is only one choice here.”
Joey sprang to his feet, grabbing hold of Angelo’s hand. “You can’t Angelo! You can’t! They had nothing to do with this, they were just being good neighbors. They have no idea. Please Alpha!” Joey clutched Angelo’s arm, before falling to his knees again, burying his face against Angelo’s leg.
“Are you telling me this was an accident? He fucking had a leash around your neck,” he growled, turning to glare at Carlo.
“No, no. Angelo—this was my fault. Carlo warned us against mixing with them, but we didn’t listen… I didn’t listen, I mean. Ted was there, but he wasn’t… it wasn’t… I… I… it was my fault, only mine. Shit. Please Angelo…”
Angelo’s gut twisted, listening to Joey’s pleadings; the wolf stunk of fear and desperation, making his own wolf recoil. He wasn’t this man, he didn’t want to be the one to kill an innocent. Disgust rose inside. All his life, his role was to protect the weak. He looked over to Carlo. The man’s face was a blank canvas, his eyes hooded. He stood so still that he reminded Angelo of a piece of fine Roman statuary. All he was missing was the sword gripped in one hand, a shield in the other.
Their eyes met, and instantly Carlo’s expression broke into relief at whatever he saw in Angelo’s own. Reaching down he hauled Joey up and pulled him into his arms, hugging him. Angelo could see Joey shaking with adrenalin or relief, probably both.
Joey turned to Angelo and flung himself into his arms next. “Thank you Angelo, Thank you!”
Angelo held him at arm’s length. “You’re responsible for them Joey, be their friend if you have to, but protect them from this truth, or the consequences fall on their heads…and yours. I can shelter you only if it stays here between us. But no more risks. And no fucking shifting while drunk.”
Joey nodded and took off for the kitchen, apparently back to normal; one quick glance from Angelo had Sebastian trailing after the pup to keep him in check, at least for now.
Carlo sighed and rolled his shoulders. “I suppose we should talk.”
“You’ve been running from this conversation for a long time, Carlo. I can’t believe you’re just rolling over and agreeing to talk without a fight.”
Carlo stiffened. “Is that what you want? A fight?”
“No. I’m sick of this argument I keep having with you in my own head. It’ll be a relief to say the words to your face and not just in my imagination!”
“I don’t see what you have to complain about. At least before last night you had everything you ever wanted.”
Angelo snorted. “You’re still an idiot if you believe that this is what I want, that this is what I ever wanted.”
Carlo frowned and crossed his arms. “Fine, let’s start with that farce of a dinner last night. I don’t understand what you were playing at with the whole production.”
“Damn, what a fucked up night that was…” Angelo trailed off running his fingers through his hair. “You are as much to blame for last night as anyone else—I asked you to come to see me. You sent your boys as a ‘fuck you’ rubbing the fact that you’ve refused to see me since your return in my face. You haven’t even had the god damn courtesy to pick up your fucking phone and call, letting me—no, letting your Alpha know you’d moved back.
“After all the unanswered letters, emails, texts, phone calls, and personal emissaries that I’ve sent you over the fuckin’ years, common courtesy would seem to demand that you reciprocate… at least in the slightest way possible. Though I guess you did that in the end—you sent me an idiot who’s had a prick for a brain since he was fourteen—and a complete stranger—a wolf from an unknown pack, damn you! And don’t think we won’t be having a conversation about that, as well!” Angelo was furious. Years of grief, and pain—the sense of abandonment, insecurity, and just damn loneliness welled up, spilling out between them.
Carlo rocked back on his heels as if Angelo had punched him.
“You fuck!” He screamed back. “You fuckin’ sent me away! You were back from your tour one day and by the next you forced me out of my own damn home! You kept my best friend from me. You and those damn elders, you stripped me of my rank and you sent me as far as you possibly could. I hate what you did to me. I never wanted to go to school there. I was an adult but you stole my life from me. I was the Alpha.” Carlo straightened and stepped back, his gaze all hardness and steel, looking every much the part of the Alpha, like he was born to be. “Of course I didn’t want anything to do with you. You and my father with his stupid plans for my future—you ruined everything! You destroyed me!”
Angelo was stunned. Carlo had turned away from him, burying his face in his arms, leaning against the wall.
He could barely hear Carlo whispering, “I can’t forget it. I don’t know how. I won’t be Alpha, I can’t. I can’t go back to that life. I’ll leave first. I’ll find a place in this world where no one has ever heard of
the Montefiores and I will never come back. Never. Not if you try and force me to do this.”
Angelo stiffened, his breath caught in his throat. The moment lengthened and before he could respond, Carlo pushed away from the wall, refusing to look at Angelo as he slipped the key from around his neck, pressing it into Angelo’s hand as he brushed by on his way out the front door.
Ten minutes later, Sebastian found Angelo, still standing in stunned silence staring at the key in his hand, trying to understand what had just happened, and what it would mean for their pack.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Damn, that was awkward. Kevin tilted back his head and drained the bottle in his hand—a little too intense for his taste. While all of Carlo’s family was polite, it was obvious that Joey hadn’t mentioned inviting them to the party ahead of time. They hadn’t gone as far as throwing them out, but he could tell the thought had crossed the big guy, Sebastian’s, mind. Too bad they weren’t friendlier; they were all incredibly hot and at least one of them pinged him as gay.